Volume 3 Chapter 231.2
by Need_More_SleepVolume 3 + Chapter 231.2: Danger Approaches
“Impossible, Doctor. You helped our Templar Knights—how could we ever do something so ungrateful? Moreover, our Templar Knights have always been partners with Rhine Alchemy.”
The Fearless Knight shook his head, making his clarification.
“I only hope that in the exploration of the ruins to come, we may continue to have your assistance.”
“Forget it. I have no interest in archaeology. Even if you bring your family to pressure me, it’s useless. Being here today is already the limit of my tolerance. Don’t push your luck.”
The Doctor intended to leave, already turning away.
No one stopped her. They all stepped aside, giving her a path.
Xia Yi could only follow when the Fearless Knight spoke again.
“Doctor, the Ancient Alchemy you just used—wasn’t it precisely obtained in exchange for our cooperation through Templar Knights’ archaeology?”
“That… and what of it?”
“Perhaps, in the deeper layers of the ruins, there also exists Ancient Alchemy—perhaps even enough to solve the difficulties your Rhine Alchemy currently faces in certain experiments. After all, under present conditions, with human alchemy as it stands, we’ve already reached the limit. It may be impossible to break through.”
The Fearless Knight’s words made the Doctor stop in her tracks.
She lowered her head, falling into silence.
The other Templar Knights were completely confused by what they heard, but Xia Yi understood what the Fearless Knight was hinting at. Indeed, it struck the Doctor’s sore spot.
He was referring to the half-blood experiment. Perhaps it had already reached its end. The only solution was to acquire technology from the distant past.
The Doctor slowly turned her head. Both her gaze and her tone had changed noticeably.
“Fearless Knight, you had better not be lying to me just to appease me.”
“I am not. Mr. Sander of the human archaeological community is here as well, Doctor—you can ask him yourself.”
The Fearless Knight had someone call over an elderly man who seemed to carry some weight with his words.
The Doctor saw him and immediately recognized him. “It’s you—the great archaeologist, Sander?”
“Well now, so the helper summoned by Lord Fearless Knight is none other than the Morrison family’s Doctor. A pleasure to meet you!!”
Sander seemed somewhat surprised, and then noticed the corpse of the Reviver.
“As expected, with the Doctor’s hand in things, there is no problem at all. It seems you dispatched the immortal monster with ease, didn’t you?”
The Doctor ignored such flattery and asked urgently: “I only want to know—what the Fearless Knight just said, is it true?”
“On the surface layers of the ruins, I did indeed discover some content related to alchemy. This, I can confirm,” Sander said with firm conviction. “But the surface only mentioned it in passing. The truly useful, important information lies in the deeper layers.”
“……”
The Doctor fell silent again.
“Well then, Doctor? You can explore the ruins together with the Templar Knights. This is an excellent opportunity for cooperation,” the Fearless Knight explained. “After all, if you truly discover what you seek, that will benefit you as well.”
“…Fine.”
The Doctor agreed.
Obtaining it directly here was better than letting the Templar Knights and the Morrison family trade for it later.
After all, if those old codgers truly gained Ancient Alchemy, they would surely use it to threaten her again, forcing her to comply with endless demands, tormenting her by every possible means.
“Come on, Xia Yi. Looks like we’ll have to keep working overtime.”
The Doctor brought Xia Yi back into the Templar Knights’ exploration party.
“A wise choice, Doctor,” said the Fearless Knight.
…
“Shield of Faith!”
“Blade of Radiance!”
“Holy Arrow Rain!”
In the dim depths of the ancient human civilization ruins, the knightly warband of the Templars was locked in fierce battle against the monsters dwelling there.
The monsters here were already far stronger than the magical beasts outside—some had even reached the level of mutated magical beasts.
Thus, many knights were injured, some even lost their lives.
All of this was to buy time for the main exploration party.
Led by the Fearless Knight, the main party kept advancing deeper. Whenever they encountered obstruction from mutated magical beasts, the warband would step in to take over, preventing the main party from being delayed.
“Aren’t you going to help them?” the Doctor asked.
Neither the Fearless Knight nor the Knight Princess showed any intention of staying behind despite their comrades’ casualties. It was as though this had been decided from the very start.
“Doctor, you may not know this, the longer we linger in the ruins, the greater the danger.”
The Fearless Knight’s tone was heavy.
“From the beginning, our method of exploration has been slow and steady, clearing each layer carefully. But our Templar Knights once suffered a grave incident—paid a disastrous price—and in doing so, learned an extremely important lesson.”
