Ashen Dragon-Chapter 406 - 329 Soul Chanter
Chapter 406: Chapter 329 Soul Chanter
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“The Soul Chanter…”
“Orestes.”
Cassius recited the name.
The trees in Bewildering Valley were tall and twisted, their branches and leaves blocking out the sky, as if eternally shrouded in a dense shadow.
In the depths of this gloomy forest lay a hidden ancient castle built from black stones—Soulcry Castle.
The master of the castle was a lich named Orestes.
Centuries ago, this place wasn’t called Bewildering Valley, nor was there a so-called Black Forest; there was only a Mage Tower, and Orestes was once a respected mage on this land.
In the magical wilderness of the North, mages held esteemed positions. A great archmage with rare talent like Orestes was highly revered; people built him a tall castle, and the surrounding nobles presented him with thousands of slaves, allowing him to live a life of extreme luxury, viewing mortals as mere grass…
After indulging in such a hedonistic lifestyle for nearly a century, Orestes realized— he was dying.
According to the rules of the world, mages were still mere mortals.
Even with mysterious powers, death shadowed them closely but… it was not unavoidable.
Thus, Orestes spared no cost in pursuing the means to achieve eternal life. He found hidden rituals in ancient tombs, made a deal with the Lord of Bones, Milco, and sacrificed thousands of slaves within his castle and domain.
In the end, Orestes used the ritual to imprison his soul in a Life Box, drank a shape-shifting potion mixed with poison and the blood of sacrifices, drawing his soul into the Life Box while his body revived as a lich.
He died.
Or perhaps he achieved eternal life.
He existed in the world in a new form.
The once flourishing garden turned into a grim Black Forest, the once luxurious castle became the decayed and dark Soulcry Castle, and the once ambitious mage turned into an undying lich.
But Orestes was not satisfied; a lich’s soul was still trapped in the Life Box— he sought true immortality.
So, he began to incessantly draw arrays, creating countless skeletons and undead, preparing to sacrifice the entire Carter Duchy’s souls to achieve his eternity.
This was the hidden quest in the North from the past life—[“The Soul Chanter in Bewildering Valley”]
The quest process was somewhat tedious, first having players accept the [“Haunted Basement”] task from a household in Antonio City, finding traces of ghosts, then following their trail to the underground world, discovering remnants of a sacrificial array.
Next, they went to the Northern Library, searching through tens of thousands of books to find the array’s origin, learning Orestes’s true name as [“The Soul Chanter”] and following historical records to find knowledgeable individuals.
Then, players searched from taverns, bureaus, and adventurer associations step-by-step, ultimately finding an old beggar knowledgeable of history, though he had long gone mad.
The old beggar made all kinds of trouble for the players, making them complete a series of difficult and odd tasks such as [“Fetch fresh chimera dung”], [“Take the dirtiest tooth from a hill giant”], and [“Snatch food from an ogre’s mouth”].
– This was actually a test of the players’ strength and credibility.
The old beggar had suffered too much and seen too many people lose their lives to the valley’s taboos. He wanted to kill the lich but didn’t want innocent lives sacrificed.
Only when all tasks were completed did the old beggar provide valuable clues, guiding the players to an ancient tomb.
There, they found traces of the tomb, broke through layers of traps, endured endless attacks from terrifying undead, and found the lich’s Life Box deep within the tomb.
Finally, the players went to the last quest location—within Bewildering Valley, to completely destroy the lich’s plot.
The [“The Soul Chanter in Bewildering Valley”] quest series required players to complete hundreds of difficult stages, spending months to follow a long storyline, and finding hundreds of various clues and task items.
In the past life, players affectionately called this quest series [“The Malice of the Dog Planner”], [“King of Toilet-Unclogging Tasks”], and [“A Hidden Quest Even a Dog Wouldn’t Do”].
It was not until the 2.0 stage of [“Kings’ Strife”] that players finally cleared this quest line under the leadership of a player with both stamina and strength— that player was Singo.
Even Singo had to invite fifty professional gamers, with their group’s average level reaching Eleven.
Only then did they barely manage to kill the lich and split the generous quest rewards, almost obtaining a wand that could be deemed a divine artifact—this showed the difficulty and exasperation of the quest.
But Cassius was different from the players.
He was well aware of the storyline, had absolute control over the surrounding area, and possessed enough power to crush the lich.
He was determined to get the lich, confident but hesitant about how to deal with it.
[“Orestes isn’t just some spell-chasing madman, he’s a cowardly, extremely self-serving person afraid of death, with unmatched magical talent being the only difference.” ]
[“Greedy yet fearful, such a person is best controlled.”]
[ “Perhaps… I can make him work for me.”]
Cassius narrowed his eyes, flickers of firelight within his light golden pupils, but he then shook his head as if remembering something, chuckling softly.
[“Come to think of it, Anzeta indeed has had its share of disasters, clearly a remote place, yet it’s full of talent.”]
[“Dragons, devils, demons, shadows, giants, vampires…”]
[“And even a lich.”]
This wasn’t just Cassius’s personal thought; in the past life, players often joked about it, with the forums even having sayings like [“The Simple Folk of the North, the Talented Anzeta”] .
Even by version 4.0, high-level players across the star realm often dug something new out of the Anzeta beginner area.
But this was understandable, as Anzeta Great Wilderness had gone through ruling by dragons, giants, and elves, once having had a glorious civilization.
It had been completely destroyed by endless wars, the once grand and magnificent structures collapsing, even the local Magic Web becoming fragile, turning it into a magic wilderness not blessed by Mistrala— however, it hid many relics of ancient civilizations.
Currently, the Empire had a specialized archaeological team, including many players engaged in related professions. This team was jokingly called [“Magical Tomb Raiders”] by players on the forums.
They excavated all over Anzeta Great Wilderness, searching for lost secrets buried underground, bringing more knowledge and treasures to the Ashen Empire.
Cassius turned, seeing hundreds of miles away an ancient tomb through the Heavenly Calamity Dragon’s Eye and All-Knowing Eye— it was once Priest Milco’s resting place, also where the Lich’s Life Box was stored.
Mortals searching for that relic in the vast wilderness was like finding a needle in a haystack, but Cassius was the emperor of the Ashen Empire, wielding supreme authority within the empire.
[“Orestes…”]
[“Are you ready to welcome my arrival?”]
Cassius bared his teeth, revealing a ferocious smile. The lich, a nightmare in mortals’ eyes, seemed like a duck about to be caught and devoured in his mouth, afraid it might escape.
