Chapter 241: Forbidden Ruin

Looking at the questions swirling within their eyes and the suspicion beginning to take root in their minds, Aelric knew that, at this point, there was little choice but to come clean.

He had to tell them what he knew about the crypt; not everything, perhaps.. But enough.

Although he knew they had no real choice but to continue following him even if he refused to explain himself, Aelric decided that there was little point in withholding the truth any longer.

After all, the information he had been keeping from them wasn’t something that held any particular significance to their circumstances in the first place.

The only reason he hadn’t mentioned his true motives was because, from his perspective, they had no business knowing them. But since things had reached this juncture, there was little reason to keep the cat in the bag.

"Well..." Aelric drew out the word as his emerald eyes moved across the group. "You see, there really is a reason behind me accompanying you guys back here, despite the fact that I supposedly have no business doing so."

He raised both hands slightly. "However, my intentions aren’t sinister or nefarious. It’s merely an important task entrusted to me by the leadership of the Sanctuary."

"Would you care to elaborate on the nature of this task?" Caelestra asked.

Her expression resembled that of a girl who had just discovered that someone had hidden an interesting book behind their back and was now determined to see what was inside.

"Pardon me. I don’t want to sound too probing or intrusive, but I think we all deserve to know the nature of this task." Her silver eyes narrowed slightly. "After all, the last time you mentioned a mission assigned to you by the Sanctuary, you told us that it involved scouting for potential survivors and gathering information."

"You’re right." Aelric nodded. "Scouting for potential survivors really is one of the Sanctuary’s primary objectives. And while it’s certainly a noble cause, it isn’t the most significant mission on my list."

His expression became slightly more serious.

"Though it is my primary function, there is another, more classified assignment entrusted to me." He then glanced towards the ancient chamber and added. "And that mission is what led me here."

Aelric paused briefly, then turning to look at the group, he added almost casually. "Also, as a matter of fact, I have to thank you. Because had it not been for you guys, I wouldn’t even have been able to complete it."

A faint smile crossed his face. "And honestly, failing to complete a mission assigned directly by the Sanctuary would probably reflect rather poorly on my reputation."

He shrugged before adding lackadaisically. "Not that I care particularly much about my reputation."

"Okay, slow down." Vaelorin raised both hands in a gesture of surrender. "You just said a whole lot of things, and while I’m sure you believe you’ve explained everything..."

He paused and made exaggerated air quotes with his fingers. "...you still haven’t actually told us what this mission of yours entails."

His fiery-red eyes narrowed as he continued.

"I mean, rather than circling around the point like a vulture around a dying beast, you could simply tell us without wasting so much time talking around it. Just get straight to the point already."

Aelric stared at him... Vaelorin stared back. Eventually, after several seconds, Aelric sighed.

"You’re becoming surprisingly impatient."

"I’m standing inside a crypt filled with terrifying stone warriors so forgive me for not having the patience of a monk. Besides, I didn’t want to come here in the first place but I didn’t have much of a choice so simply say what you have to say before I lose all of my patience." Vaelorin replied, almost snapping at him.

Aelric sighed again, this time as though attempting to gather the fragments of his patience before they scattered completely.

Then he turned towards the elevated dais and requested. "Walk with me."

Without hesitation, he started forward while the others followed, their ears instinctively perking up as they listened.

Aelric spread an arm, gesturing towards the enormous chamber surrounding them.

"Look around you." His voice echoed softly through the crypt. "While you guys believe this place to be nothing more than a crypt, it is actually the abode of something so terrifyingly valuable that, should its existence become known to the world, there is little doubt that people would be willing to destroy kingdoms just to reach it."

The group slowed at his words. For a moment, they wondered whether they had actually heard him correctly.

Aelric had just compared this ancient crypt to something valuable enough to provoke kingdoms into war. That was an absurd statement; something that was almost ludicrous.

Sylveris especially looked around with open curiosity. Her fourteen-year-old face displayed genuine confusion as her silver eyes wandered across the chamber.