“What lesson?”
“Once you begin entering the ruins, certain monsters within will start to awaken, little by little. At first, the weaker ones awaken. But the further you go, the stronger they become, the harder to deal with.”
“I see… the stronger monsters need more time to awaken from their slumber, don’t they?”
“Yes. In the past, we thought we could minimize casualties by progressing slowly, layer by layer. But in the deepest layers, we delayed too much time. The strongest monster awoke from its slumber. That time, every warband sent in was annihilated. It was that initial approach that killed them all.”
“So there was such a secret…”
The Doctor seemed thoughtful.
Xia Yi’s attitude toward archaeology changed.
Now, she truly felt—it was “archaeology ruins your life.”
As they entered deeper into the ruins, more and more warbands were left behind to hold back the monsters. The Templar knights accompanying the main party grew fewer and fewer.
“The level of danger here… it truly exceeds what we imagined!!”
The Fearless Knight could not help but mutter under his breath.
“Fearless Knight, that also proves one thing: the more dangerous it is, the more it shows that Mr. Sander’s words were correct,” the Knight Princess reminded him.
“Yes. If that is truly the case, then no matter the sacrifices, it will be worth it—for the sake of… Glory!”
“For Glory.”
The Knight Princess softly echoed the words.
The Templar Knights who heard them found their spirits lifted once more, as though the phrase itself contained some hidden magic.
Xia Yi could not quite understand…
Was this the power of knightly spirit?
…
The main party advanced all the way, at last reaching the deepest point.
Their numbers now were less than a hundred, compared to the vast knightly warband at the start.
The once-dark underground space suddenly opened up wide. Even visibility increased rapidly. It no longer felt like a subterranean cavern at all. No one could explain why—but it was as bright as the surface.
“Here, here!!!”
The aged Sander nearly leapt with excitement, pointing forward.
“Beyond that gate lies the secret we seek—the ancient legacy left to us by our forebears!!”
At a glance it looked like a wall, stretching nearly a thousand meters. But on closer inspection, it shocked everyone: it was actually a gate.
Upon this thousand-meter gate grew lush green plants, all living, even with small animals surviving there.
A bird saw the people approach, but not only did it not flee, it even perched on a finger and happily sang its song.
“Incredible—this is far too incredible…!”
Even the Doctor felt astonished.
“Normally, no living creature should be able to survive here!”
No one could explain why such a phenomenon was occurring.
“Next, we should open this gate, yes?”
The Fearless Knight turned to ask Sander.
“Yes, Lord Fearless Knight. We’ve safely arrived at our goal. Unlike last time, we haven’t encountered any overwhelming monsters—what unbelievable luck!”
As everyone began to feel like celebrating, Xia Yi narrowed her eyes.
That little bird was still singing…
Not good!!
On instinct, sensing danger, she snatched up a stone from the ground and hurled it. The bird was struck unconscious.
Everyone was stunned. Xia Yi had acted faster than anyone could react, and from so far away, hit the bird with a small stone?
Could an ordinary assistant do such a thing?
“Xia Yi, you… what are you…?”
The Doctor was deeply confused and suspicious of Xia Yi’s behavior.
“It’s bad—we’re too late. It has already been awakened!!” Xia Yi’s face changed suddenly.
“Xia Yi, what did you discover—”
The Knight Princess began to speak, wanting to question further. But halfway through, she stopped cold.
She too felt a tremendous danger approaching.
A warrior’s instinctive intuition.
“Everyone, battle stance!!”
Though questions filled their hearts, as knights there was one thing they must obey—orders.
At once, both the ordinary Templars and the Fearless Knight followed the Knight Princess’s command, swiftly entering combat readiness.
In front of the thousand-meter gate, something moved.
Several statues, as though thawing from ice, slowly stood. The stone and dust clinging to them crumbled away with a rustling sound.
Like warriors of the distant past, crossing the river of time to awaken once more.
In their hands they held weapons of various forms. Though their bodies seemed soulless shells, the killing intent they exuded toward all living outsiders in sight was overwhelming.
They were…
The Guardians of the Ruins.
A guardian wielding a longsword swung it down to the ground, unleashing a wave of sword energy, spreading outward like a boulder crashing into a lake, stirring violent waves.
“Everyone, gather beneath my banner!!”
The Knight Princess raised her flag-lance, standing before everyone, using her own body as a shield, alone blocking the surging sword wave.
Another guardian, wielding a long spear, leapt high, descending with the force of a mountain upon the heads of the crowd.
