Chapter 18: The Ancient Giant City

“Remember, once you enter the Divine Trial Grounds, if necessary, you may perform the ceremony of flesh and blood sacrifice—the god will quell His wrath.” After this final warning, the man in the black robe stepped aside, no further movement or expression upon his face.

The explorer squad from the Bureau of Defense exchanged glances; the foremost team member, his face ashen, summoned his ability with trembling hands and slowly approached the web of beams. As he crossed into the range, his right hand morphing into a beast’s claw, the light beams suddenly solidified, scanning up and down his body. A few tense moments passed. He moved through unscathed. The massive doors ahead cracked open, the gap widening until they stood fully ajar.

At the threshold, he glanced back, dazed and uncertain, only to realize he’d survived—and relief washed over his features. Then, the darkness beyond the doorway swallowed him whole.

With the first person to break the path, the rest followed more easily. Those with powers activated them in turn, filing inside one by one. When the healer’s turn came—

“Just display your ability.”

Raj was baffled, but after the black-robed man’s explanation, he cut his palm, activated his healing power, and crossed the beams; by the time he emerged, the wound was gone.

Next, Kira guided her flying daggers with telekinesis; Red strode through transformed into an eagle-man. Last of all, Ye Mi raised her defensive shield and passed through with ease. Just before leaving the beam’s range, she glanced at the central statue to her right. The scarlet light shining from its eyes was clearly some unknown alien technology; the mechanical whirring was unmistakable.

At least this proved the aliens’ abilities were not merely the result of physical mutation—technology played a part as well.

Having gleaned what she needed, Ye Mi stepped into the gloom. Darkness enveloped her; her body felt heavy, and no matter how hard she strained her eyes, she could see nothing.

“Is anyone there?” She heard the rustling of clothes, Raj’s panicked voice.

A thunderclap shook the ground. Lightning split the horizon—a white flash, like a signal—and all at once, they could see. Most stood frozen in shock.

They were on a pitch-black beach, fine gravel beneath their feet, and behind them sprawled a boundless, ink-dark sea.

A beach?

An ocean?

Weren’t they inside an alien ruin?

Ye Mi arched an eyebrow, two possibilities racing through her mind: one, this was all illusion; two, the so-called trial grounds were actually a teleportation device.

She squatted down, scooped up a handful of sand, and examined it closely. Nothing seemed amiss. Rising, she surveyed her surroundings; the sea wrapped around on three sides, its waters a strange, deep blue, with dim red phosphorescence flickering beneath the surface.

Directly ahead, in the direction everyone was staring, a colossal city rose from the waves, silent as death. The metropolis was built of bronze alloys veined with dull patterns, its architecture both alien and oddly familiar—like relics of an ancient civilization, yet infused with unimaginable technological flair.

The style was nearly identical to the alien ruins they’d seen before. The difference here was that this place felt dead—no pulsing life, no glowing red sigils.

Towering spires leaned and intertwined. What drew Ye Mi’s eye most was the enormous bronze figure at the city’s heart: hundreds of meters tall, four arms and six legs, its topmost head severed clean as though by an immense force.

But the strangeness didn’t end there. Its limbs were not mere decoration but vast causeways leading to all quarters of the city, as if the metropolis itself had grown from the statue’s body.

“This...” Raj’s voice caught in his throat. At last, he managed, “Is this where the aliens lived?”

“Obviously,” Ye Mi replied. Everyone recognized the statue’s resemblance to the four-armed, six-legged figure they’d seen earlier.

Close by, a massive city gate could be seen. Before it yawned a deep chasm, clearly manmade, spanned by a single chain bridge.

Clearly, the explorer squads would have to cross the bridge and pass the gate to enter.

No one knew what the divine trial entailed. The city was devoid of light, devoid of life, and even the wind seemed stifled.

The various teams split up to investigate the chasm; the Gray Hawk team was no exception. Ye Mi peered into the abyss—nothing but black mist, its depth impossible to gauge.

Raj muttered, “That bridge doesn’t look safe to cross at all...”

Even as he spoke, an agonizing creak filled the air. The chains swayed; another explorer team was already trying their luck. In a city this ancient, perhaps treasures awaited—every adventurer knew as much. There was no time to waste. The Bureau’s people prodded the initial team forward once more.

As the vanguard reached the center of the bridge, disaster struck.

A scream shredded the silence.

The abyss beneath the bridge erupted—an enormous serpentine beast burst from the gloom, as thick as a tree trunk, its scales slick with bluish moss. It had no eyes; its head split into four petals, revealing rows of spiral fangs. It lunged straight for the team.

“Fall back!” the squad leader barked, unleashing his power. His blade slashed at the monster’s jaw, sending up a spray of sparks.

The serpent shrieked, twisting aside and lashing its tail at the bridge, which shuddered perilously. One explorer nearly fell, but his beast-clawed hand clung to the chain and saved him at the last instant—the same man who’d first entered the trial.

Surprisingly, after several violent swings, the bridge held firm.

Enraged, the serpent slithered along the chasm’s wall, jaws agape, and spat a mass of viscous, dark-red liquid. One unfortunate explorer couldn’t dodge in time—the fluid struck him, and he screamed as his skin melted, flesh dripping away like wax, leaving only a skeleton draped in tatters.

In seconds, the five-man team was down to four, and the serpent turned again, springing from the wall for another attack.

Only a step remained to escape...

“...if necessary, you may perform the ceremony of flesh and blood sacrifice—the god will quell His wrath.”

The black-robed man’s warning echoed in the squad leader’s mind. His eyes hardened. Suddenly, he seized a teammate and shoved him toward the monster.