Chapter 133
Chapter 133
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 133
Chapter Title: Ruins (1)
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“Then, Sir Victor, we should head back now. If you want to find a decent inn, you need to start moving to lie down in bed before sunset.”
Demian shook his head at Tievo’s words.
“No, I’ve changed my mind. We’re entering the ruins right now.”
“P-Pardon...? You mean to go into that dangerous place without any preparations?”
Demian headed for the iron gate without even listening to Tievo finish.
Conflict appeared on Tievo’s face at the sight.
“Damn it, what’s dying once or twice to a guy like you?”
Tievo spat out a curse and followed Demian. The two passed through the iron gate and stepped into the ruins.
The interior of the ruins was truly another world.
Unlike the small iron gate, the inside opened into a vast corridor stretching far ahead.
The walls, floor, and even the ceiling were all perfectly smooth. He didn’t know what material they used, but it was completely different from modern buildings made of laid stone.
“This is the ruins...”
Tievo looked around with a face full of wonder.
Just entering the entrance made it clear how advanced the ancient civilization’s technology had been.
The two moved deeper inside. After walking a short way down the corridor, entrances to other rooms appeared on both sides.
<┻┓┣┫┗┛>
These characters were written at the entrance to the room. Translated, they read ‘Guard Equipment Storage’.
Demian entered the storage room.
The interior was completely empty. Only a few long benches fixed to the floor remained.
“Nothing will be left in a place like this. Other explorers would have already scraped it clean.”
Tievo said to Demian. As it was the room closest to the entrance, it had naturally seen the most hands and was thus empty.
“If you’re looking for something, you’ll have to go deeper. But that’s dangerous, so you should prepare thoroughly...”
Demian wasn’t paying any attention to Tievo’s words. He was looking at the writing on the wall.
<┳┓┏┳┓┏┳┓>
Translated, it read [Equipment Storage].
It was just written there in ancient script, with nothing else around. Only the bare wall.
Demian recalled his memories from his previous life, when he had explored the ruins with Dorgo.
‘I definitely activated it by channeling mana back then.’
Demian felt along the wall. He searched for a way to open the equipment storage by injecting mana.
‘It’s more difficult than I thought.’
He had to figure out where and how much mana to inject using only his own abilities.
After about a minute...
With a click, the wall suddenly parted to the left and right. An equipment rack appeared.
“Wha-what? Wh-what the...?”
Tievo, who had been watching from behind, shouted in surprise.
“H-How in the world...”
Demian examined the storage.
Unfortunately, not much was left. Only a single helmet remained on the rack.
It was probably a helmet used by a guard protecting the ruins in ancient times.
Unlike modern helmets, it wasn’t angular or pointed but perfectly rounded, like a sphere.
It also had a guard that could be raised and lowered to protect the face.
‘I thought there’d be a map showing the ruins’ layout.’
Demian had no interest in equipment used by regular guards. It only looked unusual but wasn’t particularly impressive.
Even as a relic, lower-grade items didn’t perform much differently from modern equipment.
The shape was unique and it was far sturdier, but that was it.
A helmet like this could probably be easily split even with Dawn.
‘If it were something used by a high-ranking officer, that’d be different. This is useless to me.’
Equipment from the ruins saw a dramatic increase in performance the higher the grade,
Advanced technology, superior performance, tremendous power.
The common perceptions people had of relics all referred to the top-grade items used by high-ranking officers.
‘Even trash like this sells for a good price, though... Should I take it anyway?’
Demian picked up the guard helmet and held it out to Tievo.
“Hold onto this.”
“Yes, sir!”
Tievo hurriedly took the helmet, saying that. He opened his backpack, pulled out a large cloth, wrapped the helmet in it, and slung it on his back.
After that, Demian checked three more storage areas.
He opened the hidden compartments in each, scraping together whatever items remained.
Thanks to that, Demian managed to assemble a complete guard uniform.
‘Not finding a map stings.’
Demian’s first goal was to find Gasdal.
If he’d had a map, he could have inferred where Gasdal might be hiding, but it was a shame.
He might even be on another floor.
“Let’s go down.”
“Yes, sir!”
Tievo shouted, shouldering the guard uniform at Demian’s words.
* * *
If the first underground floor consisted of a large, elongated corridor, the second underground floor was a vast cavern.
Entrances were pierced into each wall of the cavern.
‘Third floor entrance, break room, supply warehouse,’ it read.
Demian read the writing at each entrance, pondering where to go first.
‘The supply warehouse seems best. There might be a map left for distributing to the guards.’
Demian led Tievo to the warehouse.
Passing through the entrance revealed a corridor. After walking for a while, doors leading to different warehouses appeared at intervals.
They checked each one, but all were empty. Only dust rolled across the floors.
The two reached the deepest warehouse. Nothing remained here either.
“They really scraped everything clean. Nothing’s left.”
