A sound of broken glass echoed.
The barrier was finally broken. When an expert discovered this place, it already showed signs of breaking. It's just that it immediately healed and everyone already made a calculation.
Truthfully, it was Alexander that released the ancient ruin. He was the one who broke its seal so it appeared right in this place. He couldn't hide it from other experts as the moment he broke the seals, the energy it contained surged out attracting the nearby experts.
It's just that it took a few days before the last barrier completely break.
Souta didn't have any idea about the detailed knowledge about it. He just knew that it would open soon according to the rumors. He never studied things like this back in the academy.
"It's open!" Heili exclaimed as she covered her mouth in shock. The massive amount of mana coming from the ancient ruin brushed across her face.
It was her first time seeing an ancient ruin.
"We'll wait until they disappear," Alexander said before he glanced at the other experts.
The first people that entered the giant hole were the top factions followed by the other organizations. Soon, most experts have gone inside the ancient ruins.
"Are you prepared? This will not be easy. A battle will surely occur and we could die anytime inside the ruin." Alexander asked with a serious look.
"You know me..." Souta simply said then he turned to Heili.
Alexander knew Heili's power level. She could become a burden for Souta and him. He didn't even know why would he bring her here with her low power level.
"I'm fine." Heili clenched both of her fists tightly.
Souta turned to Alexander and shrugged his shoulder with a smile on his face. He slowly opened his mouth and said, "I quite like her. I wanted to know if she's worth my help." His words were spoken in a monster language. The intent was only passed to Alexander so even if anyone heard it, they wouldn't understand anything.
"You're taking this too lightly." Alexander shook his head. "Nevermind. Suit yourself." He then flew towards the giant hole.
Heili glanced at Alexander confusedly. She didn't know what he was talking about. She went closer to Souta and whispered, "Junior Brother, is your friend okay?"
"No, he's not okay. That guy is crazy." Souta laughed lightly as he recalled what the Ancient Myriad Emperor did in the past.
"What?! Are you for real, junior?" Heili whispered.
"Don't worry about him. Let's go now." Souta said before he flew.
"I'm not worried about him. I'm worried about us... I don't know him but can we really put our lives for him?" Heili asked.
"Don't worry. That guy is trustworthy. You can try to befriend him too. Once he treated you as his comrade, that guy will help you if you encounter a problem." Souta replied to her.
"Hmm... That is quite impressive if it is coming from you, junior. But I will not try to befriend him just for that. I will see his character first. That's the most important thing." Heili said as she gave Souta a glance.
"Then, what about Senior Neiso? Is he your friend?" Souta asked.
"Don't be like that Junior Brother. Senior Neiso just hasn't put his trust in you yet. Once you know him, you will realize that he's quite a kind person. He's only looking out for me." Heili explained. "His attitude toward you is the same as his attitude toward me a few years ago when I just join the school." She giggled.
"Hmm... That's a pretty interesting story." Souta nodded and asked, "Then, what about you? Do you trust me?"
"Not yet. That's why I'm associating myself with my juniors to see if I could trust them." Heili said.
"You're quite honest. I thought you would say that you trust me." Souta smiled faintly.
"It's one of the ways. If I'm honest with you maybe you will place your trust in me. A tactic. It is my tactic." Heili confidently patted her chest.
"We're here," Souta said as his expression turned serious.
Both of them entered a giant hole and found themselves unable to fly. They fell on the stairs circling around the hole. Souta and Heili quickly fixed their stance as they looked down at the seemingly bottomless hole which was filled with white mist.
"The air here is somewhat different..." Heili muttered.
Souta looked up and explained, "The space here is folded. The space fluctuations are high so we will find a portal at the bottom of the wall."
"A portal?! Isn't that hard to open in the current situation?" Heili asked.
"Yeah, that's why there is a tunnel like this that will act as a bridge. The folded space and the runes carved around will lessen the pressure." Alexander suddenly answered.
Heili didn't understand how that works. She just simply saw the runes carved around the bottomless hole. It was no ordinary rune. Each one was a high and complicated rune with different uses. These runes were also the reason why they couldn't fly in this place.
"This is from the era ten thousand years ago..."
Dream, from the Great Chan Hall, said with amazement.
Souta and the others turned their heads and looked at the giant portal.
The portal covered the space at the bottom. Various runes and ancient writings intertwined at the walls to the edges of the portal. The runes and carvings were filled with mysticism that didn't exist in the current era.
"Ten thousand years ago?! Then, this ruin existed way before the Hall of Power rose in fame?!?" Heili muttered in shock.
"What kind of ruin is this..." Souta narrowed his eyes.
"Prepare yourself!" Alexander warned.
Ohm!
Suddenly, the portal emitted a bright light and it enveloped everyone in the area. A powerful force sucked every creature toward the portal. They didn't have any power to resist at all. They could only helplessly watch as the portal sucked everyone inside.
The next moment, the light disappeared and everyone was gone.
Ugh!
Souta blinked his eyes as he felt a slight headache. He looked up and found himself inside a huge and spacious dark hall.
'That power... I couldn't resist it at all.' He recalled the feeling of not being able to control his body. It was too much for him who always wanted to fully control himself.
'There's no mistake. This place is built by god-level.' Saya said to him. 'That power before is a leftover power of a god. It seems that we are in an alternate space. The space is pretty hard and the atmosphere contains all kinds of power. It's unbelievable.'
'And the one that made this isn't an ordinary god at all... The creator should be stronger than my peak.'
Souta could sense Saya's shock in her words.
A god stronger than Saya's peak?
This wasn't within his expectations. This ancient ruin was better than he expected but his quest was to help Alexander in taking over the Multiple Element Realm.
Multiple Element Realm was the name of this ruin. No, it shouldn't be called a ruin anymore. This was an entire sub-world hidden in an alternate space in Imperium.
"Junior Brother..."
Souta turned his head as he heard Heili's voice. He saw her on the ground holding her head. It seems that she suffered headaches too after arriving at this place. As for Alexander, he was completely fine. He stood on the side examining the hall.
Aside from them, other people were also here. It seems that everyone got transported to this place.
Souta turned to Alexander and asked, "What should we do now?"
His goal was to help Alexander so he would follow him for a while. This guy, the Ancient Myriad Emperor, knew something about this place.
"We'll just wait here. The others will pave a path for us." Alexander said in a low voice that only the two of them could hear.
"The others...?" Souta looked at the people in the area.
"We just have to wait for them." Alexander nodded.
Heili looked at the two of them before she turned at the people around.
Ohm!
The atmosphere changed as a wave of energy swept out in every direction. The light suddenly disappeared all of a sudden and it was replaced by darkness.
"W-What's happening?"
Heili subconsciously took a step back as she raise her hand to create a small ball of fire to illuminate her surrounding.
"Is it the challenges of this ruin?" Souta grinned.
"Yeah, the trial had begun." Alexander nodded.
The ground shook heavily as hundreds of stone golems formed in just a second. It was too fast that it caught everyone off guard. The formation of the golem quickly threw the other people into panic. After all, each golem had a power level of B-rank.
For Souta and Alexander's current power level, these stone golems were nothing. But for Heidi and other B-rank experts, this was a tough challenge.
Just like that, the battle started immediately.
