Green Monster Epic

Chapter 185: The Mystery of the Ruins

The western border of the Tagan Desert was close at hand. Two figures, covered in the yellow dirt of the desert, limped out.

This time, their luck wasn't bad. Or perhaps it was because Allen was more familiar with the desert environment. Thus, after traversing thousands of miles of the Tagan Desert, Allen managed to not lose himself and Saru within it, turning them into wandering souls of the desert.

However, the desert snake-men were out of luck at Allen's hands. Because he hadn't prepared food and water for Saru, Allen could only gather materials on the spot in the desert, searching for the native inhabitants of the desert to plunder their supplies, or simply use them as supplies.

When Saru saw Allen carrying a snake-man corpse onto a grill to cook, and then eating heartily, he was so frightened that his face turned pale. He quietly ran to the side to vomit violently, and when he finally returned to Allen, he didn't dare to meet Allen's eyes for a long time.

"You should be grateful that we encountered these snake-men. Otherwise, if we really ran out of food, you would have become my last ration."

Allen said with a look of disgust when he saw Saru's appearance, almost scaring a level 13 Shadow Dancer into wetting his pants.

"Didn't we sign a contract? You take me out of the desert, and I'll tell you about the secret of the ruins."

Saru braced his collapsing heart and argued with Allen.

"But the contract didn't say that I couldn't kill you, right? At worst, I don't want the secret of the ruins. Compared to the ruins that I don't know where they are, and the unknown so-called inheritance, my life is the most precious thing to me right now."

Allen's matter-of-course demeanor almost forced Saru, who had just recovered a bit of vitality, to flee from Allen's side. Perhaps, being lost in the desert and becoming a dried corpse would be more dignified than being roasted on a bonfire by Allen and then sent into his stomach.

Whenever he recalled this scene, Saru couldn't help but feel a sense of timidity when facing Allen. Among the four major civilization systems of Feyman, the Beastmen were already regarded by the other three major civilizations as the most barbaric civilization, but even the Beastman Kingdom hadn't reached such a rude and inhumane level.

"Now that we're out of the Tagan Desert, I've fulfilled my promise to you. Shouldn't you tell me that secret now?"

Allen looked at the sparse vegetation on the Gobi Desert, and then calmly looked at his companion of nearly 20 days, preparing to end this temporary relationship.

"Don't worry, Chieftain Allen, I'll tell you this secret now."

After spending more than half a month with Allen, Saru had gained some understanding of this savage chieftain. At least, he was very principled in some aspects, and didn't have much of the smoothness and cunning of civilized people. As long as he didn't show malice and didn't damage the interests of the Gnolls, it wasn't difficult to get along with him.

"Speaking of the secret of this ruin, it's actually related to your legends of the Wildlands. Have you ever heard of the origin of the name Mansa Wildlands?"

"No."

Allen didn't refuse the other party's roundabout opening. Even if it was just a story, as long as it wasn't something Allen knew, he was willing to listen humbly. Anyway, now that they were out of the desert, they had plenty of time and there was no danger, so they could treat it as a way to pass the time while resting.

"The Mansa Wildlands didn't exist before. The Taren Continent and the Hiren Continent were originally separated by the sea. Later, because of a war between the Giant King and the Dragon God in the ancient era tens of thousands of years ago, even all the races of the two continents were affected. At that time, the Goddess of Magic, Mansa, finally perished, and her kingdom of God fell from the sky to the Feyman world, becoming the current Mansa Wildlands, connecting the two originally unconnected continents."

"At that time, countless of the goddess's favored races and her devout believers also lived in the goddess Mansa's kingdom of God. Later, with the goddess's death, many magical favorites who lost the protection of the kingdom of God either disappeared in the long river of history, or left for the other two continents. However, there were still many of the goddess's surviving clans who had been guarding this land, wanting to wait for the goddess to rekindle the divine fire and return to the kingdom of God."

"The news of the ruins that I know is a sacrificial altar built by a favored clan of the goddess in the Wildlands. Inside, there are old objects that originally belonged to the goddess's kingdom of God that they have collected over the years while wandering in the Wildlands, including many inheritances of advanced professions, as well as massive amounts of precious resources."

"However, after tens of thousands of years, no one knows how much of those precious resources are left, but the memory crystals used to ensure the eternal inheritance should be able to resist the ravages of time and leave some useful things behind."

"But I want to say one thing, besides me, there is another group of people who know this secret. According to what was said on the magic stone tablet left at the time, the next time the ruins will open will be when the five stars of the Southern Star God Seat in the sky are aligned."

"I know the Star God Seat, what does the five-star alignment mean?"

Allen looked blank. There was too much common knowledge he didn't know.

"Among the 11 stars of the Star God Seat, there are a total of 5 stars from head to toe. These stars were originally curved and warped, but every 500 years, these 5 stars will be aligned in a line, with the width and spacing remaining consistent. It is said that in ancient times, the Goddess of Magic used the Star God Seat constellation as a magic model to develop a powerful magic lock, and the source of its magic came from the Star God Seat constellation."

"And the protective magic lock used on the periphery of the ruins located in the Wildlands is the Star God Lock. Only when the five stars are aligned will this magic lock temporarily fail, opening a passage from another dimension to the Wildlands."

Saru told the story in detail, finally making Allen understand the origin.

"500 years, then your news isn't worth anything, is it?"

Allen's gaze towards Saru was a little unkind, making Saru shudder.

"Chieftain Allen, the time for the most recent five-star alignment isn't far away. According to the calculations of the astrologers, the time for the five-star alignment will be in the next Month of Radiance. If we calculate it this way, we only have a little over a year left."

Saru quickly explained. If it wasn't because the opening time of this ruin was approaching, his partners wouldn't have suddenly attacked and killed him, betraying their years of friendship.

"Oh, then where will the passage to this ruin be?"

"In the Misty Forest, one of the five most dangerous places in the Mansa Wildlands."

"Misty Forest? What kind of place is that?"

Apart from the Green Plains, and the Tagan Desert line to and from Thornsburg, Allen was somewhat familiar with it. For Allen, other places in the vast Mansa Wildlands were an unknown world.

"... Um, Chieftain Allen, can you give me your map, and I'll mark it for you."

Saru thought about it and didn't know how to answer Allen's question, so he had to let Allen take out his treasured, very inaccurate map, and then draw a dot several thousand miles south of the Green Plains Tribe.

"It's roughly in this place. It's not too far from Mansa City, about a thousand miles northwest of Mansa City."

"Oh."