CHAPTER 742: 584 "DRAGON

"Master, what is this...?"

Liz instinctively moved closer to Reiger as she stared at the passage that had suddenly opened before their eyes, her voice trembling with fear.

Reiger’s brows were still furrowed as he observed the passage for a good while before thoughtfully responding.

"This must be the passage leading to the tomb, right?"

Upon hearing this, Liz was taken aback.

"The tomb?"

It seemed that something had clicked in Liz’s mind as she looked at the stone tablet.

"Have you figured it out?" Reiger, seeing her reaction, nodded and said, "Yes, it’s the tomb of the queen mentioned on the stone tablet."

The ancient script on the stone tablet had already made it clear that the last queen of the ancient Magic civilization was buried here.

If that was the case, this hidden passage was very likely the one leading to the tomb of that queen.

"The queen..."

Understanding this, Liz’s eyes became complicated.

After all, according to the current information, this last queen of the ancient Magic civilization was clearly the one depicted in the mural holding the Sword of Moslo.

If she wielded the Sword of Moslo, it proved that she was a member of the heroic tribe.

In other words, she was very likely Liz’s ancestor, possibly from a very distant era.

"Should we, shall we go in?"

Liz became nervous.

Who would have thought, Reiger shook his head.

"No, let’s not go there yet."

Why, one might ask?

The reason is simple.

"We can visit the queen’s tomb anytime."

"But if we don’t pursue the people who entered here before us now, we might not be able to catch up with them later."

"So, let’s go that way first."

Reiger pointed to the far right corner of the stone hall.

There, there was also a passage.

Not only did the far right corner of the hall have a passage, but the far left corner also featured one.

Initially, the stone hall had only these two passages; the one behind the statue was hidden and remained undiscovered by anyone.

According to the Magi Doll’s memory, the cold girl and Sgranot had taken the passage on the right.

As for the passage on the left, it seemed they had already sent someone to explore it, which led only to a rock platform with just a single indent on it, nothing more.

Yes, it was the very indent that Yuri had told Reiger about back at the Fransel family’s home, which matched the blade of the Sword of Moslo.

It was because of this indent that those who were familiar with this artifact, including Yuri, believed it had a connection with the Sword of Moslo.

Therefore, Reiger and Liz had come from afar.

But for now, the matter of the indent had also been put aside temporarily.

As Moslo’s Sword was in Liz’s hand, they could visit the area anytime.

Rather, it was the passage on the far right that concerned him; what it led to and what was inside was unknown even to the Magi Doll.

The Magi Dolls had wanted to explore it, but from their memories, it could be inferred that Sgranot had vehemently prevented them before they could act.

At that time, Sgranot’s behavior was full of dread, caution, and even fear.

Thus, Reiger boldly speculated.

"The thing that deeply concerns Sgranot and the higher-ups of the two great nations must be at the end of that passage."

And the goals of those behind the Magi Dolls might also be related to it.

So, Reiger wanted to explore it himself.

"How about this, Liz, why don’t you go to the tomb first?"

Reiger suggested to the young princess.

"No! I will stay with Master!"

The moment she heard it, the young princess shook her head vigorously without a second thought.

"Alright, then."

Upon reconsidering, Reiger also felt it was inappropriate.

Who knew what dangers lurked within the tomb?

If a path that wasn’t hidden harbored horrors that even a Sword Saint and two great nations deeply dreaded, then who could know what even more terrifying things might exist in the intentionally concealed path?

Though they had the Sword of Moslo, and Liz was significantly related to the queen who slept at the end of this passage, it seemed unlikely that anything would happen; however, "better safe than sorry". Sending the young princess alone into the tomb would indeed be too difficult for her.

"In that case, come with me," said Reiger. "Let’s sneak over and see what those fellows are up to."

"Yes, yes!"

Liz naturally had no objections.

Thereupon, under the lead of Reiger, Liz followed her master into the passage in the far right corner of the stone hall.

Inside the passage, it was incredibly hot, telling Reiger and Liz that the source of the heat was likely at the end of this passage.

The passage wasn’t without dangers, but those dangers had already been dealt with.

As he entered the passage, Reiger saw the ground covered in uneven pits and broken stone and iron pieces, immediately surmising that Sgranot’s group had already triggered and dealt with the numerous magical traps and mechanisms arranged here, as well as defeated the guards protecting this passage.

