*Thud!*
With a heavy thud, the magic doll whose brain had been destroyed crashed to the ground, completely losing consciousness.
Riezel released the hand pressing against the magic doll's head and ignored them, his brows furrowing tightly.
"...Master?"
Lizbeth, already at Riezel's side, carefully called out as she saw his tightly furrowed brows.
"It's nothing."
Riezel suppressed the flood of thoughts in his heart, stretched out his hand, and gently patted Lizbeth's head to calm her down.
However, deep inside, Riezel already believed that this journey would not be as easy as he had thought.
Even though he did not know why Sigmund was with that cold woman, nor if she was one of those behind the magic dolls, judging by their stance, they were clearly here for this ancient ruin.
Knowing this, it instantly reminded him of the ancient city within Yarakulon.
It should be known that the ancient city had once welcomed the masterminds behind these magic dolls. Even the ancient city guardian, Maya, had been deceived, resulting in the temple being plundered, countless treasures along with the knowledge and technology of the ancient magic civilization being stolen, leaving her regretful for a long time.
'Could it be that this time, they are also here for the treasures, or for the knowledge and technology of the ancient magic civilization hidden within this ancient ruin?'
Riezel could only think of this possibility.
Although this ancient ruin had been excavated long ago, because of unknown dangers, whether Sigmund, Jinas, or Reiburg, all held deep fear toward it.
To this day, Riezel still could not understand why those people dreaded this ancient ruin so much.
Was it really just because it was dangerous?
Indeed, the monsters within the labyrinth were strange, as each one possessed strength far beyond that of monsters in the outside world. But to make two great countries and even a Sword Saint retreat—such a reason alone was far from enough.
'There must be an even greater danger sleeping within this ancient ruin...'
Evidently, that danger was what had kept this ancient ruin from being fully explored. Only reckless adventurers had occasionally brought out small things, while most of the place should still have remained intact.
If those behind the magic dolls had set their eyes on the treasures within, then sending people here with such effort would be understandable.
Of course, since Riezel was here as well, conflict with those people was unavoidable—or rather, even if they wanted to avoid it, he would not allow it.
And so, with this thought, Riezel shifted his attention and turned his gaze to the murals around him, which shared the same style as those inside the temple at the heart of the ancient city within Yarakulon.
However, they clearly did not depict the same story.
While the murals inside the ancient city's temple mainly depicted how the Hero Clan had received power from the 'God' and led humanity to prosperity, the murals here depicted scenes of war.
Riezel saw the same image Yuri had once given him back in the Frenzel family—a rubbing of a mural from another ruin.
It showed a queen holding Moslow, leading a human army against a horde of beasts backed by a colossal black shadow that reached the sky.
Riezel took Lizbeth by the hand and walked along the murals, interpreting the history recorded there.
At first, under the leadership of the queen wielding Moslow, humanity gradually escaped its weakness through years of struggle and hard work, finally suppressing the monsters that once ravaged the land.
One city after another rose across the land, making the world become humanity's domain, covered with human footprints.
Maybe this was the peak of the ancient magic civilization, its final glory, until a disaster struck.
A colossal black shadow that reached the sky appeared, effortlessly destroying human cities. Humans rose up to resist, but compared to it, they were as insignificant as ants—trampled, crushed, ravaged.
Meanwhile, the beasts prostrated themselves before the shadow, gaining their own 'King.'
In the end, man and beast, king and king, split into two factions and waged war across the entire continent.
The war brought catastrophic human casualties.
The war turned one city after another into ruins.
The number of beasts dwindled.
The number of humans dwindled.
Civilization on the surface vanished.
Life, nature, forests, mountains, and rivers—everything slowly disappeared amidst the war.
Ultimately, only the queen holding Moslow remained on the scarred earth, her body covered in wounds. Before her, the colossal black shadow was bound by countless chains, roaring in defiance as it sank into the sea.
"..."
Riezel stayed silent.
From the murals, he felt a heavy pressure, a tragic will, and a deep, sorrowful loneliness.
