King Of Limbo

"Does that secret have to do with a woman skilled in stealth seeing you that night after the meeting?"

Anastasia gave no response to Juliet had maintained her expression as she glanced at her for a moment. Juliet returned the glance but saw that Anastasia had no intention of responding.

"I see." Juliet muttered and didn't pursue the matter any longer. She gave Anastasia a final glance before focusing on the chaotic path ahead.

….

At this time Aron, Rose and Evanora were moving through what was formerly a luscious forest but now a burning wasteland.

They had to trek carefully as much of the land had now been covered in lava and the few parts that weren't submerged in this were still extremely hot. Any person without the means of protection that Aron and the others had employed would have died only after a few steps.

"Looks like some people are determined to find the ruins despite these conditions." Lady Rose suddenly commented and looked up into the distance where the silhouette of an airship could be seen through the rising smoke.

"Let's just focus on our own journey, we're almost there." Aron didn't even look behind and continued moving forward with Evanora following close by. Lady Rose glanced at the silhouette a final time before following as well.

...

A short while later the group had reached the foot of the highest peak. Unlike the other peaks, this one remained unscathed by the disastrous events occurring all around it.

"There's a dense force keeping out the heat, lava and smoke from entering this region. Almost like a safety measure..." Lady Rose looked at the boundary between the foot of the peak and the rest of the land, one side was still green and healthy while the other now looked barren.

While Lady Rose was making observations, Aron began looking around at the rocky ascent until something caught his eye. 'There it is.' He thought and immediately jumped up twenty meters to the point.

There he found some intricate carvings that he immediately recognized. "I've found an activation rune here, brace yourselves incase of anything." He announced to Lady Rose and Evanora who had been wondering why he jumped up all of a sudden.

After he warned them they both stood ready and he activated the runes before jumping back down. The ascent began to rumble furiously before a large passage, roughly eighty meters high and forty meters wide was revealed.

"An entrance this large will not go unnoticed, let's hurry." Aron narrowed his eyes when he saw such a gigantic entrance revealed.

Still he remained confident and began to walk in, Lady Rose had also taken a moment to look at the entrance before following behind. It was only Evanora that tagged along without a care in the world.

"Is this the home of a giant?" Evanora asked as she looked at the dusty yet lovely looking walls and ceilings.

"I don't know, there's little information about the races of old. I can only assume this was perhaps used by airships to transport large items in and out." Aron replied and Evanora nodded without question. In truth even Lady Rose had been wondering because the ruins discovered thus far had all been reasonably sized.

"Let's hope that is the case." Lady Rose commented just as they reaching the end of the large tunnel.

After exiting they ended up in what could only be described as a large lobby with three floors. Much of it was dusty but the stairs and furniture present all looked to be quite stable. What really caught their attention however was that all this was the size of regular humans.

"No airship docking area." Lady Rose commented in a sarcastic tone as she sent her scouters to check the upper floors. Aron ignored her comment and proceeded to crouch in the center of the room where some friction could be seen as if something was dragged across it.

After feeling the texture his gaze moved to another large metallic gate at the other side of the hall that was in symmetry with the passage they had used to enter and was also the same size.

"Another entrance? Or is that a exit?" Lady Rose crossed her arms and came to stand near Aron before asking but he shrugged his shoulders. "You ask that like I've been here before. I'm just as clueless as you, however if this is simply a lounge area then the real ruins are past that gate." Aron answered as he remembered that cave setup during the Journey.

He had once asked her about it as he was very curious as to what those creatures were, however she herself stated she had never entered that far and the few that have actually entered and survived had said to have encountered different creatures from what he described.

"From what I've come to learn, ruins aren't just utopias filled with knowledge and treasure. They are structures that survived whatever disaster befell the previous society. That odd cave in the Galos region qualifies as a ruin and I'm sure many more like it exist."

"However people only care about those the size of cities with preserved knowledge but the fact is very few of those may exist. So who's to say this is that type of ruin? Let's investigate the the other floors quickly, we should have company soon."

Aron stated his thoughts which left Lady Rose pondering for a moment before giving him a nod. "I suppose this is true, it's best we know just what type of ruin this before proceeding further. Let's each take a floor and see what we can find." Lady Rose quickly suggested before moving to ascend the stairs.

