Chapter 28: The Secret Letter
[To the New Head of the Radcliffe Family, Joshua von Radcliffe]
[From your loyal Van]
[When you see this letter, you should have already led your men to eradicate those pests in the city. Artanis is my good friend, a devout clergyman. I entrusted this letter to him with absolute confidence, but to be safe, I hope you can provide some proof.]
“He certainly has faith in me, thinking I’d definitely succeed. While that’s true enough, if he had something to discuss, why not come find me in person?”
Standing in the study of a residence on the western side of the city, Joshua held the seemingly ordinary letter left by Van, letting out a long sigh.
He was currently in a detached estate of the Radcliffe Family, located slightly further west than the cemetery church in the city. With the Lord’s Manor collapsed, the warrior had nowhere else to go, so he could only come to this estate, which he vaguely remembered from his memories. Though the large house with its courtyard wasn’t flashy, it carried an air of antiquity. There were no weeds or grime, and the decor and cleanliness were quite good—likely due to regular upkeep.
After letting Ying go explore on her own, he found a quiet spot to read the letter the old steward had entrusted to Priest Artanis.
When he opened the envelope, Joshua discovered that the subsequent content was entirely hidden by a small magic array, leaving only blank space. Forcibly breaking it would likely destroy the contents entirely. To unlock it, he seemed to need to provide some kind of proof.
“Could it be this?”
After a moment’s thought, Joshua raised his index finger and ignited a faint wisp of Battle Qi flame. A red glow flickered as he slowly brought the light closer to the array.
*Hum.*
The runes on the array spun briefly, as if verifying something, then with a crisp sound like shattering glass, the array dissolved. The hidden content returned to normal, reappearing on the blank paper.
Indeed, Battle Qi was unique to each individual. Even with the same breathing technique, the nature of the Battle Qi cultivated varied greatly.
Nodding slightly, Joshua continued reading.
[Young Master—no, I should say, the new Head of the family. When you see this letter, I will surely be dead.]
[Do not grieve for me. Since the master I served as a contractor has already died, I cannot continue to live. The only reason I’ve managed to linger for a time is because the previous Head released the restrictions on my energy core… Now, I am merely completing my final task: to send his remains and myself to the family burial ground. This is the duty of a Divine Mechanism, and of a steward.]
[As for the two Divine Mechanisms prepared for you, which one did you choose? Whichever it is, you must already know what a Divine Mechanism truly is. Now, allow me to explain the origin of the Divine Mechanisms and the covenant between the Radcliffe Family and them.]
The first paragraph alone revealed information beyond Joshua’s expectations.
Indeed, the old steward’s ten remaining days of life and his fading state perfectly matched the letter’s content—this was no lie. The subsequent words also aligned with the information from the system.
Van’s death seemed unavoidable… Truly, a helpless situation.
Clenching his fist silently, Joshua scanned ahead.
The family burial ground… the one in Black Forest Fortress? The Radcliffe Family, born of military merit, never forgot the source of their glory. Born in blood, returning to the battlefield—that was their true portrayal. Even in death, they insisted on being buried with their weapons. The burial ground was in a corner of the fortress, adjacent to a small chapel.
Now wasn’t the time to dwell on this.
Taking a deep breath, Joshua narrowed his eyes and continued reading. The content ahead would surely surprise him even more.
[Divine Mechanisms are not products of this world—to be precise, I, we, and the very method of creating all Divine Mechanisms originate entirely from another world, a world destroyed by evil monsters and demons.]
[The origin of all this traces back three hundred and forty-seven years ago.]
[Three hundred and forty-seven years ago, in the four hundred and eighty-fourth year of the Era of Falling Stars, due to the awakening of the ‘Ancient Dragon: Blazing Black Dragon Elbaltrien,’ the Great Aias Volcano rumbled, on the verge of eruption. Thick smoke blanketed the entire northern icefield, and immense magical turbulence disrupted the flow of space-time. The teleportation arrays from the Imperial Capital to the Northern Lands completely failed, cutting off supplies to the fortress complex left by the sages in the ancient Starfall Inner Sea—now the Sea of Bewilderment—rendering them unsustainable. To aid the distant fortress complex, the Empire assembled an exploration force unprecedented in scale, conscripting all the elites of the time. This force, only two hundred strong but composed entirely of warriors capable of defeating a thousand each, was tasked with hunting down and driving away the Ancient Dragon Blazing Black Dragon, calming the Great Aias Volcano, and restoring the teleportation network in the Northern Lands.]
[The hunt for the Ancient Dragon ended inconclusively. The Blazing Black Dragon Elbaltrien had already vanished, gone to some unknown place for another cycle of slumber. The calming of the volcano, however, went smoothly. With the combined efforts of nine mages who had reached the Ultimate Essence, the underground magma reservoir ceased its activity. The Great Aias Volcano would not erupt for a thousand years. The teleportation network was quickly restored, the fortress complex resupplied, and the exploration force prepared to return after a period of rest.]
[But on the night before their departure, an anomaly occurred in the vast Black Forest beneath the mountain range.]
[At the forest’s center, a pitch-black, dim light radiated. Mysterious light patterns, incomprehensible to ordinary people, flickered. Dark, murky smoke spewed from the light, forming all sorts of bizarre runes. Magic surged into chaotic tides, and the earth itself split open as if alive. From these fissures poured countless strange monsters never before seen or heard of. They took various forms, some even resembling plants or machines. These monsters feared neither magic nor Battle Qi; only pure physical attacks could inflict significant damage on them.]
[But that alone was nowhere near enough to stop this exploration force, all elites of the Empire. A powerful dwarf, Iron Body Moya, keenly noticed that the monsters’ own claws and fangs could easily tear apart their own bodies. Moreover, though the monsters turned to black ash and scattered upon death, they always left behind some residue. These materials were incredibly hard and could perfectly channel various forms of Transcendent energy. This was likely why the monsters were immune to magic and Battle Qi.]
[Using these materials on the spot to sharpen and coat everyone’s weapons, they resumed the fight. Indeed, the once-tough skin and muscles were now easily torn. Thus, even as the monsters poured forth endlessly with no sign of stopping, the exploration force felt no fear.]
[The battle lasted until noon the next day. The black smoke from the slain monsters even blotted out the sun. But as the magical tide receded, the passage spewing monsters seemed to temporarily seal shut. The vanguard, having cleared all remaining monsters, immediately reported to the Imperial Capital. The Empire took this news very seriously. While ordering the exploration force to stay put and await further instructions, and allowing free exploration, the Empire’s Legendary experts began preparing to set out.]