## Chapter 1222 – Shurdic Desert

Following Claudie’s guidance, we thoroughly explored the underground ruins.

This was, no joke, an absolutely massive structure.

Should I describe it as a building buried deep within the vast sands of the desert? No, it wouldn’t be strange to say that sand had accumulated around the building after it was originally constructed.

Does that mean this area wasn’t a desert when this building was built?

Of course, that’s just speculation.

Anyway, the inside wasn’t filled with sand, and thankfully, no monsters appeared either.

“Peaceful.”
“It’s a place that was explored a long time ago.”

Winnia said, and Claudie casually replied.

“Since the surroundings are desert, stray monsters are unlikely to wander in.”

I guess that makes sense.

The Karga Kingdom has many mountains and an unexplored area to the east, so when dungeons are discovered, they’re usually teeming with all sorts of monsters. But not here.

“Seriously, it’s huge. How can a ruin be this comfortable?”
“The Titans might really have built it.”

Liztina said, and Karin agreed.

“Maybe so.”

Indeed.

Looking at it, that’s the only thought that comes to mind.

If I hadn’t met the Titan Prince, I would have just been exclaiming, “Holy shit, this building is huge!” But witnessing him made me aware of the enigmatic ancient race known as the Titans.

Seeing such a massive ancient structure naturally leads me to think in that direction.

“If the Titans could build such a huge structure in the desert, why did they fall?”

Hilde asked, seemingly out of boredom.

“I told you before. They were destroyed by the gods.”
“That’s a bit strange, isn’t it?”

Hilde expressed her doubts in response to Karin’s answer.

“The Titan said they were destroyed by the gods, right? Before that, they were living well, enslaving humans.”
“Right? Though we can’t trust him.”

Liztina looked at me as if seeking agreement, and I nodded.

Simple contemplation.

We can’t trust the Titan Prince’s words, but let’s assume they’re true for now.

“Karin, Liztina, Winnia, let me ask you. What do you think of gods? Do you think they’ve been on this land since ancient times?”
“Is this lewd succubus about to say something blasphemous again…”
“No, no, Winnia. It’s not like that.”

Gods, huh.

Liztina was the first to answer.

“Well, if I have to answer, I’d say the gods have been on this land since ancient times. Maybe even longer than humans?”
“Yeah… I think so too.”

But are these three the most ordinary humans? Oh, right. I’m a demigod, Claudie is a half-elf, Risha is a demon, and Ari is a monster.

“Well, I haven’t really thought about it seriously, but their history is probably longer than humans or elves. Wouldn’t that make sense?”

Karin continued.

This was the typical perspective of someone from this isekai.

The idea that gods have naturally existed on this land since ancient times. However, the Titan Prince said that wasn’t the case. He claimed that humans summoned the gods from another dimension.

“That’s probably what ordinary humans think.”

Hilde nodded, having listened to the story.

“But then why did the gods suddenly decide to save the humans who were enslaved by the Titans? Why did they abandon them before?”
“Hmm… Hey, wait. But in the first place, there’s no proof that the Titans even existed, except for what that prince said. Even when we asked the Oracle, it wasn’t something he directly saw, but just information he collected about something that happened in the past.”

As Karin pointed out, we had asked the Oracle about the Titan era. But it wasn’t something he had witnessed directly.

He had merely collected information that “there was a Titan era a long time ago, but it was hidden for some reason.”

So, at the time, I thought it might be distorted information.

Well, the Titan Prince might actually be a Titan. The empire might just be a legend. The kid might have been lying based on legends about the Titans.

Like he was actually a tribal prince who was lying about being an imperial prince? Something like that.

Strictly speaking, their existence hasn’t been clearly proven. What can you do, it’s something from a really, really long time ago.

“Let’s just assume they existed for now.”

Hmm.

“Are you sure they built this building?”
“Just because. Let’s just say they did.”

