A dull longsword and a heartbroken villager

"You can understand my desire to climb back up, right?" Rector's voice trembled slightly as he explained his intentions.

“I’m sorry, but I just can’t understand it,” Bray said, raising an eyebrow with a blank expression.

As expected, the beautiful wish that was fulfilled was gone, gone so quickly.

"You don't need to be so afraid. I'm not a butcher."

"I just didn't want to be kept in the dark."

"I understand, I understand." Rector, who didn't understand anything, nodded like a chicken pecking at rice.

Just as Bray couldn't understand Rector's thoughts, Rector couldn't see through Bray either.

It's inherently difficult for people to understand each other, and Bray has never forced himself to try to understand other people's thoughts.

This is similar to how atheists will never know what martyrs were thinking.

Even the most devout cannot understand why some people believe there are no gods in the world.

A moment of silence fell over the surrounding area.

This put a lot of pressure on Rector.

Although Bray didn't think he was that scared, Rector, as the person involved, really wanted to tell Bray that he was truly terrifying.

The look was even more menacing than the previous Bray, mainly thanks to his tattered clothes.

robber.

This was almost Rector's most direct impression of Bray at that moment.

“I…I was one of the people in charge of excavating this underground city a few years ago,” Rector said, wiping away his cold sweat.

He mistakenly believed that Bray knew he was holding back, and was very dissatisfied.

So before Bray could even ask, he began to honestly tell her everything.

Of course, despite this, Rector still didn't reveal the core information.

"Huh?" Bray listened to Rector's confession with a bit of a daze.

He was waiting for Rector to climb down the ladder, so he didn't say anything. Why did the other party suddenly start self-destructing?

"This underground city is probably older than the Will Empire itself."

"Because it was buried really, really deep, if we estimate, it's at least several hundred years old, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it's a thousand years old," Rector began to speak eloquently.

Meanwhile, Bray wore an 0A- expression on his face.

What's wrong with this person? He just gives me information without warning.

"There must be clues in the underground city that can help us get out of our current predicament."

“If I find it, I will be able to…” Rector said, standing up as if giving a speech to Bray.

Only after realizing he had been a bit too unrestrained did he tone it down slightly.

"Get out of here," Bray said irritably.

"Alright, let's get going." Rector breathed a sigh of relief after Bray gave his consent.

He was genuinely afraid that Bray would think he was someone with ulterior motives and would abandon him without hesitation.

Honestly, after leaving the safe zone, my life was in Bray's hands.

Under normal circumstances, it should be Bray who climbs down first.

Therefore, Bray was already standing near the rope ladder.

"Oh, right." Before he went down, he seemed to have remembered something very important.

"The workers are very capable."

"Huh? Hmm...?" Rector looked at Bray with confusion, not understanding what he meant by saying that.

But after saying that, he leaped into the collapsed, massive entrance.

They didn't even leave a record when they asked Rector.

"Mr. Bu, Mr. Bu!?" Startled by Bu's action, Rickdo quickly crouched down to the edge and peered inside.

Looking over, he saw no bloodstains.

Bray stood properly below, looking up at the astonished Rector.

"There's nothing down there, hurry up and climb down," Bray said calmly. After Bray and Rickdo climbed down the rope ladder, they found themselves in a yellow and white stone wall.

Each brick is engraved with intricate patterns.

If you zoom in, you'll even find different bricks telling different stories.

Upon entering, a strong religious atmosphere immediately greets you.

However, due to the lack of light, the yellowish-white bricks looked eerie in the dim light.

First-time visitors are often awestruck by the scenery.

However, not only was Bray unsurprised, but even Rector, who was standing next to him, did not show much surprise.

Bray couldn't help but glance at him. Logically speaking, a guy like Rector, who was easily startled, shouldn't have remained unmoved in the face of such a sight.

Unless this isn't Rector's first time here.

"This is the city of the ancients." After a long while, Rector illuminated the surroundings with a magic lamp and said this.

"It must be the great creation of the ancestors of the Empire," he said with deep emotion.

This was certainly not the first time Rector had come down to this underground city.

He said he was in charge of excavating this underground city, and that was true; he wasn't lying to Bray.

As excavators, it's only natural that I've been to this city.

"An Imperial city?" Bray shook his head after hearing what Rector said.

