Ancient ruins (2)
As the Wilzed family’s expedition arrived at the ruins, other expeditions also entered the mysterious rift formation one after another.
The ruins site was so large that each exploration team was stationed in a different location and did not meet each other.
“How long have you been here?”
Exploration Unit Leader Redian answered Princess Citrine’s question.
“According to what is known, there are thirty-two teams. Of course, this includes small teams, so if you only measure large expeditions of more than fifty people, there are about ten teams.”
“You’ve come a long way. Anyway, Captain of the Exploration Unit. I’ll be counting on you.”
When the princess winked, Redian smiled politely and lowered her head.
Unlike Ailka, who handed over the command authority to the experienced and stepped down as the vice-captain herself, Citrine could not give up her position as the ‘captain’. Although she handed over all command authority to the vice-captain, the captain position had to be someone of royal blood.
This is partly due to her personality, but it is also due to the imperial education she received. It is the law that members of the imperial family should not be subordinate to anyone, no matter what they do.
“It’s quite a charming place… … .”
While setting up a temporary barracks near the ruins, Citrine looked around. The mysterious rock structures surrounded by the forest were enough to make Citrine, who had become a woman, feel like a girl for the first time in a long time.
“It’s beautiful, but you have to be careful.”
“Yeah. That would be dangerous.”
“No. You should be more careful of people.”
“person?”
“There are various nobles, various criminals, and various powerful people who have come here. There must be many more people wandering around the ruins than are known. Since incidents that occur here leave no evidence, it is not strange if there are raids.”
“You brought a tight escort in preparation for that?”
Princess Ailka Wilzed also brought along a 9-star knight.
Nine-star knights may not be a common name, but they are nobles who stand at the top of the world.
He is more than qualified to take such a strong person with him on a dangerous relic exploration.
“But you always have to consider contingencies.”
“Okay, okay. I’ll be careful.”
Citrine had no intention of wandering around thoughtlessly like a child.
‘The Hero’s Relic. I must obtain it. If I have it, my position in the imperial court will be assured… ‘
She planned to obtain the relic of the warrior in order to escape her fate of being bound to the imperial family.
I have no intention of approaching this operation with the mindset of a reckless noble.
“We will continue the operation. It is important to safely penetrate the ruins, but the goal is to capture the relic before the other team can. We will need to move quickly.”
The imperial expedition team quickly prepared and entered the ruins site.
There was nothing that could be called an entrance. Strictly speaking, there were so many entrances that it was hard to tell which was the real entrance. From the beginning, the intuition of the exploration team leader was very important.
“There are signs that another expedition team has moved.”
“Are we one step late?”
“It’s okay. Rather, if you follow the traces of how other expeditions moved, you can stock up on stamina and equipment.”
It seemed that the expedition team that had set out first was able to figure out where and how they had wandered and found their way, and the expedition team quickly climbed up to the ruins.
But as they went up, the expression on the expedition team leader’s face hardened.
“The traces suddenly disappeared.”
“Is there a possibility that the traces were erased?”
“It’s impossible. With such a large group of people moving together, there’s bound to be traces left behind in such an old ruin.”
“then…….”
“We should also consider the possibility that the space is separated. And there’s something else strange about it.”
The expedition leader looked around.
From the outside, the ruins looked like a small tower. Furthermore, the higher it went, the more pointed it became, so the space should have narrowed.
But this place was too big.
It was as large as five sports fields combined, and the open walls gave a clear view of the outside weather, with a red sunset.
It was currently morning. It was definitely not the time for sunset.
“That’s strange. If a phenomenon of spatial distortion had occurred, it would have been detected by the signal… … What does the Magic Detection Team think?”
“Um, I didn’t feel any spatial distortion, but I sensed something similar.”
At that moment, the wizards were checking the signal by drawing a magic circle in the air, as if they had discovered something strange.
“Oh, my… … Space isn’t just distorted, it’s falling apart into pieces. The space we’re currently in is fine, but if we take a few more steps, another space will appear and we’ll be isolated from each other.”
“Hmm. We should keep in mind that if the agents keep their distance, they may disperse.”
It was the first time that Exploration Unit Leader Redian had encountered a case where space was shattered into pieces.
However, this is a historic site built to protect the relics of the warrior Kaladan. It is not strange for any phenomenon to occur.
“Okay. First, let’s use the navigation magic here… … Hmm?”
Ledian, who had been giving instructions to the wizards, frowned and looked around.
“Oh, my.”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Something was approaching from all sides. However, upon closer inspection, it was not something approaching, but space folding.
The sight of the distant outer space slowly approaching this place was extremely bizarre and frightening, but Redian was able to remain calm.
“Wizard Division. Prepare magical defenses.”
No matter how bizarre the phenomenon may be that distorts or folds space, it is meaningless in the face of modern magical technology.
What about the cutting-edge defensive magic of the Herael royal family?
Woof woof woof!