We continued to explore the ruins, and Hilde kept talking. It was a perfect topic for this kind of space. I also focused on Hilde’s words.

“Well… how would we know what the gods think? Maybe they just suddenly hated the Titans. If they hate them, they kill them. If you have divine power, you can do anything. If you think the gods are assholes, they become assholes.”

Karin, after thinking for a bit, gave a very Karin-like answer. As expected, this older sister’s thoughts are just like her.

But then isn’t that just a god of destruction?

“That’s a really destructive thought! That sounds like an evil god!”
“Gods can look like that depending on your perspective, you know.”
“Yeah, well, that’s true. Anyway. The gods suddenly hated the Titans… and punished the Titans who enslaved humans? I think that’s a bit strange.”

Everyone focused on Hilde.

“It feels like the gods couldn’t stand it anymore and destroyed the Titans to save the humans, but why? What are humans to the gods?”
“Hmm… Because they like humans? Were humans important to the gods?”

Claudie said, and Hilde shook her head.

“If humans were important to the gods, wouldn’t they have protected them from the beginning? It’s a bit strange. It’s not logical.”

Yeah.

Why?

I can’t think of a reason.

Did the Titans build the Tower of Babel or something? The Christian god Yahweh couldn’t tolerate humans building the Tower of Babel to reach heaven. So, he caused a divine ruckus, smashed everything, and shattered the unified language, forcing us Koreans to learn English for ten years. Hello Jito, you son of a bitch. This is a living room and that’s a bathroom. Why do I still remember this?

Anyway.

In other words, they were destroyed simply because the god hated them.

Maybe the Titans brought that tragedy upon themselves.

“Hmm… We could also hypothesize that they realized humans were useful at some point and saved them.”
“Oh.”

Risha, who had been thinking, said that.

“That’s true. That could be it. They belatedly realized the usefulness of humans and saved them.”

Hilde shook her head again at Liztina’s words.

“That means the gods only take sides if something is useful to them. That makes them seem like some kind of high-ranking ruler, not a god.”
“Ah… that’s true too. Hmm…”
“This lewd succubus is such a demon that she can say anything.”

Winnia pointed out, and Hilde shouted.

“No, just common sense! And why do you keep calling me a lewd succubus!”
“You called me a walking pair of boobs earlier!”
“Gasp!”

Well, that’s…

True.

“Anyway, everything is strange. So, I think what the Titan Prince said is right. At some point… gods didn’t exist originally, but they suddenly appeared. They literally appeared suddenly and gave power to humans. That’s why the Titans were destroyed.”

This might just sound like bullshit that the Titan Prince made up, but if the Titans actually existed in the past, it somehow feels like the right story.

“You mean the story about summoning gods from another dimension is true?”
“Yes. Something like that. Humans summoned gods from another dimension, and so the gods took the side of humans and destroyed the Titans.”

Hilde answered Karin’s question.

“No. I think that’s too demonic of an idea. Quickly. Come back as Angel Hilde, not Demon Hilde.”
“It’s not a demonic idea, it’s just something I thought of.”

Yeah.

“That’s right, Hilde. It was a plausible story. If it’s true that there was a Titan Empire in the past, I think it’s credible.”
“Right, right? As expected of Katt!”
“But I don’t believe everything either.”

I have a lot of doubts about the Titan race. I’m not a child who would blindly believe what monsters say.

“I was just making a hypothesis too.”

The World Tree didn’t tell me anything about the Titans.

“Huhu, but it’s fun that we’re having this kind of conversation because we’re in an ancient ruin. I’m quite enjoying it.”
“Yeah, well, it’s okay.”

Mages really like this kind of stuff.

“So, the conclusion is… the gods are untrustworthy beings from another dimension?”

Ari asked, expressing her doubts.

Everyone was silent for a moment.

“Surely not. That can’t be true.”
“Hmm… I don’t think that’s right, no matter what.”

