Previously blocked outside the cathedral.
Ronald was at a loss because he did not want to make things more complicated, and there were many environntal restrictions.
But the situation of the underground passage before him was completely different.
After being stopped, Ronald decisively turned and left, directly breaking into the nearest institute.
Bam—
Ronald kicked open the institute’s gate with one swift motion.
The courtyard before him had been neglected for centuries.
Now, Ronald was the unexpected visitor to be welcod.
Entering the courtyard, Ronald’s keen perception swept the surroundings, imdiately identifying his target.
He went straight into a study on the left.
A golden, shimring scale was placed on the table, surrounded by a sacred and adjudicative aura of magic.
"It’s you."
Ronald’s face lit up with joy, and he stepped forward to directly grab the magical artifact from the table.
Crack—
The sacred light of the scale flickered a few tis in Ronald’s hand.
This power was enough to kill an ordinary person, but it was hardly a threat to Ronald.
He didn’t even perform any special defensive maneuvers.
Relying solely on his physical strength and passive spell enhancents, he ignored the scale’s resistance to his intrusion.
Retracing his steps.
With the fiercely resisting scale in hand, Ronald returned to the wall stacked with firewood.
Before acting, a trace of hesitation flashed in Ronald’s eyes.
His forr profession questioned his conscience—isn’t this damaging relics?
"If the [Nine Commandnts eting] succeeds, far more than this will be damaged!"
The trace of hesitation in his eyes vanished instantly.
Crack—
In the next mont, the scale in Ronald’s hand creaked, a golden crack spreading across the ancient magical item.
Ronald was destroying the scale.
The strength in his hand was enough that even steel could barely withstand it, let alone a magical artifact whose material was not particularly sturdy.
Crash!
The golden scale shattered completely in Ronald’s hands.
With the impact of the artifact breaking, the magic it contained was simultaneously unleashed.
"This is it!"
At that instant, Ronald seized the opportunity.
His level of magic manipulation had transford.
The silver-white magic emitted by the shattered scale was instantly captured by Ronald and firmly restrained.
The light lingered in Ronald’s hand.
The white, holy light swirled around his fingertips, looking as docile as a pet.
"Whew—"
Ronald took a deep breath.
Focusing intently while stabilizing himself, he divided the holy magic in his hand into three. After storing two portions safely, he pressed the remaining portion against the wall before him.
"Only this once."
"I don’t want to damage more relics."
The holy white magic rged with the wall.
In the blink of an eye.
The blue-grey brick wall twisted and rotated like a Rubik’s cube, revealing an entrance below, surrounded by bricks.
Ronald stepped right in.
Apart from the hidden door at the entrance, the underground research chamber lacked any other defense asures.
This was originally the core stronghold of the church.
A hidden research facility needed only to remain concealed, with no need for defensive spells against external threats.
Following the passage, Ronald continued downward.
The underground facilities of the church were quite different from the basents common in arcane schools.
The stairs themselves were adorned with carvings, and a solemn atmosphere enveloped the descending passage.
With each step forward, as Ronald stepped on the distinctly graded steps, he felt a ceremonious sensation as if crossing between two underground worlds.
"..."
After Ronald passed the steps and reached the main hall of the basent, he saw a sarcophagus in the center.
Before it beca a site for esoteric research.
Its first purpose was a crypt where remains were kept.
Ronald walked straight to it.
He did not disturb the dead resting there, only stood and recited the inscription before the coffin.
"Year 491 of the Holy Calendar—
Saint Milian rests here.
His radiance never ceases to illuminate the sacred hall, guiding believers forward."
The body of a church saint was placed in the coffin.
Ronald found the na sowhat familiar. With a bit of thought, he rembered it was the saint Martha venerated.
If the young saintly cleric were here too, this place might beco quite lively.
Ronald continued onward.
The basent, long abandoned and pitch-black, was no obstacle to Ronald’s vision.
Surrounding the hall where the sarcophagus was placed, three corridors extended in different directions, each connecting to several rooms. Ronald explored these to their ends and made new discoveries.
The basents here were interconnected!
The three entrance-reaching research chambers were spatially linked, and when viewed as a whole, it resembled a vast underground maze.
And the maze was not all there was.
Using his sensitive magical detection, Ronald found new hidden entrances underground. Unlocking them with the magic he originally prepared for other entrances, he continued deeper in silence.
The more complex the space, the more troubleso the search naturally beca.
Fortunately, the cathedral’s underground space didn’t dig endlessly downward but established a total of three underground levels.
Ronald moved as efficiently as possible, quickly getting the general lay of the land.
Inheriting the main function of the Holy Alan Cathedral.
Except for housing sarcophagi, all other rooms were research labs or storage rooms for data and items.
The rooms with original texts were heavily guarded, and monitoring arrays still emanated strong magic; rooms delving into spell systems were cramd with research files, preserving the efforts of the past; and in rare places, traces of live human experints were kept.
Investigating these rooms, Ronald couldn’t help but feel a chill.
Dark underground spaces, ancient research facilities, even taboo-breaking projects, these things weren’t good for the senses.
Especially since the sealing of the Holy City was rather sudden.
These scenes, which should have been handled, were left perfectly intact.
And worse yet—
Ronald did not find the artificial divinity he expected.
With his extraordinary perception, even using spell exploration, he couldn’t find that sole treasure within this vast underground structure.
"..."
Ronald stood solemnly beneath the cathedral.
After a long silence, he shook his head in denial:
"It shouldn’t be this way."
"Unless the information from Orel, or what I found above ground, was incorrect, this makes no sense."
All indications showed this place was closely tied to the birth of an artificial divinity.
This was a mystic project delving into countless profound realms with unimaginable complexity!
Yet now, there were no traces...
Surely in the critical mont before the Holy City was sealed, there wasn’t soone who cleared the premises, completely destroying the complex research system?
Ronald refused to believe such an absurd possibility.
Fixing his gaze, he began to chant spells with certainty:
"The greatest improvents in productive labor, and the heightened skill, dexterity, and judgnt in the application of labor, seem to be the results of division of labor..."
"We descended from the mountain, stood by the sea. Our eyes roam unrestricted over the vast sea."
"Starting from the relationship of the whole earth and sky, it will begin to form our understanding!"
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