Chapter 371: Chapter 369: Ruins and Stronghold
The entrance through the ice layer was dug out by the mercenaries who discovered the ruins.
Perhaps they stumbled upon the surface aurora by accident, or perhaps they happened to kill a demon in the aurora and, following its guidance, made this discovery.
After crossing the thick ice, Hilia slowly arrived at the hidden entrance beneath the ice.
The guidance of the Starlight Avenue ended here, but inside, dreamlike colors continued to pour outward.
It seemed as if coming from the Starlight Avenue, everyone received a brief blessing, isolating them from the influence of the auroras in the ruins.
The gate of the ruins resembled a dazzling fountain, concealed beneath the thick ice layer.
Hilia stared at the Dream Magic Fountain, scrutinizing it closely. "Is this a subspace entrance? It doesn’t really feel like it."
Rose said, "It’s not a subspace entrance. It’s a downward passage. Alina didn’t choose to enter subspace slumber, and there’s no sign of subspace here."
"So... we just have to jump in?"
"Mm."
"Alright then."
Hilia controlled the magic puppet to walk to the Magic Power Fountain, then leapt straight in, vanishing into the stream of magic.
After using the puppet to sense the situation below, Hilia turned to the others and said, "This hole is about ten meters deep, so watch out."
With that, she jumped down herself.
After she jumped, Goriff followed right after. Pamisha didn’t jump at once. Instead, she cursed at Anthony, then took out a rope, lowered it down, and only descended herself after Anthony and Manica slid down on it.
By now, Hilia was already surveying her surroundings.
This was a hidden underground opening. It looked as if it had been here for a long time, but upon closer inspection, Hilia realized it might not have existed for more than a hundred years.
"Is this really a ruin?" Hilia looked up at the opening in the ceiling.
If a Holy-tier Mage had fallen into slumber and the leaking magic power had naturally formed this, it might be a ruin.
But considering that traces of Alina’s blood had been found at the Polar Blood Alliance base, Hilia suspected this was actually a base for the Polar Blood Alliance—much more likely than being a ruin.
"The dreamlike contamination disappears after entering. I wonder where it came from in the first place."
The exit was blocked off by dazzling Dream Magic Power, as if these energies had condensed out of thin air, completely severing up from down.
Rose’s ghostly image appeared beside her, gazing deep into the underground cavern.
"That dreamlike contamination is meant to block off the underground from the outside world, making it impossible for outsiders to detect what’s below. But recently, something happened and the trap’s dreamlike contamination has begun leaking, creating an aurora on the surface and drawing attention down here."
Hilia asked inwardly, "So is this a ruin, or a heretic base?"
"It’s a ruin, and also a base," Rose answered.
Hilia: "?"
"The sect made their base deep underground, disguising the upper level as a ruin. In other words, this is a base disguised as a low-tier ruin. The whole site is warded against Tier Four and higher."
"Ward off Tier Four, eh? That way, high-tier mages can’t find the base...but doesn’t that mean the sect’s own high-tiers can’t get in, either?"
"It’s not like this is the only way into the base. If it really were, then whatever’s left in the base would only require a Tier Three Mage for security."
Hilia looked hesitantly at the others in the group behind her. "Lord Rose, should I split off from them to keep going, or stick with them to explore the ruins first?"
"No need to rush ahead. If you don’t clear the ruin, you might not make it down anyway. Besides, check it out a bit—this place combines Alina’s Dream Magic Power and Demonic Qi tainted with Divine Power. The interaction might have produced something interesting," Rose said with a laugh.
Hilia was surprised. "Did the heretics really build a low-tier ruin and then actually put stuff inside for outside mercenaries to find?"
"A ruin is a special sort of entity; there’s no such thing as a ruin that comes without rewards. You could call that an iron rule. If the sect wanted this place to count as a ruin, they had to put all sorts of treasure and an ultimate prize inside to let the operation cycle, turning it into a real ruin. A thousand years ago, I used to call ruins ’dungeons.’"
"Dungeon?"
Another word she couldn’t make sense of. Hilia thought to herself.
"A dungeon, by definition, is a place you can raid over and over. In short, this is a mysterious Law of the world—no need to look for its reason, just know this: only with rewards can a site truly be called a ruin. Jonathan’s ruin is the same; he just likes to tie his rewards up with traps, so if you want treasure, you’ll be disgusted half to death first."
If Hilia could choose again, there’s no way she’d go into Jonathan’s residence a second time.
It was disgusting—just pure anguish.
Rose laughed. "This place doesn’t have Jonathan’s twisted humor. From my scan, there are two ways down to the sect’s base: one is through a secret passage they set up, the other is to seize control of the ruin and directly unseal the entrance downstairs."
Hilia instantly caught on. "Then let’s clear this ruin first!"
Clear the ruin?
Easy enough.
Rose wasn’t in a hurry, and neither was Hilia.
After all, this whole trip to the Land of the Far North was made because she had received ’divine guidance’ from Rose. She didn’t know Alina personally—just that she’d been Rose’s Apostle once. Since the god himself wasn’t impatient, there was no reason to rush ahead. She’d clear the ruin first!
Hilia was sure Rose had some ulterior motive.
But he wouldn’t say, and she couldn’t guess.
So, best to finish out God’s mission first!
The girl set off into the ruins, Pamisha and the other three following behind.
They passed through a long underground corridor, which gradually widened ahead.
The pitch-black tunnel was slowly coated with glimmers of starlight.
Hilia looked up to see countless stars and auroras overhead, as if she’d appeared on the surface again.
Pamisha gazed upward, eyes entranced, muttering, "What a beautiful starry ceiling. I want to capture this..."
Anthony said nothing, quietly using his own wristband to record Pamisha’s expression.
The recording function on his wristband wasn’t as good as a dedicated Memory Recorder, but a skilled photographer doesn’t let equipment hold them back—he still found the best angle to preserve the beautiful moment.
Beside them, Goriff grumbled, "This is a ruin, not a photo op. Let’s clear it first—then there’ll be plenty of time for pictures."
Pamisha snapped back to her senses and nodded. "You’re right. Miss Xiluo, shall we keep going?"
Hilia nodded. "Let’s go."
The group moved forward, the scene ahead slowly coming into focus. Bathed in dim starlight, a castle shaped as if carved from a glacier gradually emerged before them.
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