The Ancient Ruin

"What do you mean by that Monet?" Great Emperor Fargo mood turned sour for the first time.

"Isn't it obvious? You dogs had someone come over here and kill everyone on our side!" Cormac Monet was in despair because his grandson had disappeared.

"To kill two powerful Divine Kings and all these Soul Manifestation children requires the strength of a Divine Emperor"

"How would the Alliance Kingdom done something like this when all Divine Emperors from my side were sent out to fight against yours"

"Both of our sides fully know each other's military strengths"

"Tell me, Monet."

"Which of my Divine Emperor did this to your side?" Great Emperor Fargo stared down Monet. It was crucial for him to deescalate the situation. A war between both sides was not appropriate for the continent at the moment.

Great Emperor Monet couldn't recall of any Divine Emperor from Alliance Kingdom who went missing during the battle today. Still, he needed to find who took his grandson.

"Monet, you're overthinking this" Great Emperor Stinson chimed in.

"It's also possible that your grandson went inside the Ancient Ruin and escaped the attack"

He too did not want a war with the Alliance Kingdom at the moment. Both sides had battled each other in the past and nothing came out of it. Great Emperor Stinson wanted some more time before waging war against the Alliance Kingdom.

"You may be right. I'll stay here and wait for my grandson to come back" Cormac Emperor Monet finally calmed down. He didn't feel good about the situation, but he knew that going against both leaders of the factions would be suicidal.

"Then it's decided. We shall wait until your grandson comes out of the Ancient Ruin" Great Emperor Stinson declared.

"We shall do the same as well." Great Emperor Fargo also decided to wait for the people to return from the Ancient Ruin. He found it weird that Edward Solomon was not among the students who escaped the battle.

As the Great Emperors wait for the outcome of the Ancient Ruin exploration, Bruce and his friends finally made it to the site.

"Who the hell called this an Ancient Ruin?" Deion blurted after waking up from his nap.

"Yeah… I wouldn't call this an Ancient Ruin" Bruce totally agreed with Deion because they were transported to a city with magnificent architecture.

Everywhere looked different and each building was embedded with runes. The atmosphere in the area was also much better than the outside world. Bruce felt that he would be able to cultivate much faster if he stayed in here.

"Okay guys, we need to stick together and explore this city together" Bruce laid out the general plan to the group.

"If you see anything dangerous, back away and call the group."

Everyone nodded and the group proceeded to explore the city. It felt like a vibrant city without people as the buildings glow different colors every minute.

As the group explored the city, Bruce wanted to locate the inheritance of the Worldly Supreme. But he couldn't find anything after walking around the city with the group. When they tried to leave the city, they couldn't find an exit because they kept going back to where they started.

"Damn… We're stuck in an illusion" Edward cursed under his breath.

"Not necessarily." Bruce disagreed while looking at his surroundings.

"Bruce, you don't think so?" Edward turned to Bruce.

"I think I know what this place is. Everyone let's hop onto the highest tower over there" Bruce pointed at the tallest tower in the city with a cone shape at the top.

Once everyone reached the top of the building, they looked out to the other direction and saw four other equally tall buildings far away from them.

"If you connect the tallest buildings together, you will get a pentagon" Bruce explained.

"If I'm not mistaken, there should be people at the top of each building."

"Those people should be our enemies and none of us can leave until all five buildings have people on it."

Everyone looked at Bruce weirdly because they had never thought about something like this when they explored the city.

"Bruce, how did you figure it out?" Deion asked.

"Just a hunch" Bruce lazily replied. He himself didn't know how he thought of this, but he just instinctively felt it made sense.

The group waited for a while and just as Bruce expected, more people showed up on the top of each building.

"Holy shit… Do those people have wings?" Deion shouted.

"My god… those people have horns on their heads" Meredith was shocked when she saw people on the far east building.

"If I'm not mistaken, our enemies will be dragons, angels, demons, and other human" Edward said with a deep voice. His teacher had already informed him of the different beings on the other continents before he left for the mission.

His eyes shined brightly as he couldn't wait to fight against everyone. Just like Bruce said, Edward was a true battle maniac.

"Everyone get ready!" Bruce yelled out when runes appeared on the bottom of their feet.

A giant pillar of light spawned in the center between the five buildings and created five bridges connecting to the tallest buildings. The group went ahead and walked on the bridge to reach the center. There, they met their enemies in the Ancient Ruin.

People with wings on their back with exquisite features are the angels. Those with human like features but horns on their heads are the demon. Surprisingly, another group was just also human like them as well.

Lastly, an oppressive aura leaking out of everyone in that group. They looked like regular humans but the scales on their hands suggest otherwise. Their eyes glowed bright yellow or orange and naturally instilling fear into everyone, the dragons. Everyone in that group was at peak Soul Manifestation.

Everyone looked at each other to gauge each group's strength. While everyone in his group felt great pressure, Bruce came to a different conclusion. These people were all about to get robbed by him.

Before anyone could make a move, a dignified voice came from the sky.

"Welcome all to the City of Rebirth"

"If you are here to receive a Worldly Supreme inheritance, then you are at the right place."

"Only one candidate will be able to receive the inheritance of the supreme being."

"To obtain the inheritance, you must pass three tests."

"The first test will appear momentarily while the second test only appears if you pass the first test. Likewise, the third test will only be available after you pass the second test."

"Do note that no fighting is permitted when the test is conducted"

"Should you choose to injure another candidate while testing is ongoing, you will be immediately expelled from the City of Rebirth"

"Once the testing has concluded, exits back to your world will spawn after 15 minutes"

"I wish you all the best of luck"

The voice faded and the first test appeared. A door appeared in the sky with stairs spawning beneath it. To pass the first test, you must succeed in walking the path to heaven.

An aura suddenly enveloped every candidate. Should the candidate break the rule and hurt another candidate, the aura would expel that candidate from the trial.

Bruce nodded at his friends and began to walk to the stairs.

"Hold it monkeys!" An arrogant voice rang in their ears.

When they turned around, they saw a tall muscular young man with piercing orange eyes staring at them.

"If you monkeys know what's good for you, let my group take the test first"

"With your mediocre talents and strengths, you won't make it all the way anyways" The young man laughed as his group walked toward Bruce's group.

Meanwhile, the other groups looked at the situation in amusement.

"Hey Bruce, did you hear something?" Deion asked.

"Yeah, I heard a dumbass lizard trying to talk to us" Bruce replied.

"Should we pan fry it before we leave? I never tried lizard meat before" Deion pulled out a pair of fork and knife.

"You shouldn't eat lizard meat buddy. You may become stupid like them" Bruce shook his head and told Deion to put his utensils away.

"I'll make sure you monkeys wish you were dead when the exam is over!" The young man turned demonic after hearing Bruce and Deion mocking him. For a noble dragon like him, getting insulted by human weaklings is unacceptable.

"Deion, I changed my mind" Bruce turned around to look at the young dragon.

"We're going to grill this lizard and sell his meat on the market" Bruce grinned at the dragons before telling his group to move forward.