As soon as the ruins were exposed, Rhys immediately sensed a familiar magical presence.
After carefully identifying it, he confirmed that it was the mark left by his food-loving old friend.
Helga had definitely been here. She had either left something behind or had fought a great battle with something in this place.
Seeing Rhys standing there silently with his eyes closed, Daphne didn't dare disturb him. She simply stood quietly at his side, observing the palace ruins.
The last rays of the setting sun spilled across the palace newly unearthed from beneath the sand, bathing it in a brilliant golden hue. The palace bore strong ancient Egyptian architectural characteristics, constructed from one-meter-wide cubic stone blocks.
The exterior of the blocks had been coated with a material that gave them a silvery-white appearance. Judging from the places where the coating had flaked off, the blocks were likely made of limestone.
At the outermost edge of the palace stood four enormous and thick stone pillars. They supported the palace's roof and were carved into humanoid forms—fifty-meter-tall colossal statues that stood outside the palace, each with a different pose. Standing beneath them and looking up was a truly awe-inspiring experience—the girls weren't even as tall as the statues' toes.
Daphne couldn't help but recall the statue of Slytherin in the Chamber of Secrets and began to wonder whether these statues might also be hiding a few basilisk-like creatures.
But considering how long the ruins had existed, she figured that even if there had been any, they'd likely starved to death by now.
Between the statues was a naturally formed passage leading into the palace. Looking inside, it was pitch dark and impossible to see anything clearly. Daphne didn't dare act rashly or walk in without caution.
There were definitely many traps and mechanisms hidden within this kind of ruin—recklessness and carelessness would only lead to death.
Just as Daphne and Astoria were starting to grow a bit bored from waiting, Rhys opened his eyes.
"We can go in."
After confirming that this ruin was indeed connected to Helga, Rhys was in a great mood—he couldn't wait to fly straight inside.
But before entering, there were still a few things he needed to remind Daphne and Astoria about—two girls with absolutely no experience in exploring ancient ruins.
"First, you must stick closely behind me. Don't do anything unnecessary—not even stepping on a tile unless I've stepped on it first. Second, if you notice anything unusual, you must tell me. Lastly, try not to use magic inside—just keep your wands in hand and be ready. Can you do that?"
He had to lay this out clearly before entering—otherwise, they might cause trouble inside.
The two girls nodded repeatedly, promising to follow his instructions.
Seeing their serious attitudes, Rhys gave a satisfied nod.
What he feared most was that if he didn't make the dangers clear from the start, the two girls might not understand how serious exploring a ruin was and treat it like it was just a private chamber at home.
Although the traps that blocked the path were likely already destroyed by Helga during her earlier visit, that would only apply to the ones directly in the way. As for the hidden mechanisms, Helga would certainly have found ways to bypass or avoid triggering them.
"You can also observe the flow of mana—it'll help you detect traps and hidden chambers within the ruins."Rhys gave the two girls a reminder. While they couldn't act on their own, they still had the right to observe carefully.
After all, they couldn't just follow blindly behind him like a pair of sightless people, step for step—how would they learn anything that way?
After saying this, Rhys walked toward the palace.
The four statues formed three entrance passages, making it difficult to choose.
Until you actually went inside, there was no way of knowing where each passage would lead.
But for Rhys, this wasn't a multiple-choice question. He walked straight to the passage on the far right and entered it first—among the three, the one with the strongest lingering magical traces of Helga Hufflepuff was this one.
Once inside the passage, the enormous stone statues on either side completely blocked their view, and the surroundings quickly dimmed. A vague and indescribable pressure radiated from the statues on both sides, subtly changing the atmosphere around them.
Daphne shivered uncontrollably, and Astoria's face turned pale—they both suddenly felt an urge to kneel and crawl forward.
"Don't be nervous," Rhys's voice came from ahead of them, "it's just a bit of psychological suggestion."
His words gave them a jolt. When they looked up at the statues again, the oppressive feeling in their hearts had completely vanished.
"Ancient palaces always love to play these mystical mind games. You'll get used to it," Rhys said with a smile. As for why he was immune to this kind of psychological suggestion—it had everything to do with how many so-called divine palaces he'd personally torn down.
They might look impressive on the outside, but once you broke through the defensive enchantments, a single fire could reduce them to rubble all the same.
As they continued deeper into the passage, the surrounding light grew dimmer and dimmer. The entrance behind them had shrunk to a bright spot no larger than a palm. Fortunately, the air was still fresh and not at all stale.
Rhys conjured a few flames to use as light sources.
Under the flickering glow, the sides of the passage were revealed—stone walls covered in relief carvings.
Daphne and Astoria couldn't make much sense of them; they just thought the scenes carved there looked rather lively.
Following Rhys's instructions, Astoria used mana flow detection to observe for a moment. She found that the carvings on both sides were just ordinary stone—no hidden mechanisms.
After they walked several dozen more steps forward, she finally noticed something unusual.
"Rhys—"
"That should be a hidden room or a concealed passage. The mechanism's already been disabled," Rhys replied without even turning his head.
Mechanisms that had already been disabled weren't likely to hold anything valuable—besides, Rhys was very clear about the purpose of this expedition.
He led the two girls quickly deeper into the ruins, occasionally pausing to explain the features and disarming methods of various defensive mechanisms.
Rhys had dealt with several ancient Egyptian ruins in the past, so he had accumulated quite a bit of experience.
Before long, they reached the depths of the palace.
Based on their position, this part of the ruin was already buried beneath the desert sands.
"Stop." Rhys halted and motioned for Daphne and Astoria to look ahead.
Dozens of meters away stood two jackal-headed statues, each nearly ten meters tall. Behind the statues were two tightly shut grand doors.
"This is a trigger-based defensive enchantment. When we approach them, if they detect that we don't have some kind of 'access token,' they'll come to life and attack us," Rhys explained with practiced ease.
"So what should we do? Strike first and destroy the statues?" Daphne asked.
"We could, but that comes with risks—what if the first strike doesn't take them down? There's a smarter way: we destroy their sensory mechanisms instead."
To Rhys, both disarming methods were equally valid, but for young wizards who lacked sufficient offensive power, the difference was significant.
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