“Shieldbearers, charge!!”
The Fearless Knight roared. He raised his shield high, charging fearlessly. The Templar shieldbearers raised their shields as one, forming a wall, rushing forward to block.
The guardian’s spear smashed down on the shield wall.
With brutal force it carved a straight line, cutting through both shields and knights together.
Of the front line, only the Fearless Knight barely survived. All the others had their lives taken in an instant.
The scene was too shocking for words.
The strongest military force of the human world—so easily shattered?
“Could humans… truly possess such power?” The hearts of the Templar Knights trembled with fear.
“No—that is not humanity in the ordinary sense!”
Sander, shaken, wept tears of excitement.
“That is humanity’s most glorious, most powerful era!!”
The transcendent higher race—even soulless shells—made everyone realize anew…
How great humanity had once been.
“Well then, the glory you wish to witness is about to slaughter us all,” the Doctor sneered, pulling out a lollipop. “What a pity… I still have so many experiments left undone…”
“Holy Spear, answer my call!!”
The Knight Princess knew that here she must go all out. She summoned forth the Holy Spear, its engravings glowing.
“Under the radiance of the Holy Spear, the Templar Knights shall overcome all!!” the Fearless Knight shouted loudly. “For Glory!!”
“For Glory!!”
The Templar Knights, whose fighting spirit had faltered, rallied once more at the Knight Princess’s side.
“Holy Spear—Release!!”
The Knight Princess unleashed the power of the Holy Spear. Facing the guardians, she did not retreat—the holy power surged.
The guardian with the spear descended like a falling star.
“Piercing Star Spear!!”
But the Knight Princess surged upward, colliding head-on, as if to strike down the star itself. The clash unleashed a tremendous shockwave.
The guardian was blasted back. The Templar Knights immediately launched a pursuit.
The Knight Princess fell heavily to the ground, but did not release her grip on the spear.
“Ugh…”
She shook her head, quickly standing again—only to see the guardian with the longsword charging toward Xia Yi and the others at terrifying speed.
Her first instinct was to hurl the Holy Spear, but her hand, numbed and trembling from the earlier clash, had temporarily lost all feeling.
She had to protect Xia Yi—her friend!
Ignoring everything, the Knight Princess rushed forward, unleashing holy power to shield her body.
The guardian, noticing her approach, judged instantly—ceasing its charge, it swung its sword, unleashing sword energy.
Clang!!
The Knight Princess, with her armor and holy protection, barely blocked the impact.
Cracks spread across her golden armor.
Xia Yi’s emotions twisted—Tia was risking herself for her…
“Xia Yi, get back!!”
The Knight Princess, body slowed by the blow, screamed hoarsely.
Xia Yi now realized—the guardian had targeted her all along. It wasn’t attacking the noncombatants out of strategy—it was simply because she was here.
The guardian reached her, raising its sword, swinging with a speed beyond human eyes.
Everyone thought she would be cleaved in two.
But Xia Yi moved like a sword saint possessed, evading the strike.
Boom!!
The guardian’s power shattered the ground layer, splitting it like waves, triggering a massive collapse.
The others fled backward. The Knight Princess, unable to move freely, was about to fall.
Xia Yi rushed, grabbed her, and hurled her upward—flung into the air, landing on the edge, pulled back by the Templars.
“Xia Yi!!”
Xia Yi heard Tia’s voice growing farther above her. She fell for who knew how long, before crashing heavily into the ground.
For an ordinary human, her head would have been smashed open.
But she was not ordinary.
“Ow… that hurt…”
She rubbed her head, slowly rising.
“……”
Before her, the guardian had also fallen—weapon in hand, murderous intent blazing.
It had pursued her down here.
In her heart, she knew—there was no way to win in a human body. And this thing had targeted her specifically, even attacked Tia…
The little Dragon Princess was angry now.
Swish!
A sword strike came at her head. The petite girl raised her arm, blocking it.
Between sword and flesh was a clear gap. No matter how the guardian pressed, sparking with force, the blade could not advance an inch.
Her eyes turned silver, glowing faintly in the dim space.
On her arm appeared golden armor, manifesting in response to her will, swiftly covering her entire body.
“Armor of the Human King—”
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[Author’s Note: Today’s chapter is a 9k super-long one. Super diligent Swiss Roll wrote it with everyone’s encouragement!
In the human world, lots of foreshadowing has been laid out—soon things will explode into action.
So please, keep supporting Swiss Roll with your monthly votes! Help Swiss Roll out! Help, help!!]