Chapter 553 – Arrival at the Ancient Ruins

Led by A-Team, the Blue Thunder Beast, Tauro and his group continued to descend deeper underground, illuminating the dark cave with magic.

Along the way, they encountered several groups of giant worm-like monsters called Dark Worms. During those clashes, B-Team “Silver Twin Mages” and Tauro’s group “Black-Golden Wings” had their moments to shine. Aside from that, however, they did not encounter any more groups of Olog-Hai.

“Even though there are many places where the footing’s been bad, we’ve been descending for hours now… We must be pretty deep by this point, right?”

Tauro glanced back the way they had come and spoke to Jack, the leader of “Blue Thunder Beast,” seeking confirmation.

“Yeah… We’re almost at our destination, so don’t worry. — The real battle starts from there.”

For Jack and his team, their main objective was to defeat what was believed to be the guardian of the ancient ruins: the Guardian Rock Golem.

Of course, investigating the ancient ruins as adventurers was also part of their goal. But in order to do that, they would first have to defeat the stone effigy guarding the site.

According to Jack, the rock figure stood around four meters tall. It wasn’t hard to imagine how difficult it would be to subjugate it.

“We’ll make sure to clear the path up to that point and provide full support during the main fight. You can count on us.”

For Jack and his team—who would likely have their names etched into history for discovering the ancient ruins—Tauro and his companions intended to fulfill their contract to the very end.

“Yeah, I’m counting on you.”

Jack responded with a grin, when Longa, the longsword wielder, spoke up.

“Jack, we’ve arrived. Once we go through that gate, we’ll reach our destination, the ancient ruins.”

Just as Longa said, in the darkness appeared a gate-like structure that looked unmistakably artificial.

“It looks weathered by long years, but it’s definitely man-made…”

Gemma, the leader of “Silver Twin Mages,” held her breath as she gazed upon the gate.

“To think there’d be something artificial this far underground… It’s almost like it was built on the remains of a dungeon…”

Aeris let out her thoughts as she passed through the gate.

“Now that you mention it… that’s possible,” Tauro agreed.

With “Blue Thunder Beast” leading, the party opened the gate and passed through the cave beyond. Ahead, they saw light.

As they moved toward it, their view suddenly opened up.

A vast underground space stretched before them, its ceiling—so high they couldn’t tell how many dozens of meters it rose—was glowing, illuminating the entire cavern.

The underground space was filled with many buildings, like a city. Tauro and the others stared wide-eyed, amazed at the unmistakable signs of civilization.

This was undoubtedly a tremendous discovery.

After all, it was clear evidence that people had once lived this deep underground.

“…This is unbelievable,” Ankh muttered, stunned by the grand scale of the ruins.

“… Tauro-sama, I hear a sound coming from deeper within.”

Zion,  a half-beast with sharp hearing, twitched her ears hidden beneath her hood as she informed Tauro.

“‘True Eye.’ …Jack-san, it looks like we’ve got company ahead. Quite a lot of them.”

Tauro used his ability, “True Eye,” to see up to several hundred meters ahead and caught faint silhouettes.

“! …Which way are they?”

“They seem to be surrounding something. I think, about three hundred meters that way.”

Tauro answered Jack’s question by pointing in a direction.

“…That’s the direction where we encountered the Guardian Rock Golem before. Looks like there’s another group with the same objective as us.”

Jack clicked his tongue at the report, exchanged glances with his companions, and continued.

“—From here on, everyone suppress your presence as much as possible and move quickly to the site. How many of you have presence-concealment abilities?”

Jack raised his own hand as he asked.

All members of “Blue Thunder Beast” raised theirs. As did Tauro and the other members of the “Black and Golden Wings.”

All members of the Silver Twin Mages raised their hands, except for the twin sister and leader, Gemma, and her younger sister, Gemis.

“…‘Silver Twin Mages,’ please follow us from behind, keeping a distance. I’ll send you a signal—don’t miss it.” Jack told Gemma and the others.

Though she looked frustrated, this was an emergency.

Reluctantly nodding, they followed behind “Blue Thunder Beast” and “Black-Golden Wings,” keeping their distance.

The members of the “Blue Thunder Beast” and “Black and Golden Wings” used the shadows of the buildings to advance to the center of the ancient ruins. Naturally, the sounds grew louder.

Once they were close enough that anyone, not just Zion, could hear it clearly, they stopped.

“…Looks like they’re fighting the Guardian Rock Golem.”

Jack spoke as he continued to use 『Concealment』 and moved to a position where he could faintly see the battle unfolding.

Ahead of him stood the massive figure of the Guardian Rock Golem, moving its enormous body as it struck down the enemies swarming at its feet.

And swarming and fighting at it’s feet was a horde of Olog-hai.

There were about sixty of them in total.

Roughly half lay motionless at the golem’s feet, likely already defeated.

“If that many formidable monsters attacked us at once, we’d be wiped out for sure…”

Jack shuddered at the sight of the Olog-Hai horde.

The same was for Tauro and the others.

If they gang up in that many numbers, it will be more than just a tough fight—it would be disastrous.

Yet the Guardian Rock Golem showed no fear, counterattacking and crushing them without hesitation.

“This is a stroke of luck in misfortune. They’re not humans, so we don’t need to help them. And we haven’t been beaten to the prize. They’re monsters, after all. Let’s let them wear each other down. We’ll observe how they fight until one side loses.”

Jack proposed taking advantage of the situation.

Tauro agreed.

Charging in now would be foolish.

From the looks of it, the Olog-Hai had no way to turn the tide. Once the outcome was decided, we could go ahead with our original plan and focus all our efforts on defeating the Guardian Rock Golem.

After receiving Tauro’s agreement, Jack beckoned to “Silver Twin Mages,” who were waiting in the rear, and explained the situation.

“…we understand. —Everyone, remain on standby and be fully prepared until then.”

Gemma accepted Jack’s explanation and gave orders to her team.

Likewise, Tauro and his companions checked their weapons and quietly observed as the two sides continued to clash.