Episode 122. Extreme Situation (2)

The next day.

After finishing my preparations to go out, I waited at the meeting spot for Professor Elisha.

I sat in the shade to avoid the blazing summer sun for about 10 minutes.

Vroooom.

With the sound of an engine, Professor Elisha’s Magic Carriage stopped in front of me.

The window rolled down, and Professor Elisha, wearing sunglasses, waved her hand lightly.

“Did you wait long?”

“No, I only arrived 10 minutes ago.”

“Get in.”

After loading my luggage into the back seat, I sat in the passenger seat.

“You don’t have much luggage.”

“Well, we’re not going far.”

Besides, once we enter ‘that place,’ most of the things we bring from outside become useless.

“By the way, I didn’t hear where we’re going.”

“You agreed to come without even knowing where we’re going?”

“Hehe. I owe Candidate Dale a lot, after all.”

I stifled a laugh as I watched Professor Elisha shrug her shoulders nonchalantly.

“Well… once we get there, you’ll know where it is.”

After all, it was a place we had visited just a few days ago.

“Hmm. Alright. Where should I go?”

“Just keep going straight this way.”

And so, I rode in Professor Elisha’s Magic Carriage toward our destination.

After about 20 minutes, we arrived at a mountain not far from the school.

“This is…”

“Do you know where we are?”

“Isn’t this the mountain with the entrance to the underground ruins beneath the school?”

“Correct.”

The underground ruins beneath the school where the final evaluation had taken place.

The entrance to the ruins, which were so vast they resembled an underground city, was right inside this mountain.

‘During the exam, we used warp gates, so most candidates don’t know about this entrance.’

But now that the exam was over and all the warp gates had been retrieved, we had no choice but to enter through this entrance.

“You said you were going to create an extreme situation this time, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“…Then why are we here? The guardian golems are all gone, so it should be empty.”

The massive underground ruins beneath the Hero School.

Thanks to their vast and complex structure, they were used for the final evaluation and various training exercises. Normally, the ruins were completely empty.

“It doesn’t seem like the extreme situation Candidate Dale is hoping for will happen here.”

“It’s fine. Our destination is further ‘below’ this place.”

“…Further below?”

Professor Elisha frowned, looking at me with an expression that said, “What kind of nonsense are you talking about?”

“Have you ever heard that the Devil God is sealed beneath the Hero School?”

“Of course, I know that.”

It was a fact known to everyone on the continent that 500 years ago, Reynaldo Helios, the Sun’s Sword, sealed the Devil God and built the school on top of it.

“Then do you know exactly how far below the Devil God is buried?”

“Well… it must be somewhere so deep that no human can reach it.”

While it was common knowledge that the Five Great Heroes had sealed the Devil God here, no one knew exactly where. It was only said that the Devil God was sealed in the ‘Abyss,’ a place humans could never reach.

“It’s on the 6th floor.”

“6th floor…?”

“And this ruin is the 1st floor of the ‘Abyss’ where the Devil God is sealed.”

“…!”

Professor Elisha’s eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open.

“W-wait. What did you just say? This ruin is the ‘Abyss’ where the Devil God is sealed?”

“Didn’t you think it was strange?”

I looked around the vast underground ruins, which were as large as an underground city.

In terms of total area, the underground ruins were much larger than the entire school.

“Having such a massive ruin right beneath the school.”

The Devil God sealed beneath the school.

The massive underground ruins located beneath the school.

It wasn’t hard to see the meaningful connection between the two.

“Of course, countless heroes, including Candidate Dale, have made the same argument. But in the past 500 years, no passage leading ‘below’ these ruins has ever been found.”

“That’s to be expected.”

I shrugged and nodded.

“Because there is no physical passage leading below the ruins.”

“…Are you playing word games with me?”

Professor Elisha glared at me.

I stifled a laugh and shook my head.

“No. What I’m saying is that there is no physical passage.”

“No physical passage, you say…”

Professor Elisha narrowed her eyes.

“How did we enter these ruins during the final evaluation?”

“…Are you saying there’s a warp gate leading to the lower floors?”

“Yes. But first, you have to activate the hidden magic circle to activate the warp.”

“Huh.”

Professor Elisha rubbed her forehead as if she had a headache and let out a hollow laugh.

“…How could no one have known about this for 500 years?”

If the ruins themselves were a hidden place, that would be one thing.

But over the past 500 years, hundreds, if not thousands, of candidates had taken exams and undergone combat training here.

There were even holographic maps of the ruins that could be viewed by turning on the Hero Watch. Yet, no one had known about the warp gate inside for 500 years.

Even knowing that Dale was a ‘Regressor,’ it was hard to believe.

“Well, it’s understandable. They intentionally erased information about the ‘Abyss.'”

“Erased information? By whom?”

“Who do you think?”

I pointed my finger at the ceiling of the underground ruins.

More precisely, at the Hero School built above it.

“The ones who sealed the Devil God.”

“Are you saying the Five Great Heroes hid information about the Abyss?”

“Information that wouldn’t do any good if it spread, right?”

“Hmm. Indeed… that makes sense.”

Professor Elisha nodded, stroking her chin.

From their perspective, it certainly wouldn’t be pleasant if information about the ‘Abyss’ spread.

“Then, let’s get going.”

“…Alright.”

Professor Elisha nodded heavily and followed behind me.

I headed to the center of the ruins.

It wasn’t a maze-like terrain blocked by towering rocks but an open clearing.

“This is the place.”

“…Is the magic circle hidden here?”

Professor Elisha frowned and looked around.

Her purple eyes glowed, and vertical black pupils appeared as her Insight’s Blessing activated.

“Tsk.”

As expected.

Even with her Insight’s Blessing, there was nothing around that looked like a magic circle.

“Haha. If it were a magic circle that could be revealed by Insight’s Blessing, it would’ve been discovered long ago.”

“Ugh.”

Her Insight’s Blessing was excellent for examining the inside or inner workings of living beings, but it wasn’t very effective for finding hidden magic circles like this.

‘Magic circles don’t have bodily fluids, after all.’

Insight’s Blessing only truly worked when directly absorbing the bodily fluids of a target.

“Wait here for a moment.”

I placed my hand on the floor of the ruins and slowly channeled my magic power.

This was the first time I was activating the warp gate to the ‘Abyss,’ but I wasn’t worried about failing.

‘The core structure of this magic circle is based on the Three Great Enigmas of the Grand Sage.’

And I had already solved two of the three enigmas.

Vroooom!

A magic circle lit up in the empty air, causing the ruins to vibrate.

Complex magic patterns intertwined in the air, floating around.

It was like watching letters from a book float freely in the air.

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