Chapter 6: (The clan where nothing/something is found)
As I walked toward the vixxon ruins, halfway there, a orange window appeared before my eyes:
> [System Notice: Mission failed. Reattempt required to claim 100 points.]
"..."
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
The screen flickered once before responding.
[Task remains incomplete. Structural failure detected. The first quail destroyed the neighboring cage. Repair not executed. Additionally, no eggs were retrieved from that section. Mission parameters remain invalid.]
"Then you should've warned me sooner!" I muttered, irritation rising as I continued walking toward the mansion.
> [System Notice: Cage fully destroyed. All quails have escaped. Location: still within your house. Quails remain disoriented.]
"At least they're too stupid to get far," I muttered and add "Catching them again shouldn't be a problem."
I glanced back to the direction of the house and caught sight of a river — roughly two to three hundred meters away from the house. I hadn't noticed it before, hidden behind thick trees, wild bushes, and layers of overgrown weeds that surrounding the house.
I turned forward and followed the path again. A few minutes later. The ground changed as I neared the Vixxon Clan ruins. The air grew colder, and the forest around me thinned into dead and burned trees. When I finally reached the walls, I stopped.
"It's worse than I expected."
The walls that are nearly twenty feet were destroyed. The stones were cracked and burned, black marks climbing across them. Some pieces were charred others shattered. Massive old ballista bolts pierced through parts of the wall, their shafts blackened and splintered. Deep slashes ran across the surface—blade cuts, claw marks, and something far worse than that.
The iron gate was twisted open, bent like thin metal, its bars curled outward. Rust covered it completely, flakes falling off with the wind. I stepped closer. The ground before the gate was littered with skeleton remains. Some were human in decayed armor, still gripping their weapons. Others were not human at all—large creatures with thick bones, long claws, or horns shattered at the base.
I walked through the destroyed gate. Inside, the Vixxon's properties was nothing but ruins. The buildings collapsed, roofs torn apart, their blackened beams sticking up. The stone houses were half-swallowed by vines, fungi and moss. Trees and wild plants had claimed everything, their roots had broken through the roads,
The road only have small pieces of the red bricks peeked through the soil. Puddles of brown water filled the deeper parts, reflecting the blue sky above. The streets were buried beneath plants and remains.
"This place has been devoured by plants, moss, and fungi," I muttered, pushing forward. I raised my sword and swept it through the overgrown grass blades and vines slice apart with each swing, their sticky green sap clinging to the sword. My boots sank slightly into the soft ground as I forced my way deeper.
Skeletons lay beside the path, some whole, some half-buried. Human and monster alike, tangled together, some half-buried, some sitting upright froze in their last moment their bones were pale. Rusty armor still clung to them, melted in places by heat or fire. Broken swords and shattered shields just next to them. Burned cloaks, banners, pieces of clothing too. Half-burned chairs leaned against walls. Pots and jars lay shattered, filled with dirt and rusted copper coins. In one house, there was a table with a skull resting on top of it a mushroom growing through its eye sockets.
"There is no useful things in here they are all rusted and broken"
Near one of the house stood the old well. Its circular stones were cracked and covered with green moss. The wooden frame had fallen apart long ago, now covered in thick vines and crawling plants. The inside of the well was full of dark, still water, with floating leaves and insects. Around it were the remains of people who had once tried to flee.
The deeper I walked, the quieter it became. Only the wind moved through the empty houses.
"System, when did the war happen again?"
[War occurred 15 years ago]
Fifteen long years had passed since the war. More than fifty houses and three great mansions is in ruin, all arranged in a rough triangle that pointed toward the center, the last structure is an old granite structure, a small castle fused with the design of a temple.
The houses were built from the bricks and stone and dark timber. Their walls were broken and bent, their roofs fallen and buried under layers of moss and roots. Windows were hollow, doors torn from their hinges.
The three mansions stood far apart, each one facing the old castle in the center. All were built from the same granite stones as the castle, but whiter.
The *first mansion*, on the eastern side, its wide entrance was framed by heavy pillars of white stone now turned gray, cracked from top to bottom. The roof seems to had fallen years ago, and through it grew a tree whose branches reached through the broken windows. The walls were covered with creeping vines and patches of green mold. Inside, shattered furniture lay under pools of stagnant water. Bones rested on the marble floor, some still in armor.
The *second mansion*, to the west. Half of it had sunk into the earth, the other half stood crooked, supported only by old roots that grew through its broken walls. Its tall arched windows were open and empty, filled with tangled vines that hung down like curtains. The steps leading to the main door were cracked and overgrown with moss. Inside, rainwater dripped slowly from the ceiling into puddles.
The *third mansion*, to the north, was the largest and most destroyed. Its upper floors had collapsed into the lower ones, leaving behind only half-standing walls. The roof was gone, replaced by wild growth and black vines. Statues once placed on the balcony had fallen to the ground and shattered, their faces half buried in mud. The great pillars at the front were still standing, though bent inward, their surfaces carved with unreadable markings now hidden beneath moss and cracks. Inside, the marble floor had turned dark and rough, and the air smelled of old smoke and wet dust.
At the *center* of all this ruin stood the *castle* a small one. It was made from pure granite stone. A *copper dome-shaped roof* crowned its top, cracked in several places but still holding together. Twelve *massive pillars* surrounded the castle in a perfect circle, each carved from dark gray stone that had turned almost black. They stood unevenly, leaning slightly inward.
