"Master, this...?"
Seeing the passage suddenly open before her eyes, Lizbeth instinctively moved closer to Riezel, timidly asking.
Riezel furrowed his brows, staring at the passage for quite some time before finally responding in a thoughtful tone.
"Well, this should be the passage leading to the tomb chamber, right?"
Upon hearing this, Lizbeth froze.
"Tomb chamber?"
As if recalling something, Lizbeth turned her gaze toward the stone tablet.
"Did you figure it out?" Riezel asked, noticing her reaction, then nodded. "It's the queen's tomb chamber mentioned on the tablet."
Indeed, the ancient script engraved on the stone tablet had already explained that the last queen of the ancient magic civilization was buried here. If that were the case, then this hidden passage was highly likely the one leading to that queen's tomb.
"Queen…"
Once Lizbeth realized this, her eyes grew complicated.
She couldn't help it.
Based on the information at hand, the last queen of the ancient magic civilization was clearly the same queen depicted on the mural holding Moslow.
Since that queen held Moslow, it proved she belonged to the Hero Clan.
In other words, she was very likely Lizbeth's predecessor—perhaps even her distant ancestor from ages past.
"A-Are we going in?"
Lizbeth grew nervous as she asked, but to her surprise, Riezel shook his head.
"No, we won't head that way for now."
Why?
Simple.
"We can go to the queen's tomb chamber any time, but the ones who entered this place before us—if we don't chase them now, we might not catch up later. We'll head over there first."
Riezel pointed to the far-right corner of the stone hall.
Over there, another passage lay hidden.
In fact, not only the far-right corner but the far-left corner of the stone hall also held a passage.
Originally, this stone hall had only those two passages, while the one behind the statue had always been concealed and never discovered.
According to the magic doll's memory, the cold woman and Sigmund had gone down the passage to the right.
As for the left passage, they seemed to have already sent someone to investigate, but inside was only a stone platform with a hole carved into it, and nothing else.
Yes, it was the same hole Yuri had told Riezel about back at the Frenzel residence, the one that perfectly matched Moslow's blade.
It was precisely because of that hole that people who knew about this ancient ruin, including Yuri, believed it was tied to Moslow—and that was also the very reason Riezel and Lizbeth had traveled so far to reach this place.
But for now, the matter of that hole had been set aside.
Given that Moslow was in Lizbeth's hand, they could always go there later.
What mattered more was the passage on the right.
No one knew where it led or what was inside—not even the magic doll.
Originally, the magic dolls had wanted to explore it, but their memories showed that, before they could act, Sigmund had stopped them harshly.
At that time, Sigmund's behavior was filled with unease, caution, and even fear, which made Riezel boldly speculate.
'I have a feeling the thing that Sigmund and the two countries' leaders feared most should be at the end of that passage.'
Moreover, the people behind the magic dolls likely had their sights set on it as well, so Riezel intended to go take a look for himself.
"How about this, Lizbeth—you go to the tomb chamber first?"
Riezel offered this suggestion to the little princess.
"No! I'm staying with you, Master!"
As soon as she heard the suggestion, the princess shook her head furiously without even thinking.
"Alright."
After giving it some thought, Riezel realized it wasn't wise either.
Who knew if there was danger inside the tomb chamber?
If even an open passage held a terrifying threat strong enough to make a Sword Saint and two countries wary, then who could say whether this deliberately hidden passage didn't contain something even worse?
Although Lizbeth held Moslow and had a strong connection to the queen sleeping in the tomb chamber, which meant she probably would not be harmed, better safe than sorry.
Sending her in alone would indeed be too harsh.
"In that case, stay with me." Riezel said with a smile. "We'll sneak in first and see what those people are up to."
"O-Okay!"
Lizbeth naturally had no objections, so under Riezel's lead, she followed him into the passage in the far-right corner of the stone hall.
Just like before, the passage was an oppressively hot corridor, but it was definitely hotter than the previous one—enough to tell Riezel and Lizbeth that the heat's source likely lay at the end.
Of course, there should also be dangers within, but those apparently had already been cleared away.
