Chapter 37: The Ruins
What exactly was that?
Standing once again in front of the window, Sylvia's expression grew subtle.
Could that actually lure back the Sword Angel who had already left?
And why did that direction feel so familiar?
At this moment, Lakdevo tilted his head slightly and spoke in a tone tinged with doubt:
"The sound seemed to come from that ruin?"
Ruin?
Sylvia repeated the word in her mind, trying to recall what it referred to.
The next second, her expression changed instantly—
No way, could something have gone wrong at the ruin where the war golem was unearthed?
If that were true, was it an attack, or did a mishap during excavation cause the energy core powering the golem to explode?
After a brief moment of thought, the puppet girl spoke:
"I’ll go over there and take a look first."
"Hmm… Lakdevo, come with me."
"Squawk! Alright!"
...
On the black river water veiled in grayish-white mist, a figure emerged and then vanished.
After installing the Right Eye of the Gloomy Moon, her movement speed atop the River of the Dead had become significantly faster.
Compared to before, when it took nearly a minute to traverse most of the City of Alova, this time it took her only a few seconds to reach the eastern outskirts from the northern Eplington District.
In fact, Death God’s followers didn't need to "fly" when moving across the River of the Dead—they could quickly traverse it through portals linking the river's key nodes.
But to use these portals, one had to be granted favor and permission by the God of Death.
Therefore, even those who could access the River of the Dead merely treated it as a high-speed roadway.
The moment she exited the river, the divinity of the God of Death once again enveloped her soul.
In the next second, the already dimming sunlight appeared before her.
Alongside it was a construction site in utter disarray.
"Everyone’s out, right?"
"Quick! Seal the gate!"
"The attacker—has her trail been found?"
Just as she returned to reality, all sorts of voices rang in her ears.
The loudest among them was a deep, robust voice of a middle-aged man.
Following the voice, she saw a burly man in a dark green clerical robe standing atop a mound, directing the crowd.
He appeared to be a bishop—a bishop of the Church of Machinery.
Following the direction of his pointing finger, Sylvia saw a massive pit.
This pit wasn’t dug straight down, but instead featured a wide slope.
On the slope lay a huge, black arm and a leg of the same material and structure.
Not only that, both the arm and leg showed obvious damage and bite marks.
Beyond them were scattered fragments of metal, seemingly the outer armor that had once encased the mechanical skeleton.
At the bottom of the slope stood a pair of enormous double doors.
They were pitch-black iron doors, estimated to be over twenty meters high, inlaid with numerous gemstones and pieces of metal.
The puppet girl wrapped herself in fine black gauze, then descended along the slope, weaving through the crowd dressed in various outfits, and arrived beneath the not-yet-fully-closed gates, where a thin gap still remained.
Raising her head to look at the "decoration" on the doors, Sylvia’s brows slowly furrowed—
"Diamond and turquoise..."
"Do they symbolize the Lord of Radiance and the All-Knowing God?"
"No, not just that. The iron used to forge this gate seems to carry a spiritual aura as well..."
"And also, the interior of the gate appears to be layered in a specific pattern, and what's filled in between is..."
"Mercury!"
"Does that, in turn, symbolize the God of War and the God of Law and Order?"
Looking at what stood before her, Sylvia drew in a sharp breath.
Yet Lakdevo, perched crouched on her shoulder, looked more and more confused.
"What's wrong?"
Noticing the bewilderment of her servant, the puppet girl slightly tilted her head and looked toward the fat crow.
"Squawk..."
"This gate… seems off!"
"Hm?"
At this moment, Sylvia grew interested.
"The diamonds on this gate don’t seem to symbolize the Lord of Radiance."
"And look here, the spirituality within these diamonds appears extremely dim."
"Oh?"
The girl responded with keen interest.
"Then who do they symbolize?"
Lakdevo was silent for a moment, then slowly uttered a name:
"The Pure-White Emperor, Dolgounas."
Hearing that name, Sylvia clearly froze for a moment, as it lay outside the bounds of her knowledge.
But the next second, it felt oddly familiar to her.
Following that sense of familiarity, she gradually recalled some details, and her expression grew stranger and stranger:
"The Dolgounas family of the Koinsprache Empire's royal line?"
"These diamonds… symbolize the emperors of the Koinsprache Empire throughout the generations?"
The Koinsprache Empire had once ruled the entire Old Continent over eight hundred years ago.
Today, any country on this continent with over eight hundred years of history was a product of that colossal empire's collapse.
Even the common language used by the Western Alliance of Nations was inherited from the Koinsprache Empire.
"Yes."
Lakdevo nodded:
"But I must correct your assumption—within the Koinsprache Empire’s near-millennia-long history, there was only ever one emperor—"
"The Great Creator, the Transcender of Eras, the Ruler of All Things—Dolgounas."
"He was a true god, a god who bore the title of emperor."
Hearing Lakdevo's words, Sylvia's brows furrowed slightly:
"So in other words, he was another existence similar to the Ancient Moon God?"
"Exactly, Master."
Lakdevo nodded:
"Since I wasn’t born that far back in time, and the River of the Dead has certain restrictions on those historical eras, I don’t know much about Him or that age—I can’t explain more to you."
"But one thing is certain—this iron gate, whether in design or the symbolic gemstones and metals embedded in it, all belong to the era of the Koinsprache Empire."
"Restrictions?"
At that moment, Sylvia seized on a particular word in his statement.
Upon hearing the question, Lakdevo clearly paused for a moment before nodding:
"Yes, Master."
"This concerns that secret."
"Alright, I understand."
Nodding, Sylvia shifted the topic in a new direction:
"I recall you saying that the war golems were only created three hundred years ago."
"That’s correct, Master."
The fat crow nodded, then spoke again with the same odd tone:
"That’s also what puzzles me."
"Why would a war weapon from three hundred years ago be unearthed from a ruin that dates back nearly a thousand years—and why does it appear to have suffered such severe damage?"
"Moreover, the symbolic sigils on these two gates all possess sealing functions."
Listening to Lakdevo’s explanation and gazing at the massive gate before her, Sylvia's lips slowly curved upward:
"This is getting more and more interesting."
"So, should we consider leaving the City of Alova first?"