Chapter 122 – The old sanctuary
“If this is an ancient ruin dedicated to Noale, the God of Destruction, then there may be some sort of trick left behind. The man who broke through Sarah’s barrier at the shrine was probably a devotee of Noale, the God of Destruction. That is why Reynard was able to break through the barriers and enter.”
Wynn, Leticia, Liara, Mito and Abel each carried a lighted candlestick as they descended the gently curving staircase. Mito, who had good night vision and could see in the dark with just a little light, led the way, followed by Wynn, Leticia, Liara and Abel at the bottom. The reason Wynn was ahead of Leticia, the most powerful of them, is because he was the only one with a lit candlestick with fire. The flickering of the flames also spoke of the flow of air. The stone stairs were wet and mossy, probably because the wind carried moisture from the sea. This made them very slippery, and everyone stepped cautiously.
“Speaking of which, I’ve been meaning to ask you, Liara-sama…” Wynn asked Liara, who was coming down behind him. “I was told that you would be in charge of lifting Tiara-sama’s magical barriers and unlocking the locks to the shrine.”
“Yes.”
“But what were you planning to do with the barrier Sarah put up?”
If the story was correct, the shrine was not only locked with a strong barrier, but there must have been a magical barrier that Sarah had raised by drawing on the power of the God of Destruction. And they said that not even Liara could break it. So, if Reynard hadn’t lifted the barriers, Wynn and the others wouldn’t have been able to even go in to investigate.
“Well, Letty’s here, isn’t she?” That was Liara’s answer.
“Letty.”
“Yes.”
Careful not to slip, Wynn looked back to Liara behind him. Liara was walking down next to Leticia, who was walking behind Wynn. From atop little Leticia’s head, Liara gave Wynn a smile.
“Because I think, if Letty got serious and used her magic, she would have been able to break the magical barriers no matter how many Sarah would have put up using the power of the God of Destruction. Also, if Letty couldn’t handle it, it would mean that there is nothing else that human power could do. In that case, Conrad’s legacy would have been beyond anyone’s reach.”
“I see.” Wynn stopped and stared at Leticia’s face.
“What?”
“I wondered if you hadn’t thought to break through the barriers before to check inside when you defeated Sarah.”
“Oh.” Leticia made a small thoughtful gesture when Wynn told her that. “I did think about checking inside, but… there were probably some magic tools in there that Conrad left, and I didn’t want them stolen if I lifted the barriers, so I thought I’d leave them. Raul said he would take care of it. At that point, there were still a lot of remnants of the Apostates.”
“It looks like we’re done with the stairs.” They heard Mito’s voice from below, who had moved a little away since Wynn had stopped. Hurrying down, but carefully, Mito stopped at the bottom of the stairs and waited for the rest to catch up. It was an underwater cave.
Illuminated by the lights, it was a large cave. Its width was quite wide, about seven or eight meters by eye, and in some places, it exceeded ten meters. And along the rock wall, there was a path about two meters wide.
“The wind was blowing, so I thought there might be an entrance leading to the outside, but it looks like it was coming in through a hole in the rocks.”
There was a wall formed by several huge rocks in a place that, from the topography, seemed to be facing the sea on a cliff. The wind seemed to enter through the holes. The sea water was also coming in through there, and it was rising and falling with the movement of the waves.
“I’ve heard that the ocean has something called the ebb and flow of the tide. When the tide is high, the water rises to a higher level. If the tide rises, this cave won’t be submerged, right?”
“That’s right, we’ll be fine.”
At Mito’s question, Liara approached the edge of the path, checking her footing, and pointed to the rock wall thirty centimeters below.
“The top of the intertidal zone is in this spot, so at least I don’t think the sea will rise high enough to submerge this cave.”
“Intertidal zone?” Wynn tilted his head at the unfamiliar term.
“It’s a place that becomes landward or submerged as the ocean waters rise and fall.”
“Wynn. It looks like the tracks lead to the bottom.” Abel called to Wynn, who peered out into the ocean beside Liara. “They’re still fresh.”
“The footprints belong to two people. I think we can safely assume they belong to Reynard and the other man.” Mito, who had been crouching with Leticia to examine the footprints, stood up. “The ceiling is high. There used to be a natural cave, but they must have blocked the entrance with rocks and dug stairs down from the top of the cape.”
Why would a ladder be built from the top of the cape to go down into this cave and why was it hidden by a shrine? The questions were only increasing, but Wynn and the others continued deeper into the cave.
The cave’s path seemed to descend gently.
“It seemed to lead to the bottom of the ocean.”