As Riezel entered, he saw the uneven ground littered with shattered stones and iron fragments. He immediately deduced that Sigmund's group had already dismantled the many magical traps and mechanisms here and had even dealt with the guardians of the corridor.
Moreover, the scattered remains of stone and iron gave Riezel the same impression as the Autonomous Guardians inside the Underground Demon Beast Yarakulon's body that had once protected the ancient city.
He was sure this corridor had originally been guarded in the same way, only for Sigmund's group to have destroyed them.
'Well, that saves me some effort.'
Riezel promptly scooped the princess into his arms.
As Lizbeth panicked, her face turning bright red, he spread his flight magic and soared forward while layering concealment magic spells over them.
In the sweltering passage, a streak of light flashed like a meteor, racing straight toward the end.
===
Unknowingly, Riezel had flown for nearly half an hour.
"Still not there yet?"
Looking at the endless corridor ahead, Riezel clicked his tongue at the sight of it stretching far longer than he had imagined.
At some point, it stopped running straight and began sloping downward.
In other words, the deeper he went, the further underground he descended—and the further down he went, the hotter it became.
'Could the end of this corridor be the magma layer underground?'
Riezel could not help but think so.
Unfortunately, it seemed he was right.
At this moment, he caught a scorched stench, sharp like sulfuric acid, and ahead, the air wavered as heat thickened into a nearly tangible form, surging through the sealed corridor.
By the time his vision reddened, he finally reached the end—or rather, he finally saw the glowing magma.
*Whoosh!*
Riezel braked hard without hesitation, halting in mid-flight.
He could feel Lizbeth clutching his clothes tightly, her anxiety growing ever sharper, but Riezel paid no attention to the warmth in his arms.
Still holding Lizbeth, he drifted to the corridor's end and flew out, soon entering a crimson world.
What lay before him was a space hundreds of times larger than the stone hall he had just left—vast enough to hold half a town.
Yet despite its immensity, it was a world no living person should ever tread.
Even though it resembled a massive cavern, the ground below was a roiling sea of magma, its searing heat rising upward and staining the entire space in red.
"It really is underground magma..."
Riezel sighed, finally grasping the riddle of this suffocating heat.
Suddenly, Lizbeth shuddered in his arms, trembling violently.
She was shocked.
She was afraid.
She nearly screamed, but barely managed to cover her mouth in time.
"Lizbeth?"
Riezel blinked, then, as if sensing something, whipped his head around toward a spot where the magma flowed.
Over there, a rocky platform that resembled a massive execution stand rose above the molten surface. At its center stood a golden pillar inscribed with runes, instantly reminding Riezel of the temple in the ancient city protected by Maya.
When that temple's barrier had been lifted, the runes that burst forth were the exact same kind as these—but that was not what mattered most.
What mattered most was that beneath the rune pillar lay a massive creature pinned in place.
As the creature entered his sight, the usually calm Riezel's pupils contracted sharply, for such a being was by no means unfamiliar to him—or to anyone.
A monstrous body like a feral beast.
Vast, fleshy wings resembling a bat's.
A head both horse-like and crocodilian, horned and covered in scales.
A long, winding tail tipped with a spike.
Limbs ending in massive claws, ridged with spines down its back.
It was a dragon.
A crimson giant dragon.
A ferocious fire dragon.
It was bound beneath the rune pillar on the execution-stand-like platform.
At times, magma washed over its outstretched wings, but instead of burning them away, it flowed like warm water, gently passing by.
Even though its eyes were shut as if lifeless, the thunderous snores and fiery breaths flaring from its nostrils revealed the truth—it lived.
It was a living dragon!
A living fire dragon!
Its dreadful and ancient draconic might radiated naturally, filling Lizbeth with terror and freezing Riezel in place.
In that instant, Riezel finally understood what Sigmund and the two countries truly feared.
It was this dragon!
At the same time, the words from the stone tablet resurfaced in Riezel's mind.
—Following the queen's final wish, we bury her here together with the servant of the king of calamity.
Evidently, buried here was not only the queen of the Hero Clan, but also the servant of the so-called king of calamity.
===
[A bonus chapter for every 500 Power Stones.]
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