"Gate."
In the open space before the ancient city, Riezel activated the highest-tier teleportation magic in his possession, summoning a circular purple-black portal that absorbed all light as it spun, darkening the surrounding space.
"Go in."
After casting the magic, Riezel stepped aside and casually spoke to everyone present.
"The other side of the gate leads to Bessare’s training field. It’s not that I couldn’t open it somewhere else, but since we disappeared from there, let’s just go back there."
Upon hearing this, Raven, Nibald, and the others nodded, silently marveling in their hearts.
It wasn’t just them, as even Maya, with an impressed expression, was muttering to herself on the side as well.
"My goodness... to think you could open a space gate from within Yarakulon’s body... A magic of this level, even the archbishop couldn’t cast, right?"
Needless to say, from this muttering, Maya truly respected Riezel at this point.
Riezel, who heard Maya’s mutter, asked her a question.
"If you want to leave the body of the Underground Demon Beast Yarakulon, is there any way to do that?"
Maya wasn’t entirely sure how to answer.
"Maybe... I mean, this demon beast is special, and the fact that it allows living creatures to survive inside it is already incredible..."
Maya spoke softly, and her gaze dropped.
"Even though many people have studied this demon beast, no one really knows its origins. No one has figured out its birth, how it grew this large, and even its ecosystem—when I was around, not many people understood it."
"It just seems to have appeared out of nowhere. Its origins are quite mysterious. Even archbishops don’t know much about it."
At this point, it seemed like Maya remembered something and looked toward Lizbeth.
"However, the clan this girl belongs to might know something..." Maya said with some meaning behind her words. "I heard from the archbishop that some people from her clan specifically sought out Yarakulon and had some interaction with it for some time."
Shortly after revealing this information, Maya stopped speaking and didn’t continue.
Seeing this, Riezel stopped asking and shifted the topic.
"Then, do you wanna leave?" Riezel asked casually.
At this question, Maya sighed.
"I’ve already told you, right? Right now, I can’t leave this city for too long or go too far." Maya answered nonchalantly. "Since the day I chose to give up my human body, I’ve been in a symbiotic relationship with this city. If I want to leave, the only option would be for the city to be completely destroyed, but if this city is destroyed, I’ll also die."
Lizbeth, who had been concerned all this time, snapped back to reality upon hearing this.
"Then, doesn’t that mean you’ll forever be stuck here alone?"
As Lizbeth asked while looking at Maya, a feeling of sympathy and heartache unconsciously appeared in her eyes, which, in turn, made Maya’s attitude toward Lizbeth soften a little.
"Don’t pity me."
Maya pressed her lips together and shook her head.
"In the first place, this is my own choice, so I’ve never regretted it."
"And... when no one visits this city, I enter a dormant state anyway, so no matter how much time passes outside, I can’t feel it, and I don’t feel lonely or isolated because when I wake up, it means someone has arrived here."
"Although it’s not always a good person who comes, at least I’ve waited for you."
After saying this to Lizbeth, Maya glanced at Riezel.
"Honestly, I’m surprised. I didn’t expect that there would be someone in this world who could be your master."
Maya clearly directed these words at both Riezel and Lizbeth.
"In my opinion, no one in this world should be worthy of you acknowledging them as your master, but strangely enough... if it’s this man... I can somehow understand..."
When saying this, Maya must’ve been thinking of Riezel’s capabilities and behaviors along the way.
Riezel’s space magic, which could connect the Underground Demon Beast Yarakulon and the outside world.
Riezel’s time magic, which could stop the entire world.
Riezel’s terrifying aura emanated from him when she grabbed Lizbeth’s hand—a heat like that of the sun itself, burning the entire city.
All these things told Maya that the man whom this girl recognized as her master was no ordinary person.
Maya then looked deeply at Riezel and Lizbeth and said one last thing.
"I hope you won’t end up like we did, and I hope you can live peacefully on this land."
As soon as Maya finished saying this, she turned and walked back into the city.
*Rumble—*
Suddenly, a roar echoed as two massive figures slowly appeared, one on the left and the other on the right, guarding the city entrance.
Needless to say, these were the Autonomous Guardians that had been taken down earlier by Riezel and the others. Maya had revived them, making their bodies regenerate, and once again, they stood as the city’s gatekeepers, faithfully carrying out their mission.
Riezel and the others watched this scene in silence until Maya’s figure disappeared into the city, no longer visible.
