Chapter 293 (1/2)

Zeon Lucas eventually chose to compromise. In fact, his compromise was widely expected: for an old Blood Clan member who scrupulously abided by ancient etiquette, it was difficult for outsiders to understand the weight of his position and his seniority in the clan hierarchy. And even if he did not give face to other elders, there was no way to ignore Vivian, the special elder.

Influenced by the subtle pressure from the senior elder, who had witnessed all the events of the Mythological Era, Hesperides, who could make the situation more complicated if she intervened, and Hessiana’s family who had significant influence in the current precarious situation, Zeon Lucas finally made a smart decision. To relax the restrictions of the stubborn creed did not necessarily lead to much loss of interest. It would have been unwise to offend a lot of people for the sake of face.

The entrance to the ruins was located at the Parthenon, but they could not go there directly through the actual city of Athens. The demon hunters kept a close eye on the buildings, which had bee preserved from ancient times. They were just waiting for the reckless and ancient unusual creatures to appear. There was another safer route to the entrance: via the Parthenon in the shadow of Athens.

This shadow city was a masterpiece by the Blood Clan and the Shadeling’s Master of Shadows. These shadow casters, who were also in power thousands of years ago, twisted the space there in a special way, copying half of the real Athens and dragging it into the city’s shadow, creating this bizarre replica. One by one, many of its areas corresponded to the real Athens, not only in shape and structure, but even in their coordinates. Just like parallel spaces, the shadow of Athens hung over the landmark of the true Athens. It existed around ordinary people but they were simply unaware of its existence.

Therefore, there was also a Parthenon in the shadow of Athens. In fact, its absolute coordinates showed that it was in the same spot as the Parthenon in the real world. As long as some clever alterations were made, they could go straight from the sanctuary to the ruins and avoid being discovered by the demon hunters.

Zeon Lucas ordered his servants to take out the sacred device that opened the gate of the Parthenon from his family’s treasure house. Although he was reluctant to do so, he had to be courteous. He came to “open the door” for Vivian himself.

The Parthenon, which was located in the center of the ancient Acropolis of Athens sat at the highest point of the city, overlooking the city for more than 2,400 years. This great, towering building sat on a limestone hill and could be seen from a distance. Hao Ren and his group of people, together with Hessiana and Lucas as well as their respective attendants rushed to the place where the Parthenon was situated. It happened to be “midday” in the shadow of Athens.

There was no day and night in the chaotic shadow city, where the residents relied on clocks to determine their schedules. Now that it was midday, the power of shadows in the real world was suppressed to the limit. Therefore, opening the gate in the Fortress of Shadows at this time could prevent air from leaking into the real Athens; the sun would eliminate this slight inconspicuous undulation. Although this effect was negligible, the word “caution” was carved into the bones of every single individual in the city. This was how they survived for so many years.

When they were on the platform of the hill, the first one to get excited was the mercenary, Becky, who had been quite low-key since she followed them into the shadow of Athens. She had almost been forgotten by the others.

The girl looked at the rectangular temple in front of her, happily jumping up and down as she said, “Ah! This looks like the ancient architecture I saw in my grandfather’s book!”

When Hao Ren heard this, his heart thumped and he asked, “Your grandfather’s ancient books?”

Becky nodded vigorously and explained, “Yes, have I mentioned it before? My grandfather was actually a scholar, specialising in ancient history, ancient civilisations and so on. He had a lot of old books and one of them revealed that there was a civiliation of a clan called the Gluk Highlanders. Their houses looked like this: built with stone, decorated with a pile of pillars and sculptures everywhere. It was a nation that was particularly fond of sculpting, but pure-blood Gluk Highlanders seem to have gone extinct and now, there are only a few mixed-race offspring left. Some minorities in the west of Holletta are said to be their offspring.”

“What are you talking about?” Hessiana looked at Becky strangely. Unable to adapt to the environment in the shadow city and unable to understand much about the unusual creatures in the human world, Becky had kept quiet most of the time while she was in the strange place. However, when she finally started to speak, nobody understood what she was talking about. Hessiana looked at Becky with puzzled eyes and asked, “Holletta? The Gluk Highlanders? Are these from the Mythological Era?”

“Err… pretty much.” Vivian hurriedly eased the situation and said, “You know the human wizards. They love strange and eccentric stuff. And they have a different way of calling ancient things. Don’t bother with the details.”

Hessiana then no longer delved into the question. Hao Ren glanced at Becky and wiped away the cold sweat on his forehead. He wondered if he had the opportunity to tell this overly excited lady more general knowledge on the unusual creatures on Earth, she could probably stay on Earth longer…

Shortly after, Hao Ren could resist from observing the famous temple on the hill. He had only seen pictures of this prestigious, ancient building from the internet. This was his first time looking at the real thing. The Parthenon seemed a little eerie under the murky sky and the sacred colours of the building faded in the dim surrounding as if a ghost town had crept over the hills against the dark sky. In addition to the atmosphere, Hao Ren felt that the Parthenon in the shadow of Athens seemed to be quite different from the pictures he saw on the internet: the building in front of him looked intact and the details were kept in excellent condition. He hardly recognised it at first sight.

“The shadow of Athens hasn’t experienced many disturbances; the temple is almost fully intact,” Hesperides said. She heard that they were going to the ruins and decided to follow them. She looked at the property, which belonged to her family, appearing a bit emotional and said, “It’s just slightly worn with time.”

“Won’t you go in?” Vivian asked and looked at Hesperides. “Maybe you can be a tour guide or something—there could be something familiar inside.”

“I’m afraid to see those things, so I’m not going in there,” Hesperides said and smiled. “Sometimes, I’d rather go to the temple at the scenic area, where I have to pay for the ticket than come here to see this almost well-preserved temple of Athena. The former lets me know that those gods aren’t coming back but the latter always reminds me of the time when they were still alive.”

Vivian understood. She nodded and said, “In that case, I’ll tell you what I see inside.”

“Okay.” Hesperides nodded and tapped on the lace strap with ornate jewels across her forehead as she said, “I need to go back to guard the entrance, I don’t really trust Herbert. And this place gives me a headache.”