“How deep. I wonder how much it goes down.”
Leticia said, and Wynn put his hand on the wall to his right.
The cave leading to the bottom of the stairs had a series of rock walls on the left side and ocean water flowing on the right side. However, as it continued, the ocean water was disappearing and eventually the right side of the cave became a rock wall. At that point, the path inside the cave began to gradually descend. If Wynn’s sense of direction was correct, he and his friends should have already been walking along the bottom of the sea.
“Wow… some stairs.” At that moment, Mito, who was in the lead, held up the light of a candlestick and said. He thought it was a naturally formed cave, but suddenly it looked artificial. The stairway, like the one leading down from the top of the cape, was gently curved and the bottom was not visible.
“The width of the stone is narrow. Watch your step.”
“Magical research facilities are usually built deep to avoid damage to the outside world, but for a research facility like this to be built, descending to the bottom of the ocean… I wonder what kind of magic they’d be researching…” Leticia muttered under her breath.
“I see. It’s not like the place was built to study Conrad’s legacy.”
“Yes. According to Liara, it’s a ruin from mythical times. If that’s the case, there was a need to build such a large facility at that time.”
“So, you’re saying there could be more dangerous things there than Conrad’s legacy?”
“There might even be treasure!” Abel interrupted the conversation between Wynn and Leticia. “It’s an untouched ruin, isn’t it? There’s always treasure in places like this.”
“Hahaha, no doubt.” Mito laughed at Abel’s words.
The atmosphere, which had been tense for a long time as they walked through the darkness and the narrow cave, seemed to relax at Abel’s words.
“Not that they are intact, Sarah would have known this place, and maybe Conrad has visited them too?”
“Oh, I see…” said Abel, embarrassed at Leticia’s remark.
“But those two didn’t seem like people who were interested in treasure, so maybe it’s still here.”
“Whether there is treasure or not, it looks like we are going to see something extraordinary.” Mito, who had stopped laughing, urged them all to look ahead. It wasn’t until about ten meters after Mito said this that Wynn and the others, who didn’t have as good night vision as the dwarves, saw it.
“What is this…?” Wynn said unconsciously.
There was a vast space with countless huge pillars. Each of the pillars was so thick that even the six of them in a circle and holding hands would not encompass them. The ceiling was also high, and there were many pillars in a row, regularly spaced.
“There seems to be no danger.” Leticia said as she moved a little further.
“These columns do not appear to be stalagmites. They seem to be someone’s work… but to create a space of this size, and make a pillar to support the roof, I’m not sure even this old man and my fellow dwarves could do it…”
“Look at this.” As Wynn and Leticia stood near Mito examining the pillars, they heard Liara call out to them. Liara had Abel hold her light and was examining the wall right next to the stairs. There was a mural painted all over the wall. “This appears to be a creation myth. This woman is probably the goddess Anastasia. The tree is the World Tree, and the dragon is probably Dragon King Fiand? I think the words engraved on the bottom probably describe the scene depicted in the mural…”
When they illuminated it, they saw that there was indeed something that looked like writing carved into it.
“Wynn, can you read it?”
“No, I’ve never seen anything like it in all the letters I’ve learned.”
“I’ve never seen anything like it either.”
“Me neither.”
Liara, who had bent down to look at the letters, straightened up and looked at the mural with narrowed eyes.
“These letters seem to be very old. They were probably used before the era of Rentheim, the divine writing. It is probably a writing lost in our time.” Liara’s face showed an expression of slight regret.
In the Great Temple of Emerdia, the main temple of the church that enshrined Anastasia, the Goddess of Creation, there was a time when even that Great Temple was completely dominated by the ancient Kingdom of Rentheim. It was said that the royal family of Rentheim, whose founder claimed to have received instructions from the Goddess to rule the whole land, burned all books containing myths and legends inconvenient to the dynasty. Even so, the priests passed on the myths by word of mouth, but it was impossible for them to continue to do so accurately without distortion for a thousand years. After the fall of the Kingdom of Rentheim and the restoration of the Great Temple of Emerdia, these oral traditions were collected and recompiled to create the myths used today.
“If we can analyze the murals and writing here, perhaps we can recover the lost myths. And that’s not all. We may even be able to create new magic…”
But that was why they had to be cautious about revealing this place to the public. Any information that would overturn the myths that were currently widely believed, any story that would shake faith in a world where the Demon King had just been destroyed, could lead to unnecessary confusion once again. There was also the danger of new magic being created. One of the magic systems was summoning magic. This extracted power or summoned the presence of powerful gods, spirits or demons through the use of magical power or a price. The murals depicted gods that even Liara, the high priestess of the Great Temple of Emerdia, did not know. She did not know what kind of power these gods had. By analyzing the murals and the words written on them, there was a possibility that the forgotten gods were summoned and revived.
