Chapter 438: The Identity of Ruins

"!!!" Auric was startled. In the end, Lindwurm gave him the clue, but if he wanted to figure out what it was all about, he had to find it himself. That meant he had to get inside.

However, it wasn’t possible because of Arnie. If Arnie knew about the space element, he would figure out his true power. At that time, it would be easier to figure out that he would be an evolution master who had all nine elements, not just eight.

In other words, the country would take a different approach to him.

The more time passed, the more he realized the mistake he had made. He really shouldn’t have invited him here.

’Ugh. My mouth...’

Lindwurm chuckled. "You deserve it. You have been playing around and testing people out. Just as you tested that old man Jacob by showing him the new magic items, you tested him by bringing him here.

"You were trying to check whether there was a need to hate the country or not. However, Maya was helping with Jacob, but Arnie? Nothing will help you.

"This can be considered a mistake, but it can be considered a coincidence. You won’t know what the situation will be like. I know you’ll learn from your mistakes, but remember that if you play a stupid game, you will win a stupid prize."

Lindwurm was so right that he couldn’t even refute him.

Auric let out a long sigh. He thought about tricking Arnie into leaving this place, but he suddenly thought of another solution.

’Well, I think I’ve gotten the idea...’ Auric suddenly remembered the cave chamber.

He couldn’t enter, but he definitely remembered something else. He thought it was just the structure of the cave, but it wasn’t.

After seeing the facility, he figured out what it was. The ruins beneath the apartment complex were similar to the Underground Cave Ruins.

However, there was one thing that didn’t click in his mind.

Two separate ruins couldn’t exist within each other’s sphere of influence. Even the Mysterious Cave Ruins were far enough from the Alps ruins.

However, the distance between this place and the apartment complex was too small to even be considered. He wouldn’t believe it even if someone said the two ruins were isolated from each other, allowing them to exist near each other.

With that possibility gone, he could only reach one conclusion.

"There were never two ruins..." Auric gasped.

"Sorry, what?" Arnie was startled. They were talking about the apartment complex, so what did Auric mean by two ruins?

Auric turned to Katarina and asked, "Do we have any information about the artifacts in this room? Like the origins or something else? Any details?"

"I will need to ask Axel about it first."

"Can you do it from here?"

"I will need to go outside."

Auric paused for a moment. "Any details about the kind of artifact that is not related to the apartment complex or this facility?"

"Nothing much. It looks like granite and some decorations."

"What about the cave? What does it say again?"

Katarina checked the report. "The building had collapsed, and it looked like there was nothing but rubble around. It was quite old, but not too old. A few thousand years old, max? If we’re talking about geological age, then a few thousand years old is not old."

"Structure... a few thousand years old..." Auric looked down. There was one more clue he got from his father.

The biggest clue wasn’t this facility. It was what his father told him.

"The Age of Gods is coming."

Those words rang in his mind and brought everything together.

"So, that’s it..." Auric gasped. He never thought that this was the truth his father had been talking about.

"What is it?" Arnie tilted his head in confusion.

"That’s it!" Auric smiled.

"What?"

Auric smiled. He was the only one who received the clue from his father, so he was the only one who could figure out what they were actually dealing with.

"I think we’re done here." Auric smiled.

"Oi." Arnie’s eyebrows twitched as Auric ignored him.

"Christmas is over." Auric winked playfully.

"Maya? Do you mind if I strangle him?" Arnie asked, having a hard time controlling his anger.

"No, you can’t." Maya shook her head. "But I will keep a tab on you, so when the time comes, I’ll do it on your behalf."

Arnie sighed. "Thank you."

It looked like Auric wasn’t going to disclose any more information. Still, he had received plenty of information. The first one was the method of creating the artifacts, which was related to the method the Apocalypse was using to create the poison.

The second one was the fact that Auric might be able to create artificial ruins and artifacts.

The first one was important enough, and it was his job, but the second one was probably the government’s job.

However, unlike Jacob, Arnie knew Maya better. He knew precisely why he was invited here.

It left him wondering whether he should report it to his superior or not. Then again, as the chief adjudicator as well as one of the strongest people in Esfrata, he reported to only one person, the president.

