The 3rd Prince of the Fallen Kingdom Returns

26. Memories of a Hunter (1)

The Allied Forces marched deep into the heart of the plains.

They had repelled numerous ambushes and destroyed all the small orc settlements along their path. It wasn’t a difficult fight.

Just as things seemed to be proceeding smoothly, the dreaded event occurred.

The supply line was cut off.

The supply units that had been delivering provisions to the Allied Forces through Gid and Balshad had stopped appearing.

The orcs had blocked their path.

Yuri muttered to himself,

“That’s a shame.”

It wasn’t a huge problem.

The Allied Forces had stockpiled enough supplies.

“The order was to pay more attention to securing the supplies.”

“Indeed.”

The Allied Forces had gotten very close to Okuah.

It wouldn’t be strange if the orcs attacked with their entire force at any moment.

A decisive battle was imminent.

“Raymond.”

“Yes.”

“What do you think that is?”

Yuri, marching, pointed towards the horizon.

A huge rock-like object jutted out from the densely overgrown land. Its shape was too angular to have formed naturally.

“Well…”

Raymond tilted his head.

“That stone looks similar to what we saw in Balshad…”

“Right?”

“Then, could it be something man-made?”

Just as Yuri was about to answer, the ground trembled.

The horses were startled and began to thrash, while the marching soldiers immediately bent down to stabilize themselves. Weapons clattered to the ground, making a metallic noise.

“Everyone, stay calm!”

Yuri jumped off his horse and assessed the situation, his hand on the ground.

The tremors continued.

Fortunately, there was nothing nearby that could collapse.

Suddenly, the Briol flag held by the standard-bearer began to tilt.

Yuri activated the Mana Method and rushed to grab the flagpole.

“I-I apologize, Your Highness.”

“It’s fine.”

The soldier in charge of the flag stumbled and fell, unable to regain his balance.

Yuri straightened the flag and looked around.

The Allied Forces were in disarray, startled by the earthquake, and Yuri saw several flags from other nations fall.

Yuri grinned.

“The flags can’t fall. We have to maintain our dignity, right?”

“I apologize!”

“Ah, I wasn’t talking about you.”

The earthquake, which seemed about to end, continued for a while before finally stopping.

Yuri handed the flagpole back to the standard-bearer and checked on the entire unit.

The knights were unharmed, but some of the soldiers had suffered minor injuries from falling.

Yuri personally went around the unit, calming the chaotic atmosphere.

Once he had roughly taken care of the situation, Laurent approached.

“Your Highness.”

“Yes?”

“Look over there.”

Laurent pointed in the direction of the horizon.

“Huh?”

The shape of the previously mentioned jutting rock had changed. The part that had been buried had risen above the surface, now towering like a hill.

“What is that?”

Dirt continued to slide down from the raised part, gradually revealing the overall outline.

It was a stone structure.

Its style was similar to what they had seen in Balshad.

It looked like an ancient ruin.

“I’m getting curious.”

“Shall we go take a look?”

“Yeah. We should check it out.”

Yuri stared at the ruins and spoke.

“Then we’ll need permission from the Empire.”

Yuri was overcome with a strong feeling that he needed to confirm it himself.

The vast grasslands still held many untold secrets.

That ruin might even be the key to defeating Okuah.

Yuri visited Ragna with Laurent.

The Empire’s response was relatively calm.

Not only the knights clad in black armor, but even the soldiers were expressionless as they organized their equipment.

“It’s the complete opposite of Brusin.”

When they had passed through Brusin’s camp earlier, it had been in complete chaos. The priests were running around, calling it an omen of a great disaster.

As Yuri appeared, it seemed the gaze of the knights turned toward him.

“Their stares are sharp.”

“Seems like it.”

“Perhaps they admire your prowess, Your Highness.”

“Do you think so…?”

Soon, Ragna, who had been checking on the unit, approached.

“Yuri, is everything alright?”

