Chapter 6: The Family

Only when he saw Ashan from afar did Gray realize that his father was truly a man of great importance.

Located on the Farview Peninsula, Ashan boasted a population of over 100,000. The city was built along the shape of the peninsula, with the highest terrain in the northwest and extending southward in an arc to the scattered islands of the Apennine Sea. The narrow, strip-like city, like a slumbering beast, quietly lay between the water and the sky, with neatly arranged houses and orderly streets. A 20-meter-high city wall wound its way around, protecting the residents within. And on the vast plains outside the city, fertile land stretched everywhere. The broad Lane River flowed through the city and into the Apennine Sea, providing an endless water source for the boundless fertile fields.

Within Ashan City, there was a small hill upon which the world-renowned Black Rose Ancient Castle was built. This was a magnificent and immense complex that could easily accommodate over 3,000 warriors. On top of the towering towers in every corner, there were even permanently installed large-scale stone-throwing machines, overlooking the city below with a disdainful attitude. However, since the completion of the Black Rose Ancient Castle, those stone-throwing machines had never been used. Although enemies had attacked Ashan City in the past, their footsteps had only reached the city wall at most, and then they were defeated.

The castle was a powerful tool for defense, and the Black Rose Ancient Castle had reached the extreme in design. Looking at the composite fortress-type building with the castle within as the core, wooden shooting platforms could be extended from the top of the city wall or arrow towers at any time. The city gate, like a tunnel, had a depth of ten meters and was equipped with five layers of extremely sturdy gates, as well as many other arrangements that could not be seen directly by the eyes. When the Black Rose Ancient Castle was completed, it was reputed that only one thousand qualified warriors were needed to garrison it, and it would be nearly impregnable with sufficient supplies.

Many travelers with various purposes had visited this city in different capacities. When they witnessed this monster occupying the city's commanding height, they had to agree with the nearly crazy self-praise of the designer of the Black Rose Ancient Castle. One noble militarist who did not wish to disclose his name had been invited to visit the castle and conducted a sand table exercise based on the defense facilities he saw. The conclusion was that even if a well-equipped army of 50,000 troops and heavy siege weapons were used, attacking the castle would require a heavy price.

However, it had never truly undergone the test of war because the successive owners of the ancient castle did not like defense. Even if they were at an absolute disadvantage in terms of troops, they preferred to choose the boundless plains or deep mountains as the backdrop to eliminate enemies through mobile warfare. And they would always emerge victorious in the end.

Even within the entire Holy Alliance, the madness of the Archimonde family was well-known.

No one wanted to fight against madmen, especially when this crazy family always produced one or even several geniuses during a certain period. Joseph, the Duke of Lenon Peninsula, who was once the greatest enemy of the Archimonde family, once remarked with emotion that when madness and genius combined, the destruction they could cause would be multiplied rather than added together.

When he said this, Joseph's main force of 20,000 troops had just been defeated by the Archimonde's 10,000 elite troops in a long and brutal battle, with less than 2,000 men returning. The combat effectiveness under Joseph, the Iron Son, was not mediocre at all and was ranked among the best on the entire continent.

After hundreds of years of development, the members of the Archimonde family now included two marquises and seven counts, with numerous viscounts and barons. The territories they owned totaled over one million square kilometers. Although the history of the Archimonde family in the entire Holy Alliance was not long, their strength was definitely not weak, and they were one of the pivotal forces. However, what was somewhat peculiar was that if other families had so many nobles with actual territories, they would have already produced a duke or even an archduke. But the highest rank in the Archimonde family was only a marquis. It must be known that the Archimonde family was not lacking in martial arts and strong individuals. They had powerful magicians, high-level warriors, and many other unusual high-level professions such as Dragon Pulse Warlocks, Infernal Knights, Shadow Priests, and more. The continent of Norland was not peaceful; it could even be said that warfare was the norm. The land occupied by humanity was less than half of the continent, and they were engaged in wars with numerous other races to survival space.

The belligerence of humans was perhaps no less than that of demons. They not only fought against alien races but also engaged in constant internecine warfare. The raging flames of war not only burned in Norland but also spread to the depths of the ocean and numerous dimensions.

