Chapter 26: Fitzalan family

Karl’s feet finally touched solid ground and he immediately drew in a deep breath, the enormous arm that had dragged him through the portal nowhere to be seen.

Before he could properly examine his surroundings, something dropped beside him with a dull sound and Leon appeared on the stone floor.and Mira followed barely a second later.

Leon pushed himself upright and hurriedly looked around before dusting off his clothes.

"What the fuck just happened?"

His eyes immediately moved toward Karl.

"And why the fuck did it happen?"

Karl gave him a flat look.

"You speak as if I created the dungeon."

Leon pointed at him without hesitation.

"We got here because of you."

"How is that my fault?"

"Both of you, stop."

Mira interrupted before Leon could continue and looked toward the unfamiliar cave surrounding them.

The three of them were standing inside a wide underground chamber, but they were not the only people who had been pulled inside.

Three more teams stood around the cave, each consisting of five members.

Two groups looked almost exactly how Karl expected people who had just been ripped out of their own dungeons to look.

Weapons were already drawn, several members were checking their surroundings while their leaders spoke quietly among themselves.

The team standing farthest away was different.

None of them looked particularly confused.

Their equipment was also clearly several grades above what ordinary professionals at their Levels would normally possess.

Karl’s gaze remained upon them for another moment.

Before he could examine them properly, the space above the centre of the chamber suddenly twisted.

Everyone immediately looked upward as a small ball covered entirely in brown fur dropped from the distortion and floated several metres above the ground.

Two short ears unfolded from the fur before tiny arms and legs appeared, transforming the strange ball into something resembling a small round monster.

It looked around at everyone before raising both arms happily.

"Welcome, pioneers, to the Forgotten Cave!"

Nobody answered.

The creature continued enthusiastically.

"The forgotten legacy awaits those capable of reaching it."

Karl immediately activated Perception but othing happened.

He tried again but still received no information, and when he silently called toward the system, there was no response from that side either.

System?

Silence.

Karl’s expression became slightly more serious.

The warning immediately before he had been dragged inside returned to his mind.

[Dangerous foreign divine presence detected.]

Whatever this place was, even his system had wanted him nowhere near it.

A tall man from one of the confused teams stepped forward.

"What is this dungeon?"

The floating creature looked toward him.

"We were already clearing another dungeon before being dragged here. What happened to it?"

The creature’s cheerful expression immediately became irritated.

"Dungeon?"

It folded its tiny arms.

"This is a legacy that even your ancestors would not have dared dream of entering, and you are still worried about some measly dungeon?"

The man opened his mouth but the creature had already turned away.

"Anyway, good luck to all fellow travellers."

Its irritation disappeared almost as quickly as it had appeared.

"We will meet again at the next stage."

The furball waved once more and then enormous stone wall covering one side of the chamber suddenly cracked.

Everyone moved backwards as the cracks rapidly spread across its entire surface before the wall collapsed outward.

A wave of heat immediately entered the chamber.

Beyond the broken wall stretched an enormous sea of red lava, continuing farther than Karl could see inside the underground space.

Several pieces of falling stone struck the surface and disappeared almost instantly, melting with sharp sizzling sounds before even reaching deeper into the lava.

Leon stared ahead.

"Well, that’s welcoming."

Before anyone could decide what to do next, one member of the calm team stepped forward.

He was tall and looked only a few years older than Karl, with dark red armour covering most of his body and a long sword hanging from his waist.

The other four members of his team remained behind him without speaking.

"Everyone here, listen."

The certainty in his voice immediately drew attention from the other groups.

"This secret realm was opened through the efforts of my Fitzalan family, and we already possess considerably more information about it than anyone else here."

Several people exchanged uncertain looks.

The man’s expression remained relaxed.

"I would prefer that everyone cooperate with us from this point onward."

He paused briefly before continuing.

"Naturally, every major reward obtained from this legacy will belong to the Fitzalan family."

The mood inside the chamber immediately changed.

Before anyone could protest, the man raised one hand.

"You will be compensated."

He looked across the gathered teams.

"Each team will receive ten billion credits, while every participating member will receive a complete Epic-grade equipment set and a suitable mount."

