Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

This was the real reason why the lost city of Ertos had become what it was today.

It was not that Vivian could not remember the city, it was that she had never been there before. The one who controlled the city was her Malevolence, who pushed the entire city into an alien dimension. Everything was beyond Hao Ren’s conjecture. It was totally unlike his understanding of the concept of the Malevolence’s unique existence.

It was a surprise that there was such a unique individual in the Malevolence.

Hao Ren still had many questions, but he tried not to speculate. Pulling himself out of confusion, Hao Ren kept asking what happened after that. The condition of the giant statue army and the Spirit of Ertos suggested that something must have happened after the city was plunged into the alien dimension.

“After the city fell into the other dimension, what did you experience?” he asked Ertos telepathically.

“At that moment, the last surviving resistance in the city also died in the space-time tremor. After that, the ‘master’ stood on the top of the pyramid of the Grand Temple for a long time, at least for hundreds of years. I did not know what she was thinking, maybe she thought nothing at all. So during that time, I slowly recovered from my injury.”

“Injury?” Lily blinked. “What injury?”

“Do you really think that I was unaffected under the omnipresent moonlight?” Ertos said with a sense of helplessness in her voice. “Even the spirit of the chaotic wanderers could not resist the weird crimson moon. I did not know what it was, but the light almost shattered my soul, and its bad energy continued to exist hundreds of years after the city plunged into the alien dimension. I thought that this situation would go on forever. But then the moonlight slowly faded, and I was able to breathe a sigh of relief.”

“And then what happened to the master? Why did she return to the pyramid?” Lily asked as she could not hold back her curiosity.

“I have no idea. But since the city fell into the alien dimension, the power of the master had been steadily declining. I am only a spirit, but I could still feel it. She had stood on the pyramid for a long time until the power of the moonlight faded, she returned to the Grand Temple suddenly, and then fell into a deep sleep—all of which I could never understand the logic of her actions.”

“There was no logic in her actions,” Vivian said. She forced a smile and shook her head. “At least after she went crazy, there would be no logic.”

Y’zaks thought for a moment and then asked, “After the master slept, did you take over the remaining stone statues?”

“They are my body,” Ertos replied. “The city residents cut my armor and bones and made them into a variety of things, including stone soldiers. But it did not matter, I was just lending them my body for a while; after the people in the city died, I will take back my body.”

When the voice of Ertos trailed off, the giant statues suddenly moved again. They turned around in a rumble and began to line up in a square formation. When Rollie saw this, her hair puffed up and she jumped half a meter high in the air. Rollie then arched her body and growled while scuttling back to behind Hao Ren.

Meanwhile, Hao Ren had roughly figured out what happened. “So these stone soldiers did not guard the master. They were watching her!”

“Not really. I know the power of these stone soldiers well. If the master woke up, these stone soldiers could not stop her. I was just monitoring this place to prevent people from wandering into this dimension and awakening the sleeper in the Grand Temple. In those long years, such things have happened more than once. The alien dimension would somehow always come into contact with the primary material world, and once the adventurers entered the Grand Temple, it would have unpredictable consequences. I remember that the last group of people who came in even stood under the steps of the Grand Temple. They were just a group of humans but possessed incredible weapons and tenacious fighting spirit. Fortunately, I stopped them.”

While Ertos’ voice trailed off, stone soldiers stepped forward from behind the formation. It opened its palm, and some twisted metal and tattered uniforms sloughed down the gaps between its fingers.

“The British army,” Vivian said as she instantly recognized it. “It is the British army uniforms during World War II.”

“Many soldiers disappeared mysteriously in history. Half of them, unfortunately, fell into a different dimension,” Hessiana said, shaking head with a sigh. “These alien dimensions are legacy of the Mythological Era, and they still pose a threat to people nowadays.”

Hao Ren also could not help but sigh. But he knew that Ertos had no choice. Hao Ren and his men had proved that Ertos’ concern was valid and that outsiders who trespassed the Grand Temple would wake up the master. Had those waking up the master today not this group of superhumans but the ordinary adventurers, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Since the Malevolence could plunge the city into a different dimension, she must have the ability to return to the main material world.

Vivian looked up at the sky with a forced smile. “So you sent the stone soldiers to attack us.”

“I was just stopping you from going into the Grand Temple,” Ertos said slowly. “But who knew, you went straight into it.”

“That is the difference between an amateur troublemaker and a pro troublemaker,” said Hao Ren. “We are a pro troublemaker.”

Everyone was stupefied.

Hessiana stepped back. “Not we, okay? I am not one of you all.”

“No wonder your stone soldiers stayed away from the Grand Temple as far as possible. It was to avoid waking up the monsters,” Hao Ren said, shaking his head. “And when we entered the Grand Temple, you let the stone soldiers stay put outside. Did that mean you had given up? You should have told me earlier; it was not like you could not talk. By sending a group of stone soldiers to greet us, who would not have put up a fight? Look what has happened now. We have blown your stone soldiers into pieces, and you kicked and hurt my cat. We both have suffered great losses.”

Rollie came up and rubbed her head against Hao Ren’s arm. “Big Boss Cat, it does not hurt anymore.”

The voice of Ertos sounded in everyone’s mind. “It was not that I did not want to talk with you, but this kind of communication would most likely awaken the master from her sleep. Had you not eliminated the master, I would not have opened my mouth again.”

“The mental exchange would awaken the master?” Hao Ren felt that he had learned a new piece of intelligence about the Malevolence. “Did such a thing happen before?”

“The spiritual exchange itself would not awaken her, but it was dangerous to mention her in the spiritual communication. She was still watching the city while she was asleep. The risk of wakening her was simply too high.” Ertos sounded helpless. “Many of those who broke into the Grand Temple behaved unpredictably. It was riskier to talk with them. There was once a group of escaping wizards started to form some crazy idea after discovering the hibernation location of the master. They wanted to deliberately waken the master to gain power from her. I really could not understand their self-destruction mindset and strange thinking of those little creatures. So chose not to talk until your appearance. You guys are an absolute surprise.”

“Yeah, after all, we not only woke her up but also killed her,” Hao Ren said with a shrug. “We have figured out the ins and outs of the city, but I still have a lot of questions about the master. Do you know where she comes from?”

“I had a few conversations with her before she became completely insane,” Ertos said slowly. “But the master never mentioned from where she was but just said that she was on the vast plains, with purpose and direction, did not know her name, race, and from where she came. Her mental state had been bizarre from the beginning, Her thoughts were often interrupted intermittently, or falling into a long silence. Sometimes she would suddenly switch to a different, esoteric topic. But more often than not, she was just talking to herself. I am sorry, it seems that I can’t help you in this regard.”

Hao Ren did not expect much from Ertos. Every Malevolence was mysterious and incomprehensible. Even Vivian had no idea when and where she had split into a Malevolence. The fact that the great master of the city of Ertos had an awake period was already a miracle. Hao Ren would not expect too much from Ertos.

But just when Hao Ren was about to leave Ertos alone, Ertos suddenly spoke again. “I do not know the origin of the master, but she has left something behind. You might be interested.”

“Something?” Vivian became interested. “What is it?”

“A gemstone. The master gave the gemstone to the city’s high priest after waking up from a fitful sleep. If I am not mistaken, the gemstone should still be there where it was sealed.”

Hao Ren and Vivian could not help but look at each other thoughtfully.