The broken stones and metal fragments gave Reiger a déjà vu of the autonomous giant guardians that protected the Ancient City within the body of the subterranean monster Yarakulon.

Reiger then felt that guardians like those must have originally been in this passage, only to have been eliminated by Sgranot and his group.

"That’s good, it saved me some effort."

Reiger simply picked up the little princess, who was both panicked and blushing. He then activated a flight spell to move forward while simultaneously casting invisibility-type spells to hide his presence.

In the stifling passageway, a streak of light soon appeared and sped past like a meteor, heading straight towards the end.

......

Unnoticed, Reiger had been flying for nearly half an hour.

"Haven’t we reached the end yet?"

Looking at the endless passage ahead, Reiger was astonished.

The length of this passage greatly exceeded Reiger’s expectations and had gradually started to slope downwards.

That is to say, as Reiger dove deeper, he was gradually entering an unfathomably deep underground.

And the deeper he went underground, the higher the surrounding temperature became.

"Could the end of this passage be the Earth’s magma layer?"

Reiger couldn’t help but start thinking this.

Unfortunately, his thought seemed to be correct.

Because he had already begun to smell a burning scent, similar to sulfuric acid.

Ahead in the passage, the air began to warp, and the heat surged as if it had substance, billowing through the enclosed passage.

When Reiger’s view began to turn red, he finally saw the end.

Or rather, he saw a glowing red magma.

"————"

Without hesitation, Reiger abruptly decelerated and stopped his swiftly flying figure.

He could feel Liz in his arms tightening her grip on his clothes, clearly becoming more nervous.

Despite the delicate warmth and softness in his arms, Reiger continued to hold Liz and lightly floated towards the end of the passage, flying out.

The next moment, Reiger indeed entered into a crimson world.

This was a space hundreds of times more vast and spacious than the stone hall they had just left.

The space was so large it could easily fit half a town.

But in such an expansive area, the living were not allowed.

Because, although it resembled a stalactite cave, the ground beneath was a flowing layer of magma.

Staggering heat climbed from the bottom up, turning the entire space red.

"It really is underground magma."

Reiger sighed, finally solving the mystery of why it was so blisteringly hot here.

Suddenly, Reiger felt Liz in his arms shudder violently, starting to tremble.

She was in shock.

She was terrified.

She almost screamed out loud but managed to cover her mouth just in time.

"Liz?"

Reiger was initially stunned, then as if sensing something, he sharply turned his head to look at a spot in the flowing lava below.

There, there was a piece of rock not submerged in magma.

The rock formation resembled a massive execution platform, at the very center of which stood a golden column.

That column was etched with numerous runes, reminding Reiger instantly of the temple in the Ancient City guarded by Maya.

When the barrier of that temple was undone, the runes that flew out were identical to those on this golden column.

Of course, that’s not the most important part.

The most critical aspect was that beneath this rune-etched golden column, a massive creature was pinned down.

When that huge creature came into view, even Reiger’s pupils involuntarily constricted.

Because, that type of creature was familiar to him and everyone else.

A body like a fierce beast.

Wide flesh wings similar to those of a bat.

A head like a horse or crocodile with horns, covered in scales. A long, winding tail with a spiked end, and the limbs ending in massive claws, with back spines.

That was— "dragons."

A massive red dragon.

A fierce fire dragon.

It was thus suppressed under the massive rune-etched golden column on the execution-like rock platform, with occasional flows of magma brushing past its wings stretching out of the rock platform, not merely burning them but rather gently washing over its limbs like warm water.

Its eyes tightly closed, it seemed like an inanimate object, but the loud nasal sounds it made while dozing and the hot tongues of flame that spewed from its nostrils while breathing told everyone who saw it... it was alive.

That was a living giant dragon!

That was a living fire dragon!

The ancient and terrifying dragon aura naturally emanated from it, causing Liz to be frightened and freezing Reiger on the spot.

In that instant, Reiger finally understood what Sgranot and the two great nations were truly afraid of.

They were fearful of this dragon!

At the same time, the phrase on the stone tablet surfaced in Reiger’s mind.

"’We have buried it here along with the King of Calamity’s kin.’"

This place buried not just the heroic queen’s clan but also the kin of the King of Calamity.