As the golden curtain unfolded, the approaching space stopped right in front of me.
“This stops the strange space traps in the ruins from interfering with us.”
After briefly reporting to Citrine, Radian tried to move forward again, but her expression hardened.
“… … I didn’t think of that.”
Yes. It was certainly possible to block spatial interference. However, spatial interference was not something that could be solved by defense.
Even if the expedition team couldn’t reach it, the space around it would already be completely distorted.
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Thud! Swish…!
The waves crash and the water splashes.
Citrine looked puzzled as she looked at the space that had suddenly turned into a beach.
“What, what is this… … .”
I hurriedly checked the expression on the exploration team leader’s face, and he too could not hide his bewilderment, as this was his first time experiencing something like this.
“This… … has become quite a headache.” * * *
Harang, who participated in the expedition led by Count Delite, also faced a similar situation.
“It suddenly became a forest… … .”
Here the situation was a little different.
Unlike the imperial expedition that moved to the beach, they moved to a dense forest.
“This is strange. It’s not like the space is distorted, it’s just been detected as having completely turned into a forest.”
“Is there any chance of it being welcome?”
“Zero. No matter how welcome it is, it will inevitably be detected by modern detection technology… … .”
Even if you can’t escape the illusion, you will be detected by the wizard the moment you are caught in the illusion. Modern technology has advanced to that extent. However, this space is neither an illusion nor a space transfer.
But, you can’t help but be confused when all sides are suddenly covered with forest.
“I will open the way by using my navigation magic.”
As the wizards sat down and recited their spells, a large magic circle appeared in the air.
There, waves spread out, and dozens of pure white birds appeared and scattered in all directions, each finding their own way.
But the wizards’ expressions were not good.
“At least… … a radius of several hundred kilometers is completely covered with forest.”
“The end of the road is not in sight. Our exploration magic has its limits, so we will have to move around and find it ourselves.”
“hmm.”
Count Delite had an intuition that the situation was not good, but he did not show it on his face. If the expedition leader panics, the members of the expedition will become uneasy.
He tried to come up with a way with as calm an expression as possible, but suddenly his gaze went somewhere.
The shaman woman who was said to have predicted the weather and her bodyguard were staring somewhere.
Delite approached them.
“Witch Doctor. Have you found out anything?”
“Yes, yes?!”
Taniya, who had been quietly talking to Harang, turned her head in surprise. It was obvious to anyone that she was hiding something.
-Hey, can you teach that girl to control her facial expressions properly?
Celine, who had been watching quietly from the side, clicked her tongue.
“It doesn’t matter.”
When Harang nodded, Taniya, who had been observing her, carefully parted her lips.
“Yes… … Even though the space has changed, the spirits that were staying in the ruins are still there. If you ask them for directions, you might be able to find a way out.”
“Huh, is that true? But is there any guarantee that the ghosts will find the right path?”
Count Deliten asked that question because he was suspicious of the very existence of ghosts, but Taniya pointed somewhere with her finger.
And then move your lips.
“Open up.”
Something magical happened.
Passs …
The forest and the forest part, and suddenly a path begins to open up!
“Ah, no! How could this be… … !”
The wizards who had been analyzing the cause of the phenomenon while using their exploratory magic suddenly stood up in shock.
“How could something that was impossible even with magic… …!”
To the eyes of magicians who analyzed all phenomena with science and mathematics, the impossible seemed to be realized.
Actually, that wasn’t wrong.
‘If this were a real forest, something like that wouldn’t have been possible. In the first place, sorcery doesn’t have the ability to interfere with the physical forces of reality.’
Harang was indifferent to Taniya’s sorcery. This forest was not an illusion.
A kind of ghost… … that is, a trace left behind after space died.
When a person dies, they become a ghost, and when a space dies, they leave behind a trace of the space like dregs. The concept of ‘space dying’ itself was not something Harang could understand, but it seems that this also happened when fighting the Demon King.
“… … I don’t know for sure, but it looks like the sorcerer has accomplished something. Good. Excellent. The expedition team should head straight for that place.”
Count Delite tried his best to remain calm, but he was more surprised than anyone else.
He slowly walked towards the leader of the expedition team and whispered quietly to him.
‘They are too dangerous. Especially sorcery, whose powers are unpredictable.’
The leader of the expedition team understood the meaning of those words alone.
Those with such outstanding abilities would definitely want to covet the relic. If a sorcerer with the mystical ability to control even space were to go after the relic, it could be quite a headache.
Of course, the sorcerer did not actually have any great ability to manipulate space. However, the ability that was unfolding before his eyes now seemed so omnipotent that it could not help but arouse Count Deliten’s wariness.
‘It doesn’t matter what abilities you have, if your heart is pierced, you will definitely die.’
If they survive until the time when they obtain the relic from the ruins.
‘I must strike them with my sword.’
The leader of the expedition team grabbed the hilt of his sword.