“Yes.”

“A sudden earthquake, how strange.”

“I agree.”

“What is it?”

“Well…”

Yuri relayed what he had seen from the front lines.

Ragna promptly stood up on his horse and looked towards the horizon with a telescope.

“There’s definitely something there.”

“If it’s alright with you, I’ll go and check it out.”

The Allied Forces would inevitably pass by it if they continued their march anyway.

“It’s getting late, so it might be a good idea to spend the night near that ruin.”

“Yes.”

“I’ll assign some of the Imperial Knights to you.”

“Pardon?”

“You don’t want them?”

“No, it’s fine.”

Ragna instructed the knights and assigned three Imperial Knights to Yuri.

They were quiet.

With their black helmets, their faces were almost impossible to see.

“Nice to meet you.”

“Yes.”

“You’re not uncomfortable traveling with us, are you?”

“Yes.”

“We don’t need to look after you, right?”

“Yes.”

“You know how to say more than just ‘yes,’ right?”

“Yes.”

“Good. That’s a relief. Let’s all be careful and return safely.”

“Yes.”

Yuri added ten Briol knights to the three Imperial knights Ragna had assigned.

Including Yuri, fourteen of them rode to the ruins.

Even with the Briol knights chattering, the three Imperial knights remained silent.

“They’re like Death Knights…”

Jared’s eyes met Yuri’s.

Yuri shrugged.

They once encountered a Death Knight together in Erich Briol’s dungeon.

Of course, he had talked a lot.

“This appears to be the entrance.”

They soon discovered a structure that appeared to be a door.

“Let’s see…”

There didn’t seem to be any apparent way to open it.

Jared felt around the door.

“Do we need a key or something?”

“Then there should be a keyhole.”

They walked around the entire stone structure, carefully checking every surface.

The only part that seemed like an entrance to the ruin was the door they had initially found.

Yuri led the knights back to that spot.

“How do we open it? Do you have any ideas?”

“No idea.”

“Is that so?”

Yuri placed his hand on the door again, thinking he might have to break it down, and activated his Mana Method.

There was a reaction.

“Huh?”

The moment Yuri activated the Mana Method, a faint light spread across the entire door, as if fuel had been supplied. Then the door began to vibrate.

Slowly, it started to move sideways.

“It opened.”

Everyone stared at Yuri.

“How did you do that?”

“I didn’t do anything.”

Beyond the door was pitch-black darkness. The stale air of a sealed room that had been shut away for ages seeped out.

As the door fully opened, the stagnant darkness flowed out, gradually revealing the interior.

A long hallway stretched from the entrance.

The interior walls were made of the same stone as the exterior, but smoothly polished, resembling marble.

“Let’s go.”

Yuri took the lead and stepped inside.

The other knights tried to stop him, but he moved so quickly that they had to scramble to follow.

“It’s dangerous. Please don’t take the lead, Your Highness.”

“It’s alright.”

Yuri quickened his pace to prevent them from intervening.

“It’s dark.”

They hadn’t brought any torches.

Although he could see dimly by enhancing his vision with the Mana Method, it was still inconvenient.

Yuri glanced around.

There were things like lamps attached to the walls at regular intervals, but they seemed to have lost their light after years of neglect.

He suddenly thought back to when the door opened.

It had activated when he channeled mana into it.

Yuri gripped a handle-like protrusion on the wall.

“Your Highness?”

As he activated his Mana Method, mana flowed into it as if being absorbed by a sponge.

“This is…”

The lights turned on.

Not only that, but the sound of something rotating echoed, and the air began to circulate. It felt like the interior was being ventilated as the wind flowed in and out.

“How did you do that?”

At Laurent’s question, Yuri answered.

“Well…”

He cast a glance back at the three Imperial Knights.

“I’m not sure. It just happened.”

Yuri lied.

While he maintained a good relationship with Ragna, the Empire was likely to become an enemy in the future.

