Chapter 85: Gate

There was no time to process Zharok’s words, the monsters were already charging.

"Wrath of the Earth!"

BOOM!!

Countless stone spears erupted from the ground, skewering the monsters charging at the front. But there were simply too many — his attack barely dented their numbers.

The creatures tore at everything around them, as if determined to level the ruins entirely.

"Meow-ahhh!! Meteor...!!"

"Stop! Do you want to destroy this whole place?!" Zharok cut Pearl off mid-incantation, then leaped into the swarm, his claws flashed with a cold light — every swipe shredded several monsters at once.

Walter went all out as well, shaping his blood into razor-edged blades and slaughtering everything that came close.

"Thunder Strike, meow!!"

Rumble!!

Golden lightning bolts crashed down from a clear sky, engulfing the monsters.

Just then, a straggler that had evaded everyone else lunged straight at Ethan, its target was his head.

Swish!

It missed, Ethan had already unsheathed the Holy Sword, he cleaved the monster in two, kicked the halves aside, and shouted, "Wrath of the Earth!!"

"Meow!! Thunder Strike, meow!!"

Under two rounds of wide-area attacks, the monster count plummeted.

"Leave the rest to us!!" Saying so, Walter unleashed a powerful wave of blood magic, forcing the remaining creatures back, Zharok also released his mana, elongating and sharpening his claws as he wreaked havoc amidst the monster pack.

Seeing that they could handle the situation, Ethan felt relieved, he looked down at Pearl on his shoulder. "You alright?"

"I’m fine, meow, what’s wrong, meow?"

"You used your magic twice in a row."

"Meow~! A trifle like this is nothing for me, meow~." Pearl flicked its bushy tail and nuzzled against Ethan’s arm.

Ethan and Pearl rested while Walter and Zharok finished off the last of the monsters.

"Phew, finally took care of them."

"We probably attracted every monster in the vicinity, something is very wrong here."

"We likely alarmed them by approaching these ruins, there must be something inside." Zharok strode toward the broken structure, excitement on his face.

This time, no more monsters appeared, reassured, Zharok began his investigation in earnest, he carefully observed the surrounding walls, tested half-collapsed sections with his knuckles, and eventually stopped in front of a half-collapsed wall covered in dust, he reached out, knocked on it, and nodded.

"It’s just as the records I’ve seen in other ruins described."

"You’re saying this is the entrance through which the minions of Chaos enter this world?"

"Yes."

"What does that mean? There’s an entrance connecting another world to this one?" Walter asked in confusion.

Zharok didn’t speak, instead, he reached out and gently wiped the dust off the wall, as the dust fell away, a mural was revealed beneath it, it was a mural depicting Chaos.

"As you can see, Chaos cannot enter this world at will, only when a world has been eroded to a certain extent by its minions and monsters can Chaos descend."

"What about the Fragments of Chaos?"

"Mere fragments, they don’t count for much, in short, if the main body of Chaos wishes to enter this world, it must first erode it, and to send its minions into this world, it must open a passageway." Saying this, Zharok walked to another wall and wiped away the dust, revealing another mural.

This one showed a group of humans using massive iron chains to seal a colossal entrance, on the other side of the entrance loomed the silhouette of Chaos.

"This passageway is extremely dangerous, so humans were constantly trying to defend against it, and there was a constant struggle for control over this passageway between the minions of Chaos and humanity."

"Then what happened here, meow? Was the seal broken, meow?"

"To be precise, the seal and the entrance were destroyed together, the entrance should be right over there..."

Zharok led them deeper into the ruins, passing through the debris, they arrived before a massive stone structure, half of its gate had already collapsed.

Looking at the scene before him, Zharok let out a bitter smile, he reached out and touched the wall of the stone structure. "Yes, this is the entrance through which the minions of Chaos enter this world, also known as a Dimensional Gate."

"Dimensional Gate?"

"Generally speaking, a Dimensional Gate is incredibly sturdy, extremely difficult to destroy, but for some reason, this one has been completely obliterated, it seems humanity ultimately succeeded in destroying it, sealing the entrance for good."

"Meow, so the Giant Centipede came here to repair the Dimensional Gate and let the minions of Chaos back in, meow?"

"Highly likely, monsters are creations of Chaos, and a monster that has swallowed a Fragment of Chaos is essentially a priest of Chaos, naturally, it would want Chaos to rule this world."

The amount of information in those words was immense, Ethan listened, only half following.

"We need to tell the Fox Beastmen about this so they can heighten their guard and prevent something similar from happening again."

"You’re right, we should head back, is there anything else you want to look at?"

"I’d like to investigate a bit more, Walter, help me out."

"Alright."

Zharok and Walter continued their research on the ruins, Ethan gave Pearl a heads-up, left the ruins, and began strolling around the vicinity by himself.

"I feel like things are getting more and more complicated, meow~"

"Yeah, to think Chaos is actually an entity from another world... I’m also from another world, could I have some connection to Chaos?"

"Oh my, you’re overthinking it, meow~." Pearl extended its furry paw and gently patted Ethan’s head.

Ethan knew Pearl was comforting him, he smiled, pulled an okara cookie from his pocket, and broke it in half. "Here you go."

"Meow~"

One man and one cat shared the cookie as they continued to explore the ruins, as they walked, Ethan noticed a strange building up ahead. "That is..."

"Meow! It looks like a blacksmith shop, meow~" It was a building that, although dilapidated, still vaguely retained its original appearance.

Ethan and Pearl walked in, and the sight before him made Ethan gasp in awe. "Wow, these things look pretty good."

Various blacksmithing tools were scattered around the building: tongs, hammers, anvils, and several other tools Ethan couldn’t even name.

Ethan curiously picked up a tool and examined it closely. Pearl jumped onto the anvil, tapped it a few times with its paws, and said, "These are all forged from Pure Iron, meow!"

"That’s fantastic, why did the Fox Beastmen just leave these here without using them?"