“When this is all over, shall we have Raul take over with Lyon?”
“Um… I don’t know.” At Liara’s suggestion, Leticia threw her chin back and thought about it.
Raul could be trusted. As Leticia and Liara thought, Raul would soon understand the danger of this place. And he would surely seal it immediately. But even if they could trust Raul personally, what would happen next? As long as Raul was alive, there would be no problem. However, after Raul’s death, will the person who inherits this country be able to resist the temptation of the great power that may be latent here?
“Tiara and I could create a magical barrier, but…”
However, was it right to seal this valuable material without even revealing it to the public?
“Let’s consult with Tiara.”
She was called the Great Sage. She could be likely to come up with good ideas. Leticia nodded at Liara’s words.
“Hmm… by the way, it seems we have caught up with Reynard and the other guy.”
At Mito’s words, the group that had been walking while looking at the mural turned their attention to the direction Mito was looking. There was a light coming from behind a pillar. This place was further down at the bottom of the ocean. It was the depth of the earth. If there was a light that could be seen in that place, other than the lights brought by Wynn and the others, there could only be one answer to who it belonged.
“The place where the light shine is in the middle of the ocean.”
The place where the light shone seemed to be located right in the center of this vast space. There was a place where the ground rose in a circle, surrounded by pillars. In the center of the pillar stood Reynard, and beside him a man crouched in prayer.
“Tch, tch, welcome to the altar of Noale, God of Destruction.” Reynard realized that Wynn and the others had caught up with him, and made a grand gesture of reverence.
“What is this place?” Wynn questioned, drawing his sword and taking a stance.
“Tch, tch. As I said, this is the altar of Noale, the God of Destruction. Also known as a sanctuary.”
“Did you say… sanctuary?” It was Liara who said surprised at those words. “No way… in a place like this, it’s impossible.” “Yes, this is the Sanctuary of the God of Destruction. Tch, tch, welcome, great Brave and his friends. This place is the altar to summon the God of Destruction that Conrad Heisenberg created his magic for and Sarah Ferrule tried to perfect.”
Chapter 122 – The old sanctuary
“If this is an ancient ruin dedicated to Noale, the God of Destruction, then there may be some sort of trick left behind. The man who broke through Sarah’s barrier at the shrine was probably a devotee of Noale, the God of Destruction. That is why Reynard was able to break through the barriers and enter.”
Wynn, Leticia, Liara, Mito and Abel each carried a lighted candlestick as they descended the gently curving staircase. Mito, who had good night vision and could see in the dark with just a little light, led the way, followed by Wynn, Leticia, Liara and Abel at the bottom. The reason Wynn was ahead of Leticia, the most powerful of them, is because he was the only one with a lit candlestick with fire. The flickering of the flames also spoke of the flow of air. The stone stairs were wet and mossy, probably because the wind carried moisture from the sea. This made them very slippery, and everyone stepped cautiously.
“Speaking of which, I’ve been meaning to ask you, Liara-sama…” Wynn asked Liara, who was coming down behind him. “I was told that you would be in charge of lifting Tiara-sama’s magical barriers and unlocking the locks to the shrine.”
“Yes.”
“But what were you planning to do with the barrier Sarah put up?”
If the story was correct, the shrine was not only locked with a strong barrier, but there must have been a magical barrier that Sarah had raised by drawing on the power of the God of Destruction. And they said that not even Liara could break it. So, if Reynard hadn’t lifted the barriers, Wynn and the others wouldn’t have been able to even go in to investigate.
“Well, Letty’s here, isn’t she?” That was Liara’s answer.
“Letty.”
“Yes.”
Careful not to slip, Wynn looked back to Liara behind him. Liara was walking down next to Leticia, who was walking behind Wynn. From atop little Leticia’s head, Liara gave Wynn a smile.
“Because I think, if Letty got serious and used her magic, she would have been able to break the magical barriers no matter how many Sarah would have put up using the power of the God of Destruction. Also, if Letty couldn’t handle it, it would mean that there is nothing else that human power could do. In that case, Conrad’s legacy would have been beyond anyone’s reach.”
“I see.” Wynn stopped and stared at Leticia’s face.
“What?”
“I wondered if you hadn’t thought to break through the barriers before to check inside when you defeated Sarah.”
