Chapter 133: External Field Trip (6)

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The fist struck the barrier.

The first thing he felt was that it wasn’t physical hardness.

As expected, the barrier before his eyes was a conceptual wall guarding the inside of the fortress.

‘It’s one of the trickiest types to break through.’

Other than unlocking it through a designated sequence or with magical knowledge, there was no way.

Even though he had slammed it imbued with internal energy, it didn’t show a single scratch.

Carl brushed off his hands and narrowed his eyes.

“At this rate, it feels like the wall will collapse first. The back is blocked by the barrier too, right?”

“It should be. And since it’s already cracked, we can’t undo it anymore.”

Carl signaled Laysis to step further back, then clenched his fist once more.

‘The principle of the world is simple.’

The harder one breaks the less hard.

Even a magical barrier was still bound within order and reason.

The fact that his fist couldn’t break it meant only one thing—his strength wasn’t enough.

‘With my knowledge of magic, there’s no way I can break this barrier.’

If it were Yuria.

Perhaps she could have.

As the disciple of the Gray Magic Tower Lord and with her brilliance, which often showed itself during their study sessions, she had long surpassed peers of her age.

But with his shallow magical knowledge, breaking the barrier was impossible.

Kwaaak.

So wasn’t it best to focus on one’s own specialty?

A stream of white current flared atop his clenched fist.

As the energy of Bright Heaven Divine Art condensed, the surrounding temperature plummeted and emanated extreme Yin.

Cheok.

He planted both feet firmly on the ground, raised his clenched fist forward, twisted his shoulder, and put strength into his waist.

Had a master of the Central Plains seen it, they would have praised it as the perfect stance of a Straight Punch.

That Straight Punch once again struck the barrier.

Kwaaaaaaang!!!

The aftermath was on an entirely different level than before, sweeping across the entire space.

The fortress wall, which had barely been holding, collapsed with a roar, and cracks tore through the corridor and other building walls.

Yet the barrier remained intact.

Clicking his tongue, Carl stepped back.

“This won’t do.”

There was a limit to striking.

Even if he used the stronger Heavenly Demon Divine Art, the result would be the same.

Since the other side was guarded with a conceptual barrier, he too needed to counter it with conceptual force.

“Laysis, please step outside and return to the room we were in earlier. Make sure it’s completely out of sight.”

“Like that?”

“I don’t know how the aftermath will rebound, so it’s better to be cautious.”

“…Alright.”

Nodding at Carl’s words, Laysis passed back through the corridor they had entered and returned to the treasure-laden room.

Only after the door closed completely did Carl exhale lightly and stretch out both hands.

Saaah.

Bright Heaven Divine Art and Heavenly Demon Divine Art.

The two powers flowed from Carl’s hands into the barrier.

The Primordial Unity Divine Art was a martial art of uniting two opposing energies into one, reaching the Single Pole.

‘But in truth, righteous energy and demonic energy cannot mix.’

That was why it was called the greatest divine art of all time.

But if one were to deliberately let the two clash without unifying them?

‘Then there’s no need to punch or swing a sword.’

The repulsive force of opposing energies.

What could be stronger than that?

Jeojeok, jeojeojeok.

As expected.

Cracks spread across the barrier, unable to withstand the Bright Heaven and Heavenly Demon energies.

No matter how great the barrier, it could not endure this and declared surrender.

Pakak.

At last, like glass shattering, it broke into fragments.

Since it wasn’t physical, no shards or trace remained.

Tuk tuk.

Carl dusted his hands and shouted behind him.

“It’s done! You can come in now!”

Tadadak.

Almost running, Laysis rushed to Carl’s side.

She peered into the wide-open fortress interior and asked.

“How did you do it?”

“I broke it by applying a force stronger than a punch. You could say it’s the mystery of using repulsion.”

“Hmmm.”

“Let’s go in.”

At last, the two stepped inside.

Beyond the entrance, the first thing that caught their eyes was a structure with quite an alien shape.

“…This is.”

“Statues. And not just one—there must be dozens.”

Past the entrance of the fortress stretched a hall.

It was a spacious central area, used as a lobby or corridor to receive guests and lead them elsewhere.

And within it, dozens of statues stood scattered throughout.

‘Were these carved from ivory?’

Carl approached the nearest statue and examined it closely.

It had no facial features.

The forms and poses differed, and some were incomplete.

Seuk.

As Carl carefully brushed its surface, Laysis asked with a grave expression.

“…Could these be statues made from living people?”

“I don’t think so.”

Hearing the faint tremor of fear in her voice, Carl chuckled lightly as he answered.

“Traces of carving remain on the surface. It’s definitely someone’s work.”

When he first saw it, Carl also thought it might be human sacrifice, but there were no traces that looked human.

Seeing the marks of a blade, he was certain these were truly statues carved from something.

