Chapter 406 - 343: I Have a Bad Guess (Part 2)

Chapter 406: Chapter 343: I Have a Bad Guess (Part 2)

Little Olga said.

"Hmm... I’ll try again."

As Lloyd spoke, he once again activated his Veto Declaration—or rather, his Blessing Distortion.

This time, he added some of the power of Twist to the Declaration.

After a dull CRUNCH, the skeleton, now smashed for the third time, finally stayed broken.

"Just as I thought..."

Lloyd murmured, his theory confirmed.

From the moment he’d first entered, he had sensed the aura of Twist in the air and suspected the skeleton’s abnormality was related to it.

Although his current mastery of Twist wasn’t advanced enough for him to understand how to achieve something like raising the dead, this wild manifestation of Twist was fortunately not strong. In fact, it was very weak, allowing him to simply overpower it with brute force.

’Still, Lloyd couldn’t help but feel a twinge of regret. It was like discovering an exquisitely crafted antique vase that he couldn’t replicate himself, so he just smashed it with a hammer...’

And despite solving the problem, the panel gave no notification, which meant Lloyd had gained nothing from the encounter.

’Was it just a simple clash of powers?’

Just then, a curious Little Olga hurried to ask:

"My friend, how did you do that?"

Lloyd gave him an ambiguous answer:

"This thing involves the power of Twist."

"Twist? How is that possible? Isn’t that a power beyond human reach?"

"It is now, but that wasn’t always the case. I learned a little about it in Mizkatoke, but it’s not something I can elaborate on."

"Alright, I can see that. After all, the people of the past Era of Brilliance were far beyond us today. It’s like how no matter how hard I try, I can never catch up to my own ancestors. For the people of that time, perhaps Twist was something they could control, too?"

Since Twist was the safest of the Taboo Systems, Little Olga wasn’t particularly opposed to the idea. He didn’t seem to doubt Lloyd and just continued the discussion.

"I do feel an unfamiliar power pressing against my protective wards, trying to interfere with my senses. Is that the power of Twist, too? In that case, is it possible the accident that originally struck these ruins was caused by Twist?"

"It’s very likely. We’ll have to be even more careful from now on."

Lloyd warned in a low voice, then continued to venture cautiously deeper, his mind constantly analyzing the situation.

He had actually thought of this earlier, but he hadn’t rushed to a conclusion.

There were a few details he was still unsure about.

Lloyd speculated that these ruins were once a massive base dedicated to researching Twist.

After all, back in that era, Twist had once been a popular field, attracting the interest of many of the Radiant Gold. It was only logical that it would be heavily researched.

But based on what he’d learned in Dean Hazled’s class, Lloyd felt that people of that time had been able to control this new power fairly well. If Twist could so easily destroy a massive base of this size, it never would have become so popular.

So, the people here back then must have pulled off something wild—and not just on an ordinary scale.

Earlier, as Lloyd had ventured deeper and passed through the ruins, he had used his professional expertise in civil engineering to briefly assess the building’s structure, materials, craftsmanship, and so on.

He had discovered that even as mere crumbling ruins, its structural strength was still astonishing. It had also utilized some kind of construction technology far beyond modern methods, leaving him unable to understand how it was built. All he knew was that its sturdiness defied all reason.

It could probably withstand a nuclear blast on Earth without breaking a sweat. The natural passage of time alone could never have reduced the outer superstructure to such a state.

Besides, the power of Twist was mainly focused on influencing the mind and consciousness; its destructive effects on the physical level shouldn’t be so extreme.

’The faint power of Twist lingering in the air now, and even that skeleton, must be the aftershocks of whatever went down back then. If they still haven’t completely dissipated after a thousand years, the original scale of that event must have been... unimaginable.’

’Perhaps even the catastrophe at Mizkatoke couldn’t compare to this.’

If this place hadn’t been located in an Alternate Space back then, but directly in the real world, Lloyd couldn’t even begin to imagine the impact the aftershocks would have had.

Naturally, he grew even more curious about the cause and effect of that cataclysm.

’If I could master this immense power, enough to destroy an entire fortified citadel...’

’No, better not to think about that for now...’

Lloyd reined in his thoughts and, after making a quick circuit of the floor they were on, spoke up.

"Have you noticed something strange?"

"Hmm? You mean the Twist in the air is gradually getting stronger?"

"Not just that. It’s... a little too clean around here."

"Huh? You’re right... Aside from the desk and the skeleton earlier, this place actually looks cleaner than the spiral staircase. Not only are there no more skeletons, but there isn’t even a trace of furniture left. For such a large area to look like an empty, unfurnished unit... it is strange..."

"Judging by the architectural layout, this looks like an employee lounge. That would explain the mailroom, probably for sending and receiving personal items. So when the accident happened, it couldn’t have been just that one guy who was unlucky, right? And even if it was, shouldn’t there be some personal belongings left behind?"

"My friend, are you saying the people here, and everything around them, were all vaporized by the accident? Is that something Twist can do?"

"Not from what I understand of it. That’s why I’m so baffled."

Lloyd concluded. He had a faint feeling that the power of Twist wasn’t the only thing responsible for the accident.

And so, he and Little Olga continued their exploration, heading down to the next level.

However, several hours passed. They descended level by level, covering more than half of the ruins, but still found nothing.

The place was so empty it was horrifying. It seemed that aside from the faint wisps of Twist’s power in the air, nothing at all was left.

A place devoid of anything should have felt safe, but instead, it only made Lloyd and Little Olga’s skin crawl more and more.

But what about the others who had entered the ruins?

Where had they gone? Why wasn’t there a single trace of their presence?

Just as Lloyd was feeling completely bewildered, Little Olga suddenly spoke up.

"My friend, I’ve just had a rather unsettling thought... Do you think it’s possible that this entire ruin periodically undergoes some kind of restoration and Reduction? Just like that skeleton that kept reassembling itself...

"And this ’Reduction’ would also clear away anything extraneous to maintain that absolutely identical state. That’s why we can’t find any trace of the other people who came in..."

Little Olga’s theory made Lloyd’s eyes fly open as a sudden realization struck him.

The Twist permeating the air seemed harmless, capable only of simple visual distortions.

’But what about things more sensitive than sight, like inspiration and Intuition?’

"Run!"

Lloyd yelled instantly.

Little Olga shuddered, and the two of them immediately broke into a desperate sprint.

And in the pitch-black darkness behind them, something began to stir...