“Oh.” Leticia made a small thoughtful gesture when Wynn told her that. “I did think about checking inside, but… there were probably some magic tools in there that Conrad left, and I didn’t want them stolen if I lifted the barriers, so I thought I’d leave them. Raul said he would take care of it. At that point, there were still a lot of remnants of the Apostates.”
“It looks like we’re done with the stairs.” They heard Mito’s voice from below, who had moved a little away since Wynn had stopped. Hurrying down, but carefully, Mito stopped at the bottom of the stairs and waited for the rest to catch up. It was an underwater cave.
Illuminated by the lights, it was a large cave. Its width was quite wide, about seven or eight meters by eye, and in some places, it exceeded ten meters. And along the rock wall, there was a path about two meters wide.
“The wind was blowing, so I thought there might be an entrance leading to the outside, but it looks like it was coming in through a hole in the rocks.”
There was a wall formed by several huge rocks in a place that, from the topography, seemed to be facing the sea on a cliff. The wind seemed to enter through the holes. The sea water was also coming in through there, and it was rising and falling with the movement of the waves.
“I’ve heard that the ocean has something called the ebb and flow of the tide. When the tide is high, the water rises to a higher level. If the tide rises, this cave won’t be submerged, right?”
“That’s right, we’ll be fine.”
At Mito’s question, Liara approached the edge of the path, checking her footing, and pointed to the rock wall thirty centimeters below.
“The top of the intertidal zone is in this spot, so at least I don’t think the sea will rise high enough to submerge this cave.”
“Intertidal zone?” Wynn tilted his head at the unfamiliar term.
“It’s a place that becomes landward or submerged as the ocean waters rise and fall.”
“Wynn. It looks like the tracks lead to the bottom.” Abel called to Wynn, who peered out into the ocean beside Liara. “They’re still fresh.”
“The footprints belong to two people. I think we can safely assume they belong to Reynard and the other man.” Mito, who had been crouching with Leticia to examine the footprints, stood up. “The ceiling is high. There used to be a natural cave, but they must have blocked the entrance with rocks and dug stairs down from the top of the cape.”
Why would a ladder be built from the top of the cape to go down into this cave and why was it hidden by a shrine? The questions were only increasing, but Wynn and the others continued deeper into the cave.
The cave’s path seemed to descend gently.
“It seemed to lead to the bottom of the ocean.”
“How deep. I wonder how much it goes down.”
Leticia said, and Wynn put his hand on the wall to his right.
The cave leading to the bottom of the stairs had a series of rock walls on the left side and ocean water flowing on the right side. However, as it continued, the ocean water was disappearing and eventually the right side of the cave became a rock wall. At that point, the path inside the cave began to gradually descend. If Wynn’s sense of direction was correct, he and his friends should have already been walking along the bottom of the sea.
“Wow… some stairs.” At that moment, Mito, who was in the lead, held up the light of a candlestick and said. He thought it was a naturally formed cave, but suddenly it looked artificial. The stairway, like the one leading down from the top of the cape, was gently curved and the bottom was not visible.
“The width of the stone is narrow. Watch your step.”
“Magical research facilities are usually built deep to avoid damage to the outside world, but for a research facility like this to be built, descending to the bottom of the ocean… I wonder what kind of magic they’d be researching…” Leticia muttered under her breath.
“I see. It’s not like the place was built to study Conrad’s legacy.”
“Yes. According to Liara, it’s a ruin from mythical times. If that’s the case, there was a need to build such a large facility at that time.”
“So, you’re saying there could be more dangerous things there than Conrad’s legacy?”
“There might even be treasure!” Abel interrupted the conversation between Wynn and Leticia. “It’s an untouched ruin, isn’t it? There’s always treasure in places like this.”
“Hahaha, no doubt.” Mito laughed at Abel’s words.
The atmosphere, which had been tense for a long time as they walked through the darkness and the narrow cave, seemed to relax at Abel’s words.
“Not that they are intact, Sarah would have known this place, and maybe Conrad has visited them too?”
“Oh, I see…” said Abel, embarrassed at Leticia’s remark.
“But those two didn’t seem like people who were interested in treasure, so maybe it’s still here.”
“Whether there is treasure or not, it looks like we are going to see something extraordinary.” Mito, who had stopped laughing, urged them all to look ahead. It wasn’t until about ten meters after Mito said this that Wynn and the others, who didn’t have as good night vision as the dwarves, saw it.
“What is this…?” Wynn said unconsciously.
There was a vast space with countless huge pillars. Each of the pillars was so thick that even the six of them in a circle and holding hands would not encompass them. The ceiling was also high, and there were many pillars in a row, regularly spaced.
