A short rest was enough to recover so Ruminas decided to continue. Just as described, those golems were guarding something because she had not walked for long when she saw a door.
This door was huge, as if it was made for a giant. There were strange patterns and shapes on the door, but they were all old or partially missing, so Ruminas didn't know what they meant.
Ruminas tried to go forward and knock a few times on the door but there was no response, she tried pushing again but the door did not budge at all.
Ruminas had no other choice but to pick up the axe and swing it hard, but there wasn't even a scratch.
"This door is even harder than those golems just now? I don't believe it." Ruminas raised his axe and was about to swing it again, but was stopped by the little spirit.
"What's wrong, baby?
The little spirit pointed in another direction, Ruminas looked in that direction and only then did she discover that there was another small path to the side.
"Do I have to enter from here?"
The little spirit nodded.
"Alright," Ruminas shrugged and moved forward.
She tried to get the person in but found that she couldn't get through because her chest was stuck.
"I don't know about this…" Ruminas said.
The little elves flew around, as if they were teasing her. But Ruminas just snorted, lifted her axe, and swung it a few times, widening the path. The rubble fell to the ground, creating a thin layer of dust.
Ruminas squeezed through the narrow gap she had just widened, squeezing herself inside. The space ahead gradually appeared under the dim light shining through the cracks in the stone ceiling.
In contrast to the narrow corridor from earlier, this place was much larger. Ruminas could see giant stone pillars stretching out ahead, towering up to the ceiling. There were strange patterns on the surfaces of the pillars, but they had been eroded by time, making it difficult to see the details.
"A project…?"
She squinted her eyes and looked around. There was no doubt that this was not a natural cave, but an abandoned structure that had been there for a long time.
The stone walls on both sides still had traces of carved reliefs, depicting scenes of giant creatures with small humans standing at their feet. It seemed that the golems she had fought earlier were related to this place.
The little spirit flew over to a relief and gently brushed his hand across it. A thin layer of dust fell off, revealing part of the pattern underneath.
"Did anyone ever live here?"
Ruminas continued walking slowly, stepping lightly to avoid making loud noises. She wasn't sure if there were any other dangers here, but her instincts told her not to let her guard down.
At the end of the corridor was a partially buried stone gate. Large boulders blocked the path, but there was still enough room for her to squeeze through.
Ruminas stepped forward, tilting her head slightly to look through the gap.
Inside is an even larger space, like an ancient hall.
Light from the glowing crystals on the ceiling shone down, keeping the space from being completely dark. Along both sides of the hall were giant statues, similar in appearance to the golems she had encountered outside. Some of the statues were broken or collapsed, but a few remained intact, standing like sentinels.
At the end of the hall, on a high stone platform, there was another large door. Unlike the outer door, this door was more elaborately carved, with patterns depicting a giant magic circle.
Ruminas frowned slightly.
"There must be something important behind this door."
But more importantly now is… how do I open it?
"First, let's explore this place," Ruminas thought to himself.
She started to choose a random direction to go, along the way there were many walls with strange patterns, besides Ruminas also discovered some kind of ancient writing or something that she couldn't understand and couldn't even recognize which country it was from.
"I wonder if the appraisal can be translated?" Ruminas thought and tried it.
[Our beloved king, who has a heart of evil, but he is the chosen one of the gods, so we still have to worship him. He drinks the blood of children, and eats the flesh of virgins. Every day he executes dozens of people and considers it a joy. He is the devil, without mercy, without empathy. He has the heart of an evil demon, but we still have to serve him. How disgusting]
"What the hell is this?"
Ruminas got goosebumps after reading this. She never thought that there was a person capable of such actions.
Ignoring those lines, Ruminas continued moving forward, the path seemed to be endless. On both sides there were rooms that looked like they were for the living.
After walking for a while, Ruminas came across another line of text. She hesitated a bit but eventually chose to translate it.