He had no intention of sharing information with them.

“Perhaps it recognized visitors?”

“That could be it.”

Laurent quickly nodded in agreement. The three Imperial knights were still following silently, saying nothing.

“Let’s go in.”

Yuri looked around the interior.

Objects gradually came into view in the space that was initially empty.

They discovered a room with a bed and a table.

“Someone used to live here.”

It was clearly a bedroom.

But there were no other traces.

“There are no clues.”

“It’s only natural, considering it was buried for a long time.”

“Could this be a remnant of an ancient kingdom in the grasslands?”

“We’ll never know.”

The interior wasn’t very large. There were several similar rooms, but nothing was found to indicate the origin of the building.

“It’s all neatly organized.”

“Hm…”

On the floor they entered, there were only bedrooms, giving it the feel of a modest inn.

“Well then…”

Yuri looked up.

“Shall we go down?”

At Yuri’s words, everyone turned their gaze to the end of the corridor.

There was an underground passage.

They could see the stairs, but beyond that, it was strangely dark.

An ominous feeling crept in.

“Let’s hurry and finish the exploration before the main force arrives.”

Yuri said this, shaking off his worries.

It didn’t seem like a place that would hold any danger. Even if it did, with several knights together, they could handle it.

Yuri took the lead and began to descend the stairs.

The darkness clung to them as if it had a physical presence. The further down they went, the more they felt a foreign substance clinging to them like cobwebs.

Then, something caught Yuri’s foot.

It was too dark to see.

Yuri felt along the wall, found a lighting device like the ones on the upper floor, and channeled mana into it.

Light illuminated the area.

“This is…”

Bones were everywhere.

Countless skeletal remains were piled up, with rusted, old weapons scattered among them.

It seemed like a battle had taken place here long ago.

Beyond the mountain of corpses, an iron gate stood firmly shut. Beneath it, a single skeleton sat slumped against the door.

It looked different from the others.

Yuri realized why.

“A human.”

All other bones lying around were orc remains.

Had the battles between humans and orcs been going on for this long?

Yuri stepped forward and stood before the human skeleton.

There were wounds scattered across the bones.

He could easily imagine the horrific battle that must have taken place here.

The skeleton seemed to be guarding the iron door.

Yuri placed his hand on the doorknob above the skeleton’s head.

It didn’t budge, even when he pulled hard. There was no reaction, even after infusing it with mana.

“It’s completely locked.”

Just as Yuri removed his hand from the door…

Light began to pour out from the gap in the door.

“Your Highness!”

Yuri’s body was enveloped by the brilliant glow.

The skeleton that had been slumped also began to glow brightly.

Yuri instinctively grabbed his sword, Guilty, and tried to pull back, but he found himself unable to move.

“Huh…”

The door opened.

Beyond it, an unfathomable darkness loomed.

In an instant, the entire space surrounding Yuri began to get pulled into the door.

Yuri, unable to resist, was caught up in the flow.

* * *

Yuri opened his eyes.

For a moment, he couldn’t grasp the situation. He sat up and recalled what had happened before he lost consciousness.

He had gone down the passage leading underground, opened the iron door, and been thrown inside.

“So this is the inside…”

A faint light floated overhead, so it wasn’t completely dark.

He looked back to see the iron gate he had encountered earlier, firmly shut.

Yuri knocked on the door.

“Hey!”

But there was no response.

He couldn’t hear any sound from the other side either.

It seemed like the inside and outside were completely cut off, likely due to some magical isolation.

“What is this place…”

He recalled the time he fell into Erich Briol’s dungeon.

He placed his hand on Guilty and walked further inside.

There were many people with him, but only Yuri had been brought in through the iron door. Why was he the only one who could enter?

He realized the reason soon enough.

“This is…”

Yuri felt something vibrating in his pocket and took it out.

The red gemstone that drove orcs into a frenzy was glowing brightly, floating in mid-air.