Yuan Tong
Chapter 1651 Suspicious Ruins
Within the Black Forest, deadly dangers lurked at every turn, especially in a world where magic existed.
According to the ancient legends of Lahrhein, the world was initially formed from a boiling and violent sea of "Source Elements." The chaotic, primordial energy surged and ebbed in this sea, colliding and creating the first great bubble, called "Ank." This bubble burst, and from within, the first living beings emerged. These creatures struggled on the fragments left after the bubble's destruction, constantly absorbing the energy of the Source Elements, gradually cooling the sea of Source Elements around the bubble, thus forming the world. The cooled Source Elements became the first seas, encircling the continent of Lahrhein in endless oceans.
However, not all the "primordial beings" survived this process. Some went mad while absorbing the Source Elements, desperately consuming the energy until they shattered themselves. These failures, consumed by greed and self-annihilation, became the source of all magical creatures in the world. Their pulverized corpses floated across the world, each particle turning into a monster. These monsters inherited the nature of greed, constantly craving the nourishment of magical power – so they gathered near sources of powerful but uncontrolled magic, becoming the most feared opponents of every magic user.
This was why Leah practiced the Thirty-Six Mad Demon Staff Techniques with an iron staff.
With a piercing shriek, a lizard as black as ink, covered in hard crystalline scales, was sent flying. It crashed to the ground, carving a ten-meter-long trench. As life drained from the monster, its mutated crystalline scales rapidly weathered and fell away like sand, revealing the normal-sized lizard beneath. Within seconds, the lizard itself began to rot and wither, slowly turning into a pile of unrecognizable, rotten flesh and bones.
Leah maintained her stance, having swung the iron staff forward. She took a deep breath before slowly retracting it. "Bacherly, the magical creature research expert, figured out three hundred years ago that these 'Magic Eaters' are actually just mutated products of severe magical energy erosion. They don't gather near magic sources because of greed, but because they originally lived there, and were subsequently corrupted by magic..."
She stowed her staff, astonished as she watched Lily use her x998 alloy greatsword, as large as a door, to meticulously pound a Magic Eater bear-monster into the ground. Shaking her head, she continued to provide the commentary expected of a scholar: "Although myths have become legends, and scholars have proven that there's no so-called Sea of Source Elements beyond the endless ocean, the danger of these Magic Eater monsters is very real. Spellcasters fear encountering them because these monsters are themselves mutated by magic. Their hides are so resistant to magic that they're almost immune. So, when a mage encounters these monsters, they either use a staff to beat them, like me, or hand them over to a warrior..."
As she spoke, her eye twitched. In the corner of her vision, Elizabeth, the little girl, kicked over a Magic Eater giant lizard. Then, she pried open the giant lizard's mouth with one hand and shoved a face-basin-sized fireball into its belly with the other. Magic-Eater-mutated monsters are indeed highly resistant to magic, but that doesn't mean they have a huge appetite. After stuffing in the third fireball, the poor monster finally gave up the ghost: it was stuffed to death.
"Yay!!" The demon girl cheered happily, a naive and adorable smile on her face.
Leah completely lost her enthusiasm for commentary, abruptly ending her lecture: "...Specific combat techniques can also be effective against Magic Eater monsters."
The team encountered a monster attack shortly after entering the Black Forest. And what appeared at the start wasn't a traditional beast, but the "magical creature" that Leah had mentioned earlier, driven mad by the influence of magic. With the attitude of collecting environmental parameters of this world, while also gathering biological samples, Hao Ren and his group immediately brandished their blades and spears and joined the battle, like a group of true mercenaries—but Leah, as the employer, did not obediently watch from the sidelines, but also rolled up her sleeves and joined in.
This mage certainly had a different style compared to ordinary academic scholars. After she rushed up waving her staff, everyone immediately realized this point. After all, no normal scholar could swing a several-dozen-pound iron staff with such vigor, and also be able to use the Thirty-Six Enchanted Staff Techniques. Even with Hao Ren's vast knowledge, he only knew one exception, Anthony J. Alfonso, and this Miss Leah was clearly the second exception.
But for Miss Leah, this group of newly acquainted "mercenaries" was more than just an exception.
The way these guys fought was simply unheard of – seriously challenging her understanding of every combat profession and every practical tactic. Any instructor who had passed the certification exam would probably burn his certificate after seeing these guys fight: the werewolf greatsword wielder didn't know a single sword technique, and was using the door-sized sword to smash monsters from beginning to end; the fire-elemental mage little girl only knew one fireball spell, and then was waving the big fireball to smash monsters; the warrior named Izhaks also didn't have any moves. His main method of attack was to casually grab the enemy and then use the enemy to smash monsters; the naga healer had curled himself up from the beginning of the battle and didn't know where he had rolled to, but a few healing spells were thrown out in time during the battle; the cat person who claimed to be a dark night assassin had not been seen since the battle started, and only ran out when everyone was about to finish, with a fish in his mouth – this was simply incomprehensible, because there was no river in the forest at all, how far did she run to catch the fish?