She saw ancient stone, obsidian platforms, Terracotta warriors, sarcophagi and a whole lot of grand antiquities. There was certainly something extraordinary about the place, but she couldn’t see anything that justified Aelric’s extraordinary claim.

Eventually, she looked back at him. "Are you sure about that, Aelric?"

The way she stared at him was almost identical to how a teacher might look at a student who had confidently answered that two plus two was five, a totally abnormal statement.

Aelric laughed at her question. "I know it isn’t easy to accept." His tone was patiently amused. "But I’ll tell you why I said it."

He turned his gaze towards the chamber.

"You see, you look at this place and immediately conclude that it’s a crypt. But that’s only what you see superficially." His emerald eyes narrowed. "Deep down, there is far more to this place than meets the eye."

He gestured towards the walls. "Because while you think this is a crypt... It isn’t. Rather, it is actually an ancient and significant ruin known as the Forbidden Ruin."

"Forbidden Ruin?" Kaeloris repeated.

He adjusted his glasses, the lenses catching the golden light coming from his raised Lantern.

"And what exactly is that?" His brow furrowed. "More importantly, what does it have to do with the Sanctuary’s motives?"

Aelric stopped. He then turned towards them with an expression of genuine incredulity and asked while staring at them oddly.

"Have none of you actually thought to read about the history of the world?"

The question was so simple that somehow it became insulting.

The implication was practically that he was asking whether a child had never been taught the basic principles of the alphabet—something so fundamentally elementary that ignorance of it bordered on inconceivable.

The group exchanged awkward glances.

Veyrath eventually rubbed the back of his head.

"Well..." He looked somewhat embarrassed. "There isn’t actually much of the history of the Nether Lands that we know with certainty."

He shrugged as he spoke further.

"Besides, the things we did read about never mentioned any of what you’ve told us so far. They mostly talked about the dangers and the atrocities associated with the Nether Lands."

Veyrath had barely finished when Valmyr picked up where he left off.

"Veyrath is right." The bulky youth crossed his arms. "Everyone knows the Nether Lands as purgatory. A literal hell on earth."

His expression became thoughtful.

"And for generations, that’s what has been passed down to the extent that it’s practically been indoctrinated into everyone. Only after descending into this place did we discover that there’s more to the Nether Lands than the desolate wasteland everyone back home describes."

His voice became quieter.

"And because of what you’ve told us and shown us, we’re also willing to believe that despite the horrific things recorded about this place, the Nether Lands actually has its good points."

He smiled faintly. "Some of them are even better than what we had back home."

Valmyr had effectively taken the words from everyone’s mouths.

Before their exile, they had believed that being thrown into the Nether Lands meant there was no possibility of redemption or salvation.

There would be no future; only death... A long, painful and miserable death. But their experiences during their journey through the Crimson Forest had gradually warped that perception.

Perhaps the Nether Lands wasn’t the hell they had been taught to imagine.

After all; Veyrath had discovered the Saintsky Roses here, Kaeloris had stumbled upon the Rainbow Stream Sprout and Caelestra had gathered a considerable number of Essence Crystals—resources so scarce and fiercely contested within House Auricrest that acquiring them in significant quantities had been almost impossible.

Then there was the Essence Pool. Through Aelric’s guidance, they had encountered a cultivation resource ordinarily reserved for members of the Great Houses.

Despite belonging to those Houses themselves, there had been little chance that any of them would ever gain access to such a luxury back home.

Yet here, in the very land they had been told represented the end of their lives, they had used one to break through.

So because of all these experiences, their perception of the Nether Lands had therefore changed long ago.

They had learned that this supposed purgatory could also become a place where outcasts and exiled Awakeners like themselves could survive... Perhaps even thrive.

Yet despite the time they had spent here, their knowledge of the Nether Lands remained woefully incomplete.

Most of what they knew happened to come from Aelric himself. Therefore, it wasn’t surprising that they were completely ignorant of this new historical revelation he had just placed before them...