"M-Master…"
Lizbeth instinctively moved closer to Riezel, reaching out to tightly grasp his clothes, while he furrowed his brows and carefully examined the figure within the coffin.
Upon closer inspection, the face of the one inside turned out to be not all that unfamiliar.
She had long pale-gray hair, her features were delicate and beautiful, and her figure was graceful and alluring—whether her face or her body, she bore a striking resemblance to a certain person.
Who?
Who else but Lizbeth?
Yes, the woman in the coffin looked extremely similar to Lizbeth—just as beautiful, just as tempting, and even her figure was almost the same, with a proud chest that made her seem like a grown-up Lizbeth lying inside.
If this woman were to stand beside Lizbeth, she would likely be mistaken for Lizbeth's elder sister, one even more convincingly so than Marilyn.
Lizbeth's outward appearance was that of a girl around fifteen or sixteen, while this woman appeared to be eighteen or nineteen, practically a young woman the same age as Riezel.
'Seriously, is this really the last queen of the ancient magic civilization?'
After carefully studying her, Riezel truly felt it was hard to believe.
It was difficult to accept that such a young and beautiful woman had actually been a human ruler who reigned over an era 11,000 years ago.
In such a moment, Riezel hesitated, but in the end, he reached out his finger and touched the queen within the coffin—the sensation beneath his fingertip was smooth and elastic, incredibly tender, and aside from being a bit cold, it was no different from living skin.
"Master…" Lizbeth could not help but speak. "S-She can't really still be alive, right?"
Anyone who saw this lifelike queen inside the coffin would inevitably think the same, but unfortunately...
"No, she's definitely dead." Riezel confirmed the queen's state, shaking his head. "Her body temperature is completely gone, her breathing has fully stopped, her heart no longer beats, and her blood does not circulate—these are without a doubt the signs of a lifeless body."
He had even used the Transparent World, so he was absolutely certain that the queen in the coffin had passed.
"Th-Then why doesn't she look like she's been dead for 11,000 years at all?" Lizbeth asked again, full of doubt.
After such a long span of time, even the remains of a dragon should have decayed.
If a human corpse had been buried for 11,000 years, under normal conditions, it would have fossilized. Yet this queen's body had not only failed to decay but also remained almost identical to how she must have looked in life.
Such a fact was truly astonishing.
Fortunately, Riezel noticed something unusual.
"I think she must have had very powerful magic cast upon her."
"Magic?" Lizbeth was even more shocked. "What kind of magic could last for 11,000 years?"
Every magic had a time limit.
Yes, extending it for longer periods was possible, but everything had its limits—at least, Lizbeth had never heard of any magic lasting tens of thousands of years.
Not even Riezel, who had mastered countless magic spells, had ever heard of such a thing.
However, their ignorance did not mean it could not exist.
"Well, the magic technology of the ancient civilization far surpassed that of modern times. At the end of that era, it wouldn't have been surprising if they developed magic beyond Strategic-Class Magic, let alone one that merely extended duration."
Riezel's gaze swept over the queen's burial items.
"Just look at the artifacts placed beside her. In modern times, they'd be unimaginable magic items, filled with mysteries beyond comprehension—the technical level behind them must have been the highest even in the ancient civilization."
"Even I, just glancing at them, can see several enchanted effects and magic technologies I can't understand."
"Just think, to be able to create such mystical artifacts... the level of their civilization's magic technology is obvious."
"In such a civilization, it's not unreasonable that a magic existed which could preserve a corpse for millennia without decay."
Upon hearing Riezel's explanation, Lizbeth thought for a moment, then nodded.
"Let's search around first." Riezel continued calmly. "See if there are any records nearby—preferably some ancient scripts."
Lizbeth quickly nodded, and so, the two began searching around the altar.
In truth, however, they could only search the stone coffin itself.
It should be noted that the tomb chamber was almost empty—other than the queen's coffin and her burial items, there was nothing worth examining. For this reason, they searched directly within the coffin, though the process was long and grueling.
Because Queen Euryale's body looked less like a corpse and more like a sleeping maiden, neither Riezel nor Lizbeth felt comfortable disturbing her. Especially Riezel—whenever he accidentally brushed against her skin, it felt like touching the delicate body of a living woman, making him stiffen and hesitate.
Lizbeth, the kind-hearted little princess, slowly wore a guilty expression as she began muttering under her breath.
"Please forgive us... W-We had no other choice... Please forgive us..."
Clearly, she believed they were committing a grave sin by disturbing her ancestor's rest.
In the end, both of them felt they could not continue, so Riezel decisively spoke.
"Forgive me."
With that, Riezel actually lifted Queen Euryale's body out of the coffin.
"M-Master?!" Lizbeth cried out in panic.
"Sorry, Lizbeth, there's no other way. If we keep going like this, we'll never find anything." Riezel gave a bitter smile. "If we bring the queen's body out for now, we can at least work properly."