If one or two maverick guys popped up, Leah could explain it with "the world is full of wonders," but it was hard to understand a group of weird guys getting together to go out for a stroll. She suddenly began to wonder if it was a mistake to find these guys for help: putting aside the strange fighting styles of this group, just their strength alone was already an example of being able to walk sideways anywhere. Was it possible for such a group of people to encounter an accident during their travels and fall into the predicament of running to the mercenary guild to pick up private work?
However, her doubts were soon interrupted by Hao Ren's voice: "All done, all done, these things aren't as difficult to deal with as you said."
Leah's eyes twitched: "Because not everyone can smash a whole group of Magic Eater monsters as violently as you guys – are you guys really just a group of adventurers trying to make a living?"
"A 'combat mage' who can wave a staff to beat up magical beasts, dare to say about us?" Hao Ren laughed, not intending to answer Leah's question. Anyway, he was just a passerby in this world, and he didn't care about these details. "You don't need to worry about our origins. Anyway, we will definitely complete this contract well. Isn't there such a saying in the mercenary business: don't ask the name, just count the gold coins."
Leah raised her eyebrows: "That sentence sounds a bit professional."
At this time, Vivian walked over carrying the rolling belt of the cat girl: "We have already started encountering monsters, how far is the ruin you said?"
The cat girl struggled hard, twisting her upper body: "Let me down meow! Let me down! I saw that you didn't need help, so I went to catch fish!"
"With the appearance of Magic Eater monsters, we are not far from that entrance," Leah ignored the cat person's clamor, and instead looked down at a magic scroll in her hand, which was a magic map that she had copied and made in advance, which automatically recorded the route that everyone took after entering the forest and the location where they were attacked. "Just like I expected, that ruin still has magic leaking outwards, which makes it much easier to find..."
As Leah said this, she put away the scroll, raised her iron staff and drew a simple magic rune in the air. As this symbol gradually dissipated in the air, she looked up at a certain direction in the depths of the dense forest: "That way."
Under the guidance of the mage, everyone encountered several more monster attacks that were not threatening, and finally saw some shadows of ruins between the overgrown vines and fallen giant trees.
The ruin was very close.
"These things..." Vivian looked at the increasing number of ruins around, with a trace of doubt in her eyes, "Why do I always feel like I've seen them somewhere?"
In the dim and gloomy depths of the Black Forest, relics of ancient civilizations from ancient times silently lurked in the grass, enduring the erosion and erosion of the passage of time. Thick soil and decaying leaves, accumulated moss over the years, and intertwined vines deeply buried these ancient traces. The once magnificent palaces could only have a few spires or a little bit of broken bricks and tiles exposed, but it was that little bit of broken bricks and tiles that made Hao Ren and Vivian feel a strange sense of familiarity.
However, that was definitely not the style of architecture of the Goddess of Creation – Hao Ren could be completely sure of this.
He had seen a lot of things in the style of the Goddess of Creation, whether it was the temple complex on the Gate of Suruon or the goddess palace seen in the illusion, or the starships of the guardian giants, they all had very distinctive characteristics. Moreover, he had been following up on the research in this area recently, so he had a deep impression. If these things in front of him were really related to the Star of Creation, he would definitely be able to tell at a glance.
What were these ruins in front of him?
Hao Ren frowned, and some vague impressions gradually appeared in his mind, but just before he grasped the key point, Leah had already led everyone to the location of the main body of the ruin.
"Ah, found it! Sure enough, it's here!"
The young female mage exclaimed happily.
The scene in front of them suddenly opened up.
There was actually a fairly vast open space in the forest. The long years had failed to allow the ancient trees and bushes to completely swallow the ancient civilization ruins here. In that open space, ancient pillars were broken and collapsed, half-buried in the soil, while the magnificent palace walls leaned together crookedly. The surrounding area was covered with broken bricks and tiles, and a particularly eye-catching building was located in the center of all the ruins – strictly speaking, it was just the remaining dome of a certain building. That roof with gorgeous patterns and smooth lines protruded from the ground, covered with moss and winding vines. One side of it also had a large hole, and a broad-leaved tree poked its head out from the hole.
Years of wind and rain erosion had almost completely destroyed the original colors of these ruins, covering them with a dilapidated gray-black color. However, on that gray-black background, many golden lines and patterns could still be faintly seen.
Golden lines and patterns... Luxurious style... Streamlined...
Hao Ren felt a jolt in his mind. Then he immediately began to compare the architectural ruins he saw in front of him with certain things in his impression, while adding golden paint to all the ruins in his mind.
Then he realized that he did recognize this style, especially the complex patterns on the surface of these buildings. He had seen their real objects with his own eyes at the Gate of Suruon: they were on the spaceships of the God-Slaying Race.