Every pillar was etched with hygrolypcs, deep symbols, marks, ancient lines and shapes that i couldn't understand. Some were faded already, but others still clear as if newly carved. Around the upper halves of the pillars a *statues of primitive warriors*—men and women made of stone, holding ancient weapons, wooden spears, stone axes, stone swords, and bows. They appeared to be climbing the pillar, stepping on each other's backs and shoulders to rise higher—desperate figures frozen in stone, using one another as ladders in their struggle to reach the top.Their faces were carved with perfect detail, eyes that seemed to watch from every direction, lips slightly parted as if whispering something. Around them teeth, fingers, strands of hair, ears, tongues, and feet all carved in unsettling details, like they were alive.
"This is madness its so detailed, what does this statue for? Their ancestors? It's so detailed."
Rain and years had damage them deeply. Moss hung from their eyes like tears, and cracks spread down their bodies. Yet they still looked alive, the pillars themselves were wrapped tightly with roots and vines that crawled from the ground, thick and dark with wet soil. Green mold covered the carvings, dripping slowly down the stone like dried blood or maybe a real blood. Beneath them, the ground had sunk in some places, showing old foundations buried deep below—blocks of white stone mixed with dirt and layers of old animal and monster bones.
I stared at the statues for a long moment, trying to understand what I was even looking at, then the system window suddenly popped up
[Ayooo!!!]
I frowned and said "I'm not into statues! Its just that they look too real to be a statue and it's not the time to joke around, this is serious."
The castle stood at the center, its copper dome roof covered in cracks and turned to green. Its black wood doorway was sealed by fallen debris, and vines hung down from the edges of the roof.
It looked like a castle mixed with a temple.
When I pushed the heavy doors open, the smell of damp wood and old blood drifted out. The first thing I saw was a massive wolf statue standing at the very center its frozen in mid-snarl. Its teeth glimmered faintly under the dim light that leaked through the broken copper dome above.
The walls and pillars were made of dark red, old wood, solid and strong, and the floor was laid with black stones like obsidian. Thin rays of sunlight pierced through the dark and dust-filled air, striking the wolf statue.
Then I saw them. Monster heads — dozens of them — mounted neatly across the walls. Not carved, not sculpted. Real. Preserved through some twisted method. Their fur still clung to their rotting skin, their eyes were glassy and weirdly wet, as if freshly taken. The faint scent of decay lingered in the air. Beneath each head stood a suit of armor with the symbol of a wolf into the chest plate. The armor was dented, blackened, and still have faint traces of dried blood.
"Monstrosity they are more monster than real monsters."
The wooden pillars were have figures were carved into them, human-shaped, but not fully. Their faces stretched from the wood, mouths open, gasping for air. Fingers, half-buried, trying to clawed their way out of the bark. It looked less like carving… and more like the wood swallowed them and they are trying to get out and can't breath.
"What an insane weird collection this is too detailed," I whispered. "The Vixxon family… these monster are all king-class up to 12 white star to 1 black star."
My voice echoed softly, then faded.
As I stepped deeper inside, the silence began to move. It wasn't quiet anymore — it breathed. I felt eyes on me from every direction, unseen but heavy. The whispers started again — faint, broken, right behind my ear, then gone when I turned.
The wolf statue watched me. Its shadow stretched far across the floor like a beast ready to leap.
"Maybe it was the vixxon guardian."
> [SYSTEM] Detected unidentified entity.
[Query:] "Identify this creature."
[Processing...]
[Result:] None. This is not the Guardian of the Vixxon.]
My chest tightened. "Then why is this statue here?"
> [SYSTEM RESPONSE:] Unknown. No data available.]
"Then where is their real guardian? What does it look like?"
> [ERROR #7C02:] Access denied. No information shall be shared.]
"Then what's its name?"
> [ERROR #1A56:] Forbidden query. Name cannot be said — risk of clue leakage.]
Beyond the statue, I saw a staircase leading upward to a throne made from monster bones, wood and severed human skulls with blood stains in it, Behind the throne, a giant glass window bled pale light into the room. A massive banner hung in front of it — the same wolf crest as the statue.
"In every great family of Parrenia," I murmured, "their guardian statues are built for blessing and protection. So why are the Vixxon different?"
Confusion overtook fear.
Below the throne, the stairs were lined with thirty-six statues. were kneeling, some crawling, some clinging to the steps with broken fingers. Their mouths were open, mid-scream. Their eyes glistened like they were wet. Their nails were cracked, chipped, some bitten away.
Every one of them faced the throne. Their bodies all reached upward, begging and desperate.
> [SYSTEM] Observation detected.
[Scanning nearby carvings...]
[Result:] Unknown organic residue detected.]
I walked closer, my footsteps echoing across the black stones. I stopped near the wolf statue again — and froze.
There was something around its mouth. A thick, black stain. It looked like blood, dried blood. I raised my eyes. The same dark liquid dripped from the human statues eyes.
> [SYSTEM ALERT:] Biological fluid identified — hemoglobin trace. Origin: Undetermined.]
"I… I'm leaving," I said quietly.
> [SYSTEM:] Warning. Unknown movement detected.]
And then —
Thud!
A footstep echoed from behind me.
Not mine.
The moment I heard that, I ran—so fast my foot nearly slipped on the floor.
Inside, I didn't notice at first… but one of the mounted heads moved. Its neck cracked as it slowly turned toward me. The skin around its mouth stretched, forming a twisted devilish grin.
Then, in a voice that slithered like breath through fanged teeth, it whispered "The last cub has returned"