“There seems to be no danger.” Leticia said as she moved a little further.
“These columns do not appear to be stalagmites. They seem to be someone’s work… but to create a space of this size, and make a pillar to support the roof, I’m not sure even this old man and my fellow dwarves could do it…”
“Look at this.” As Wynn and Leticia stood near Mito examining the pillars, they heard Liara call out to them. Liara had Abel hold her light and was examining the wall right next to the stairs. There was a mural painted all over the wall. “This appears to be a creation myth. This woman is probably the goddess Anastasia. The tree is the World Tree, and the dragon is probably Dragon King Fiand? I think the words engraved on the bottom probably describe the scene depicted in the mural…”
When they illuminated it, they saw that there was indeed something that looked like writing carved into it.
“Wynn, can you read it?”
“No, I’ve never seen anything like it in all the letters I’ve learned.”
“I’ve never seen anything like it either.”
“Me neither.”
Liara, who had bent down to look at the letters, straightened up and looked at the mural with narrowed eyes.
“These letters seem to be very old. They were probably used before the era of Rentheim, the divine writing. It is probably a writing lost in our time.” Liara’s face showed an expression of slight regret.
In the Great Temple of Emerdia, the main temple of the church that enshrined Anastasia, the Goddess of Creation, there was a time when even that Great Temple was completely dominated by the ancient Kingdom of Rentheim. It was said that the royal family of Rentheim, whose founder claimed to have received instructions from the Goddess to rule the whole land, burned all books containing myths and legends inconvenient to the dynasty. Even so, the priests passed on the myths by word of mouth, but it was impossible for them to continue to do so accurately without distortion for a thousand years. After the fall of the Kingdom of Rentheim and the restoration of the Great Temple of Emerdia, these oral traditions were collected and recompiled to create the myths used today.
“If we can analyze the murals and writing here, perhaps we can recover the lost myths. And that’s not all. We may even be able to create new magic…”
But that was why they had to be cautious about revealing this place to the public. Any information that would overturn the myths that were currently widely believed, any story that would shake faith in a world where the Demon King had just been destroyed, could lead to unnecessary confusion once again. There was also the danger of new magic being created. One of the magic systems was summoning magic. This extracted power or summoned the presence of powerful gods, spirits or demons through the use of magical power or a price. The murals depicted gods that even Liara, the high priestess of the Great Temple of Emerdia, did not know. She did not know what kind of power these gods had. By analyzing the murals and the words written on them, there was a possibility that the forgotten gods were summoned and revived.
“When this is all over, shall we have Raul take over with Lyon?”
“Um… I don’t know.” At Liara’s suggestion, Leticia threw her chin back and thought about it.
Raul could be trusted. As Leticia and Liara thought, Raul would soon understand the danger of this place. And he would surely seal it immediately. But even if they could trust Raul personally, what would happen next? As long as Raul was alive, there would be no problem. However, after Raul’s death, will the person who inherits this country be able to resist the temptation of the great power that may be latent here?
“Tiara and I could create a magical barrier, but…”
However, was it right to seal this valuable material without even revealing it to the public?
“Let’s consult with Tiara.”
She was called the Great Sage. She could be likely to come up with good ideas. Leticia nodded at Liara’s words.
“Hmm… by the way, it seems we have caught up with Reynard and the other guy.”
At Mito’s words, the group that had been walking while looking at the mural turned their attention to the direction Mito was looking. There was a light coming from behind a pillar. This place was further down at the bottom of the ocean. It was the depth of the earth. If there was a light that could be seen in that place, other than the lights brought by Wynn and the others, there could only be one answer to who it belonged.
“The place where the light shine is in the middle of the ocean.”
The place where the light shone seemed to be located right in the center of this vast space. There was a place where the ground rose in a circle, surrounded by pillars. In the center of the pillar stood Reynard, and beside him a man crouched in prayer.
“Tch, tch, welcome to the altar of Noale, God of Destruction.” Reynard realized that Wynn and the others had caught up with him, and made a grand gesture of reverence.
“What is this place?” Wynn questioned, drawing his sword and taking a stance.
“Tch, tch. As I said, this is the altar of Noale, the God of Destruction. Also known as a sanctuary.”
“Did you say… sanctuary?” It was Liara who said surprised at those words. “No way… in a place like this, it’s impossible.” “Yes, this is the Sanctuary of the God of Destruction. Tch, tch, welcome, great Brave and his friends. This place is the altar to summon the God of Destruction that Conrad Heisenberg created his magic for and Sarah Ferrule tried to perfect.”
