Not long after leaving the tunnel exit, ruins began appearing on both sides of the canyon.

From the architectural style and their locations,

these ruins were almost identical to the broken buildings on the other side.

"....."

"You guys continue forward below. I'll go up and take a look."

"Costate... Crowe, take good care of everyone."

The focus of this journey lay in the ruins here, so naturally, Ronald couldn't ignore them.

After instructing the others to move on,

he grabbed the wall with one hand and, with just a few leaps, climbed a nearly vertical cliff face a hundred meters high, before flipping over and jumping into the ruins.

"....."

Below, Ina, who had witnessed this, couldn't help but murmur,

"Is this... a spell to enhance jumping strength?"

Beside her, Megan also expressed her view,

"I didn't feel any Magic Fluctuations, it must be his own physical strength that's strong."

"That's just outrageous..."

On the other side, after Ronald successfully entered the ruins, he also paused for a moment in surprise.

The first thing he noticed wasn't the broken buildings before him, but rather the top of the canyon.

The automatic terrain-recording ability of his "Star Chart" sent back feedback.

Though it appeared to be an open area, the entire top was still completely covered by a one-way light-transmitting material.

"....."

Ronald pondered briefly...

Apart from the tunnel that entered the canyon, the rest of the terrain didn't seem to be artificially created.

In other words, this place might have been where the Ni'Gal people initially found and then artificially added a 'lid' on top, creating such a unique environment.

"Is it merely to keep it hidden?" he mumbled to himself about the possibility of such an arrangement, as Ronald continued searching around the ruins.

The ruins were mostly built around the edge of the cliff, with few extending deeply into the mountain itself, and the buildings were connected to each other with long corridors, forming a very elongated cluster of buildings.

"Living quarters, marketplace, this is a place for resting..."

Keeping pace with his companions below, Ronald traveled through the ancient ruins. After advancing a bit further, he finally saw something different in a narrower passageway—

—it was two human skeletons lying on each side of the passageway.

—Now, only their tattered clothes clung to their bodies.

"....."

In the narrow terrain, the two stood in positions to the left and right.

They were either guards responsible for this area or stationed here to block certain enemies from passing through.

Ronald approached closer for a thorough inspection.

Although the accumulation of dust here was extremely heavy, clearly undisturbed for hundreds of years, the fatal wounds left on the skeletons spoke of past events.

On the left—two vertebrae at the waist were deformed and cracked, and there was a slender penetration wound in the skull. These were the two most fatal wounds.

On the right—the ribs protecting the heart were also broken, with an identical penetration wound in the skull.

He glanced at the clothes, barely recognizable.

Aside from the decayed parts, there were virtually no slashes from sharp weapons on the fabric.

The conclusion was clear—these two had likely been defeated by their enemies head-on, and then someone used the same method to deliver a killing blow to their heads, ensuring both were thoroughly dead.

"It possesses a strong frontal attack capability..."

Having checked the condition of the two bodies, Ronald caught up with the pace of his comrades below and continued deeper.

This pass seemed to be the dividing line between graves and ruins.

After crossing it, bodies began to appear frequently at various locations within the ruins, regardless of age or gender, each had a definitively fatal penetration wound in the skull.

—The perpetrator was able to frequently use this kind of attack, even as a method of dealing a finishing blow.

—Moreover, the perpetrator was decisive, showing no mercy to the enemy.

If Ronald was not mistaken.

The information attained by the ordinary explorer Celiere suggests the people of Nigar should be a tribe that existed after the Dark Age, right?

Therefore, the situation within the ruins should have occurred after the Dark Age.

What exactly happened here during that period when mystical methods were severely restricted?

...

Ronald's bewilderment did not last forever.

After advancing silently through the grave-filled land for several minutes, he came to a rather spacious cliff-top platform.

Considering the difficulty of building open structures here, as well as the series of buildings encountered just now.

In this special city built by the people of Nigar.

The importance of this platform was evident.

...

"It seems I'm in luck?"

Ronald quickly scanned the area and spotted something that could provide information.

At the edge of the platform, a signpost-like structure stood on the ground.

This object was fortunate to have not been completely destroyed by time.

Ronald moved closer to inspect, noting beautifully crafted stone slabs, with even their edges carved with patterns, affixed in order to a frame with stone nails.

The distinctively featured stone plates before him were indeed used by the people of Nigar to announce information, the sturdy material ensuring that most of the information on them was intact.

At this moment, Ronald's general linguistic comprehension abilities came into play again.

[City Building Celebration — After a five-year journey, the great new King of Nigar has led us to find a habitat here. Inspired by the spirits of our ancestors, this city belonging to the King was named Twin Streams City.]

[Cautionary Notice — Due to frequent wars outside recently, Twin Streams City will be closed off, forbidding all outings except for the guards'...]

[Open Announcement — The order forbidding outings is lifted, effective immediately. At the same time, the great King has received a revelation from the ancestral spirits, stating that discussing sacrificial activities and such will bring disaster to this city. Henceforth, ordinary citizens are forbidden from discussing...]

[New Prince — A new life is born into the great royal family. To give thanks for this gift, Twin Streams City will hold a three-day celebration.]

[New King — In accordance with the revelation of the ancestral spirits, Prince Nir Lam will become the new King of Twin Streams City...]

[Ancestral Revelation — Suspension of sacrificial activities within the city for two months.]

It's probably due to Nigar customs that these stone plates, even past their period of relevance, were not dismantled by those who came after but were left as a form of commemoration and symbol.

Ronald just glanced over it briefly.

He roughly understood the establishment of this city and the many significant events that followed.

But the content on this bulletin board.

Had eternally concluded at the last [Ancestral Revelation].

"A suspension of sacrificial activities within the city for two months... Could it be that the demise of this city is related to this so-called sacrificial activity?"

Ronald was murmuring while pondering the question.

But at this moment.

A clear Magic Fluctuation suddenly emerged below.

Ronald could discern very clearly — that was the reaction to Costate activating a Spell!

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