Lizbeth, held by his hand, had followed quietly without a word at first, but as time passed, she too was drawn into the story painted on the walls.
By the end, the little princess's heart overflowed with sorrow, her eyes blurring with tears.
*Buzz—!*
Suddenly, Moslow, clutched tightly in Lizbeth's arms, began to move.
*Schwing!*
With a clear ringing, Moslow drew itself from its sheath and flew away.
"Moslow!"
Lizbeth instantly forgot her sadness and cried out in alarm.
Riezel also reacted, quickly looking in the direction it flew.
Moslow flew straight toward the cube statue and, with a crisp metallic clang, stabbed into the stone tablet before it.
Riezel and Lizbeth exchanged a glance and hurriedly ran toward it, stopping in front of the stone tablet.
They saw words carved into it, but Riezel could not recognize them at all.
"It's... ancient script..." Lizbeth whispered softly.
"Ancient script..." Riezel nodded in realization.
As the name suggested, ancient script was the writing used in the age of the ancient magic civilization. Experts of the modern magic civilization had long believed that the ancient script carried power.
One of the simplest proofs was in the chants of modern magic spells—many parts of those chants resembled ancient script.
For that reason, magicians believed that in the beginning, all magic chants were written in ancient script, only later altered and corrupted through thousands of years of change into their current distorted form.
Some great magicians even believed that if one could decipher all of the ancient script, they could master every magic in existence.
As a result, many magicians studied it obsessively.
Unfortunately, deciphering the ancient script had never gone smoothly, as even Volcarion, the most ancient country, had repeatedly failed in such research.
By contrast, Theresis was said to hold a partial inheritance from the ancient magic civilization, granting them a far greater understanding of the script than any other country on the continent.
"Lizbeth, can you read ancient script?" Riezel asked, glancing at the little princess beside him.
"I-I can't... I'm sorry..." Lizbeth lowered her head in shame.
"It's fine. If you can't, you can't." Riezel chuckled and then looked back at the tablet. "Plenty of people can't. Don't feel bad about it."
Naturally, he could not read the ancient script either, but fortunately, he had magic.
In YGGDRASIL, there had been an item called the Magic Glasses that could translate unknown words, and Riezel luckily had mastered a magic spell with the same effect.
"Greater Translation."
As Riezel cast the magic spell, a faint glow of magical energy shone in his eyes, and soon, under this glow, the characters on the tablet no longer seemed foreign—they came alive, leaping into his sight, swirling in his mind, until they transformed into words he could understand.
Riezel then smoothly deciphered the content.
"The war has ended."
"By order of the last queen, we now set forth on a journey to find a second homeland."
"The glorious days have passed."
"The long glory has forever slumbered with the scarred earth."
"Following the queen's final wish, we bury her here together with the servant of the king of calamity."
"May this world know no more strife."
"May humanity live in peace."
"Erected by the most loyal vassals of the Reinnail—the Theresis Clan."
As Riezel read aloud, both he and Lizbeth were stunned.
'Reinnail?' Riezel thought in surprise. 'Isn't that Lizbeth's surname?'
He immediately looked at Lizbeth.
"Theresis? Vassals?" Lizbeth muttered in confusion.
Theresis was no unfamiliar name—at the very least, it was impossible not to think of the northern Queendom of Theresis.
In that moment, countless thoughts ran through both their minds, leaving them staring at each other in silence for a long time.
*Buzz—!*
Suddenly, Moslow, still embedded beside the tablet, moved again, flying once more toward the cube statue and stabbing into its surface.
In that instant, the cube statue began to shift.
*Rumble—!*
With a tremor, the cube statue slowly sank, revealing the wall behind it, which then began to descend as well, sending dust and rubble cascading down with a great roar.
Before long, as the wall fell away, the sight behind it was revealed.
A wide passage opened before Riezel and Lizbeth, its destination unknown.
===
[A bonus chapter for every 500 Power Stones.]
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