A vastly expansive Dark Space appeared before the group. The glow emanating from the "Light Technique" coin in their hands seemed incredibly faint here. The Magic Halo struggled to extend forward, but like a firefly tossed into the Abyss, it was quickly swallowed by the boundless darkness. The enormous space held nothing but pitch blackness and deathly silence, as if even time had completely frozen. Yet, within the area touched by the light, the sight that greeted their eyes was enough to shock anyone to their core.
Skeletons lay scattered haphazardly across the ground, densely packed and stretching all the way to the boundary of light and shadow. Some belonged to the Human Race. Their bones were mostly shattered and mangled, mixed with rusted weapons and fragments of shattered Armor; some even remained standing, still holding their battle stances. There were also the remains of various Magical Beasts. Some bore bone plates and Bone Spikes, others sported sharp horns and fangs, and some even had two massive skulls filled with Sharp Teeth. These Magical Beasts were generally enormous in size, looming like towering Bone Mountains. Compared to them, the scattered human corpses seemed minuscule and insignificant.
This was a tragic ancient battlefield and a massive tomb. The air was thick with a decaying stench so heavy it was almost suffocating. Raine and the others stood at the entrance, momentarily awed by this grand spectacle of death. Raine, in particular, had never seen a real battlefield. Even after five hundred years, he could still feel the chilling aura of slaughter from that era, pressing down on him and making it hard to breathe. Those hollow-eyed skulls and slightly parted jawbones seemed to silently narrate a history of blood and fire.
The group exchanged glances, each seeing the same solemnity in the others’ eyes. Without a word, they maintained their exploration formation and slowly stepped into this colossal, ancient graveyard. As they ventured deeper, the map of the area in Raine’s mind cleared like parting clouds.
[You have activated the core landmark of the Crown of Grey Rock: ’Unyielding Hall’. Number of core landmarks activated in this area: (2/6).]
With the acquisition of the map information, Raine gained a clearer understanding of the layout. This was likely the central hub of the underground fortress, with a relatively open terrain. Aside from the Path of the Last Breath they had just entered through, the faint outlines of three giant doors—similar to the one behind them—could be seen at the front of the hall and along the misty edges to the left and right. Those were clearly passages leading to other areas of the fortress.
"Look here," Winnie’s voice rang out with a slight tremble as she pointed to the inside of the door they had just pushed open.
The inner surface of the heavy stone door was covered in dense claw marks, impact craters, and dried, blackened stains. Dozens of Human Race soldiers’ skeletons, clad in tattered Armor, lay fallen by the door. Their postures varied: some slumped against the door, some collapsed face-forward, and some skeletal hands still tightly gripped their weapons. Yet, not a single one had turned to open the door that was mere inches away.
Raine sensed the words ’Unyielding Hall’ on his map and slowly took a deep breath. This scene illustrated the meaning of ’Unyielding’ better than any words ever could.
Kaelin crouched down and gently brushed the thick dust off a fragment of Armor on a skeleton’s chest. On the heavily corroded metal, some of which had fused with the bone, the faint outline of an embossed wolf’s head crest could be discerned. However, before she could look closer, with a soft POOF, the Armor fragment shattered and collapsed before her eyes like a weathered sandcastle. It crumbled into a small pinch of dark red rust, sliding silently through the gaps in the bones. As if triggering a chain reaction, the Armor and weapons on the surrounding skeletons emitted faint CRACK sounds. Under the group’s astonished gaze, they rapidly turned into flying ash, completely blending into the accumulated dust on the ground.
"These pieces of equipment that once accompanied the Warriors into battle and protected them... can’t even withstand a single touch anymore," Winnie said, her timid voice carrying a trace of alarm and pity.
"It can’t be helped. These generals and soldiers died in the early days of the Black Tide. One of the terrifying aspects of that damn thing is its significant corrosiveness toward metal. The Negative Energy it contains accelerates the decay of most equipment." Sodden’s gruff voice was much lower now. He extended a thick finger and pinched a speck of the rust-red dust. "After suffering the erosion of the Black Tide, even Fine Steel Armor forged by us Dwarves cannot withstand such a long passage of time."
Hearing this, Raine nodded thoughtfully. Opening this long-sealed door had allowed outside air to rush in, bringing fresh oxygen and moisture. It was no surprise that these metals, long eroded by the Black Tide, underwent accelerated oxidation upon contact with fresh air and instantly turned to dust.
Kaelin stood up silently, her fingertips seemingly still holding the sensation of the Armor turning to dust. She pursed her lips tightly, her gaze growing firmer. "The Ancestral Relic I am looking for is not Mortal Iron, but a fist-sized blue Gemstone." She surveyed the land of death, her voice clear and resolute. "My ancestor was the Commander here, so his equipment must have been the finest. Perhaps some fragments still exist. Let’s search carefully and stay vigilant."
"If it’s a Gemstone, then there’s no need to worry about it being affected by that damn thing," Sodden said. He dusted the rust off his hands and raised his Great Shield once more. His bell-like brown eyes were exceptionally bright in the darkness; his Dark Vision allowed him to see much further than the illumination range of the "Light Technique". Winnie’s azure eyes were equally bright; as a Tiefling, she possessed Dark Vision on par with a Dwarf’s. As for Raine and Kaelin, they focused their gazes more on their immediate surroundings. The group maintained their exploration formation and began to search with cautious steps.
They carefully navigated through the ancient battlefield. The faint CRACK of bones breaking beneath their feet rang out occasionally, sounding exceptionally harsh in the dead silence of the hall. As they walked, scenes frozen for five hundred years naturally entered Raine’s vision, silently recreating the tragic and unyielding final moments of the battle. By the rock wall, a soldier’s skeleton leaned heavily; the bones of his lower body were completely shattered, yet his withered hand bones still tightly gripped his weapon. Not far in front of him, the skull of an Earth Dragon-like Magical Beast ferociously held its massive jaws wide open, half a human arm bone still clamped between its teeth. The owner of that severed arm had jammed the knuckles of his other hand deep into the crevices of the beast’s eye socket. There were also smaller wolf-like skeletons snuggled tightly against the human soldiers’ remains or collapsed beside them. These were clearly the loyal companions of the Wolf Cavalry. Even until the very last moment, these Ice Giant Wolves from the Northern Territory had never abandoned their masters.
These silent sights were like a fragmented scroll, piecing together horrific finales in Raine’s mind. It was as if the events of the past were unfolding right before his eyes, causing his heart rate to involuntarily spike. Kaelin and the other two shared his reaction; all of them subconsciously tensed their bodies and gripped their weapons tightly.
However, deep within the darkness beyond their line of sight, hidden in the Shadow formed by the massive pile of Magical Beast skeletons, lay the colossal skeleton of a creeping Magical Beast. Without any warning, the tip of its scythe-like Bone Claw... gave a slight twitch. Around it, the hollow eye sockets of several Human Race soldiers’ corpses tangled with the beast seemed to flash with an imperceptible ghostly light. The jaw of one of those skulls opened and closed silently, as if chewing on the long-lost fresh air.