Chapter 467: 432 "Ancient Ruins
"Whoosh!"
The vast and seemingly boundless cavern above, with its luminous crystals, had once again transformed into a streak of light, speeding forth and leaving the monsters and insects it encountered far behind.
Reiger chased the streak of light with undivided attention, also at an extremely fast pace, prompting Revin, who was following closely behind him, to speak up.
"What on earth are you planning to do?"
The Lord of the Melpros region was now running wildly on the ground, looking up at Reiger flying at high speed in the sky, his eyes filled with shock.
Clearly, even the Marquis had never seen flying magic, and because of the urgency of the previous battle, he hadn’t had time to consider it. Now that he had a chance to reflect, he couldn’t avoid being astounded.
Fortunately, his speed was not slow. Though he couldn’t fly like Reiger, as a Sword Saint, Revin could easily break the sound barrier when running on the ground, so even if slightly shocked, he did not fall behind and kept close behind Reiger, his tattered armor rattling with metallic sounds.
Upon closer inspection, one could see that Revin’s Monis Armor seemed to have self-repaired considerably, with some previously damaged areas having returned to their original state.
This was the automatic repair ability of the Monis Armor.
As an Ancient Secret Treasure like the Sword of the Rebel, the Monis Armor could slowly regenerate even if it were completely shattered, and would never be rendered useless.
As of now, no one on the Continent of Akasha had found a way to completely destroy this set of armor.
This just goes to show that the ancient magic civilization was indeed far more advanced than the current magic civilization, as every heirloom passed down from that era was extraordinary, and was not something that the modern magic technologies could easily decipher.
Reiger glanced at the Melpros Marquis and said, "I already told you I had something to do here. If you want to leave, you can look for me, if not, then forget it. Just don’t bother me."
Upon hearing this, Revin couldn’t help but fall silent, and after a while, he finally asked, "Do you really have a way out?"
"Don’t make me repeat the same thing," Reiger replied without looking back. "Do you want to leave or not? You decide!"
Revin no longer spoke, but silently continued to run on the ground.
Clearly, Revin had temporarily abandoned the idea of leaving this place.
Reiger subsequently ignored Revin.
And so, a peculiar sight unfolded in the desolate cavern: a crystal flying in front, a man flying behind, and another man running hard on the ground.
"Buzz, buzz, buzz!"
"Buzz, buzz, buzz!"
Throughout their journey, many monsters and insects were disturbed by the two men and a crystal, with the sound of flapping wings rising and falling one after another, reaching the ears of Reiger and Revin.
However, this time, these monsters and insects didn’t swarm like crazed beasts as they had before; instead, when the crystal streaked by as a beam of light, they scattered on the spot as if they had encountered something terrifying, just like before.
"It seems these monsters and insects are very afraid of this crystal," Reiger mused.
Even Revin squinted his eyes when he saw this scene, thinking, "I wonder what the origin of this crystal is, and whether it can be taken out."
If it could be taken out, then this crystal would likely become an object coveted by nations across the continent, especially those countries that had experienced insect plagues caused by monsters and insects. They would certainly do everything they could, at great cost, to acquire a piece.
With it, the insect plagues that had long troubled many countries in the world could be resolved, without having to worry about future attacks from monsters and insects.
Naturally, Revin was also tempted. If he could take a piece of this crystal back, then even if the Melpros region faced an insect plague, it could be easily avoided or resolved.
Reiger and Revin each had their own thoughts, sinking into contemplation while closely following the crystal through one cavern after another.
After some time, Revin took no further heed, but Reiger, who was keenly aware, noticed that the crystal was slowing down.
Reiger immediately slowed down as well, and even Revin on the ground seemed to sense something, similarly slowing down his running pace.
The speeds of the two men and the crystal gradually decreased until, at a certain moment, they all came to a stop.
But as they stopped, Reiger and Revin’s eyes both widened instantly.
"A city... a city?"
Revin could hardly believe what he was seeing.
Reiger felt much the same, looking at the scene before him with a mix of surprise and uncertainty.
In front of them, the monotonous cavern suddenly transformed, opening up into a vast expanse.
This expanse was clearly a chamber, with walls and a ceiling all around, but both its width and scale dwarfed the caverns they had previously seen.
The chamber was so large that Reiger and Revin could only see the walls standing in the distance, estimating that it would take at least several dozen kilometers to reach their location, possibly even more.
