Chapter 293: The Parthenon
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
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."
"Your wound hasn't healed yet?" Vivian saw it and asked.
Hesperides pulled up a corner of the lace strap slightly. Hao Ren was surprised to find that there was a deep wound, gleaming with a silvery-white shimmer. The wound was more than an inch wide. "After 200 years, less than a millimetre has healed since the last time, or they might not even be any change at all. I guess it's not gonna heal."
After she finished her sentence, Hesperides gave them a free and easy smile. She then glowed and disappeared before them. Nangong Wuyue asked curiously, "Her wound is…"
"She was wounded by a demon hunter thousands of years ago," Vivian explained and sighed. "She was left with a hole in her head, but she survived. Unfortunately, this wound may not heal for a lifetime. The hole in her brain is incurable."
Hao Ren was speechless.
At this time, Hessiana and Zeon had completed the preparations for opening the entrance to the ruins. Hessiana came to Vivian, holding a ivory slate shaped like a half moon and said, "Lady Vivian, get ready to go in. We're going to open the door!"
They hurried into the temple and found that a strange ritual had been performed at the scene: on the open ground inside the temple entrance lay a square, marble altar with suspicious dark red pigments depicting the complex triple runes around the altar. The Blood Clan wizards, whom Zeon and Hessiana brought were standing in a circle outside the triple runes. Their bodies were filled with a dark red mist, supplying energy for the entrance ritual. As a faint layer of glow gradually appeared on the altar, Hessiana as well as Zeon put their slates on the altar and assembled them into a full moon. Immediately, everyone felt a change in the atmosphere around them.
The pent-up, gloomy atmosphere of the shadowy Athens seemed to fade away and an exhilarating force poured in from all directions.
Hessiana looked at the glowing altar as she happily showed off to Vivian. "At the very beginning, I was the first to discover a strange energy overflowing occasionally in this spot. However, I don't know why the entrance is in such a strange place—it overlaps with the entrance of the Parthenon."
Hao Ren suddenly stepped forward and asked, "Ummm, can I look at those two slates?"
Before Hessiana could say anything, Zeon had already stood warily before the altar and asked, "What do you want to do? The slates are a vital key!"
Hao Ren waved his hand and said, "Don't be nervous, I just want to have a look. I'm a wizard, so I'm interested in magic. You can guard it from the side, I won't touch it, okay?"
Vivian did not know what Hao Ren wanted to do, but she still helped him and said, "He just wants to have a look at it, what's the big deal? Are you still worried that we might rob the stone?"
Zeon looked at Hao Ren inexplicably. In the end, he reluctantly agreed. Hao Ren immediately went to the center of the altar and pretended to observe the operation of the altar. He even took out a magnifying glass, pretending to observe the altar closely, but at the same time, he was communicating telephatically with his MDT. "Did you record it?" he asked.
"The whole changing process is clear. This is a very simple space permutation," the MDT replied. "Go to the left and try to be in the middle of the ritual. That way, my measurements will be more accurate."
This was how the two of them pretended to observe the altar and at the same time, openly recorded the entire process of energy flow required to open the entrance.
Zeon was standing by the side. He looked at Hao Ren impatiently and asked, "Done?"
Hao Ren got the MDT to wrap things up. Pretending to look professional, he nodded and said, "Yes, soon... Let me see, well, the pattern of this marble is good. These two semicircle slates... Gee, this arc, this detail, it's pretty round..."
Zeon blinked and asked, "Are you studying magic?"
"Err, the magic of the Blood Clan is very profound, I totally don't understand." Hao Ren kept the magnifying glass, raised his head and walked to the depths of the temple without any guilty conscience. He then proceeded to say, "Okay, start the next stage of our academic research. Let's go to the ruins—"
Hessiana called him back loudly, "You're going in the opposite direction! You have to exit the entrance door of the temple to get to the ruins!"