Wizard starting from shoeing donkeys Chapter 1454 - 499: The Meaning of the Whisper

A vast subterranean chamber revealed itself below, filled with gears of every imaginable scale. Some were massive, exceeding the height of several men, while others were as tiny as a person's palm, all grinding in perpetual motion.

"What... what is this place?"

"How can such a massive facility exist under the city? More importantly, how is it still functioning? This is impossible!" Haleem stood there, completely shell-shocked.

He had previously trekked through two ruins of the ancient Goblin Empire. While those sites contained more mechanical contraptions than ancient human cities, he had never witnessed a spectacle of this magnitude.

"Maybe those strange goblin corpses are the cause?" Sword Saint Terrio suggested, appearing less rattled than Haleem.

"That can't be it. I am talking about the power source. Operating this many gears requires an immense amount of energy, far beyond what the artificial source in that mechanical octopus could provide."

"Not necessarily. If the ancient goblins were capable of creating that kind of power source, who's to say they couldn't build a much larger version?" Terrio remarked casually.

"This..." Haleem found himself unable to argue with the Sword Saint’s logic.

Rein, however, felt that Haleem’s suspicions were well-founded.

Such a colossal mechanical system might run on a standard energy source for a short time, but to keep it spinning for thousands of years? What was it, nuclear fusion?

Furthermore, the city had been surrounded by molten lava when they arrived. Could it be...

Rein fell into deep thought, slowly piecing together a few theories.

"I believe we need to descend immediately." Rein’s ears suddenly twitched, and he spoke up without delay.

He had detected the unmistakable sound of metal clanking echoing around them.

Judging by the noise, the number of enemies was far greater than their previous encounter. Specifically, he heard the heavy 'boom boom' of mechanical octopuses—and this time, there were clearly several of them.

"Those mechanical monsters have returned. We must move quickly. I will lead the way down, just like before," Sword Saint Terrio said, having also picked up the sounds.

"Hold on!"

"Solidification Technique!" Hernandez barked from nearby, casting a spell to stabilize the opening they had made.

"The restorative properties of this metallic floor are incredibly high. Even with my solidification technique, I can only keep this hole open for roughly a day."

"Let's just hope we find an exit before then."

At that moment, the group saw the metal edges of the hole Rein had cut begin to knit back together at a visible rate. Without the spell's intervention, the entrance would have sealed itself and vanished almost instantly.

"I’m going down first."

With those words, Sword Saint Terrio took the initiative and leaped gracefully into the depths.

The other three, Rein included, followed suit by using the Floating Technique to descend safely to the lower level.

Upon landing, Rein surveyed a space packed with mechanical components. Dim green lights, resembling emergency lamps, flickered throughout the area. The lighting was faint but sufficient to reveal what looked like a massive industrial workshop.

Rein also spotted several small goblin figures standing over a hundred meters away.

Squinting his eyes and utilizing his Dark Vision, Rein was able to see the details of these goblins clearly.

Their facial features and cracked, greyish-white skin covered in deep grooves confirmed that these, too, were animated corpses.

The only difference was their attire; these goblin corpses wore grey uniforms that looked like laborer’s clothes, unlike the gear worn by the pilots of the mechanical birds above.

Most significantly, