Chapter 3003

Xia De comforted Little Mia, who was very agitated because she hadn't seen him all night, then pulled Emilia's hand and asked her to sit down and listen to him:

"The 【Tree Hole Society】 has united with other illegal Ringed Shushi to create many relics in the forest that are controlled by Paradox Worms. Originally, Luweiya and Bella thought the 'Clockmaker' was also in the forest outside the city, but in reality, she is inside the city."

"Where?"

Emilia looked around, somewhat worried:

"She wouldn't be in this concert hall, would she? Will she appear disguised as someone we know in a moment? Perhaps we should worry about everyone taller than Ajielina."

Xia De was amused by her:

"That's not the case. Come to think of it, I find it hard to believe myself, but it seems there is an ancient elf ruin beneath Vista City, or rather, beneath Creekwood Town. This is something even the Night Song elves who lived here in the Fifth Era didn't know about. That ruin belongs to the ancient Second Era and was built by the Elf King's men after sealing the remains of the World Tree."

Xia De paused for a moment, remembering that the long-haired flaming Luweiya had mentioned this ruin a few hours ago:

"The Clockmaker is currently in that underground ruin."

Emilia then looked down at her feet again:

"A ruin from the Second Era? I remember books saying that since the Sixth Era, no such ancient ruins have ever been excavated. Even if remnants of the Second Era were found, they were nothing more than broken walls like those in the forest."

"Yes. The Ancient Ones in the forest likely knew of this ruin's existence long ago; it is even possible that Creekwood Town was chosen as a site on this land because it knew what lay beneath it."

Xia De gently squeezed the little elf's hand; this was certainly not taking advantage of her—though the texture of her hand was indeed very pleasant:

"Luweiya and Bella only divined that the Clockmaker was underground. Just now, on the outskirts of the city, I, along with Miss Hayley Aurora and Margaret, intercepted a group of Ringed Shushi from the 【Tree Hole Society】. Combining their intelligence with what the church knows, we deduced the existence of such a ruin underground. The local church only knew of a few legends."

"The Clockmaker should have hidden inside before this war began, but don't worry, her collaborators have all been repelled by us. Miss Oulannuode will be here in a moment. Not only us, but the church and the academy have also arranged teams to escort you into the underground ruin. Emilia, we will all accompany you."

No one knew about the abruptly appearing "ancient elf ruin" beforehand—except for the long-haired girl, but since the "Clockmaker" was hiding within it, Emilia had to make this trip. The ruin was extremely deep underground and protected by unknown forces; even the girl with butterfly wings could only barely know its general location using spatial perception.

Luweiya had also already consumed one of her two remaining coins to learn the best way to enter, and after Emilia was ready, the group officially prepared to depart.

The subsequent actions had to be fast. Although the vanguard of the third wave of insect swarms had been suppressed, it should be fine to temporarily pull away some manpower. But as tonight's war progressed, the city's forces were beginning to show signs of fatigue, so they could not delay too long underground; otherwise, they might emerge to find the city gone.

Besides Xia De and Miss Oulannuode, the church side was still accompanied by Mr. Gerald, the "Construct Master" of the Creation Church. Although he, like Vanessa, was cursed, it did not affect the exertion of his power;

The academy side, because all their manpower was tied up outside the city, only sent a small team from St. Byrons, with no Thirteen-Ringers appearing;

The elves, however, directly had the only Thirteen-Ringer, Mr. Eldron, the "Lord of the Deep Valley," lead a team composed entirely of High-Ring elves to participate in the operation.

Unknown ruin exploration required a Diviner to accompany, so Bella also rushed into the city with Miss Oulannuode. The Diviner Society also squeezed out two High-Ring Diviners from the Strategic Command to participate in the operation.

Therefore, this operation included three Thirteen-Ringers (Tiers) plus the Ancient Witch, 21 High-Ringers, and two Mid-Ringers—referring to Xia De and Emilia.

Because it was an underground operation, the little unicorn was not convenient to accompany, so Xia De left it and Little Mia behind for Margaret to take care of. The butterfly-winged girl who sent Miss Oulannuode and Bella into the city originally wanted to accompany them, but Xia De told her to return to the ship:

"Now the only combat power left on that ship is Miss Eliser; they need you. And once we emerge from the ruin, the final battle will begin; there will be no shortage of you then."

After the assembly was completed, the 26-person team entered the city's underground from the sewer entrance at the concert hall door. After the three Diviners verified the location Xia De obtained from Luweiya, Mr. Gerald Delong, the "Construct Master," threw out a brass-colored metal sphere that looked very heavy. After the sphere landed with a 'thud', it immediately scattered into dense, tiny brass parts.

During this period, everyone in the team moved closer to Emilia, who was in the middle of the team. After throwing five spheres in succession, those metal parts formed a cube around everyone, wrapping them all inside:

"Stand steady!"

Mr. Delong warned, and then everyone felt the ground beneath their feet vibrate slightly, and the cube wrapping everyone began to sink slowly.

This was not a miracle or a curse, but purely this gentleman controlling those metal parts to corrode the ground. At first, the speed at which everyone sank was not fast, but after just half a minute, Emilia, who was holding Miss Oulannuode's hand, felt as if everyone was in free fall.

The surface of the metal cube had no holes, so she didn't know what the situation was outside at the moment. The "fall" lasted for a full three minutes before ending with a muffled 'boom'. However, at least when the fall stopped, the cube decelerated appropriately, so the landing was still considered stable.

The brass metal cube immediately disintegrated, and the dense metal parts scattered from beneath the group's feet, then re-gathered into five metal spheres floating beside Mr. Gerald Delong.

Everyone in the team had "Dark Vision," so at this moment, they could all see what kind of scenery this dark world had.

Specifically, the scene at this moment was not complicated. Behind the group was a thick rock wall, on which huge elf rune arrays were painted with purple glowing paint. If Emilia wasn't mistaken, that was very likely the spatial lock for the entrance and exit of this underground ruin.

Above their heads was complete darkness, and the rock wall at the highest point was a hundred meters above them at this moment. Beneath the group's feet was a wide bridge deck wide enough for ten carriages to drive side by side.

Neat cyan rectangular bread stones with typical ancient elf craftsmanship pieced together the bridge deck, but there were no railings on either side of the bridge. Looking out toward the bridge, the darkness extended to the invisible distance. And according to Emilia's not-so-powerful spatial perception, beneath the bridge was almost an abyss.

In other words, although this bridge had a base extending into the dark underground, it could still be equated to a "single-plank bridge" "suspended" above the abyss.

One end of the bridge was the rock wall engraved with purple glowing elf rune locks, which was the group's current position. Looking forward, the other end of the stone bridge was a towering and magnificent ancient temple standing in the darkness. Two giant elf stone statues, one holding a shield and one holding a sword, stood on the left and right sides of the other end of the stone bridge. Their lower bodies were in the void darkness beneath the bridge, and their upper bodies were exposed above the bridge deck, their masked faces silently watching the direction where the group was.

The temple with a distinct ancient elf style was built between the two giant stone statues, or rather, the bodies of those two stone statues were also part of the temple.

It stood in the darkness, and the bridge deck, which looked flat and unobstructed, connected the group to the entrance of the palace. Although it looked unobstructed, everyone present knew that the road ahead would definitely not be peaceful.

The formation changed, and Emilia was still surrounded in the middle. The academy team was responsible for the left flank, the elf team was responsible for the right flank, and the church team was at the back. Miss Oulannuode held Emilia's hand and stood in the very center, the three Diviners stood around them, guarded by the teams on the left, right, and back. The "Lord of the Deep Valley," the "Construct Master," and the "God Caller"—that is, Xia De—stood at the very front of the team.

"Spatial movement abilities are prohibited here. Although it can be used forcibly, it should trigger the ruin's own defenses."

Xia De said.

"Try not to fly. I have read stories about exploring similar ruins in the clan's classics. Standing on this bridge will be regarded as a guest; even if you break through forcibly, you can only be considered an unwelcome guest, but once you leave the bridge deck, you will be regarded as an enemy. We can only walk this road and must never deviate."

Mr. Eldron, wearing a gold ring, said.

Finally, Mr. Gerald Delong, the "Construct Master" of the Creation Church, reminded:

"I feel that there are many things hidden in the darkness. The 'Clockmaker' is probably already prepared with gifts waiting for us."

He stood in the middle of the three leaders:

"In a moment, the three of us will lead the way in front, and everyone must follow closely."

As he spoke, rustling sounds were already echoing in the darkness. Emilia, for some reason, thought of dense spiders crawling on the rock walls above her head and beside her.

The silent crowd successively released buff-type miracles to cover the entire team, and even Xia De held up a ball of silver moonlight floating at the very front of the team. His moonlight could effectively kill evil; this was something the Outsider knew when he was at the First Ring.

Just as the group was preparing, a huge roar suddenly came from directly in front of the straight stone bridge. It was like a heavy object falling to the ground, but it also sounded like an ancient gear mechanism suddenly starting.

Subsequently, the eyes of the two giant stone statues standing on both sides of the elf palace suddenly emitted purple-black light, and the expressions of the two Diviners from the Diviner Society and Bella changed at the same time.