Chapter 38

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Episode 6 - Ancient Spirit [1]

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It didn’t take me long to reach the ruins. When I entered, white lines appeared and outlined the entire place.

The ruins were completely overgrown with vegetation, and the deeper I went in, 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

the more the sound of crickets and other insects became a constant presence.

Tall trees and plants were everywhere, along with collapsed structures entwined with thorns.

’The ruins are almost completely buried.’

Wherever I looked, I could only see the roofs or some columns and structures like temples and tall houses.

However, as I walked and looked around, I stopped for a moment.

There was a reason for it.

In front of me was half of a statue.

If it weren’t almost completely buried, I wouldn’t have noticed.

But this statue was about ten meters tall.

It was a statue of a woman. I couldn’t make out the statue’s pose, but I could recognize at least half of its face.

’Alice...’

Indeed, it was a statue of my teacher.

Half of her face was destroyed, but the other half...

Although it was cracked and weathered, it was definitely a statue of my teacher.

’I don’t remember this statue being in the game.’

And, in fact, it wasn’t the only statue.

There were two more, one of a woman and another of a man, apparently shirtless.

One was the Immortal King and the other was White Moon.

There were three statues of the Five Swords, but my master’s was in the best condition.

The other two were barely recognizable because of a symbol that characterized each of the Five Swords.

"I found the statues of your ’friends,’ teacher."

It took a moment for Alice to respond.

〖What do you mean by ’friends’? It sounds like they aren’t really friends... well, in a way, they’re sort of friends.〗

My master let out a long sigh as she said:

〖I can’t see them, but I suppose it’s been a while since I saw their faces.〗

"But the two statues don’t have heads; I only recognized them by the emblem."

〖Don’t interrupt my sentimental moment.〗

I closed my mouth and left my teacher alone.

I looked at the three statues one last time and then decided to continue on my way.

’I suppose I miss talking to them.’

That thought briefly crossed my mind.

***

My next objective after reaching the ruins was to find a Teleportation Matrix that would take me to the depths of the ruins.

On the surface, it may appear to be a huge, ruined city covered in earth.

But that was just the surface.

The real city was actually beneath my feet.

It was at least twice the size of the Imperial City.

This city was called Zeron. It was built as one of the lines of defense against the Abyss.

Therefore, it is a military city rather than a simple city.

’In the game, the Teleportation Matrix was in the Church.’

I had to find a church or at least something that looked like one.

The ruins were extensive, but most of them were buried.

It wasn’t hard to find a structure that looked like a church.

Upon arrival, I noticed a cross. It had an unknown emblem carved in the center.

The cross was half-buried and cracked, on the verge of collapse.

I walked around and soon, through my True Sight, I saw an area that looked like a hole.

When I entered the hole, I fell a few meters and soon, the partially collapsed interior of a church was revealed to me.

"Master, which god did this church worship?"

My master replied immediately.

〖The Goddess of Life, Omebella. This church was one of the main headquarters of the Order of Knights of Life.〗

I nodded, murmuring as I "looked" around, searching for stairs.

’Goddess of Life, huh.’

In the Holy Land, God Ordeal is not the only god in existence.

In fact, each continent worships at least three gods.

Of course, on the Sacred Continent, God Ordeal is the only god worshiped and recognized by the churches.

Anyone who reveals the faith of a god worshiped on another continent is killed.

They are killed on the grounds that they are blasphemers who believe in a false or evil god.

’This continent is crazy.’

In any case, it didn’t take me long to find some stairs leading to the basement.

I soon descended and, on the way, had to lift a large marble column.

Boom!!!

The marble column shattered when I dropped it on the floor; a cloud of dust rose.

I covered my nose with a cloth and then went down the rest of the stairs.

At the bottom, there was a partially collapsed hallway; fortunately, there was a small opening through which I could pass.

I crouched down and crawled through the opening like a dog.

On the other side, there was a stone door that was halfway open. With a strong push, I knocked it down.

On the other side was a clean, tidy room.

The walls, though cracked, were almost free of debris.

Except for the door I had knocked down, of course.

"Finally, I arrived."

I cleared the debris from the floor, then swept away the dust, and finally a strange symbol carved into the floor was revealed.

This was the Teleportation Matrix.

The floor was made of an unusual mineral; in the game, it was a dark green color, like jade.

Without wasting any time, I placed my hand on the ground and let the mana flow into the Teleportation Matrix.

Suddenly, all the mana was absorbed, and I soon felt my body disappear from the spot.

Then, the white lines disappeared for a few seconds before reappearing.

This time, I was no longer in the room.

’Incredible, my senses tell me this place is immense.’

In my True Sight, the entire place was laid bare.

Then I extended my senses throughout the city and couldn’t help but be impressed.

’Ha, it could take forever to search this place; fortunately, the coordinates point to a specific area.’

I remembered what the map looked like when I was still on Earth.

I started walking. Besides me, this place was full of monsters.

***

Lumina crawled through a hole; dirt covered her entire body, but she didn’t care.

Just as she was about to exit the hallway, a light suddenly filled the other side of the hallway.

Lumina looked up and saw Adel being teleported by a Teleportation Matrix.

Lumina stood up and entered the room. She looked at the floor and waited for about two minutes.

"He must have moved by now."

She didn’t know where Adel had been teleported, so she waited patiently for a while.

After waiting, she placed her hands on the floor and let her mana flow.

Soon, her mana was absorbed and her body disappeared.

After a few seconds, she opened her eyes and looked around.

The place where I was standing was like an altar; four columns supported the ceiling above it.

The floor was made of the same material as the previous room.

Then, Lumina looked ahead.

She was on a hill, and when she looked up, she understood more or less where she was.

’This is underground. It seems to be an enormous cave.’

Then she looked down and saw an imposing city.

It was at least twice the size of the Imperial Capital.

Lumina soon saw letters on a wall as she descended the stairs.

The language was different from the one spoken today, but Lumina, as a returner, had learned many languages.

"Fort Zeron."

Below was a brief description of what this city was.

Lumina was silent for a few seconds and read:

’So it’s a defense line.’

In short, a military city.

Lumina felt even more curious; it was her first time here.

She didn’t even know the outer ruins existed, since she had never been interested in exploring the world during her countless regressions.

Naturally, she knew little about the world.

’I only know of a few specific places that will help me increase my strength, that’s all.’

Now that she knew this was a military city, perhaps she could find something interesting.

Some artifact, relic, or item that people left behind in this city.

As Lumina descended the hill, she came to a street.

Curiously, the light was coming from the ceiling of the cave.

There appeared to be some artificial plants up there that illuminated the entire city as if it were almost daylight.

’Now, where is my Adel?’

She looked around and finally saw Adel in the distance.

He seemed to be walking in the middle of a square where there was a statue of a knight on horseback.

The knight was raising his sword and struck a pose as if he were shouting.

Adel passed by the statue and walked in a specific direction.

Lumina looked beyond where Adel was and where he was walking.

’That’s... a castle.’

An enormous black castle loomed at the end of the cave.

The castle was built right against the cave wall.

It was enormous, and in front of the castle, it looked as if there were a palace. The street was wide and ran in a straight line toward the castle’s entrance.

The palace was located on the side of the street, and in front of the palace there was a large church.

Adel walked down the center of the street toward the castle’s entrance.

Lumina followed him, but at the same time looked around.

Unexpectedly, the city was in good condition.

Of course, there were some collapsed buildings and structures, and the streets had some debris.

But most of the place was fine, except for a few scattered human skeletons.

As she walked, she suddenly heard roars in the distance.

’Monsters, how did they get here?’

The cave seemed completely sealed off; the only way in was through the Teleportation Matrix.

However, perhaps the people who lived here brought monsters with them.

In any case, Lumina shouldn’t fight at all.

’Adel is sensitive to sound. If I fight here, he’ll hear me.’

There was no way to face Adel at that moment.

Lumina was bad with excuses, and the fact that she was chasing Adel was suspicious enough.

Soon, Adel arrived at the castle entrance, and Lumina waited for her to enter.