Lizbeth opened her mouth, but in the end said nothing, silently continuing her search of the coffin.
However, they could finally search freely this time, and sure enough, they finally found something.
At the bottom of the coffin, they discovered a short inscription in ancient script—there weren't many words, but after translating them, Riezel and Lizbeth found the content quite different from what they had expected.
It recorded nothing about the Hidden Land, the Dimensional Magic Cube, or Lizbeth's origins, but instead read:
"I, Euryale Reinnail, shall rest eternally here."
"O descendants of my Reinnail Clan—if you come here bearing the Holy Sword Moslow, go to the side altar."
"Over there, you may break the seal upon the Holy Sword Moslow and awaken the blood of my clan."
"But remember, the Holy Sword Moslow is a hero's sword, and the blood of the Reinnail Clan is the blood of heroes."
"Those who gain this power must not do evil, must not aid tyrants, must not harm the innocent, and must not use force to oppress the weak. Otherwise, you shall be cursed and forever lose the blessing of God."
"Remember this. Remember it well."
After reading this inscription, Riezel and Lizbeth stared at one another, speechless for a long time.
"…Did Queen Euryale Reinnail really write this?" Lizbeth asked in a complicated tone.
"Most likely..." Riezel's eyes flickered. "From the animal skin we took out of the quatro metal box, it's clear this ancient ruin was constructed during the queen's lifetime, not after her death, so it's highly probable she left this behind herself."
In other words, Queen Euryale had already planned her burial during her lifetime and personally oversaw the building of this tomb, which was, in fact, nothing unusual.
Many monarchs often had their tombs built during their lifetimes so that they could be buried immediately upon death. Otherwise, such massive projects would take years to complete, and no monarch's body could remain unburied for that long.
For that reason, not only monarchs but also nobles of high rank usually had their tombs prepared while still alive.
Queen Euryale clearly had been the same.
Moreover, she not only wanted her resting place but also intended to seal the servant of the King of Calamity here, and in the end, she even thought of her descendants.
Consequently, she had arranged an altar that could unseal Moslow and awaken her clan's bloodline, leaving behind this inscription in her coffin.
"Seal..." Lizbeth lowered her gaze to the Moslow in her arms, looking surprised. "Moslow still has a seal on it?"
Riezel also felt surprised, though he found it logical.
"I had always thought it strange. A sword of such exalted status couldn't possibly be this weak."
As the holy sword passed down through the Hero Clan, Moslow's traces had appeared time and again. Whether in the underground city within Yarakulon's body or in murals of ancient times, its traces were everywhere.
It was also the only weapon Riezel had seen possessing its own will, and yet, until now, its performance had been lackluster.
By contrast, even Ice Maiden's national artifact had displayed more astonishing power when drawn, shocking Riezel. Moslow, whose quality was far above that national artifact, should have been even more formidable.
Given that every generation of Reinnail had wielded Moslow, it proved that its might was extraordinary. Yet in Lizbeth's hands, it had shown only its sentience and sharpness, which was clearly abnormal.
Now, the reason was revealed—Moslow's true power was sealed.
Moreover, Lizbeth's own bloodline had also yet to awaken.
'No wonder...'
Riezel's eyes shifted toward Lizbeth and the Moslow in her grasp.
"..."
Lizbeth said nothing, only hugging Moslow tightly, as if still sorting out her thoughts.
Seeing this, Riezel did not press her and, after confirming there were no further discoveries in the coffin, he began taking out the burial items one by one.
He naturally could not ignore them, considering all of these were powerful ancient treasures, priceless beyond measure. Since they had found them, there was no reason to leave them behind.
Even though they were Lizbeth's ancestral items, ancient ruins were meant to be excavated, so better to take them now than let others seize them later.
More importantly, with these treasures, Riezel no longer had to worry about money.
Even setting aside the mystical artifacts, just selling a single jewel or crystal brimming with magical energy would fetch enough to last him a long while.
With that in mind, Riezel stored everything—the treasures, jewels, crystals, even the flowers and plants lining the coffin—into the storage space of the Dimensional Magic Cube.
Needless to say, to have survived over ten millennia without decaying meant those plants were no ordinary flora and were immensely valuable.
Whether for research or practical use, they were worth a fortune.
As Riezel packed everything away, Lizbeth, who was watching this, had her mouth fall open into an 'O' shape.
Regardless, she said nothing and only watched silently.
What could she say?
If her master wanted them, she had no reason to object.
Compared to her master, this long-dead ancestor was far less important.
As she thought this, Lizbeth was startled to notice that Riezel's gaze had shifted toward the queen's body, which they had set aside.
"M-Master, what are you planning to do?" Lizbeth asked softly, her face looking nervous.
In response, Riezel suddenly smiled.
"I just... had a bold idea..."
===
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