Only then did they withdraw their gazes.
"Let’s go. It’s time to head back." Raven said indifferently.
At this, the knights who were carrying boxes all nodded, then, led by Raven and Nibald, everyone began to walk toward the Gate, disappearing from sight.
Lizbeth also subconsciously walked over, but after a while, she realized that Riezel was still standing in place, unmoving.
"Master?"
Lizbeth called out to Riezel in confusion.
"It’s fine, you go ahead." Riezel smiled at the little princess. "I’ve got something to take care of. I’ll be there in a bit."
"Then I—"
Lizbeth was about to say she would stay, but Riezel stopped her.
"Don’t worry, it’ll be quick. Go ahead." Riezel said while patting Lizbeth’s small head.
Lizbeth showed an expression that seemed like she wanted to say something but hesitated. In the end, she nodded and, under Riezel’s gaze, slowly walked into the Gate, heading back to Bessare.
Before long, the circular purple-black portal began to shrink, gradually disappearing.
Riezel watched this scene in silence before raising his head and looking up at the sky.
"Greater Teleportation."
In the next second, Riezel vanished from his spot.
===
In the dark and gloomy depths of the underground, a massive creature was moving.
It resembled a whale playing in the sea, breaking through the layers of earth as it swam freely, turning the entire underground space into its playground, completely unaware of what was happening above it.
Suddenly, Riezel’s figure appeared in the sky above this underground.
Riezel looked down from a high vantage point, gazing at the seemingly endless land beneath. He didn’t know where this place was, but as long as he confirmed that there were no inhabitants, no cities, and no creatures nearby, he could continue his actions.
Riezel’s eyes, shining with a translucent glow, seemed capable of piercing through the thick layers of soil, casting his gaze upon the massive creature deep in the earth beneath him.
In this situation, Riezel’s murmuring voice echoed.
"I don’t know your origin nor your reason, but since you chose to align with those unsavory rats, you must not be innocent, right?"
As these words dropped, a magic circle appeared beneath Riezel.
It was a fiery red magic circle that radiated intense heat as it expanded outward, quickly growing to cover the entire sky above.
"Perfect. I’ll use you to test my current magic attack power limit."
With this declaration, Riezel began chanting.
"The flame will soon be released."
"Creeping war, unavoidable destruction. The horn of battle sounds aloud, the cruelty of conflict will envelop all."
"Come, crimson flames, the ruthless inferno."
"You are the avatar of hellfire. Sweep completely, bring a close to the great war."
"Burn them through, Sword of Surtr – my name is Alf."
As this solemn chant left Riezel’s lips, it echoed through the entire underground.
Soon, terrifying heat and astonishing magical energy surged like a tsunami, causing the atmosphere to wail in agony.
"!!!"
Deep underground, the massive creature, which had been playing and frolicking, seemed to sense something as it let out a roar that shook the earth.
Unfortunately, its roar, aside from causing tremors in the earth, didn’t reach the surface.
Riezel locked onto this massive creature and decisively unleashed his strongest offensive magic.
"Widen Maximize Magic - Rea Laevateinn!"
In the next second, the magic circle beneath Riezel’s feet suddenly erupted with blinding light, and soon, the world turned crimson.
*BOOOOOM—!!!*
On the vast, desolate land, a deafening roar accompanied the explosion of flames.
These were flames that seemed to engulf the entire world, so intense that it seemed like they could burn everything in existence.
Such terrifying heat, combined with the flames, erupted from the ground, turning the world into a sea of red. It continuously destroyed the rock layers, tore apart the earth, and drilled deep into the depths, eventually igniting the massive creature roaring below.
*ROOOAAAAAARRR—!!!*
Howling in pain, the massive creature’s every movement caused the earth to tremble violently, as if a massive earthquake was happening, making everything on the ground collapse, crumble, and fall into destruction.
A giant demon beast capable of devouring an entire city was struck by this wide-range, super-powerful magic and severely burned.
It screamed in agony and overturned the earth as flames raged across its body while it sank deeper into the earth.
Riezel, high above the massive creature, witnessed all of this, watching the land turn into a sea of flames. As he saw everything within a radius of dozens or even hundreds of kilometers swallowed by the fire, he suddenly smiled.
"Strategic class, achieved..."
Riezel, after confirming his current maximum magic attack power, muttered softly before vanishing from the scene.
All that remained was the sea of fire, with no way of knowing how long it would take before it would finally extinguish.