“This is the territory of angels,” he corrected Rector.

Having visited the territories of angels and demons more than once, Bray can confidently tell others that this is the city of angels.

Only those purely religious beings would have built such a structure a thousand years ago.

You have to understand that a thousand years ago, that was the late Second Era, the Black Iron race didn't have the time or inclination to build such exquisite cities.

"Angels' territory?"

“It’s the angelic complex.” Bray glanced at Rector.

"How is that possible..." Rector didn't believe Bray's judgment for a moment.

Although the world knows that angels and demons are real.

However, the Bronze race remains a mysterious entity to them.

Rector did not believe Bray's hasty judgment.

Rector's actual profession was not interior design, but rather an excavator of ancient ruins.

They could also be described as archaeologists.

Long ago, he developed a natural sense of superiority over others because of his profession.

Unfortunately, this advantage in the wasteland completely collapsed.

Once the sense of superiority that supported his confidence disappeared, he also became this timid and cowardly person.

This is roughly what is meant by a huge gap, leading to psychological imbalance.

“Someone has already walked this far,” Bray said to Rector, looking at the section of road in the middle where there was very little dust.

"Then let's hurry up."

“Whatever it is, it’s not good if someone beats you to it,” Rector said to Bray, pulling down his work hat.

Having said that, he prepared to set off with the magic lamp.

"Don't rush straight ahead in such a dark place." Bray grabbed Rector's shoulder helplessly and pulled him back.

"No matter how anxious you are, think about your own life first."

After saying this to Rector, Bray threw the magic lamp in his hand forward.

The magic lamp fell forward, illuminating a section of the road ahead.

"If you just run around holding the magic lamp like that, you'll fall right into a pit if there's one in front of you," Bray warned.

"Weren't you the one who used to excavate ancient ruins? You don't even know this?"

“The initial exploration wasn’t done by any of us…” Rector said weakly.

"When we came in to do our research, the area was basically lit up with lights." To his shame, he really didn't know that.

But after thinking about it for a moment, he realized that Bray hadn't done anything wrong.

This method of exploration is quite reasonable.

"However, there shouldn't be any traps on this section of the road ahead. It seemed quite safe when we were studying it."

"It's better to be cautious." Bray walked forward, picked up the magic lamp from the ground, and threw it forward again.

It must be said that the quality of this magic lamp is excellent; it remained completely undamaged even after being thrown like that.

"Who knows what kind of accidents might happen after the people in front go in?"

Even someone as skilled as Bray would find it troublesome to deal with the insidious traps set by cunning individuals.

It's best to avoid doing things like watching others enter the second stage or watching them build up their power to unleash a move.

Especially when facing a talkative person, try not to let them waste time talking.

There's a word to describe this kind of nonsense... yeah, it's "empty talk".

“You’re right.” Rector didn’t object and obediently followed behind Bray.

Bray wasted a lot of time by advancing in this cumbersome way.

However, the journey was mostly uneventful.

Some inconspicuous mechanisms can be detected with just a little light.

Of course, it was Bray who noticed it; Rector didn't notice anything.

Because those are all subtle magic arrays, even if they were placed directly in front of Rector, he probably wouldn't be able to detect them.

“After all, she’s an angel,” Bray muttered to himself.

"Mr. Bray, what are you saying?"

"It's nothing, I'm just glad I got through the trip safely," he replied to Rector rather insincerely.

"By the way, you absolutely mustn't die."

“I’m waiting for you to go back and design the scene for me,” Brett said specifically.

"Of course I don't want to die either," Rector said, feeling ashamed.

"That's fine."

“Now, step back five meters,” Bray said slowly.

"Why?" Rector asked, just like any other normal person.

"Because if you don't back down, I can't guarantee you won't die."

As soon as he finished speaking, a tall, slender black figure lunged at him from the dimly lit tunnel ahead.

When the shadowy figure was illuminated by the magic lamp, it revealed a shape resembling a centipede.

Amid the shouts, Rector scrambled back more than five meters.

"Snap." The short sound disappeared.

Bray stood before Rector, his longsword unstained by blood.

Beneath his sword lay a centipede, severed in two.

"Have you seen anything like this when you were digging before?" Bray glanced at Rector and asked curiously.

Rector stared in shock at the centipede's corpse.