''After devoting ten years of my life to unraveling the mystery of this room, I came up empty-handed in my search for answers, and I was on the verge of giving up. '' Samuen paused briefly, directing attention towards the ruined gate. ''But then this thing appeared.''
''Of course, when this gate first appeared 20 years ago, it didn't look like this. Instead, like every other newly opened gate, it was fully operational and ready for me to pass through and explore the fallen world it was concealing. ''
Zephyr interrupted him and questioned, "But if this is really a rift, didn't creatures come to this world from within?"
Under normal circumstances, new life forms would emerge in the fallen world after its final calamity wiped out all of its inhabitants. These mindless monsters would take shape using the elements that the calamity possesses.
And normally, when a rift first opened, item holders would not immediately enter the rift, but would instead wait for the creatures that would emerge from the rift to invade their world and eliminate them first.
''Yes, you are correct. Therefore, I reasoned that it was time to reveal this information to another person in the hope that they will assist me in putting a stop to the creatures that are capable of entering this world from within. '' Samuen turned to face Diam, who was following behind them.
''Miss Diam? How come you didn't tell us but her?'' Arden frowned.
It would have made more sense to inform his sons, who were already C-Rank item holders at the time, about this risk rather than Diam, who was a D-Rank item holder.
"Hahaha, Who else in the family could I ask for assistance? '' A sudden fit of laughter erupted from Samuen as he stated, "She is the only B-Rank member of this family other than me."
Zephyr couldn't believe what he was hearing. "B-Rank? Her?" he exclaimed, glancing back and forth between Diam and his father, who was chuckling with amusement.
"Why would I joke? Go ahead and ask her," Samuen replied.
"Miss Diam?" Arden uttered it, his skepticism lingering.
He turned towards Diam, seeking confirmation, only to be met with a haunting sight—a pair of piercing purple eyes emanating an eerie glow.
''W-What the fuck? '' When Arden suddenly found himself unable to move, he panicked and cried out.
"Hell... She really is a B-Rank," Zephyr exclaimed, his voice tinged with astonishment as he came to the realization as he attempted to move his body, only to discover that he was completely immobilized.
Diam was currently using the same skill on them that she had previously used on Mell and Galen, but this time the target of this skill was a group of C-Ranks.
"Miss Diam, we believe you. Could you please release us?" Elara pleaded, her voice trembling with a mixture of fear and awe.
As a former battle maid, she was trained and raised as an item holder by Diam. Years later, when she once again felt the same control over her body, her old memories resurfaced.
She was taken aback when she discovered that Diam was in fact a B-Rank; however, she and Seren were able to more readily accept this revelation because their admiration for Diam had never wavered over the course of years.
'Damn, I can't believe this old monster fooled us for so many years. ' As soon as he felt the restriction on him being lifted, Zephyr immediately averted his eyes and thought. The fact that she was able to conceal her abilities from them did not surprise him, given that she was a B-Rank and because of the nature of her item holder build.
Even though she still appeared to be a charming middle-aged woman, no one knew Diam's true age. All they knew was that when they were children, she was already a member of their family and played a significant role in their upbringing, as their mother had perished in a rift event many years ago. Therefore, not only the battle maids but also all the family elders endeavored to show her respect.
"Well, now that this secret has also been revealed, I can continue where I left off. '' Samuen laughed as he continued walking.
'What a trusting family. ' Raydon was amused by the situation and continued to trail behind the old man.
"As I said, as every item holder would anticipate, the first thing that crossed my mind when I first saw this gate was that creatures would emerge from it and invade this world. So Diam and I took turns standing watch by this gate for a considerable amount of time. We had no idea how strong the monsters from within were, or whether we would be able to stop them all, but at least we had made all the arrangements for the family to be evacuated in case things got out of hand. '' Samuen said.
Normally, the rank of the fallen world and what element it had could be understood by looking at the gate itself. However, there were so many differences regarding this gate that it became impossible for them to understand. Aside from that, Samuen didn't want to approach any other families for assistance because he believed that this gate would be a boon for their family and he didn't want to split any potential benefits with any other families.
Also, despite the fact that normally the Academy and other high-rank item holders have skills that allow them to find opened gates and rifts, it is interesting to note that nobody noticed this gate and came here to investigate it. Samuen believed that the reason for this was because the mysterious room was keeping its radiating energy hidden from the outside world, so it was only natural for him to keep the existence of this room a secret from the rest of the world.
''However, despite the fact that we were on standby for a considerable period of time, no monsters or any sign of life emerged from within,'' Samuen said so solemnly. "We waited for two long years just to be sure, and at last we mustered up the courage and decided to go inside. ''
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