In such a chaotic and complex situation, it would not be difficult for the Archimonde family, which possessed numerous talents, to produce a duke or even a founding grand duke. By concentrating their resources on external expansion, acquiring sufficient territories from other races, establishing stable occupation, building a complete civil, economic, and judicial system, and coordinating the distribution of interests within the family, a duke could emerge within two generations. At least half of the dukes in the Holy Alliance were produced in this way. Therefore, in the eyes of nobles from other countries, the Holy Alliance Empire was a stronghold of upstarts and country bumpkins, and the emperor was the biggest upstart among them. However, everything would undergo qualitative changes after reaching a certain level, and so was the case with sudden rises. The sudden rise of the Holy Alliance royal family exceeded people's psychological threshold, thus earning the respect and admiration of most established nobles.

The extent of the Archimonde family's sudden rise was no less impressive, but their history was too short. The fatal flaw of a short history was that the accumulation of wealth and strength was not sufficient. Moreover, they were too reckless, so they failed to win respect.

The current patriarch of the Archimonde family, Gavin, the Marquis of War Song, was itself an example of a sudden rise. When he just began his training fifteen years ago, he was only a third-level novice warrior. He then demonstrated his talents in personal combat and political and military affairs, and ten years ago, he attacked and captured the Elf Court in the Eternal Night Forest, shaking the entire Holy Alliance! There were not a few people who dared to attack the Elf territories, but only Gavin, the War Song, dared to venture deep into the Eternal Night Forest with just fifty armored knights and over a thousand miscellaneous soldiers, and he succeeded!

Now, at only thirty-three years old, Gavin, the War Song, had become a marquis and resided in the Black Rose Ancient Castle, receiving the territory of Ashan, which was specially prepared for the patriarch by the Archimonde family.

In the mouths of those who admired him, Gavin's experience was a legend, and the legend was still being written. However, besides the Black Rose Ancient Castle, Marquis Gavin's absolute influence was only in the territories he had conquered. Other members of the Archimonde family ignored his orders. In the Archimonde family, the title of patriarch was more like a mere honor if there were no Black Rose Ancient Castle and Ashan.

There were heraldry experts and historians specializing in the Archimonde family tree who had concluded that the root cause of the family's failure to produce a grand duke lay in the independence and rebellion that flowed in their bloodline. Every Archimonde was unwilling to submit to others, even if that person was their father.

This was not a rigorous argument, and the scholar who made the conclusion was not knowledgeable or famous. In fact, if he could not exchange his research results for the financial support of any noble in the Archimonde family, this scholar would even end up on the streets. If he was really capable, he wouldn't have studied such an uncommon family. The scholar's ultimate fate was precisely to end up on the streets, dying from illness and hardship. It was said that when his research results were sent to the desk of the then patriarch of the Archimonde family, the patriarch flipped through them casually and then ordered that no one in the Archimonde family should give him any form of financial support. And the rebellious Archimondes unusually obeyed the patriarch's order thoroughly this time.

There was only one real reason behind this: despite the flowery rhetoric, logical confusion, absurd examples, grasping at shadows, and childish speculations in this article, the conclusion was damn right.

The distance from Luselan Village to Ashan was over three thousand kilometers, but it took less than half a month to travel. During the journey, Modred told Gray many things about the Archimonde family, along with introducing some customs and power distributions on the continents. So when they arrived in Ashan, Gray already knew a lot about the family.

"Family" was a new word for Gray. In the past, he had a vague concept of his father, so how could he know what a family was? But from Modred's attitude, this powerful knight valued the family very much. The concept of family here was much broader, including not only the direct and collateral bloodlines but also the minor nobles and knights who followed the main family. They could all be considered members of the family. Blood was the tie that bound the family, but its meaning was not limited to kinship. Many special bloodlines possessed unique abilities, and the combination of different bloodlines often produced new abilities. Some bloodline abilities were extremely powerful, so powerful that people would go to any lengths to pursue them. Therefore, nobles and families had new meanings in the Noland world. Marriages were not only for political alliances but also for creating powerful offspring many times.

When Gray stood at the gate of the Black Rose Ancient Castle, he should have had a deep understanding of Archimonde. However, Gray felt even more confused. Everything that Modred had poured into his mind without any system was like pieces of a broken jigsaw puzzle, which could not be put together to form a complete picture.