Awakened: SSS Ranked Soul king-Chapter 121: History

After stepping out of the ravens lords castle, Guilliman walked through the shelter's streets, seemingly moving aimlessly.

He had always thought the sentinel on the 6th floor would be strong enough to have stopped the others for a long time. He was right, but it was much worse than he had thought, as it was strong enough to stop

Even him.

The waning beast moon was no small fry; even if they joined hands together, it would be impossible to defeat it.

Of course, it could also be that what he was facing was a special case since the Ravens Lord wanted him to stay away.

Either way, he couldn't challenge the castle for the time being. He had no fantasies about killing a great abomination, no matter how weak it was.

"Good morning." Taking a step into a small store, Guilliman greeted the attendant with a bow.

Ravens Keep was once a place bustling with activity. Although most of its inhabitants had died out during the siege from the beast horde, most of the infrastructure remained.

With the slayers from Blacksteel Shelter entering this place, they had been able to revamp many structures. For example, this store used to be a library and, although the books were still present, it was now sort of a vegetable market.

"Hm? Slayer Naldir, you're back," the attendant said with a smile as he saw Guilliman.

This guy was a frequent goer; he didn't come to buy vegetables like the rest, but he paid really well just to stay here.

"Yeah, felt kind of bored so I came here," Guilliman said with a smile at the attendant, reaching into his armor and pulling out a few silver coins.

"This will do, right?" Placing the coins on the desk, Guilliman raised his eyebrows.

Most people weren't interested in reading books; they believed that the information they already had was more than enough.

But not Guilliman.

He knew he was fairly ignorant; as such, he sought a clear way to learn about Ravens Keep and its history.

"Yes, more than enough!!" The attendant's eyes glowed with glee. Whenever Guilliman came, he would at least double what she made that day.

He was her prized consumer.

"Okay, I don't want to be disturbed. I'll be in the underground library," Guilliman said, reaching forward and grabbing a lantern before descending down a flight of stairs.

Soon he was engulfed in darkness, held at bay only by the lantern. Nevertheless, it was dark. Soon the smell of old, dusty books permeated the air, finding its way into Guilliman's nose.

It was refreshing, to say the least.

"Hmmm," he finally murmured upon reaching the ground floor as Guilliman's lantern illuminated several bookshelves running along a 50‑meter room.

It wasn't the grandest of libraries, so the three clans weren't really interested in it. However, it was perfect for someone like Guilliman.

"Hmmm, where did I keep it?" he mused while scanning one of the myriad bookshelves.

His time here had opened his eyes to a myriad of things—not just about Ravens Keep but about the alliance as a whole.

Ravens Keep, Blacksteel Shelter, and several others belong to a large human alliance called the Stone Titan Alliance.

This alliance ruled over a region of around 10,000 kilometers, but because of the nature of the sanctuary, they only encompassed seven fragments of that land, each fragment under the control of a stronghold.

Just above a shelter was a stronghold. And although it was but a change in name, the difference was as great as that between heaven and earth.

A stronghold was where the truly powerful slayers of mankind laid their roots. People much more powerful than even the Blacksteel Lord lived there; as for the threats of hordes, they were dealt with like flies.

On average, a stronghold, because of its sheer size and influence, would attract around a dozen hordes each year—thousands of monsters of unfathomable ranks.

But to this day, no stronghold has fallen to a horde.

In fact, that was the bone of contention that led to the fall of Ravens Keep.

The Ravens Lord felt pompous—the prosperity of the shelter was such that he suggested that Ravens Keep be given a title befitting its glory.

He wanted Ravens Keep to become a stronghold.

Naturally, this was a frowned-upon suggestion, as none of the strongholds wanted a new power to surface. Because of this, they constantly beat down the Ravens Lord's political agenda, even forcing him to go on dangerous missions.

But he remained steadfast.

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From the official records known to all in the alliance, the Ravens Keep shelter was warned about the gate that opened in the mountains.

But from the notes of a librarian he found… this was not the case. In fact, the siege came to them as a surprise. Three whopping Great Abominations—a force that could shake a stronghold to its core.

Even with that, they still managed to keep them at bay for months—months of fighting. Despite the requests for help, the strongholds never sent a single man. It was a betrayal. A shameful one.

Ravens Keep did not fall because of the arrogance of the Ravens Lord. It fell because of the conniving nature of the strongholds.

"Hm, got it," Guilliman said as he reached for a book with a red cover and brought it to his face.

He didn't care much about the politics behind the fall of Ravens Keep. As sad as it was, it was well above his pay grade. What really interested him was the knowledge stored in this place.

Right now, specifically the knowledge on forging and inscriptions.

"Theory of Wind Inscriptions and Mechanics, by Varium."

The red book in front of him was a theoretical work left by an old scholar and inscriber. Though 200 years old, the insights here would be much better than anything in the Blacksteel Shelter.

Though it was a bit of a letdown not to see anything at all on arcane inscriptions.

It seemed like the old devil really was special.