Even though we’ve been talking about it, Liztina and Winnia seemed to find it difficult to imagine the gods as such beings.

Well, I’m similar.

“Katt, you said you saw the gods fragmented before, right?”
“The scene the World Tree showed me.”

If it wasn’t a fabricated scene.

“Ah! That’s it! That’s it!”

At that moment, Liztina clapped her hands.

“If those gods fought on the side of humans during the Idol War and ended up like that, they can’t be bad beings. They fought so hard for humans that they ended up fragmented.”
“Oh. That’s true.”
“Hmm…”

No.

I don’t think we can think that way.

“Hmm… I wonder. If they only fight when necessary and lend their power when necessary, there’s no good or evil there. There’s only profit and loss. They fought because they needed to fight, that’s all.”

Claudie said.

“Yeah. Claudie makes a good point.”

It might have just been a simple struggle for power. If humans summoned them and they gave power to humans, it’s clear they did it because there was something to gain.

What is it…?

Could it be souls?

And because that was more valuable than we can imagine, they fought on the side of humans during the Idol War? Well, we can’t rule out that kind of thought. It’s not certain, but it’s fun to make these kinds of assumptions.

“…”

Still, it’s getting a bit unsettling.

If the gods of this world are all outer gods, and if they’re just beings who crave human souls as the demons said, that’s really creepy.

“…”

Anyway, everyone was lost in thought because of Claudie’s words.

And so, we moved on to the next passage.

* * *

ㅡWhoosh.

A faint blue light was still emanating from the World Tree, but there wasn’t any intense reaction or anything. We were just carefully exploring in order.

We haven’t found any hidden spaces yet. And there’s nothing that could be called an enemy.

“This is the room. We fought the ancient king’s army here.”
“Oh.”

The place we arrived at was a fairly large room with ornate murals. Claudie said this was the king’s room. Creepy monsters had attacked here.

“Should I call them black mages? It’s a bit different from what they say outside the desert, but the general idea is that those beings created undead and bizarre soldiers and ordered them to guard the tomb. There’s a lot of that in the king’s tomb.”
“Hoo…”

Claudie added that not only mummy monsters but also 3-meter-tall mage-type humanoids with scorpion pincers on both sides had appeared.

And those things can only be seen inside the tomb.

“But there’s nothing left.”
“Because they took everything. Things from the ruins are worth money.”

We looked around the room, but nothing came out. Only the paintings on the walls remained. They probably left them because they couldn’t take the whole wall.

The paintings… they seemed to depict humans, though faintly. Could they be paintings depicting Titans? Unfortunately, there were no other creatures to compare the size to, so we couldn’t be sure.

“Let’s take a break here and then move on. Hilde, let’s go get something to eat.”
“Yes!”

Let’s take a break and then continue.

* * *

After taking a short break, we searched all the remaining rooms. Nothing really came out, but we were able to learn one thing.

“How many floors are there underground?”

The underground is quite deep.

“We’re almost there. Just a little further down.”
“As expected, the lowest floor is always suspicious. There’s definitely something there.”

I agree with Hilde’s words.

The underground of the ruins was incredibly deep. At this point, it felt like we were in an underground bunker. But what was this facility originally? I couldn’t figure out what kind of building it was.

And so.

We reached the bottom floor.

ㅡWhoosh.

The World Tree’s crystal ball emitted a slightly stronger light.

“See? I told you! The reaction is stronger!”
“So, it’s below this?”

The ground beneath our feet was…

Made of solid rock.

But breaking through it is easy. If I just stood on my toes here and did a figure skating spin, I could easily pierce through the ground.

The true meaning of the Heavenly Demon Drill.

The ultimate technique that pierces everything!!!!

“But why does it have a blue light?”

Ari asked.

“We’ll have to find out from now on.”

ㅡChuh-uhk.

I immediately got into position for a spin.

From now on, I’ll show you Yuna Kim’s secret technique that shocked the world!!!!