Part 5 Red Priest Chapter 169 Inside the Royal Court

　　The two humanoid skeletons, one not more than 1.9 meters and the other not more than 1.8 meters, looked ordinary, but brought an unimaginable shock to Kraven above the gray fog.

　　At this moment, it was as if he had returned to the time when he witnessed the light door and the “cocoon”, although the emotions were not the same, but the shock was almost indistinguishable.

　　”This, this isn’t a giant’s corpse …… this definitely belongs to humans …… Giant King Olmir’s parents are humans?” Klein’s pupils dilated violently, as if he wanted to see more clearly.

　　But no matter how much he observed and scrutinized, it was difficult to detect the characteristics of a giant from those two grayish skeletons:

　　They had normal limb proportions, and their skulls had two eye sockets, by no means were they immature giants!

　　After a short period of silence, Klein’s hand holding the “Neptune’s Scepter” was lowered again, and one thought after another flashed through his mind:

　　”Maybe it’s not the blood parents …… Maybe the origin of the giants is human …… In the chaotic and crazy first era, some human beings fused with extraordinary characteristics, transformed into a cruel bloodthirsty and irrational, but have the ability to reproduce! Giant? Their descendants inherited physical characteristics on the one hand, and on the other hand gradually recovered mental normalcy, and then stabilized into a savage and bloody alien race, in which the giant king Olmir was the first mutants, but to some extent retained a certain degree of sanity, and then became the ancient gods? Was the source of all this really that original Creator, as the myths say?

　　After his thoughts settled into speculation, Klein floated around while more doubts arose:

　　”Why did the Giant King designate the ‘Forest of Decay’ as a forbidden place, not allowing any living beings to enter?

　　”k doesn’t want the fact that the source of the giants is human to be known?

　　”But really, just cremate the bones of the parents directly, there’s no need to be so troublesome …… And what’s with that strong sense of guilt?

　　”Who opened that tomb? The Ancient Sun God who killed the Giant King? The ‘Morning God’ Bardhere who survived or some other Giant King’s Court slave god?

　　”Also, since the originators of the giants were humans, what about the elves, bloods, and other humanoid transcendent beings? Were the originators of the giants actually lizards?

　　”Did the confrontation between the humanoid camp and the alien camp in the middle of the first part of the Second Age have a factor of each having a different origin?”

　　In the absence of sufficient clues and information, Klein had difficulty making any judgments and was unable to think of any more possibilities, so he had to forcefully collect his thoughts and return his attention to the Silver City Exploration Squad.

　　At this time, “Demon Hunter” Colin led Lovia, Derek and the others to the front of the monument, and saw the corpse in the grave.

　　They also fell into an unspeakable silence, no one said anything for a while.

　　Finally, Joshua, who was wearing crimson gloves, hesitantly asked:

　　”Is this the Giant King’s parents?”

　　In the opinion of this Silver City’s “Knight of the Dawn”, the height of those two corpses really didn’t look like giants, and was not even comparable to his own newly-adult days.

　　If they were young giants, their proportions and features did not match.

　　Joshua’s question echoed around the room, and for a moment no one answered.

　　After several seconds, Colin the Demon Hunter spoke slowly:

　　”That’s why it’s a secret.”

　　He didn’t mention his own thoughts and speculations.

　　”…… Does this mean that giants are actually a branch of humanity, a differentiation brought about by the mutation of extraordinary characteristics?” Antilina, who had burgundy hair, sniffed thoughtfully.

　　Giant originators were humans? Derek was a little dizzy from the shock of the possibility, and always felt that the two were really far apart.

　　As his mind wandered, he thought of his fellow runaways, especially those in the “Giant” pathway, and vaguely thought that it wasn’t impossible.

　　–Those out of control tended to become abnormally large, their complexions all tinged with gray and blue, their brows slit wide open, sucking in both sides of their eyes.

　　”Perhaps.” “Demon hunters,” Colin responded briefly.

　　Once again, the members of the Silver City Exploration Squad fell silent.

　　In this atmosphere, Derek glanced at Shepherd Elder Lovia, and realized that this member of the Council of Six had a calm face, not stoic or in a trance.

　　At this point, “Demon Hunter” Colin looked around the circle and said:

　　”In groups of two to three, search the surrounding area to see if there is anything else to be gained.”

　　The exploratory team then came back to their senses and cautiously started exploring according to the chief’s instructions.

　　Unfortunately, there was nothing of value in this “Forest of Decay” except for trees, monoliths, and tombs.

　　Without further delay, Derek and Heim exchanged the sealed items on their bodies, so as not to have their extraordinary characteristics expelled by the Darknessless Cross.

　　Then, they followed Colin, the Demon Hunter, out of the Forest of Decay, around a boulder protruding from the mountain wall, and found the huge cave, which was 30 meters high.

　　Outside the cave, there was originally a stone monument, but now it has been crushed and collapsed, growing weeds.

　　In the orange-red dusk light, it had an indescribable sense of decay and dying.

　　Entering the cave, the Silver City exploration team walked along the long weathered stone slabs and peeled off murals, walking between the withered weeds and rough gravel, exploring forward with unusual vigilance.