"Evanora can't read." Evanora was quick to raise her hand and remind them of this fact. Lady Rose did not look the least bit impressed by this but Aron stepped in and spoke. "She'll investigate with me, I'll take two floors."

Lady Rose said nothing more and went up the stairs to start investigating the first floor while Aron went up to the second with Evanora.

The floors were set like that of the castle, each floor having several rooms for multiple uses. Lady Rose had stumbled upon some rooms that contained books but they were written in a language she could not understand so she could only bring them along with her as she continued to search.

Meanwhile Aron came across something similar, a few offices all with books in a language he couldn't understand either which came as a shock to him because he considered himself quite well versed in many languages. 'Limbo truly is infinite.' He thought as the feeling of being completely clueless humbled him and served as a reminder that his knowledge was nowhere near vast enough.

"Man...?" Evanora suddenly muttered and caused Aron to turn towards her in confusion. "What?" He asked and looked at the large book she was holding.

"Man..I...fest. This word." Evanora pointed to the cover of the book which Aron still couldn't understand.

"Manifest?" He asked for clarity and she nodded before opening the book. Aron came beside her before asking. "You can understand this language?"

"Evanora understands some words...others are hard. Here... this word is Um, Screech." Evanora muttered causing Aron to quickly take the book from her.

It was multiple pages thick and had pages of similar design. What's more the nearby shelf had books with the same word on the cover with a different symbol afterward. Aron's face turned grim and he quickly held up his legacy ring and syphoned the knowledge present.

"We need to leave, now." Aron said to Evanora before quickly rushing down the stairs. Once back on the ground floor he encountered Lady Rose who had numerous books open books hovering before.

He was about to speak before another voice came on the scene. "Well, well. It seems we've found the runaway!"

This voice belonged to none other than Brutas who came through the large entrance with his group while Juliet also came with hers. At the fore front was the inquisitor that had been initially sent to stop Aron.

Aron however wasn't surprised by their appearance, he did however feign a displeased expression on his face when he saw them. "You travelled all this way and risked you life just for a crime that isn't even punishable by suspension?" Aron mocked Brutas openly and showed clearly that he didn't put him in high regard.

The inquisitor saw that Brutas would only waste words here so he spoke instead. "Whatever the crime, minor or small you must still face the academy's judgement. Hence you will be apprehended right now and taken back."

Aron clearly saw through his words. He was basically saying he wouldn't let him journey any further into the ruin.

"You're quite haughty for someone who's only Belle's pet." Lady Rose who was facing Aron and hence couldn't be seen finally turned her head and spoke.

The second Inquisitor Passil saw her face he showed a grim expression, the anger he felt had dissipated in the air like it never existed.

Who in the the academy wouldn't know Lady Rose? A Grand Mage on equal standing with Lady Belle and Lord Yohan.

Brutas clenched his fists as he felt his plan of vengeance completely crumble, he had accepted he wasn't a match for Aron alone but as a bigger group he hoped the result would be better. "It's fine Lady Rose, after all we've succeeded in obtaining a few books like you had wanted. I don't mind going back now." Aron said in an annoyed voice that made it seem he wasn't at all happy about this.

Lady Rose saw this attitude of his and narrowed her eyes, she didn't believe someone willing to betray the academy would give up so easily and what's more she was confident the three of them wouldn't lose to this group so why? He must have had his reasons. 'Did he decipher them and learned what this place is?'

"I suppose you're right. We best return and start deciphering them or did you want to confiscate my possessions?" Lady Rose heaved a helpless sigh before asking this of the inquisitor in a cold manner.

"N-no... I didn't mean to offend you Milady. Rest assured we will continue to explore and make this discovery in the name of Galos Academy. If you wish to join us we'd be honored." He stayed in a polite manner but Lady Rose showed absolutely no interest.

"Not necessary, I'll simply have a look at books you discover. That is my only interest." She stated before her, Evanora and Aron began to walk away.

"My team will escort Lady Rose and also ensure Aron does not try to escape." Anastasia who looked ready to speak was actually beaten to it by Juliet who offered this.

Everyone present knew she was simply saying they'll keep an eye on them but no one dared to say it out loud in fear of offending Lady Rose but Juliet didn't care.

'She's suspicious of me.' Aron thought as he heard her say this, he could only pity the rest if they continued to travel further.