In such a massive chamber lay a city.
It was a city in ruins.
Many buildings still maintained their shapes but were very old.
A wall encircled the city like a fortress, leaving only one entrance open.
The materials used for the city walls and other buildings appeared to be entirely stone, presenting an ancient and exotic appearance.
Seeing such an ancient city, Reiger unconsciously murmured.
"Ancient ruins..."
Indeed.
This decrepit and ancient city gave Reiger the impression that it was a relic from a bygone era, left to the present day.
Not only did Reiger feel this way, but so did Revin.
"Why?" Revin was already somewhat confused, clutching the magic Sword of the Rebel and said in a low voice, "Why can the interior of the underground magic beast Yarakulon not only allow humans like us to survive? There are mysterious giants roaming about, and there is an ancient relic situated right here?"
This indeed was enough to topple one’s worldview.
At least for Revin, even though he was a seasoned Sword Saint who had roamed the continent in his youth, he had ended up in such a state.
On the contrary, Reiger quickly regained his composure.
"There are many secrets about this underground magic beast that we do not know."
That much was certain.
And now, these secrets were before them, partially unveiled.
"You’re right," Revin also came around, suddenly becoming excited, "Regardless, this is definitely an undiscovered relic that no one has ever found before. It may be filled with a lot of knowledge, many secrets, and perhaps many unknown ancient secret treasures."
Thinking that there may be treasures in this city of the same caliber as his magic Sword of the Rebel and Monis Armor, Revin instinctively wanted to approach it.
"Huh!"
At that moment, a fist flew over, aimed at Revin’s face.
"...!?"
Revin quickly reacted, leaping to avoid the blow aimed at his face.
"What are you doing?"
Revin glared at Reiger.
"Shouldn’t I be the one asking you that?" Reiger slowly retracted his fist and said, "You actually completely ignored my opinion and prepared to go in? It seems the Marquis is even more self-centered than I thought!"
Self-centered is you, isn’t it?
Remembering how Reiger had barged into his home and, without so much as a word, challenged him and fought with him, Revin’s mood soured.
Although he had indeed been a bit too excited just now, with Revin’s strong-willed nature, he naturally would not admit it.
"This is a relic discovered in my Mepros territory. Even if the kingdom sends people over, as the lord, I have the first right to explore it."
Revin’s meaning was clear: he wanted to go in if he wished, and it was legal and reasonable, without considering anyone else’s opinion.
But such a claim obviously wouldn’t work in front of Reiger.
"I remember, when an ancient relic is discovered, the first discoverer also enjoys the right to be the first to enter the relic for exploration, is that not the case?" Reiger looked at Revin with a half-smile, and said, "Moreover, this is not Mepros territory but the interior of the underground magic beast Yarakulon. Whether it is still part of Mepros territory is unknown. Given that, what first right of exploration does the lord of Mepros territory have?"
"This..." Revin was at a loss for words.
"Hmph." With a light snort, Reiger said, "Besides, do you think you can get in there so easily?"
Reiger then looked towards the ruined city’s entrance.
There, at the entrance, stood two giant figures, one on the left and one on the right, guarding it like doormen, with the entrance behind them.
"Giants?"
When Revin saw this, his expression darkened.
The giant figures guarding the city entrance like doormen were the same kind of giants as they had encountered before.
Furthermore, these two giants were much larger than the one they had encountered before, at least seven or eight meters in height.
If that size wasn’t just for show, then one could imagine that these two giants must be much stronger than the one previously encountered.
And the crystal left by the defeated giant had already flown into the city, disappearing from Reiger and Revin’s sight.
That’s what Reiger said.
"Although there are still many mysteries, these giants are clearly the guardians of this city."
"The giant we just defeated is one of them too. They are what’s known as autonomous guardians, created with the sole purpose to protect something."
"They are not living beings but artificially made entities."
This information was what Reiger obtained through "Advanced Artifact Identification" from that crystal.
"So, you’re saying if we approach, we will definitely be seen as enemies by those giants, right?" Revin said with a grave voice.
"Exactly." Reiger answered impassively.
"So, we just stand here and watch?" Revin looked towards Reiger.
"Of course not," Reiger glanced at Revin and said, "Since we’ve come this far, naturally we should go in and have a look."