Chapter 38: The Presence in the Depths
"Ga?"
Lakdevo’s confused voice sounded, while Sylvia smiled lightly.
"Just kidding."
"The waters of Alova are even deeper than I expected."
As she spoke, she reached out her right hand to touch the iron door in front of her, feeling the cold sensation transmitted through her fingertips. Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"What exactly is sealed behind this door?"
"……"
"Master, I cannot make a guess."
"And this door, while completing the seal, also blocks my vision from peering inside."
"However, through this gap that hasn’t yet fully closed, I can sense the presence of a living creature inside."
"A living creature..."
The puppet girl repeated the word, the expression on her face gradually softening.
"Forget it, let’s not rush in. No one knows what’s truly inside."
"And once the door shuts completely, whether we’ll be able to get out is another problem."
"Praise your wisdom."
Lakdevo flapped his wings twice to express his agreement.
Seeing this, the smile on Sylvia’s face suddenly turned a bit odd.
"Lakdevo, according to my judgment, this door should taste sweet."
"……"
In an instant, silence fell.
A few seconds later, the fat crow perched on her shoulder spoke in a low voice.
"Master, although I am not as ancient as you, I have still lived for several centuries."
"There are some basic facts I do know."
With a soft cough, Sylvia said no more and turned around to walk up the slope toward the surface.
Just then, a carriage came from the distance.
On the carriage was a white sacred emblem—
A cross pattern intertwined with complex lines representing light, flanked by wings made of feathers.
The Church of Radiance, the Sacred Emblem of Radiance.
The carriage came to a steady halt, and from its open door stepped a middle-aged man with golden hair.
"Good afternoon, Bishop Vils."
"What happened here?"
His calm voice rang out as he addressed the bishop of the Church of Machinery.
Lapune Vils, Bishop of the Church of Industry and Machinery in the City of Alova, cast his gaze toward the speaker and then paused in his previous motion.
"Good afternoon, Bishop Labrile."
"The cultists attacked our archaeological site, and their assault caused one of the artifacts to explode."
As he spoke, he pointed to a wheel-like object placed in the distance.
"An artifact... exploded?"
Loruze clearly froze for a moment.
At that moment, Sylvia also emerged from the pit and witnessed the scene.
Then Loruze pondered for a moment and continued asking.
"Were the attackers caught?"
As he spoke, he scanned his surroundings.
However, his gaze merely swept past Sylvia's side, without noticing her presence.
Having lost the power of Greed, he, like a normal transcendent of the second metamorphosis, no longer possessed the qualification to perceive the truth.
"No."
A trace of regret appeared on Bishop Lapune’s face.
"We only saw the attacker’s appearance."
After saying this, the expression on this mechanical bishop's face visibly turned strange.
"Don’t worry. The Church of Radiance will stand with you."
Loruze clearly noticed the change in his expression and offered a few comforting words.
After a brief silence, Lapune slowly replied.
"Thank you for your kindness."
"I will describe the attacker's characteristics to assist you in conducting a manhunt in the city—"
"It wasn’t a human, but a puppet."
"……"
"……"
"……"
In that instant, not only Loruze, but also Sylvia and Lakdevo, who had already walked up beside the two, appeared dazed.
At that moment, Loruze, whose expression had also turned odd, asked:
"Can you describe the puppet's appearance in more detail?"
Lapune nodded.
"Black hair, green eyes, with clearly visible connecting joints on its body."
"It didn’t give me the feeling of being a forbidden object."
"That made me think of those puppeteers active in the Kingdom of Ulpus."
Hearing his description, Loruze visibly let out a sigh of relief.
Then he too nodded.
"I understand. I’ll mobilize the Church of Radiance in Alova to search for that puppet and any puppeteer who might be behind it."
"Do you need support from our personnel at the site here?"
Lapune looked at the scene of devastation before him and pondered.
"Has Her Grace Aksia already left?"
"Yes."
"She left an hour ago with part of the Tribunal’s knights. Apparently, something happened in the neighboring country and assistance was needed."
"Neighboring country?"
Lapune frowned and questioned.
"Yes, the Kingdom of Ulpus. But unfortunately, I don’t know the details."
Loruze shook his head.
Seeing this, Lapune let out a soft sigh and replied.
"Then no need. If it’s just a surface issue, we can still handle it."
"Surface?"
Loruze keenly picked up on the key word.
"Yes."
"As you can see, this is a ruin."
"During the exploration, we unearthed a war golem."
"Later, we sent a telegram to the Sanctuary to inquire and received confirmation that indeed, three hundred years ago, a war golem had been buried here."
"At the time, for various reasons, it wasn’t retrieved."
"At the same time, the Sanctuary gave us instructions to recover the war golem as quickly as possible and seal off the ruins—without alerting the presence in the depths of the ruins."
"We strictly followed the instructions during excavation, yet something like this still happened."
"Now we fear that the presence mentioned vaguely in the Sanctuary's description of the ruins may have been disturbed—and the earliest their support can arrive is tonight."
As Loruze listened, his brow gradually furrowed.
"An unknown presence in the depths of the ruins?"
"Yes."
Lapune nodded.
"We studied the symbolic sigils engraved on the gate of the ruins and found their primary function was to seal something."
"However, during our exploration, we didn’t go deeper, so we have no clear understanding of what lies in the depths."
"Only…"
Lapune hesitated for a moment, as if debating whether to continue.
In the end, he chose to speak further.
"At the spot where we unearthed the war golem, there were clear signs of combat."
"And on the body of the war golem were terrifying and exaggerated scars."
"Based on our analysis, the being capable of inflicting such damage might be larger than the golem itself."
"Furthermore, being able to destroy something with power at the level of an Apostle suggests that the attacker is likely also of that tier."
"…I understand."
Loruze gave a slight nod and said no more.
He then returned to his carriage.
As the carriage moved along the dirt road, the Radiant Bishop's brow furrowed more and more.
At that moment, a voice rang out from the opposite seat.
"No need to worry for now."
"As long as the gate remains sealed, the being behind it cannot break free."
"Hmm... at least, that’s how it is for now."
"Besides, I don’t believe the Church of Machinery’s reinforcements will be as slow as claimed."
He suddenly looked up, seeing Sylvia sitting opposite him, having appeared there at some unknown moment. He immediately lowered his head respectfully.
"Yes, Your Grace."
…
At the same time, at the ruins site.
"Bishop! Look there!"
A priest of the Church of Machinery shouted while pointing to the top of the gate.
"That piece of turquoise seems to have shattered!"