Auric nodded to the girls. "We’re done here. I’ve got everything I need."

"..." Lindwurm was at a loss for words. He was trying to use Arnie to teach Auric about his mistakes, but that single clue ended up connecting everything.

Auric used to turn his words into clues about his father, so Lindwurm couldn’t even get mad because he was the one falling into the traps unintentionally.

"Good? So, when do we leave?" Maya asked.

"Now?"

"That’s it?" Stella tilted her head. "That’s the end of our investigation?"

As a soldier, she had obviously gone on special operations, but her memory of the investigations was intense and unique.

On the other hand, the investigation with Auric was like a picnic. They just took a walk as Auric watched everything from the outside.

However, she couldn’t exactly complain. An easy operation was something that everyone should be happy about.

Auric smiled. "Let’s go back."

In the end, Arnie couldn’t find out what he really wanted to know, while Stella followed them with mixed feelings. Maya and Katarina were simply too confused about it.

Arnie had no other choice but to go his separate way, still burdened with all those questions. Meanwhile, Auric gathered the team in one room.

"So..." Maya looked at Auric while furrowing her brows.

"I don’t really understand, but this is important, right? You even tried to hide the information from that guy," Stella said with a frown.

"Don’t forget to tell Axel that you’ve finished the inspection, and the method is wrong, and there doesn’t seem to be any chance yet for the project to succeed." Katarina reminded him, since Auric had promised to tell Axel the conclusion. This way, Axel wouldn’t have to spend money.

Auric nodded. "I’ll tell him after this. Also, is there any location in the world that is currently researching the past? Mostly about the buildings from the past?"

"I’m not sure. What kind of buildings are you talking about?"

"Temples."

"Temp—what?" Katarina was dumbfounded. She placed her hand on Auric’s forehead as though she was trying to see if Auric was sick.

"What are you doing?"

"Auric, you must feel heavy. Let’s change to warmer clothes and get some rest." Maya acted as if she was worried about his well-being.

"Are you trying to become a priest?" Stella was blunter and blurted out her thoughts.

"..." Auric looked at them like they were idiots. "How did you guys even reach that conclusion?"

"Wait. So, you’re not trying to become a priest? Maybe a monk or a father? Wait a minute. If the next generations continue to degrade their own way of speaking, how many generations away are we from people calling a pastor with Daddy?" Stella looked down, contemplating.

"Oi, stop with your intrusive thoughts. Leave the kinds of thoughts you will have at 3 a.m. for later." Katarina slapped Stella’s back.

"Ouchie."

Auric sighed, not knowing how to react. "I’m talking about the entire situation. There is a structure. No, there was a structure. It had collapsed within that cave. There were many possibilities. It might have collapsed before the apartment complex was built, or the collapse might have turned the apartment complex itself into ruins."

"Wait, what? Turning the apartment complex into ruins?" Maya gasped.

Auric nodded with a serious expression. "I’m really talking about that.

"I was convinced after hearing that a piece of granite turned out to be an artifact." Auric nodded.

"No, no. How did you even reach that conclusion?" Maya waved her hand. "Wasn’t it supposed to be the other way around? Maybe there was a remnant of a structure that ended up getting influenced by the apartment complex."

Auric raised one finger, correcting himself. "Why do you think our avatars are modeled on fantasy creatures? Even your avatar is modeled after Nyx. Stella’s avatar is modeled after Valkyrie, while Katarina is modeled after a golem."

Maya noticed something was off. "Nyx? Gods? Temples? Artifacts?"

"They’re actually connected?" Stella covered her mouth in shock.

"My father left me with one more clue. He told me that the Age of Gods is coming."

"Age of Gods?!" Maya felt goosebumps from just that statement.

"Gods are real? They’re not the stories people told to make your children sleep?" Stella was taken aback.

Katarina had been silent this whole time, but she was merely racking her brain to figure out one thing. "The ruins... They aren’t random, are they? They didn’t appear out of nowhere."

"They didn’t." Auric shook his head, smiling. It looked like Katarina had reached the same conclusion.

"The ruins... They are not modern buildings. They were originally temples of gods, which are also connected to our avatars."

"!!!"