　　With every step they took, they felt life fading more and more, and moisture draining away.

　　After an unknown amount of time, the Silver City exploration team finally saw an open gray and blue gate.

　　On both sides of the gate, there were pieces of iron black scattered about, seemingly belonging to some kind of armor.

　　”There should have been guards here originally.” “Demon hunters,” Colin said simply, taking out a bottle of potion and gulping it down.

　　His light blue eyes quickly tinted a dark yellow, and two dark green complex symbols protruded from within his pupils.

　　After scrutinizing the gray-blue doors for a while, he nodded and stepped into the dark hall.

　　After everyone passed through the gate and came inside, the hall seemed to be pulled by an invisible hand, soaring upwards in a clanging sound.

　　After ten seconds or so, the hall stopped going up, and a grand hall supported by stone pillars appeared outside the door, which seemed to be the residence of the guards.

　　Derek subconsciously looked left and right, his eyes swept over the various things inside the hall and saw two murals with ancient features.

　　The main character of one mural was a giant wearing silver armor, emitting obvious light, with a ball of morning sun condensed at the position of the eyes, and in the center of the other mural stood sideways a female giant with long dark brown hair, a leather armor and a long skirt, holding ears of wheat, fruits and other things, surrounded by harvest fields, clear lakes, fruit-bearing trees, and brightly-colored mushrooms.

　　Badhail, “God of the Morning”…… Omibella, “Goddess of the Harvest”…… Derek nodded in realization, with a small amplitude He then withdrew his gaze and saw the chief of the

　　He then withdrew his gaze and saw that the Chief was staring at the mural representing the “Goddess of Harvest” with the same stoic expression as before.

　　Was the Chief hoping for a real “harvest” in Silver City? Derek thought thoughtfully, while following the instructions of “Shepherd” Elder Lovia, he and the others formed a small team, scavenging for valuable items and checking if there were any hidden passages.

　　About seven or eight minutes later, they gathered and followed Chief Colin Iliad to the main door of the temple.

　　Colin Iliad thrust the two straight swords in his hands into the cracks in the stonework in front of him, extended his hands, pressed them against the sides of the gate, and with just a single push, let it open with a heavy sound.

　　The orange-red and brilliant dusk light shone in noiselessly, and the palaces and heavy towers that the Silver City exploration team had seen from afar earlier were reflected in their eyes with an extremely impactful posture.

　　That kind of immensity, that kind of grandeur, that kind of epic sense of myth, due to the distance being drawn closer to the extreme, it was even more distinct, even more shocking, causing everyone to subconsciously hold their breath, forget about the rest, and immerse themselves in such a landscape.

　　The same was true for Klein above the gray mist.

　　This was the royal court that belonged to the giant clan.

　　This was the true Kingdom of God.

　　After ten seconds or so, “Demon Hunter” Colin drew his two swords, half-turned his body, and said to “Shepherd” Lovia:

　　”Try both sides of the road, I can’t quite see it.”

　　The two dark green symbols in his eyes were slowly dissipating.

　　Lovia gave a “hmm” and took two steps forward to the doorway.

　　Outside was a platform with steps to the left and right, and in front of it stood a parapet made of gray and white stone pillars, facing the tallest building in the area, where there was a giant blue-gray door with what seemed to be uncountable mysterious symbols inscribed on both sides, making it extremely solemn.

　　Corridors, steps, and other things then strung the cascading palaces and towers together in an atmospheric and ornate manner.

　　Luo Weiya’s silver-gray slightly curly hair floated up, and the stones on the ground bathed in the light of dusk then raised up, aggregating into a gray and white mannequin.

　　This mannequin had little spirituality, like a manipulated puppet, and took a step to the left.

　　It went down the ladder, layer by layer, in the rich orange-red light, helping the exploration team to confirm the situation.

　　Suddenly, its body paused as a thin silver light burst from within, turning it into countless broken pieces.

　　”Shepherd,” Lovia didn’t panic, and followed the steps she had just taken to create another stone man, making it travel to the right.

　　This time, the stone man made it all the way to the end of the ladder and stayed at the door of the palace below, without any accidents on the way.

　　”Demon Hunter,” Colin said, having watched intently from the sidelines the entire time, until then:

　　”We’ll take the right, but again, be careful.”

　　Although he didn’t detect any danger, the fact that he couldn’t see the actual situation with his extraordinary ability in itself said a lot.

　　With such a reminder, Derek and the others’ spirits grew tighter, and they began to slowly descend in groups of three to help each other.

　　Walking along that high staircase, the crimson gloved Joshua suddenly heard a clatter, clatter, clatter sound from behind him.

　　It was as if someone was slowly and quietly following them.

　　Behind them, the “shepherd” elder Lovia was at the side, and from the corner of his eye, he could see that the sound of the footsteps was never made by her.

　　Joshua’s heart was cold, and he was busy saying in a deep voice:

　　”There are footsteps behind me.”

　　Lovia turned her head sideways, letting that silver knight figure of about five meters float in front of her body, surveying Joshua’s back with crimson flame-like eyes.

　　After a few seconds of silence, the “shepherd” elder shook her head:

　　”Nothing.”