Chapter 157-158

Chapter 157 – It Opened!

"…What is this place?"

The words poured out from my mouth and echoed around the shiny, golden space that sprawled out before us.

We had seen places that looked like shrines before.

It looked like the place we had found the Ascending Stone, and the Heart Stone that was the core of the Golems.

What was different this time, was that the walls, floor, and pillars were made of Orichalcum.

Rienna looked around her as she said,

"It's so different…and much more shiny than the winery."

"Yes. It almost seems too luxurious to have been made by Shiel and the others, as they were practicing moderation at the time."

Cautiously, I stepped foot into the open space.

The Orichalcum walls and pillars were engraved with images that were lavishly decorated with precious stones. How much would all of this cost if sold in the continent? It was all so dazzlingly brilliant.

Well, perhaps such precious stones had little worth to Shiel and the others, once they were trapped underground. It was much the same for us now.

"And look at how big this gate is…what purpose could it have?"

As Rienna said, the gate in the far back was incredibly large.

It resembled a castle gate, with double doors. And as it shone with a silvery color, I assumed that it was made of Mithril.

Shiel would probably know what it was.

However, it just had to be this day that she happened to not be with us. Even Number 15 wasn't here.

"Perhaps it connects to a different, large area. Just like the underground city… But, there is something strange about it."

There were giant, metal chains on the ground in front of the gate. It looked like the chains used to connect a ship to its anchor. There was even a giant lock.

Were these used to seal the gate?

In that case, was there a prison on the other side?

I wanted to try opening it…there was no magic energy to be sensed behind it.

It tickled my sense of adventure, but my motto was to always put safety first.

There was still a possibility that something unthinkable would come out the moment I opened it.

"I'm very curious, but… I think we better leave it until we've talked to Shiel."

I said, and Rienna nodded with a 'yes.'

However, then we noticed that something had changed.

Behind us, near the entrance of the shrine, I was now able to sense magic energy.

If it was our friends, they would have called out to us. And yet it wasn't moving at all. Perhaps it was only watching.

"Who's there!?"

I turned around and asked.

And then a familiar voice echoed.

"Aww…he found us."

It was Fule, Taran, Shiel, and Number 15. They were supposed to have gone off digging, but they were now looking at us with disappointed expressions.

"You all…followed us here?"

"But, the Princess…uh, no. We were practicing being stealthy."

Fule said as she averted her eyes. She was clearly hiding the truth.

"You didn't need to hide if you wanted to follow us…"

"That's right. To spy on us like this…that was very disagreeable of you all!"

Rienna said with red, puffed up cheeks.

Why was she so embarrassed?

And so Fule attempted to console her.

"Now, now. More importantly, what an incredible place this is. Do you know this place, Shiel? Huh…? Shiel?"

Shiel was stunned as she faced the door.

It was clear that she was frantic.

"Shiel…was that supposed to stay locked?"

Shiel nodded.

"And now the seal is broken…someone opened it. And you're saying that this is very bad?"

I asked. And Shiel nodded again.

"I see. Well, we better close it again then… Hmm?"

Suddenly, a voice rang from the other side of the gate.

It wasn't the cry of a beast.

There were fluctuations in the pitch and inflection and it was definitely a speaking voice. I couldn't understand it, but it sounded like multiple people were arguing.

Also, I could detect very faint amounts of magic energy.

It was clear now that someone really was behind the gate.

"Everyone. Be careful…something is coming."

They all nodded and entered their battle stance.

After a moment, things became quiet behind the gate, and then the doors suddenly burst open.

What then jumped out, was an old man in armor and who wielded a sword, and two other humans who followed him.

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Chapter 158 – It was connected to the outside!?

"Hu-humans!?"

The words poured out of my mouth as I saw them come out of the gate.

On the other hand, these people that wielded weapons looked at us with surprise and raised their voices.

However, I couldn't understand a word that they were saying. But I was sure that they were human…

In any case, I could see that this would turn into a fight if I didn't do something first.

They showed no intention of putting away their weapons. The one with a staff looked pale-faced as she talked to the others as if trying to persuade them.

Upon hearing this, the older man gripped his sword even tighter, and then turned it towards me.

"Wait! We don't want to fight…no, it's times like these that I can…"

I took out one of the many stones I had found in the underground city. The Translation Stone.

It was a convenient stone that Aries had used to talk to us.

Currently, it was used so that the residents of the island could communicate with the awakened people of the old empire.

"My name is Heal! And I have no intention of fighting you."

"What!? How can you suddenly speak our language!?"

The old man in the center shouted.

His sword remained fixed in our direction.

"This stone is translating my speech. As you can see, I am unarmed. Now please, won't you put away that sword?"

I said. And the old man looked a little troubled.

However, the woman who held the staff raised her voice.

"His magic is immense…we cannot let our guard down."

This woman with blue hair looked straight at me.

If she could detect my magic, she must be a sorcerer.

It was true that I had great magic energy…so I couldn't argue against her.

That was when Rienna opened her mouth.

"Lord Heal…look beyond the gate."

"Beyond the gate? …Huh?"

At first, it just looked dark and I thought it was a continuation of the cave.

But it wasn't.

There was something like a flash of light. It was likely thunder in a dark sky. It was outside.

"A sky…in a place like this?"

But we were underground.

We should be below the bottom of the sea.

However, the outside world seemed to be ahead of us now.

"Shiel. What does this…what?!"

I noticed that a dragon had appeared on the other side of the gate.

It was a black dragon that was surrounded in black miasma.

Lopez after being resurrected by Oren, and the black tentacles that were stuck on Garuda, the giant bee…it had the same ominous feeling as those.

And so I immediately raised my hand at this dragon with incredible power.

The trio must have sensed something from my movements and eyes, as they suddenly turned around.

"What!? A Dragon Class!?"

The woman with the blue hair raised her staff, but it was too late.

The dragon had unleashed a cloud of black mist from the gate.

"Damn it! …!?"

The three humans braced themselves to be hit, but the black mist seemed to be stopped by glass, and it did not touch them.

These were Shields that I, Rienna and Fule had created.

"Rienna, Fule! You keep the Shields up!"

"Understood!"

"Yes!"

Rienna and Fule nodded as they pointed their hands up ahead.

And so I deactivated my Shield and unleashed a giants burst of flames from my hand.

Elto, the Demon King of Hellfire had taught me Hell Explosion…but since that was too strong, this was just normal Fire.

My flames didn't lose any momentum as they slammed into the giant dragon and carried it off of its feet and into the darkness of the sky.

Fule and Rienna raised their voices.

"Ohhh! That was amazing, Lord Heal! You blew it away!"

"Perfectly executed, Lord Heal! Your Flame flies farther than it used to!"

"I guess it's because I learned from Elto… Uh…"

The trio were looking dumbly at the sky beyond the door with their mouths agape.