Evening.
Zetaya, Ressero Canyon.
Rein, Sword Saint Terrio, and Dawn Wizard Hernandez and their party have arrived at the bottom of Ressero Canyon.
Looking at the narrow canyon terrain on both sides, Rein felt a bit puzzled. Generally speaking, natural canyons formed by wind erosion, water impact, or glacier movements are often of varying widths.
But this canyon seems excessively uniform.
Recently, he noticed that the canyonâs width was roughly around a hundred meters from start to finish, stretching for dozens of miles.
Additionally, the canyonâs depth exceeded his expectations.
The deepest area reached over fifteen hundred meters.
Right now, the group is in the middle of the canyon, near the deepest part. Looking up from the bottom, the blue sky is seen only as a narrow slit.
"It seems like this canyon might not be naturally formed."
Rein couldnât help but murmur softly.
"Lord Rein has sharp observation skills." Hernandez smiled, seemingly having heard Reinâs words.
"Oh? Lord Hernandez knows about this canyon?"
Reinâs eyes slightly lit up as he smiled at the other.
"Yes, I know a little. According to Federation archaeologists, the birth of this canyon wonât exceed ten thousand years, and it might even have formed only a few thousand years ago. Therefore, we speculate it is most likely a product of some war."
"But because it is the New Continent, there is too little related information, so we are still not clear." Hernandez said.
Rein nodded.
However, he looked at the stretching canyon again and felt quite astonished.
"To cause this level of destruction, probably even a Demigod might not be able to do it. Did a Divine being descend?" Rein thought to himself.
At this moment, a capable Federation Lieutenant stopped and pointed to the rock wall ahead, reporting:
"My lords, the entrance to the ruins is just up ahead."
The Lieutenantâs words interrupted Reinâs contemplation. He looked up and saw, not far to his left, a gigantic hole on the nearly vertical canyon rock wall.
The hole was roughly irregularly round, several tens of meters high, with a faint red glow inside, emitting a scorching heat.
Though the cave entrance is large, due to being at the deepest part of the canyon, the presence of many poisonous scorpions and prairie wolves along the way makes it seldom visited.
Once the group entered the cave, they found many Federation soldiers quickly setting up tents, arranging various small defensive witch arrays, but they also seemed to have just arrived not long ago, as these tasks had just begun.
Seeing Reinâs group come in, everyone put down their work immediately to pay respects. A Federation Colonel with the highest military rank on site stepped forward swiftly and said:
"Do my lords need to rest for a moment?"
"No need. Are the ruins just up ahead?" Sword Saint Terrio waved his hand and said.
"Yes, Lord Terrio, just not far ahead."
"Good, lead the way and briefly introduce the situation."
"Alright, Lord Terrio."
The Colonel introduced while leading the group through the several tens of meters thick rock wall, and then the view in front suddenly opened up.
A giant city outline, roughly circular, appeared in everyoneâs sight.
The entire city was perched several hundred meters below their current position, surrounded by dark red flowing lava, like a moat, encircling this gigantic city.
Perhaps due to the lava gases or the dim light, even with Reinâs Dark Vision, he could only see a misty vision of the gigantic city ahead.
It looked like a giant beast lurking there, with its bloodthirsty mouth wide open.
"I have a bad feeling, there should be some sort of dangerous thing hidden there." Sword Saint Terrioâs expression became serious as he pointed to the city ahead and said.
"Yes, otherwise, with Haleemâs strength, itâs impossible not to send out a message." Hernandez nodded, his expression also solemn.
"My lords, there is a simple steel bridge here, likely built by Lord Haleemâs team earlier." The Colonel pointed to the simple steel bridge suspended above the lava.
"Yes, you can just take us here, and weâll handle the rest." Terrio nodded.
.....
Soon, the group crossed the steel bridge, officially stepping into the ancient goblin city.
Even at the edge of this city, they couldnât see the outlines of houses beyond several tens of meters. That smoke-like mist spread across the entire city sky.
"My lords, Lord Haleem and the footprints of the two previous teams disappear here."
At this moment, the Federation Lieutenant who led the way suddenly stopped, turned, and reported.
"What? The footprints disappear here?" Sword Saint Terrio frowned and said seriously.
"Yes, sir!" The Lieutenant nodded confidently.
Rein also bent down to take a look, and sure enough, the multiple footprints on the ground suddenly disappeared ahead.
The ground here was paved with square marble slabs, previously covered with thick dust, but the area ahead was unexpectedly clean.
"It shouldnât be. If human footprints disappear, there is the reason of volcanic ash to explain it, but Haleem was controlling Prototype One, such a gigantic Demon Statue. It shouldnât leave no traces." Sword Saint Terrio frowned and said.
Rein nodded, not speaking, but stood and looked forward.