A few minutes later.
In the clearing in front of the ancient city, more than half of the people who had been at Bessare's training field not long ago had now gathered here.
""Father!""
Kaiser, Axel, and Diego were overjoyed as they led their family knights through 'Gate' and rushed to Raven's side.
"Master... Master..."
Lizbeth was still clinging to Riezel, her face pressed against his chest, refusing to let go.
Riezel felt helpless but couldn't help smiling bitterly as he kept patting the little princess's tear-streaked head, trying to soothe her.
Meanwhile, the knights who had followed Kaiser, Axel, and Diego stood dumbfounded, looking around and then back at the purple-black portal.
It couldn't be helped.
They still couldn't believe they had been transported from Bessare's training field to a completely different place just like that.
Even Nibald, a renowned grandmaster magician in the world of magic, was no exception, as after stepping through Gate, he remained in a daze for a long time.
"It actually ignored distance and transported so many people all at once..." Nibald mumbled dazedly.
He truly had never even heard of such a thing before.
As far as he knew, not a single magician in history who had compatibility with the Imaginary System and had mastered space magic had ever achieved anything like this. If someone could really do something like this, they would have been seized by their own country long ago, while other countries would either try every means to recruit them or, failing that, destroy them at all costs.
It was only natural.
If this kind of magic was used in war, it would be every country's worst nightmare.
Just imagine a country capable of instantly sending its entire army straight into the enemy's capital—how terrifying would that be?
No known space magic in this world had such an overwhelming effect, or else space magicians would have already become the most coveted assets of every country, and the continent's rulers would have poured all their resources into nurturing them.
In Nibald's understanding, teleportation magic could, at most, transport a few people at a time, and even then, the distance was severely limited—nothing at all like Gate, which ignored distance, ignored the number of people, had almost zero failure rate, and allowed for continuous travel between two locations as long as it remained active.
In Nibald's eyes, this magic was already something akin to a divine miracle.
'Sir Brynhart... just what are you...?'
Nibald's gaze toward Riezel had already changed countless times.
Needless to say, ever since he met Riezel, his understanding of the young man had been overturned again and again, and even now, he kept making new, shocking discoveries.
In the next moment, a realization struck Nibald all of a sudden.
'Maybe... this whole conflict between Sir Brynhart and the Mavros family isn't about Sir Brynhart provoking Sir Raven but about Sir Raven provoking an enemy beyond imagination...'
With such a thought, Nibald couldn't help but glance at Raven.
Surrounded by the three Mavros brothers and the Mavros family's knights, Raven barely managed to maintain a calm and composed appearance, but deep down, he couldn't hide the fear in his eyes as he looked at Riezel.
It was clear that this marquis had also realized just how valuable Riezel was, given that he possessed magic like Gate.
As Raven thought about how he had offended someone capable of altering the balance of the entire continent—someone who could turn wars between countries into completely one-sided massacres—his face nearly turned pale.
Yet, in the midst of all this, Riezel acted as if he was completely unaware of the gravity of what he had just done and simply continued comforting Lizbeth as if nothing had happened.
"Alright, stop crying. See? I'm fine, aren't I?"
Riezel had no choice but to hold Lizbeth, forcing himself to ignore the overwhelming softness of the little princess pressing against him as he wiped away her tears, trying to comfort her.
Unfortunately, it seemed like Lizbeth's tear ducts had completely given out as she paid no attention to Riezel's reassurance and just clung to him even tighter. Funnily, the way she kept squeezing him made him wonder if this little princess was trying to merge with him or something.
Of course, Riezel knew why Lizbeth was reacting so strongly.
It was just like Lizbeth had said earlier—this whole conflict between him and Raven had happened because of her, right?
Lizbeth had already been deeply worried that Riezel might get hurt for standing up for her, and now that the worst had almost happened—where he had nearly not come back—it was only natural for her to be consumed with guilt.
'If I'd known, I would've just gone back to Bessare first to let her know I was safe...'
Riezel regretted his earlier decision a little, so, with no other option, he let Lizbeth hold onto him and gently patted her small, delicate back, helping her calm down.
As time passed, while Lizbeth finally started to settle down, the others gradually learned from Raven what had happened, where they were, and the current situation.
