Chapter 1215: Section 1216 The Abandoned City
On the barren and desolate mountain ranges stood a cluster of buildings made entirely of black magma.
The monochromatic color and the surrounding bald mountains filled this group of buildings with an air of deathly stillness.
Even a glimpse from afar would reveal that this was definitely a cluster of abandoned buildings.
Rubble and broken stones were everywhere, and the mottled walls were covered with dry, cracked patterns. All the colored buildings were obscured by the drifting volcanic ash.
The Gondola hovered in the sky for a moment, and after confirming there was no danger, Angel and his companions jumped down.
The building complex stretched from the middle of the mountain to the summit; if compared with the towns of the Goldfinch Empire, this area could be estimated to be the size of an ordinary township.
Upon closer contact, just as they had seen before, it was desolate, ancient, and deathly quiet.
As the Fire Element was very active in the air, the young demon Greerwu quickly took advantage of these dancing flames and toured a large part of the area.
“There are no signs of life, but there are many skeletons,” Greerwu said as he led Angel toward a winding street that led to the summit.
On this street covered with volcanic ash, skeletons were scattered everywhere, each in different postures, each having died in different ways. Some were killed with their heads smashed to the ground, others had collapsed skulls, some were disarticulated…
One of the skeletons close to Angel even had its entire spine shattered as if it had fallen from the sky and broken upon impact.
“The times of death are not from the same era; this one has been dead for at least five hundred years, but that one might be around two hundred years,” claimed Popota, pointing casually at two skeletons that appeared to be close to each other – if not dated, one might even think they were close friends who died at the same moment.
“Mostly Indigenous People of the Abyss, with a very small part of demons… no, half-blood demon skeletons,” Greerwu added.
Lacking a deep understanding of the Abyss, Angel couldn’t discern too many surface clues.
But, as a traditional noble, he was required to have an appreciation for the arts, including architectural art. The buildings here had a distinct style from those in Demon City, filled with curves and bas-reliefs that rarely had religious significance and were mostly decorative life patterns.
In terms of refinement, although not comparable to human countries, these were much more delicate than the buildings of Demon City!
Moreover, the buildings here were all rather small and their doors were about the same size as those used by humans.
Thus, various signs indicated that before it was abandoned, this place was likely a town of the Indigenous People of the Abyss.
“If this was a dwelling place for the Indigenous People of the Abyss, why are the bones so strange here? Not to mention the varied causes of death, but also the different times of death… it’s as if they died elsewhere and were then moved here,” Angel mused.
Since the skeletons had been dead for so long, many clues had turned to dust, making it difficult to determine whether this was the original scene of death.
“Have you found any records about this place?” Angel asked.
“Some carvings mentioned that this place is called Manotan. However, I’ve never heard of this name, and as for other clues, there are none,” replied Greerwu.
“It seems that even though we’ve found man-made buildings, we still haven’t gained much,” Popota sighed, expressing the futility of trying to determine their location without concrete information.
After a moment of contemplation, Angel spoke, “It’s not entirely without gain; at least we can confirm that this place was probably an area of the Indigenous People of the Abyss before.”
Pausing, Angel looked at Greerwu and asked, “I remember reading in a book before that the Indigenous People of the Abyss mostly live on the surface layer of the Abyss, right?”
Greerwu nodded: “Yes, some of the Indigenous People who are quite powerful will occasionally surface in the inner layer, but I have never heard of them building settlements in the inner layer… And according to the records of the Abyssal Treaties, the living areas of the Indigenous People are mostly restricted to the superficial layer, even to the most superficial regions.”
“Abyssal Treaties?”
“Drafted by the Eye of the Abyss, it mainly contains the offensive and defensive restrictions between demons and the Indigenous People of the Abyss. However, very few demons adhere to it…” Greerwu explained.
“It’s the Eye of the Abyss again, He seems to have a lot of free time,” Popota remarked, as the Lord of the Void intended to claim the power of the Eye of the Abyss and was somewhat familiar with its deeds.
Greerwu gave Popota a sidelong glance before looking back at Angel: “You’re asking about the Indigenous People’s settlements because you think this place should be on the surface layer of the Abyss?”
Angel nodded.
“That is a strong possibility, though I know very little about the surface layer of the Abyss. Lord Aoluxiya may know something, but he hasn’t awakened yet.”
“No matter, let’s keep moving. Perhaps we’ll find something else soon.”
Since they hadn’t found many clues here, Angel no longer lingered but drove the Gondola on, heading towards the southeast.
Perhaps entering what was “once a civilized area,” they encountered no volcanoes or lava in the following journey, mostly undulating mountains or rather, endless wilderness.
