Ancient wraiths were ghost-like entities formed from a fusion of Beyonder characteristics. Among their remains, cursed items were typically tied to a specific body part or object from their former life—these merged with their characteristics and became the foundation of their continued existence. Because of this, different ancient wraiths manifested their cursed items in various forms, but the essence was the same. As for the dust, it was another form of characteristic—it served as the source of most of their powers. The lingering spirituality could be considered akin to a monster's blood or similar material.
Upon seeing the remaining items in front of her, Fors seemed to gain a certain clarity. She then looked at Ebner, and after he gave a slight nod, she stepped forward and began collecting the materials one by one.
During this time, the three official Beyonders deliberately ignored her actions. They knew perfectly well that killing such an overwhelmingly powerful ancient wraith had been entirely due to that young man named Ebner. While they had contributed, their role wasn't indispensable.
Thus, it was entirely reasonable for the other party to let his "lady" collect the materials.
The "Purification Light" member named Dorne even stepped up to Ebner, bowed deeply, and said sincerely, "Thank you for avenging Ed and Brown for us…"
"No need to be polite. Without the intelligence you provided, I wouldn't have been able to trap it so easily either," Ebner replied with a wave of his hand.
He wasn't just being humble. If he'd had no information about that ancient wraith—suspected to be Madam Austin—then even if he had won, it wouldn't have been as effortless as it seemed.
After exchanging a few formal words, Fors returned to Ebner's side with the materials secured. The group then re-entered the palace foyer to begin exploring the relatively intact parts of the structure.
Although Captain Diful and the other two officials had used the sacrifices of their teammates to briefly explore some of these areas in the past, time had always been too tight for close inspection. So, they followed Ebner and Fors to re-investigate the place thoroughly.
The first thing they saw was a collapsed staircase, overlapping layers of ruined upper floors, sharp stone pillars that pierced straight through from the roof to the basement, and shattered fragments of a once-dome ceiling littering the floor.
A ghostly wind blew through the ruins, seeping into their bones with a chill that made Fors shudder involuntarily.
Scenes from countless horror novels flashed through her mind. She was forced to activate her spiritual vision and slowly scanned the surroundings until she spotted Ebner's back, which finally gave her a sense of relief.
But she noticed a relatively intact stone staircase nestled amidst the broken walls on the right side.
The staircase was weathered and stained, stretching downward with no visible end.
Ebner naturally noticed it as well, but relying on instinct and gaming experience from his previous life, he didn't head there right away. Instead, he began searching the remaining areas of the palace first.
The eastern and western wings yielded nothing. But in the collapsed northern corridor of the main hall, they discovered several damaged murals.
Those murals vividly depicted a middle-aged gentleman wearing silver-rimmed glasses conducting some kind of ritual. On the altar before him lay three different kinds of worms.
One was twisted into a ball, one had twelve transparent rings, and one gleamed with brilliant light…
"This is Benjamin, lord of Boney City during the Gustav Dynasty. He was a member of the legendary Fourth Epoch noble Abraham family. Our 'Purification Light' division has detailed records on him… I suspect this ruin is the byproduct of some wicked ritual he was performing," said Captain Diful, sharing everything he knew.
Ebner, however, didn't pay much attention to Diful's speculation. He fixed his eyes on the murals, then took out the monocle and placed it before his right eye, beginning a decryption analysis.
"Worm of Spirit, Worm of Time, Worm of Stars...
"This looks like one of the rituals to unseal 'Mr. Door'! Why would it be here?
"Benjamin was only a Mid Sequence Beyonder. There's no way he could've heard the 'ravings' of Mr. Door and acquired this ritual…
"So... did Roselle tell him?
"Since Fors can still hear full-moon ravings, it's clear Benjamin never successfully conducted the ritual—he didn't even pass the knowledge on to the Abraham family.
"If I make a bold guess, maybe these murals were a contingency arranged by Roselle himself—designed so Benjamin would, even after Roselle's death, faithfully carry out some entrusted task. Once Benjamin fulfilled certain conditions, the true content would reveal itself… That would explain why all the other murals were destroyed, leaving only this one relatively intact, protected by Roselle's 'Order' power.
"Unfortunately, just as Benjamin was deciphering the murals, this tomb was suddenly destroyed by the Eternal Blazing Sun… So he died here...
"And the reason his undead spirit didn't remain trapped in the palace is because some existence led it to that nameless island Roselle discovered—where he was even 'resurrected'... Just like Edwards in the original story.
"Hah, Roselle's behaviour is as contradictory as ever. He deliberately leaked a ritual that could endanger the world, only to design a way to bury it afterward—there's no way the Eternal Blazing Sun Church's attack was just a coincidence…
"Speaking of which, Amon's monocle really is useful. Without it, my 'Pure White Eye' alone wouldn't have been able to uncover so many secrets."
Removing the monocle, Ebner sighed inwardly. Then he simulated a "Wind Blade" and completely erased the murals.
Such things were better left unseen by others, even if the ritual itself was extremely difficult to perform—after all, how easy was it to capture demigods from three separate pathways?
The three official Beyonders and Fors didn't stop him. That ritual, and the eerie worms depicted, didn't look like anything good. Destroying it was only natural.
Afterward, the group finished exploring the main hall and returned to the stone staircase leading underground.
"Shall we go down and take a look?" Fors glanced at Ebner and offered her suggestion.
Ebner observed for a moment, then nodded slightly.
"The remaining power of this palace seems to originate from below… I think that's the true core of the entire structure."
At this point, Captain Diful added, "That's right. In our previous explorations, we always stopped at this staircase. No matter how we tried to distract the wraith, as soon as anyone approached here, it would immediately 'blink' back to guard this spot.
"That's why we've always suspected there's a clue to leaving this ruin below."