“Do you know what the human form means in a temple?”

“A believer of a god, isn’t it?”

“That’s correct. In the modern sense, it means a believer. But in ancient times, it signified the form of a god.”

God created humans modeled after His own image.

Therefore, statues of humans in ruins could be said to represent the form of gods.

“In the ruins we visited with the Ruins Exploration Club, there were also statues and sculptures. Do you know how they are different?”

“…The faces, the features are missing. There, they wore clothes and even held objects. But here, nothing. Why is that?”

“A face is an important element in recognizing someone. You could say it represents a name.”

Carl glanced around.

“Perhaps the owner of this place was forgotten by people, or lost their name.”

Maybe that was why instead of a temple, it was built in the form of a fortress.

Because their divinity had diminished, they could no longer reach the state of a complete god who could have a temple built.

“If we interpret what we see, we could say this much, but honestly, it might all just be nonsense stitched together.”

“Then it’s certain this isn’t the ruins of a hero, right?”

“That, we still don’t know. Interpreted the other way, it might be an expression of a human’s greed to become a god.”

Ancient heroes were revered almost like gods.

The fact that their fame carried on to the present proved it.

Laysis stared intently at the statue, then let out a deep sigh.

“It’s difficult. Do we have to deduce everything from such small clues?”

“The ruins we discovered with the club were relatively generous in what they showed us. Usually, it’s like this.”

Of course, it hadn’t been generous to Carl.

The moment he entered the temple, it demanded proof of worth and forced him to fight another self.

Still, it had remained as a rather fun memory.

“We’ve seen everything here, so let’s go up.”

“Yes. We’ll search thoroughly from the top floor down.”

The main building of the fortress had three floors.

Aside from being dark without any light and devoid of presence, it was in such good condition that it wouldn’t have been strange if someone were living there right then.

Thus, Carl and Laysis began searching carefully, starting from the third floor.

“A bedroom.”

“This one’s a bedroom too.”

“They all look like guest rooms. Normally, in such a castle, the lord or noble would have a separate annex at the top.”

“Nothing special here.”

Even with Requin’s Glasses, there was nothing notable.

Then Carl discovered a storeroom radiating yellow light.

Creak.

Laysis opened the door and cautiously looked inside.

It was filled with items, but nothing seemed very valuable.

Most appeared to be household goods or spare tools for maintaining the fortress.

“Nothing worth taking.”

“Historically, they would have value. They show the way of life at the time.”

“Well, the treasure outside is more than enough anyway.”

Nodding, Laysis shut the door without regret.

Tok.

But at that moment, she suddenly lifted her head at an odd sound that reached her ears.

Carl, right beside her, turned at her sudden reaction and asked.

“What is it?”

“Didn’t you hear it?”

“Hear what?”

“The sound of a water drop.”

“…A water drop?”

Carl’s brow furrowed.

If such a sound had been heard, there was no way he would have missed it.

‘Which means.’

It was meant to tempt her, or allowed for her ears alone.

Tok.

“Over there!”

Suddenly spotting something, Laysis bolted with a slightly excited voice.

Carl swept his senses around and followed her closely.

Since she heard it twice, it wasn’t a mistake.

She wasn’t timid enough to hear hallucinations out of fear either, so something must exist.

‘I don’t feel anything though.’

Laysis’ steps quickened.

In the end, she was almost running, sprinting across the corridor of the fortress.

From one end of the third floor all the way to the opposite side of the second floor below.

It was too far a distance for the sound of a water drop to be heard ordinarily.

“Here, I hear it here.”

“Hm.”

The third floor was all bedrooms.

On the second floor, plaques were marked on the doors, but the writing was unrecognizable, suggesting the rooms were used for another purpose.

“Shall I open it?”

Laysis immediately reached out and pushed the door wide open.

Inside was a study.

No, it was large enough to be called a library.

“Wow.”

Laysis let out a soft exclamation.

Every book on the shelves was written in unreadable script.

Regardless, discovering this many ancient books would make a monumental contribution to academia.

“This should be reported, shouldn’t it?”

“I think so too. A library of this scale… impressive.”

Carl looked around with wide eyes.

With this much record, they might be able to redefine ancient history.

Perhaps they could uncover facts unknown until now.

Tok.

Then the sound of a water drop was heard again.

This time, it was very close, along with the damp sensation of something landing on her head.

Seuk.

Laysis instinctively raised her hand to touch her head.

At that moment, she discovered bright red blood smeared on her palm.

“…Blood?”

The moment she uttered those words, the floor beneath her collapsed.

As though sucked in, Laysis’ body fell into the hole.

It happened in the blink of an eye.

“…!!”

Carl, who had been marveling at the countless books nearby, grasped the situation and immediately stomped the ground.

Shuuuk.

But the hole leading downward closed in an instant.

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