Chapter 756: City of Ancients (1/2)
“Aia Ouro? The Eidolon?” Zac said with confusion. “They're the ones who have conjured the city? Are you sure?”
“They call it the City of Ancients, apparently. It appeared much closer to the Death Pulse than the Living pulse, so I’ve actually traveled around that area quite a bit over the last year. And I encountered an inordinate amount of spectral cultivators flitting back and forth,” Catheya said. “Besides, I heard rumors of the Eidolon's vessel being spotted here as well, over a month before the city rose through the ground. Why would such an elite stay in the middle reaches, if it was not related to that place?”
“What would a bunch of ghosts have to gain from doing this?” Zac asked.
“I have no earthly idea, but whatever they are doing should be aimed at helping their elders seize the opportunity for themselves. Of course, I have no idea how things like that work. I wouldn’t be surprised if Aia Ouro themselves didn’t know exactly the purpose of their actions,” Catheya said. ”Perhaps there is something at the heart of the City of Ancients that can help wrest control of this realm? That's the idea I've been able to come up with so far, but the truth is probably only known to some Divine Monarch outside.”
“A bunch of paranoid old goats,” Zac muttered.
“It’s those kinds of people who survive for long enough to become Divine Monarchs,” Catheya winked as she took out a decanter and two glasses of wine, pouring a cup for Zac. “Now, what will you do after this, provided we survive?”
“What do you mean?” Zac asked as he took a swig.
“You know the kind of chaos you’ve caused, and you seem to have no intention of stopping. I will be questioned the moment I leave this place, and you should know that the contract we’ve entered will not hold,” she said with a helpless shrug. “Not to mention master and my clan, it’s also likely that the Umbri’Zi Family will want to look into the matter. Who knows, with your display, you might attract attention from even higher places.”
”Like the Abyssal Shores?” Zac asked curiously.
The Umbri’Zi Family was the Draugr Clan ruling over the Undead Kingdom in the area. Technically, most of the Undead Provinces in this part of the frontier were subordinates of the Umbri'Zi, including the Kavriel Clan that governed over the Zecia Sector. However, the provinces were ultimately pretty autonomous, simply sending some resources in steady intervals.
Zac didn’t have a lot of information about the Umbri'Zi, since their presence wasn’t all that palpable in the Twilight Harbor. Catheya had explained their disregard as a matter of pride. The Umbri’Zi was on the precipice of becoming a High B-grade Clan, with both an extremely powerful matriarch and a handful of lower Autarchs to lord over their domain.
Their domain wasn't just the Undead Kingdom, but they apparently controlled vast territories in the Undead Heartlands as well. It would be a bit of an embarrassment for a vaunted clan like that to set up shop shoulder to shoulder with a bunch of the living factions in a frontier settlement.
Rather than that, they had others do business for them, like half-blood Draugr forces with some weak link to their bloodline. Furthermore, forces like Sharva'Zi had to pay a tax to the Umbri'Zi rather than the Twilight Lord. So, Zac felt that it was possible for the Umbri’Zi to look into him after these events.
Hopefully, they shouldn’t be antagonistic toward him, considering he had worked against the Twilight Lord’s interests rather than the Undead Empire’s on this occasion.
However, while the Umbri'Zi was well-known, the Abyssal Shores was still a blank. Uona had mentioned it like it was the holy lands for Draugr, yet he hadn't heard a word about it from any other source.
“Well it’s-” Catheya said before she stopped herself and looked at Zac suspiciously. ”Wait, why are you asking? Why do you know that name?”
“Uona thought I was from that place,” Zac said before he hesitantly decided to tell the truth. “And I might have rolled with it and used that as my background story from then on out.”
A groan echoed through the room as Catheya slumped forward with her head in her hands, in a shockingly accurate homage to the statue depicting the Crown of Despair.
“Why must you torment me like this?” Catheya said “You impersonated a person from the shore? Who? Who knows this?”
“Well, there’s you,” Zac said, getting an exasperated grunt in return. “And Uona. And the Havarok Empire, probably.”
“Anyone else?” Catheya asked icily.
“Oh, and the Eveningtide Asura, probably. Well, I told his snake guardian, and it probably passed it along?”
“Why not just shout it in front of the gates to the City of Ancients where a few hundred thousand warriors can hear you?” Catheya said while glaring at him.
“You think that would help?” Zac asked, but he quickly stopped messing around upon seeing that she was on the verge of another eruption. “Alright, alright. I’m sorry. I simply didn’t have a lot of options, and I didn’t want to implicate your family with my actions any further. I figured that the Abyssal Shores would be powerful enough they could survive taking the blame for my actions.”
Catheya’s demeanor softened a little, and she eventually shrugged. “Well, that's true. It’s not like you’re at the stage where you can rock the Abyssal Shores. They don’t care about some squabbles on the frontier. They’re only interested in the advancement of Draugr.”
“So just what is it? Can you tell me?” Zac asked with burning curiosity. Who wouldn’t know about the peak institute of their heritage?
“Well, it is a matter of the Draugr rather than the Empire,” Catheya thoughtfully said. “It shouldn’t break any commandment if I discuss it considering you’re Draugr. The Abyssal Shores is indeed the seat of our power. But more importantly, it is the origin of our kin.”
“What?” Zac exclaimed with surprise. He had expected the former, but the latter was a surprise.
“There is a mysterious lake of infinite depth and infinite darkness. Not even Autarchs can enter it and come out alive. There are even rumors that one of the non-Draugr princes once entered the Abyssal Lake, only to barely escape with their life intact,” Catheya said.
Zac’s whistled in surprise. A place not even Autarchs could tread... Just kind of dangers did it contain? As for the princes, Zac was pretty she was referring to one of the Empire's elusive A-grade cultivators.
“The Draugr are the sole exception. Eons ago, our ancestors emerged from the depths, walking onto the Abyssal Shores. They had no memories of the past, of where they came from. Were they born in the ocean, or did they come from some realm hidden in the depths? We still don't know. They only knew they were the Draugr,” Catheya said as she glanced at Zac. “This was long before the System, mind you.”
“Then what happened?” Zac asked.
“Our ancestors lived at the Abyssal Shores until the integration took place, our most powerful ancestors easily rebuffing any attempts to unroot us. But the lake actually closed itself during those dark ages, and it no longer sustained us. By that time, our ancestors had already allied with the other undying races, and they joined in the exodus. Eventually, the Undead Empire was founded, and we moved the lake to its core at a shocking cost,” the Draugr scion continued with some wistfulness. “Two A-grade ancestors sacrificed their lives to accomplish the task.
“Today, the lake is once more our Heartland. The Abyssal Shores is the name of our centralized faction. A few of our clans have permanent residence there, while some elites of our race get to train there temporarily. It’s in the heart of the empire, so the cultivation environment is naturally unsurpassed. Furthermore, the lake itself presents us Draugr with unique and unrivaled opportunities ever so often.”
Zac slowly nodded with a thoughtful look in his eyes. Traveling there to cultivate for a while sounded like a huge opportunity, but he doubted that was possible for him. He was neither a true Draugr nor a member of the Empire.
“Well?” Catheya asked with a glare.
“Well, what?” Zac repeated with confusion.
“Your plan?” Catheya exclaimed with exasperation. “Focus up.”
“Ah, right,” Zac smiled. “Worried for me?”