"I can scout ahead," Dorne and Madam Dacy offered in unison when they saw Ebner still reinforcing himself with multiple protective spells.
"No need. Just cover the rear," Ebner replied, now layered in barriers and protective mystic arts. With the Magic Mirror in one hand and Fors's hand in the other, he carefully descended the worn stone staircase. The steps were littered with debris, but he proceeded cautiously, one step at a time.
—If anything went wrong, he was ready to summon the "Bone Dragon" and escape with Fors using "Dream Transit."
The staircase was very narrow, only wide enough for one person, and spiraled downward in tight circles. If Ebner hadn't been holding her hand, Fors was sure she would've been terrified.
Tap, tap, tap. Their footsteps echoed deeper and deeper. The "Light Flames" conjured by the two "Purification Light" members seemed suppressed by some force and extinguished one by one.
Ebner's Five Fireball Spell couldn't be maintained either. Only the "Holy Light" simulated by the "Pure White Eye" remained steady, illuminating the time-worn steps ahead.
Tap, tap, tap. In the cold, constricted silence, Fors followed Ebner to the bottom, stepping onto solid ground.
She wanted to say, "Staying in a place like this too long will drive someone insane," but the oppressive silence stopped her. She didn't dare break it for fear of triggering something terrible.
Bathed in the slanted glow of holy light, Fors gazed ahead, trying to make out what lay at the bottom of the stairs.
It was a grand hall, nearly 10 meters high, with black floor tiles beaded with moisture. Cracks and damage covered every surface.
Dozens of meters ahead, near the very edge of the light's reach, stood a pair of tall bronze doors.
The stone above and around the doors had crumbled, revealing deep brown soil beneath. Broken statues and scattered debris surrounded it.
The surface of the doors was etched with countless symbols and strange patterns, radiating a tangible sense of mystery and heaviness, as if sealing something within.
In front of the doors was a stone platform, upon which knelt a statue of a knight, head bowed, one knee on the ground, both hands raised high as if holding something aloft.
To someone like Ebner, who'd played countless AAA games, the meaning was clear: only by finding the corresponding item and placing it in the knight's hands would the door open.
And he immediately had a suspect—the God Casket.
Benjamin had left the God Casket at First Bank with instructions to pass it on specifically to Fors. Fors, meanwhile, had kept encountering this dream ruin within Benjamin's former domain. All of this likely tied back to Roselle's plan, with the murals acting as bait to guide Benjamin.
Piecing it together, it became evident: Roselle needed Fors—who held the God Casket—to come here and open the door. Benjamin was probably just a convenient pawn.
On the other side, Fors, with her mind racing, had also reached the same conclusion. She hesitated, then finally said, "Should we try placing the casket there?"
The three officials paused, then looked over. Deep down, they felt a flicker of anticipation. These two clearly hadn't come unprepared.
Ebner thought for a few seconds and said, "Wait. Let me ask the original guardian first."
Guardian? Fors didn't understand what he meant, but she soon saw Ebner raise the Magic Mirror and project the knight wraith's memory.
Of course, being an ancient wraith dead for many years, only its most vivid memories remained.
Soon, a major chapter in the life of Austin Abraham was unveiled before them.
She had married a marquis of the Augustus family, thirty years her senior, out of duty to her family. She fell in love with Baron Conva and shared stolen moments of happiness with him. She secretly gave birth to his illegitimate child, torn between fear and joy...
Eventually, she and the baron came to the ancient castle at the heart of Delaire Forest in search of materials from an "ancient wraith," but were contaminated by the aura behind the underground gate and died helplessly, losing consciousness.
Years later, when she awoke and regained her awareness, the one who had sought the ancient wraith... had become one herself.
At that point, a descendant of the Abraham family delivered her to a man named Roselle, who placed her in a tomb he'd constructed.
Only then did she realize the reason she could awaken and leave the forest was because the sealed gate beneath the ancient castle had been removed by Roselle—and now served as the gate to this tomb!
Madam Austin's memories ended there, and the Magic Mirror ceased projection.
The apprentice who had sought the ancient wraith had become one in the end...
The others felt sympathy for the lady's fate, but didn't find it particularly frightening.
Only Ebner stared in shock at the bronze door, a tidal wave surging in his heart.
"In the original, that gate beneath the Delaire Forest castle sealed the entrance to the Chaos Sea!"
"Roselle actually removed that gate?!How did he manage that?And if the gate's gone, what's happening to the Chaos Sea now? Did the gods just let it be?"
As his thoughts raced, Ebner suddenly recalled Baron Conva's peculiar condition. He'd speculated about this during the "1-025" incident—perhaps the baron, polluted by the Chaos Sea, became an experimental subject and pawn in the plans of Daniel's predecessor, another transmigrator.
Then again, maybe Daniel himself had already become a test subject of the God of Knowledge by that point...
Still, since Daniel had studied Baron Conva at that castle, it was likely a site for experiments involving the balance of multiple "primordial substances"...
Maybe he truly managed to seal the Chaos Sea's entrance with "Balance," which allowed Roselle to safely remove the gate?
But even so... why would Roselle take the gate? What meaning did it hold? Surely it wasn't just to show off?
Fortunately, this tomb felt completely different from the first layer of the Dream Labyrinth Tower. He could be certain: behind this door wasn't the entrance to the Chaos Sea!
With that thought, and finding that neither the "Pure White Eye" nor the monocle could decipher it completely, Ebner directly invoked his "Active Divination" ability—now bolstered by the "Wheel of Fortune."
Though Lilith had warned him not to use it too often before reaching Demigod, lest the cost of fate become unbearable...
Still, "not often" didn't mean "never." When necessary, Ebner would never back down just to avoid paying a price.
(End of Chapter)