Fresta Empire, Deep Blue Territory, Gray White Hills.
Supervisory Envoy Fioran stood on the desolate hillside, her tal mask reflecting a cold luster, her red hair swaying slightly with the wind that blew across the wilderness.
Before her, down the slope, amidst a desolate ruin, dozens of figures in uniform were searching back and forth.
Compared to ordinary Imperial soldiers, the left shoulders of their uniforms were embroidered with a black vulture in silver thread, and their entire beings exuded an air of solemnity and competence.
Black Vulture Palace Guard—
One of the most elite and secret military units in the entire Fresta Empire. The minimum requirent for entry was 3-Ring.
As for those qualified to command an entire squad of the Black Vulture Palace Guard, they were all 4-Ring Great Beastmasters.
Given the current deploynt of the Black Vulture Palace Guard in the Gray White Hills, they were already capable of launching a siege on an ordinary small city—
But at this mont, they were rely searching quietly through this seemingly unremarkable ruin.
"We have roughly determined the age of the soil layer. It indeed dates back about five hundred years.
"Combining that with the architectural style of the buildings within the ruin, remaining textual information, and other details, we can deduce...
"This ruin should be the remnants of the Royal Capital of the Ancient Dukedom Azure Garden from that era."
The speaker was an elderly man with white hair and a white beard, wearing gold-rimd glasses and exuding an air of scholarly elegance.
Circling around him were several small, silver-white Pet Beasts. Unlike ordinary bestial Pet Beasts, their bodies had clear seams and patterns of miniature magictech arrays.
These were creations of a chanic. Although their combat strength was negligible, they were invaluable in exploration and auxiliary roles.
"You’ve worked hard, Professor Adams."
Fioran’s tone softened in the old man’s presence.
She was well aware of the standing of the erudite elder before her—he was the Dean of the History Departnt at Floren Institute, a great scholar bestowed the title of "Sage" by Knowledge City, and the foremost authority on lost history in the Western Continent.
If Her Royal Highness the Princess had not once done him a great favor, even with Fioran’s status as an Empire Inspector, she would have likely found it difficult to invite him here.
"It’s no trouble, especially since it was the young lady’s request."
The man nad Adams smiled amiably. He appeared well past his pri but still maintained a scholarly and refined deanor.
"Besides, even setting that favor aside...
"For personally, to participate in the exploration of the Ancient Dukedom Azure Garden’s ruins is a fulfillnt in itself.
"Approximately four to six hundred years ago, the continent experienced a period of imnse chaos and upheaval, which we in academia refer to as the ’Calamity Land.’
"During the ’Calamity Land,’ countless wars, large and small, must have erupted between humans, between humans and beasts, and between beasts and Deities—Saints fell, and Deities bled.
"The legacy of most civilizations was cut off during that great cataclysm. The few records that survived are fragnted and vague.
"The excavation of the Ancient Dukedom Azure Garden’s ruins will be of great help in filling the historical gaps of the ’Calamity Land’ period.
"Furthermore..." He paused slightly before continuing, "The Ancient Dukedom Azure Garden, even within our academic fields, is rarely given attention, with only scattered fragnts ntioned in records."
"Who is the person that identified the location of these ruins and excavated them?
"To find this place relying only on trivial clues from ancient texts, their expertise in history and archaeology must be exceedingly high, possibly even on par with my own."
"Fullon? Takrin? Or perhaps Vladimir?"
Adams listed several authoritative nas in the field of historical academia, but Fioran shook her head at each. "His na is Shiayar Egutt."
"Shiayar? I don’t seem to recall that na."
Adams frowned slightly, racking his brain, but then he heard Fioran add, "He is a student from St. Roland Academy, seventeen years old this year."
"Seventeen years old?"
Adams was initially taken aback, then his eyes lit up. "Might I have the honor of an introduction?"
Fioran discerned Adams’s thoughts. "Shiayar Egutt’s talent in beast mastery is likely even more outstanding than his talent in archaeology. Besides, if my investigation is correct, he already has a ntor... probably an ’8th Page’ from the Supre Black Tower."
"An ’8th Page’ from the Supre Black Tower..."
Adams’s expression stiffened for a mont, and he dismissed the thought of finding an heir for himself.
The transcendent powers of the Western Continent could generally be divided into three types.
First, Empires, alliances, and theocratic kingdoms. These vast forces occupied extensive territories, had countless citizens, and operated on the scale of a nation.
Second, forbidden organizations like the Ashes Cult. Entrenched within the Lost Kingdom and allied with the Lost Kingdom Beast King, they were deed heretical by the nations of the Western Continent.
Third, independent entities that generally maintained order and neutrality, thus avoiding hostility from the forces of order.
The Dark Shadow Council and the three great towers, including the White Chalk Tower, belonged to this last category.
Moreover, compared to the White Tower and Red Tower, whose histories spanned only a few hundred years, the Supre Black Tower was a true colossus. Its lineage had continued unbroken for millennia.
It was said that during the Black Tower’s zenith, when all ’8th Page’ council seats were filled, every mber was beyond Legendary. Each, by their own power, could rival an entire theocratic kingdom.
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