Tievo said as he set down the guard uniform. Exhausted, he plopped onto a box-shaped chair nearby.
‘Nothing at all, really.’
He looked around in case there was some separate space that could be opened, but saw nothing.
‘No map in the supply warehouse either... And it’s unlikely to be in the break room.’
It was then, as Demian fell into thought.
“What are you two doing here?”
Someone shouted from the warehouse entrance. When the two turned, they saw a young man wearing chain armor.
A large emblem was emblazoned on the young man’s armor. Seeing it, Tievo whispered to Demian.
“Sir Victor, that’s the emblem of the White Kingdom. He must be a White Kingdom soldier.”
“Why would a White Kingdom soldier be here?”
“From what I’ve heard, they patrol the ruins periodically to maintain public order.”
While the two whispered, the White Kingdom soldier entered the warehouse.
“You two look like you just arrived in the White Kingdom recently. So you’re sightseeing the ruins?”
“You’ve got a good eye, young man. As you can see, that’s right.”
Tievo replied good-naturedly. The soldier shook his head at Tievo’s words.
“There’s nothing to gain from looking around here. If you’re after something, you’ll need to go down to at least the fourth floor.”
Tievo’s eyes widened at the soldier’s words.
“You have to go that deep?”
“If you want anything worthwhile, it’s the fifth floor at least.”
“Whoa... You don’t say.”
Tievo let out a short sigh.
“Sir Victor, it’s getting late today. How about we head back and challenge it again tomorrow after full preparations?”
“That’d be best. The ruins are extremely dangerous.”
The soldier lectured the two.
“Plus, you can’t let your guard down even on these upper floors. Get careless, and you might end up in big trouble.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Tievo asked with a puzzled face.
“Plenty of people have died even on the upper floors.”
“What? Isn’t this place already fully explored and safe?”
The ruins were dangerous due to the traps and ancient golems remaining inside.
But the second floor had been combed through like catching rats by explorers, leaving nothing behind—and no dangers either.
“That’s what everyone thought... But corpses have been steadily turning up here recently. No one knows who’s behind it.”
It was no ordinary matter.
For such incidents to occur in a place with no dangers.
“Maybe mercenaries killing people and looting?”
“We’re investigating that angle too, but... Until the culprit is caught, it’s still dangerous, so please be careful.”
“I think I know why the disappearances are happening.”
Suddenly, Demian spoke up. Surprised, the soldier asked,
“Have you seen the culprit? Or some evidence?”
Demian beckoned the soldier closer in response.
“Pardon? What is it?”
The White Kingdom soldier approached with a baffled look. At that moment, Demian drew Dawn and slashed at the soldier’s face.
Just before Dawn struck, the soldier jerked his head back. He immediately flipped backward through the air.
It was an unbelievably agile movement for a mere soldier.
“Si-Sir Victor!”
Tievo cried out in shock.
“You can’t touch a White Kingdom soldier! If they put out a wanted poster...”
Demian silently pointed at the soldier. Tievo glanced over thoughtlessly and jumped in fright.
The soldier’s face was torn. But instead of the flesh, muscles, and blood vessels a human should have, only a stark white skull was visible.
“G-Gahhh!”
Unlike Tievo, who screamed in terror, Demian remained calm.
Demian had already known the soldier was undead the moment he appeared.
‘A skeleton that can hold a conversation with people?’
It was impossible for undead, as a matter of course.
Undead were created by twisting and shattering human souls. Thus, most lacked proper intelligence.
This undead was the same. It didn’t just lack intelligence—it had none at all.
The reason it could converse like a human was that memories had been implanted into it.
‘Gasdal is definitely hiding here, as expected.’
The field Gasdal, as a necromancer, had focused on was human memory.
Memories normally dissipated the moment a person died. Gasdal had pondered ways to gather and utilize those memories as much as possible.
The undead before them was the result of that research.
An undead that could masquerade as living by replaying memories.
Gasdal’s method of strengthening his legion was also tied to memories.
‘The culprit behind the upper-floor murders is definitely Gasdal’s undead.’
Gasdal had likely hidden undead on each floor.
To ambush explorers in remote areas and steal their souls.
Disguising them as White Kingdom soldiers was a shallow trick to induce carelessness in adventurers.
“B-Be... careful... Be... careful... Be... careful...”
The young soldier repeated his words like a broken machine.
The implanted memories weren’t functioning properly due to the unexpected situation.
White Kingdom soldier.
No, the skeleton drew the sword at his waist. Brilliant aura instantly enveloped the blade.
“I said be careful!”
Roaring grotesquely, the skeleton charged at Demian.
“G-Gahhh!”
Tievo screamed in fright. Demian grabbed Tievo by the scruff and yanked him back.
He threw Tievo behind him to protect him from the skeleton.
Then, he gripped Dawn to cut down the skeleton.
It was at that moment.
Dawn’s blade emitted a dazzling light.