Wizard, I Have Another World – Chapter 61

Chapter 61: Ruins

“City Guard?”

Karl spoke up:

“Tell me about it.”

His voice was laced with curiosity, but the others showed no interest, clearly aware of what had transpired.

“There’s nothing to tell.” Jacqueline shrugged, her voice tinged with sorrow:

“Pit Number Two had a Yin Energy outburst. The source is a forgotten city underground. The City Guard obviously doesn’t want the news to get out, so they rounded up all the survivors nearby, including the Wind Whisperers…”

“Forgotten city?” Karl frowned:

“What’s that?”

“A forgotten city…” From the crowd, an old man with graying hair chimed in, his voice slow and deliberate:

“Legend has it that before the Crimson Moon shattered and the Moon Goddess fell, there were many holy cities on this land.”

“Only the devout and gifted were allowed to enter and receive the blessings of the gods.”

His voice had a peculiar quality, a natural cadence that drew listeners in, making it easy to immerse oneself in the tales and imagine the legendary stories of a distant era.

“Until the Convergence of Celestial Spheres…”

“When the gods fell, the holy cities sank into the earth, becoming what we now call forgotten cities.”

“His name is Mond, a scholar. He was a bard in his younger days, always spouting cryptic words.” Jacqueline added:

“Honestly, I don’t know what a forgotten city is, but Hal, the City Guard Captain, seems to value it greatly.”

“So…” Karl pointed a finger forward:

“We’re risking our lives to pave the way for the City Guard to enter this forgotten city?”

“That’s right.”

A blond man nodded, placing one hand on his chest and bowing slightly:

“Dunlop of the Shadow League. Pleased to meet you.”

“Legend says that the forgotten city holds the secrets of the gods. Captain Hal probably wants to steal the gods’ power.”

“He’s not the only one who wants to steal the power of the gods.” The aged bard, Mond, shook his head, reaching out to touch the stone wall beside him, his eyes filled with complex emotions:

“Since this path exists, it means someone has walked it before. Unfortunately, their bones have become one with the rock.”

“Those who blaspheme against the gods will be punished by heaven!”

“I’m not interested in what’s inside the forgotten city.” Karl stroked his chin:

“I just want to know how to get out.”

Silence fell upon the group.

They all looked at each other.

“Get out?”

Jacqueline sighed:

“There are at least two Formal Knights and dozens of fully armed squires outside, and there’s only one way out.”

“Unless you can unite the people in the other tunnels, there might be a sliver of a chance.”

There were multiple secret passages leading to the forgotten city, but they were not interconnected, making communication impossible.

Even if they could contact each other, without a knight to lead them, their chances were still slim.

Failure was still the most likely outcome.

The people in the tunnel wore expressions of resignation. They had either accepted their fate or had tried to resist only to be met with despair.

“Ah!”

A scream pierced the silence from up ahead.

Jacqueline’s expression changed, and she rushed forward.

It wasn’t out of kindness; she was next in line to scout the path and needed to know what was happening.

Karl looked at Little Nan and Leon.

He could leave at any time. All he had to do was find a deserted spot and slip into the Divine Domain Fragment.

He could come back in a few months.

By then,

Whatever the City Guard was planning would be over.

But what about Little Nan and Leon?

Bring them into the Divine Domain Fragment?

Impossible!

Firstly, Karl had never tried bringing a living being inside and didn’t know if it was possible. Even if it was, he wouldn’t do it.

The Divine Domain Fragment was his biggest secret, one he wouldn’t share with anyone.

“Mister.”

Little Nan’s face was pale:

“What should we do?”

Indeed!

What should they do?

…………

Every night, they had a period of rest.

Not because the City Guard was merciful, but because the Yin Energy in the tunnels was especially strong during this time, making scouting extremely dangerous.

They might as well let them rest and conserve their strength.

“Whoosh!”

Karl stood up.

“Mister.” Little Nan, who was half asleep, heard the movement and struggled to open his eyes:

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to check out the front.” Karl said:

“Rest up.”

“Oh.”

Little Nan nodded and closed his eyes, falling back asleep.

Scouting was not easy. He had to be constantly vigilant for danger, and he was already exhausted.

No one paid any attention to Karl.

They were all taking the opportunity to rest.

“Tap…”

In the pitch-black tunnel, only Karl’s footsteps echoed.

“Hiss…”

A strange sound came from ahead, as if something was approaching.

“Snap!”

Karl snapped his fingers.

Light spell!

A blinding light abruptly appeared, illuminating the entire area. The creatures in the darkness were clearly not accustomed to such intense light and retreated hastily.

“Hmm…”

Karl pondered for a moment, then continued forward.

Since they would be scouting tomorrow anyway, he might as well check out the path ahead. Perhaps he could find a hidden passage to hide people.

If possible, he didn’t want to abandon Little Nan and Leon.

The creatures’ fear of light surprised Karl.

As he walked forward, all the creatures within the range of the light frantically dodged, never once attacking.

This made his exploration much easier.

“Crack!”

A crisp sound stopped Karl in his tracks.

Beneath his foot was a bone he had stepped on and broken. Judging from its shape, it was a human tibia.

“A tibia?”

He frowned slightly and continued forward.

As he went deeper, there were more and more bones on the path, even a few complete skeletons.

This didn’t make sense!

The tunnel was teeming with various strange creatures. Even if there were bones left behind by those who came before, they would have been gnawed clean by the creatures. Moreover, no one had been here for hundreds of years. Even if there were bones, they should have long since decayed.

But now…

“No strange creatures? The bones are still here?”

Karl looked up ahead, his expression growing serious. An ominous premonition rose in his heart.

Continue!

The light source created by the Light spell floated above his head, illuminating everything around him as if it were daylight.

At some point, the sounds of strange creatures wriggling and crawling had disappeared.

Only the ever-increasing number of bones remained.

There was barely any space to set foot.

The path ahead turned, and the view suddenly became incredibly vast. The scene that came into view made Karl’s breath catch in his throat, almost causing him to lose control of the Light spell.

Before him was a plaza the size of several stadiums.

The plaza was littered with corpses.

Countless skeletons were frozen in place, some running, some roaring, some wielding weapons, as if a scene from a battlefield had been paused.

It was as if,

A group of people were engaged in a fierce battle, and then suddenly, some entity had stripped them of their life force, freezing time and leaving their bones in their final poses.

Weapons bristled like a forest!

The air was thick with killing intent!

Deathly silence and terror!

……

Karl’s eyes narrowed, and a feeling of extreme danger mixed with longing emanated from the Divine Domain Fragment.

And the direction…

The front of the battlefield.

The city shrouded in Yin Energy!

The forgotten city!

This was the first time Karl had sensed emotional fluctuations from the Divine Domain Fragment. It was a simple yet clear emotion:

Both fear and longing.

Karl’s eyes flickered, and he slowly took a step back.

He didn’t know what the Divine Domain Fragment longed for, nor did he want to know. He only knew that anything that could make it feel danger was not something he could handle at his current level.

“Crack!”

His foot stepped on a bone again.

The sound was not loud,

But it was like an invisible ripple that spread across the battlefield, turning all the bones it passed into ashes.

“Whoosh…”

Bone ash scattered, covering the entire battlefield.

“Clink!”

In the midst of the deathly silence, the sound of something falling was particularly noticeable.

Karl instinctively looked over and saw a round ring rolling back and forth on the ground amid the bone ash.