The castle was forged from black crystal like ore, the walls were tall, and furniture ancient.
Alexander has been walking aimlessly for what seemed like an hour, he still hasn't come across another soul since then.
"I don't remember any such structures in any of the history books I read, but again, the public library only has junk that barely relates to the tower and Pathseekers...
First I need to self analyse, which era is this? The first generation pathseekers already did most of the work when it came to historical foundation, thankfully we the fourth generation could use that to our advantage...
The world has three great historical eras, the first was the era of the unseen and their slaves, not much is known about them, then the divine era, the gods and demons rose, well the gods to be more specific, a legendary seeker later discovered that the demons actually ascended from another world, into this one, nobody knows how...
At the end of the divine era, the tower rose and so did the hollow. This is also the era of humanity's five monarchs, some even believe that they are a direct catalyst to the rise of the tower... anyway, this is also the era we presently live in...
Not the most hospitable if you ask me".
Alexander's footsteps suddenly halted, he heard the sounds of metal clanking against hard ground, another soldier was coming from the other corridor.
Alexander tightened his hold on his spear, he wasn't sure if he'll be treated like a friend or foe.
The next moment, a figure clad in light red armour walked out, he didn't hold a spear, but had a long sword attached to his belt, Alexander couldn't see his face, the knight was wearing a helmet.
"Why does he look cooler than me, couldn't the tower have dropped me in as a fairly well off guard".
Alexander didn't get to finish his trail of thoughts, before the knight marched up directly to him.
"Hey, where are the sacrifices you were asked to get? Don't you know what happens if you delay the monarch's tribute?".
Alexander tensed, he had to choose his next words carefully.
"Is this one of those, if you fail to get the sacrifice, you become the sacrifice instead... hmm, that aside, who the heck is this guy? I need to answer without answering".
Alexander cleared his throat.
"I was delayed by the lady sir, she needed assistance and I was compelled by duty to lend it to her".
The red knight didn't respond, Alexander didn't know why, but he was ready for anything.
"The excuse is a little random, but he said monarch, so I'm guessing this time period is the intersection between the divine era and the rise of the tower...
The five monarchs lived at the end of the divine era and reached their peak during the early centuries of the tower...
And amongst the monarchs, one in particular is known for having a taste for dark residences and dark colored dresses, the monarch of the void, Maelith Sorae, or also known as the Queen of despair...
But she wasn't why I said "lady, the void monarch is known for having dozens of adopted daughters, so if I guessed correctly, I'm a guard in the void palace and hence, the queen's daughters should also be in the castle".
"Well are you done?". The knight finally broke the silence. "Then let's go get the sacrifice, the monarchs are waiting".
"Yes sir".
Alexander responded, the hold he has on his spear visibly relaxing.
But Alexander couldn't fail to notice the knight's use of plural when he said monarchs.
"Are there other monarchs in the castle?The monarchs weren't exactly life and death enemies, but they never got along, especially the monarch of falsehood and the void Queen, the others also more or less hated one another...
It was to the point that they refused to work together even as the world was being consumed by the hollow...
Let's focus on surviving first, monarchs later".
Alexander made up his mind as he followed behind the knight, they walked through winded corridors that seemed to have no end.
They even passed through a small stairway at the edge of the castle; there wasn't a wall on the other side of it, so Alexander could see the outside world.
He raised his head in excitement, but a moment later, the excitement died down.
He glanced back down, the castle was situated upon a tall mountain, because below was a great chasm, there was a massive bridge held by chains bigger than boulders, and on it Alexander could see people riding carriages into and out of the castle.
It was surprisingly busy, Alexander wondered why anybody would want to come to a dark creepy castle that sacrifices people.
It was cloudy, so Alexander couldn't see beyond the bridge, which was unfortunate, cause he was hoping he would finally be able to see the outside world, that was if the hollow didn't exist already.
Eventually they made it to an underground prison, the place smells like vomit, rotten flesh and blood.
Alexander's brows crossed, the black clad guards with masks covering their faces hung men, women and children alike upon nailed planks, or tied them to chains that were heavier than small boulders.
Luckily they didn't stop here, cause Alexander wasn't sure if he could stomach such cruelty to humans, if they wanted them dead, then just get it over with.
"Over here". The knight stopped at the very last cell, Alexander never let him get too far.
Within the cell was a single prisoner, it was a woman, she was pretty young, about Alexander's age, possibly younger.
She had long black hair that fell below her knees, her eyes were brown, but there wasn't any light in them, it was almost like she was blind.
But for some reason, Alexander felt like she could see through his soul, and the fact that her eyes never left him even though they were two of them standing there didn't make him feel any less uneasy.
Alexander was at a loss.
"She's too gorgeous to be a lowly sacrifice".
"What was that?". The knight aksed, snapping his head toward Alexander.