[He humiliated all the women, he tortured the men. He was despicable, he was cruel, but he was extremely strong. He single-handedly killed the evil dragon that tormented the people, he single-handedly lifted the giant rock to block the broken dike. The foolish people blindly worshiped him for those things, but they didn't know that he did it to protect this place in order to torture it]
Another round of goosebumps.
Ruminas stood still for a moment, his eyes scanning the ancient characters on the wall. These words were not simply lamentations of a tyrant – they contained the anger and despair of the people who had lived here.
She touched the relief beside her, which depicted a tall figure standing atop a mountain of corpses. Though the design had faded with age, the depth of the carving suggested that the figure had once been carved with reverence… or perhaps fear.
"A brutal man but worshiped?"
She muttered, taking a step back to get a better look at the relief. Something was wrong… The descriptions were strangely contradictory.
A man hated yet worshiped. A man who kills yet protects this land… just so he can kill again.
Ruminas frowned, a sense of unease rising in her heart. There was no way the entire population of a place could be forced to worship such a person for such a long time… Unless there was some reason she didn't understand.
But she didn't come here to dig into the history of this place.
"Focus on the mission, Ruminas"
She reminded herself, and continued moving. The corridors seemed to stretch on forever, each turn leading to another path. Although the place had been abandoned for a long time, there was no sign of complete collapse – it seemed to still exist in some way, as if held together by some force.
On the way, she discovered a rotten wooden door that creaked and collapsed to the floor with just a slight push.
Inside was a small room that appeared to have been a workroom or study. Bookshelves were in disarray, papers were strewn everywhere, some manuscripts had been damaged beyond recognition by time.
Ruminas stepped in and picked up a book. The cover was rotten, but a few pages inside were still readable thanks to the protective leather binding.
[He is not human. He is an entity created by the will of the gods, or perhaps a god himself who has descended upon the earth. His power is far beyond what a mortal can comprehend. He rules this place with an iron fist, but no one can oppose him. If one opposes… there will be only destruction.]
Ruminas quickly flipped through a few more pages, but most of the writing was blurred or partially missing.
A non-human entity…?
She put the book down and looked around the room again. If this had once been an ancient city or kingdom, the person these words spoke of would probably be its ruler. But did he still exist?
"If this is where he rules…"
Ruminas' gaze turned towards the great hall where the intricately carved door she saw earlier was located.
Perhaps, the answer is waiting for her behind that door.
Leaving the research room, Ruminas continued to move. She didn't know how long she had been walking, but she eventually discovered a room that was heavily guarded by traps.
"There must be something inside…"
Fortunately, thanks to the help of the spirits, Ruminas was able to get past all the traps in no time. When she pushed the door open, a blinding light hit her, almost making her dizzy.
"Treasure room? Hit the jackpot!" Ruminas shouted.
This was clearly a treasure room, or at least it had been. Stone shelves lined the walls, and on them were still a number of chests and boxes, now covered in dust. Some were rotten, revealing tarnished metal coins and gems that had lost their original luster.
"Is there nothing left that can be used?"
At least there were still gold coins intact and they were the same type as the ones Ruminas had taken before so she took them all. In addition, she also picked up a few more swords, they didn't have any special abilities and were just normal metal weapons but they were still quite new, they could be used as backup weapons.
She lightly kicked a nearby wooden chest, causing the lid to pop open. Inside, aside from a few tarnished pieces of jewelry, there was nothing of value.
As Ruminas was about to leave, his eyes suddenly stopped at a small shelf hidden behind the main stone platform. On it, a set of clothes was neatly hung, showing absolutely no signs of decay or wear.
"Huh?" She stepped closer.
The outfit didn't look like the heavy or elaborate armor that knights usually wore. Instead, it looked almost like a normal outfit—a long black coat with silver trim, a thin layer of armor hidden under the soft fabric, accompanied by a pair of gloves and a simple belt.
"This outfit doesn't look very normal…"
Ruminas was a bit skeptical so she tried using appraisal and the result shocked her.
"This is the real treasure!"