Chapter 1615: The Core Ruins

When departing from the space fortress, Sein brought along the super-magic bomb he had been researching for years.

The original form of this magic bomb was the purest inert crystal he had received from the ruins of the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization.

Unfortunately, either Sein’s research was still incomplete, or unlocking the crystal’s internal energy was simply too complex. Even now, he had only managed to activate ninety-seven percent of its full potential.

Even so, according to laboratory simulations and theoretical data, this super-magic bomb was powerful enough to injure a Rank Six creature severely.

If not for the extreme rarity of inert crystals of this grade, and the Magus Civilization’s apparent intention to reserve them for other purposes, Sein could have mass-produced similar magic artifacts and taken down any Rank Six beings he encountered.

This super-magic bomb was essentially one of Sein’s contingency measures for the relic exploration mission.

This artifact had been developed entirely through his own intelligence, without relying on the power of any world-class secret treasure such as the Faceless Mask.

The creation of this super-magic bomb marked just how far Sein had advanced in the field of alchemy.

Perhaps next time, he could even attempt to research and create a true world-class secret treasure.

After all, even a Rank Four deity from Titan World had managed to create a world-class weapon like the Thunder Sword. There was no real reason Sein could not do the same.

The difference was that, unlike that Titan deity, Sein had far too many fields of study competing for his attention.

Alchemy was only one of the many profound truths he pursued—it was never his sole focus.

***

When Sein and his group left Marvelous Plane’s battlefield, their departure attracted little attention.

The Magus Civilization had stationed more than a hundred law-wielding beings on Marvelous Plane, while the Gallant Federation had deployed a comparable number of Rank Four forces.

Against such a backdrop, the absence of just a few Rank Four and Rank Five individuals was hardly noticeable in the short term.

Moreover, Sein had deliberately kept a low profile on Marvelous Plane in recent times.

Given his usual pattern, even if he vanished for a while, most would simply assume that he had locked himself away in his laboratory again.

The disappearance of the usually energetic Black Oblivion, however, might cause a few magic beast kings or foreign alliance deities to take notice.

Even so, Black Oblivion departed under the cover of the Arriba Chamber of Commerce. With their involvement, tracking his movements would become far more difficult.

After leaving Marvelous Plane’s battlefield, Sein and his group spent nearly half a year traveling before finally reaching their target star domain.

In truth, the core ruins of the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization were located far from the frontline battlefields where Sein and his group usually operated.

Although the site lay relatively close to Arid Expanse World’s sphere of influence, the surrounding starry region was pretty desolate without complete planes.

With little strategic value to speak of, Arid Expanse World maintained only minimal garrisons in the area.

Judging from the situation upon their arrival, the region was relatively safe.

Within an unremarkable asteroid field, Sein encountered several Magus Civilization powerhouses stationed there.

Magus World placed immense importance on these top-tier civilization ruins. Not only had they dispatched Rank Five powerhouses like Sein for protection, but they had also deliberately deployed numerous array masters, astrologers, magi, and other specialists to conceal the ruins’ presence.

Without the exact coordinates, Sein would have been unable to locate the entrance to these top-tier civilization ruins, even with his Faceless Mask.

This showed that even world-class secret treasures were not all-powerful.

Even after advancing to Rank Five, there were still individuals and phenomena within the Astral Realm that remained beyond Sein’s understanding.

“I am Sein, assigned to garrison this location and assist with the exploration of the ruins,” Sein said as he presented a law-imbued magic scroll to the Rank Five knight in front of him.

The knight was a man unfamiliar to Sein, likely someone who had only recently been transferred to this star domain battlefield.

Agathis, who was traveling with Sein, recognized him. After confirming the scroll’s authenticity, the knight began chatting with them in a friendly manner.

Knights generally enjoyed making friends. This was a trait that stood in sharp contrast to mages’ preference for solitude.

After a short exchange with the Rank Five knight, who introduced himself as Hopskin, Sein learned that the Magus Civilization’s specialized ruins exploration team had already spent nearly a year and a half investigating the core ruins of the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization.

So far, only a tiny portion of the ruins had been mapped. The vast majority remained shrouded in mystery.

“Master Howard says the internal size of this top-tier civilization’s ruins is comparable to an entire large-sized world,” Hopskin said with a sigh.

“It’s incredible that such a massive dimension could exist within a subspace. Before this, the only other alternate dimension of similar scale I have seen was the Knight Continent of our Magus World,” the Rank Five knight added.

The Knight Continent, located in the south-central region of the Western Archipelago, could indeed be considered an alternate dimension.

Since it was completely cut off from the outside world, time on the Knight Continent flowed very differently.

The top-tier civilization ruins before them were much the same. Time undoubtedly flowed differently inside.

Sein was also astonished to hear that the internal size of the ruins rivaled that of a large-sized world.

Why had the prehistoric beings of the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization constructed such a vast subspace secret realm?

And given its enormous scale, could it still house prehistoric treasures or long-lost technological secrets?

These questions lay at the heart of the Magus Civilization leadership’s concerns, and were among the main reasons Sein and his group had come here.

When Sein asked about the interior of the ruins, Hopskin offered little in the way of detail. Partly this was due to confidentiality, and partly because the knight himself had little interest in the ruins’ inner workings.

He only said, “Master Sein, you’ll see for yourselves once you are inside. In any case, Master Howard and the others mentioned that the exploration hasn’t been going smoothly.”

Sein nodded to Hopskin, then exchanged a glance with Agathis before stepping toward the ruins.

Karazo and Milena, who had traveled with them, were not permitted to enter.

Their loyalty was beyond doubt, but the Magus Civilization preferred not to involve them too deeply in this matter.

Karazo and Milena were not left alone. There were several other Rank Four and Rank Five beings around the outskirts of the core ruins.

One of them caught Sein’s eye. It was a jet-black Rank Five creature shaped like a massive octopus.

According to Hoppskin, when they first arrived at these coordinates, the reason neither their sight nor their senses could locate the entrance was largely due to this octopus releasing a laws-based ink mist.

The ink mist could even contaminate the surrounding starry sky. Its strange nature and eerie effects were truly remarkable.

“Then the two of you wait outside for now,” Sein said to Karazo and Milena.