Beneath the sun that had passed the middle of the sky and drawn closer to sunset, we stood there staring at the remains of the tall wall that had once risen here in the past.
Some of the intact sections still stood dozens of meters above the ground... the ground filled with the roots of the grass that had climbed this wall and wrapped it in a layer of dark roots and green leaves, hiding its weathered surface.
Here and there, large pieces the size of houses that had long ago broken off from it could be seen lying on the ground, half buried in the dirt while the grass covered what remained.
"Another city." Elliot muttered beside me, his voice full of awe.
Who could blame him, remembering what happened in the last city we visited... well, these were just ancient ruins anyway.
I looked right and left, seeing the shattered wall stretching out and blocking the way before us.
We stayed there for some time staring at this place in awe, until Ellen pulled us out of it, her firm voice echoing as usual.
"Let’s move and find a suitable place to rest."
With those words, I began walking toward one of the missing sections in the wall that gave a glimpse of the ruins behind it. Even without seeing them, my mind had already drawn a rough picture of what was there.
Without hesitation, I moved forward behind Ellen, and the others followed us as well.
It did not take long for us to reach the wall, specifically in front of a large breach that allowed us to pass to the other side.
When I stepped through the gap, I could understand how thick this thing made of steel plates and dark concrete truly was, with a thickness stretching several meters inward.
I passed my sword through a dark-colored root blocking our way and stretching upward. As a result, some leaves fell from above us onto the grassy ground.
We soon all emerged from the wall, and the sight before us was revealed.
"This place has been completely erased." Leona muttered, her voice full of awe, her blue eyes staring at the scene before us.
And she was right.
Before us, nothing remained of the houses or shelters that had once stood here except scattered pieces of rubble lying on the ground, proof that this place had not always been empty, while green plants rose from among the remains.
And there in the distance, a few large structures could still be seen... or what remained of them.
Because most of them barely still had half of themselves left, struggling not to collapse at any moment... just as they had for all those long years.
"I wonder how this place ended up like this." Izel’s voice echoed as she voiced her thoughts to us while staring at the ruins that had become home to the plants and moss growing over the weathered concrete surfaces.
"Whatever happened, at least it ended a long time ago," I replied.
Silence spread for some time as we contemplated these ancient remains, until Kyle’s voice reached our ears.
Kyle, who had remained silent the whole time to the point that I had nearly forgotten he was there.
"It looks like it’s going to rain."
I turned my head toward him when he said that and found him staring at the sky.
I followed his gaze, and there I saw the dark clouds that had just appeared on the horizon, seeming to move toward us and swallow the sky quickly.
"This will probably be a strong storm," I muttered while the others finally noticed the clouds.
Izel turned her head slightly toward Elliot, urging him to begin his usual work.
"Come on, start making us a shelter, unless you want us to bathe in the rain."
Elliot gave Izel a look before glancing at the concrete ground beneath us.
"I cannot manipulate concrete as you can see... and the water will seep in if I make it underground outside."
Izel raised an eyebrow.
"All these abilities and you cannot manipulate simple concrete... well, maybe you will be able to in the future anyway."
I shook my head while looking at Elliot, who had been receiving a lot of criticism lately... maybe that was partly because of me.
But I did not feel any regret or pity.
Instead, I spoke while telling them what I had sensed.
"There are rooms underground that seem intact. We can use them as a place to stay."
I could feel the tunnels stretching beneath the ground and connecting many of the rooms and infrastructure of this place.
"So do we break through the ground and head down?" Izel asked while I shook my head.
"No need to use violence when there are easier ways."
With those words, I pointed ahead, away from where we were standing.
"There is an entrance a few hundred meters from us."
Ellen stared in the direction the clouds were coming from, now already more visible, as she added,
"Then you had better lead us to it."
"Follow me."
With that, I walked forward through the rubble, stepping on the roots spread across the ground.
I did not feel any monsters here worth paying attention to except for a few Rank 1 insects hiding in the corners of this place, so I paid them no attention.
The others followed behind me, following in my footsteps up and down across the remains of the structures that had once stood here until we arrived before a large piece of reinforced concrete lying on the ground.
"Here." I said that while pointing at the piece of rubble blocking the entrance a few meters away from us.
Elliot looked at it.
"Then help me move it." But before he could finish speaking, a small sphere of compressed essence was already above my finger as I fired it toward the hidden entrance.
In an instant, the essence reached it and collided with the rubble before an explosion echoed through the place and small pieces of stone flew toward us with a wave of dust.
Everyone raised their hands to protect their faces from the flying fragments while Izel’s surprised and annoyed shout echoed because of what I had done.
"At least warn us before you do that."
I ignored that and looked at the opening that had formed in the concrete piece, revealing a passage leading downward.
I cast one last glance toward the clouds, which had already grown larger, before stepping toward the opening and standing on the rubble while staring into the darkness inside this tunnel leading underground.
I pointed at Elliot, who had reached my side while looking down.
"We need some light here."
The moment I said that, a small sphere of pure light formed in his hand, driving away the darkness before us and revealing the black stairs there.
"Then why don’t you kindly start going down first?" My voice echoed as I urged Elliot to descend first.
I expected him to ask why I was not the one going first or simply refuse, but instead he let out a sigh like an old man tired of life as he stepped in front of me, causing the light to seep deeper into the tunnel and push the darkness away.
I smiled as I descended behind him while the sound of our shoes echoed through the walls.
"It is wonderful to see you taking the initiative today."
Elliot shrugged.
"It is not as if something is going to come out of the darkness and grab my leg... and you would have pushed me forward if I refused."
"No, I would not have done such a thing... besides, you never really know when something will come out of the darkness and pull you into the warmth of its embrace... or maybe its coldness."
He shook his head tiredly as he continued descending.
This passage was not wide, so we could only go down one after another.
And after a few minutes of hearing the sound of our footsteps on these weathered stairs, we reached what looked like a large and wide corridor stretching ahead before disappearing once again into the darkness beyond our sight.
On the sides, I could see a few steel doors here and there with many things hidden behind them.
Around us, the air was heavy and very humid, showing that any ventilation system had long since stopped working, and all that remained was the air naturally entering through the open places and cracks above.
In short, it looked like those tunnels from horror movies... except it was a little more frightening, and it did not seem like a nice or even comfortable place to rest.
As if this was not only my thought, Leona’s voice echoed from behind me as it spread through the empty and dark tunnel.
"It doesn’t seem like a comfortable place... so maybe we need to rethink the idea of staying here for the night."