“The skeletons in that town felt strange to me. Wouldn’t it have been too much trouble if outsiders had moved them there? If it wasn’t outsiders, could they have ended up there on their own?” Popota wondered aloud.
Popota’s puzzle was destined to remain unanswered.
Time passed, and half an hour later, they came upon a second town built around a hill.
However, similar to the first encounter with Manotan, this town, named Sytan, was also abandoned and filled with a multitude of skeletons.
As for other clues, there were still none.
Next, they encountered several abandoned indigenous settlements, which were basically the same as before, with the only slight difference being the types of skeletons.
What surprised them the most was that they saw human skeletons.
And not just one skeleton.
After judging by the quality of the bones, these human skeletons probably weren’t very powerful in life. Most bones did not contain any energy properties, which meant that they were likely medium to low-level apprentices. Of course, it was also possible they were mortals, but the probability of mortals appearing in the Abyss was extremely low.
This also led them to conclude that this place was definitely somewhere on the surface of the Abyss.
Because medium to low-level apprentices wouldn’t be able to venture into the inner layers or even the second layer of the Abyss. They usually lingered around the very surface.
That is to say, maybe this place was some kind of affiliated space on the surface of the Abyss, or perhaps part of the Void Continent?
While Angel was speculating this, they saw an abandoned city.
Perhaps driven by a child’s curiosity, Greerwu was the most enthusiastic about exploration. Angel had already lost hope for these cities; after all, even if they found the name of the city, they didn’t know where exactly it was.
However, this time Greerwu brought back a surprise.
A skeleton dressed in a tattered wizard’s robe lay in front of Angel.
This was what Greerwu had found in a city called “Gistan.”
“There were other human skeletons inside, but this one had a distinctive emblem on its robe that I thought you might recognize, so I brought it out,” Greerwu pointed to a side of the wizard’s robe, where there was a very unique emblem.
A golden Witch Flower.
The Witch Flower was an alchemy material, shaped like a rose with distinctly black and red colors, resembling an enchanting witch. Potions and fragrances with Witch Flower as the main ingredient mostly aimed to improve the skin. Some potions for maintaining beauty were indispensable without the Witch Flower, and it was sought after by witches. Because it was predominantly used by females, it was thus named the “Witch” Flower.
Angel did recognize the Witch Flower, but he had never heard of an organization using a golden Witch Flower as its emblem.
Angel shifted his gaze to Popota, who had been mingling in the Wizards’ Realm much longer than he had, wondering if he might have discovered something.
Popota studied the emblem for a long time, uncertainly saying, “I think I’ve seen this emblem somewhere. It seems to be the mark of a wizard organization… However, it doesn’t seem to be from the Southern Domain of the Wizards’ Realm.”
“Not a wizard organization from the Southern Domain of the Wizards’ Realm?” Angel looked at Popota. “Are you sure?”
Popota shook his head, “I only have an impression, but I can’t be certain.”
Angel furrowed his brows, pondering for a moment before looking at Greerwu, “Are there indigenous people of the Abyss in the other phases of existence?”
Greerwu nodded, “Yes, but like the Barren Faces, according to the Pact of Coagulating Abyss, these indigenous people mostly live on the surface layer of the Abyss.”
Angel rubbed his temples, “If other phases also have indigenous people, it’s not possible we’ve ended up in another phase, is it?”
Popota didn’t know what these so-called phases were and looked at Angel with a puzzled face.
Angel briefly explained the structure of the Abyss and then turned to Greerwu, hoping to get an answer from this Demon Noble.
Greerwu hesitated for a moment, shaking his head, “It shouldn’t be possible. To get to another phase, the only way is through the Phase Gates. And the Phase Gates are all guarded by Demon Lords, so we should still be in the Barren Face.”
If they hadn’t gone to another phase, then could the skeleton in front of them have come from another phase?
But, how did he cross phases to get here?
Angel ultimately couldn’t figure it out and had to continue on the journey with his doubts.
This time, they flew for nearly an hour before they saw a new cluster of buildings. Greerwu, as before, was excited to explore, while Angel frowned, looking at this town situated on the barren plains.
It wasn’t the largest group of buildings they had come across, but it gave Angel an odd sense of unease.
“What’s wrong?” Popota looked at Angel with confusion.
Angel looked toward the rain-shrouded edge of the wasteland, “I just have a faint feeling that the calling is getting closer… perhaps, it’s right on this barren plain.”
…
“Shopkeeper! I’ve found two corpses!”
As Angel silently felt that “calling,” Greerwu’s voice suddenly came through.
At first, Angel didn’t think much of it, but soon after, Greerwu’s second message came through, “They’re fresh corpses! And they’re humans!”
Upon hearing this, Angel and Popota exchanged a glance and didn’t hesitate to leap off the ship.