"Inside Yarakulon's body, huh...?"
"...So this is what the inside of the world's largest monster looks like?"
"No, no, shouldn't we be more shocked that we're inside a monster and still able to survive like this?"
Everyone was buzzing with disbelief and excitement, chattering among themselves.
Nibald had already pulled out his recording magic crystal, capturing footage while his eyes gleamed as he gazed at the ancient city in the distance.
Kaiser, Axel, and Diego, with their hearts pounding, were also staring at the ancient city ahead.
'Ancient ruins inside the Underground Demon Beast Yarakulon...?'
'Such ruins couldn't have been explored by anyone before, right?'
'Which means... whatever's inside is probably still in perfect condition?'
Just thinking about it sent a wave of excitement through the three Mavros brothers.
Ancient ruins that had never been explored before!
As nobles, they understood better than anyone the value of items left behind by the ancient magic civilization in the modern era.
Maybe inside, there was knowledge that could change not just this country but the entire world.
Maybe inside, there was magic technology that could make Jinas the undisputed leader of the continent.
At the very least, there could be some great items still waiting to be discovered.
Any one of those possibilities could completely transform Mavros Territory, making Jinas and even the whole Akasha Continent take notice. If what they found was important enough, the Mavros family might even make history, leaving their name to be remembered for generations.
Naturally, this wasn't just wishful thinking.
Countless extraordinary people throughout history had gained fame and fortune by uncovering ancient ruins that played a crucial role in advancing modern magic civilization.
If the Mavros family could experience the same fate, they might finally be able to stop Reiburg's invasion, fix the struggling state of Mavros Territory, and even secure an unshakable position for their family, reaping unimaginable benefits.
Because of all these possibilities, even before Gate had opened, Raven, the Guardian Sword Saint himself, had nearly lost control, itching to rush into the ancient city.
As for why there was an ancient city slumbering inside Yarakulon's body, that was something most people had already stopped thinking about since, if they could move around freely in here, then why couldn't there be a city too?
'Maybe this was a city that got swallowed by Yarakulon a long, long time ago and just stayed here until now when we finally found it?'
A lot of people present, more or less, thought like this.
Before long, Raven and the others started walking in Riezel's direction.
"Thank you."
Raven was the first to express his gratitude to Riezel.
Gratitude for what?
Of course, for Gate.
Thanks to Riezel's Gate, the Mavros family's main forces were able to arrive at this place and begin a large-scale excavation of the ancient city.
It was understandable since, without the main forces, Raven would've had a real headache trying to figure out how he and Riezel alone could excavate the ancient city while maximizing their value and their own gains.
Riezel, however, clearly didn't care about any of that.
"I'm not interested in knowledge or technology, so I'll just say it now—if I find any magic items in there that are useful to me, I'm keeping them."
Riezel said it outright, making quite a few people's expressions shift slightly—even Raven furrowed his brows for a brief moment before quickly relaxing again.
"Fine."
Raven agreed surprisingly quickly, making the three Mavros brothers behind him restless as if they wanted to say something.
However, before they could, Nibald chuckled and spoke up.
"Hoho, we're only here thanks to Sir Brynhart. I mean, without him, we wouldn't even be able to leave, so naturally, he has every right to make a request like this."
Nibald's words made the three Mavros brothers freeze for a moment before they all fell silent and looked back toward where they had come from.
Over there, the purple-black portal was already shrinking until it completely disappeared.
What did this mean?
It meant that there was no way for them to leave anymore since only Riezel could reopen that teleportation portal and get them out of this place.
In other words, everyone's lives, as well as whether they could take anything they found in this ancient city back with them, depended entirely on Riezel's will. If he didn't want to let them leave, then everyone, including Raven, would be trapped inside Yarakulon's body forever.
Realizing this, the three Mavros brothers naturally didn't dare to voice any objections.
Raven, on the other hand, had clearly already thought of this beforehand, which was why he had agreed right away.
Nonetheless, Raven still had an idea.
"If there are magic items that you don't need, I hope you can sell them to us at a reasonable price. How about it?"
Raven put forward this proposal to Riezel.
"Sure."
Riezel nodded casually like it was no big deal, making Raven crack a rare smile.
And with that, everyone began their strategy meeting.