That silenced several people immediately.

Even Leon’s eyebrows rose.

"Ten billion?"

Mira glanced toward him.

"Don’t start."

"I’m only appreciating the generosity."

The Fitzalan man smiled slightly while watching the reactions around him.

From his expression, he clearly did not expect anyone to refuse.

But then the leader of one of the other teams stepped forward with an irritated expression.

"I don’t know who you are or what trash family you’re talking about, but stop spinning lies."

Several of his teammates immediately looked uncomfortable, but he continued before anyone could stop him.

"We were all dragged into this place together. Whatever rewards are here belong to whoever has enough strength to take them."

The Fitzalan man stared at him but instead of becoming angry, he laughed.

"Ha."

His eyes carried open contempt.

"I truly am unfortunate today."

The other leader frowned.

"What?"

"I actually managed to meet a backwater mouse who has never even heard of the Fitzalan family."

His hand rested upon the sword beside his waist.

"There is no need for you to continue travelling with us."

The other man barely had time to react and blood suddenly erupted from his neck.

His head separated from his body and struck the ground while his eyes were still blinking, confusion remaining across his face even after the rest of his body collapsed.

His teammates screamed and immediately scattered away from the corpse.

The Fitzalan man calmly flicked the blood from his blade before returning it to its sheath.

"If anyone else has a problem with the arrangement, you are welcome to speak with me."

His smile returned.

"Atherion Fitzalan, first heir of the Fitzalan family."

Karl released a quiet breath.

Foolish.

He recognised the name now.

The Fitzalans ruled Dawn City, one of the ten primary cities beneath the capital and a family whose influence extended far beyond a single region.

Picking a fight with their first heir inside an unknown secret realm without even knowing his strength was simply stupid.

More importantly, Karl remembered something else.

The people who survived this place in my previous life weren’t Fitzalans.

Only two people had emerged from the special dungeon back then and neither belonged to the family currently standing before him.

Whatever happened inside this place clearly had not gone according to Atherion’s plans either.

Karl smiled slightly.

This should be interesting.

The dead man’s teammates had already understood their position.

One of them hurriedly knelt.

"We will follow Young Master Fitzalan’s arrangements."

The remaining members immediately followed.

The final unrelated team hesitated only briefly before their leader lowered his head as well.

"We have no objections."

Atherion accepted both answers without much interest before his gaze finally moved toward Karl’s group.

Leon was already preparing to speak but Karl raised one hand in front of him.

Atherion noticed the movement and raised an eyebrow.

"What are your thoughts, fellow brother?"

Karl met his gaze calmly before placing one hand over his chest.

"It would be a pleasure to adventure alongside Young Master Atherion."

A faint smile appeared across Karl’s face.

"I, Karl Reed, hope our journey together proves interesting."

Atherion’s eyes narrowed slightly, Karl had not knelt.

For several seconds, neither of them looked away.

Atherion clearly noticed the deliberate difference between Karl’s response and those of the other teams, but Karl had already publicly agreed to cooperate.

Starting another conflict purely because of pride would gain him nothing.

Something about Karl also made Atherion hesitate longer than he normally would have.

Eventually, his smile returned.

"Karl Reed."

He nodded once.

"I’ll remember it."

A voice suddenly sounded inside Karl’s mind.

"Ha."

Karl’s eyebrow twitched as Seraphine continued with obvious amusement.

"You really are sick, aren’t you? I couldn’t sense even a tiny bit of sincerity from that pledge."

Karl clenched his teeth. You should shut up.

Seraphine immediately laughed.

Karl’s irritation only increased.

You consumed almost an entire month of Death Energy while you were sleeping and now you wake up just to taunt me?

There was a brief silence from the other side.

Then Seraphine coughed lightly.

"I was hungry."

"Oh, don’t be so upset."

Her voice became considerably more cheerful.

"I am already Level 100 now."

Karl stopped responding, his hand tightened slightly before he forced himself to ignore her.

Leon noticed the change in his expression but misunderstood it completely.

"Why did we agree to his request, though?"

He glanced toward the headless corpse before sighing.

"I mean, it was probably the smart choice, but I’d at least like to know why I died when I eventually die."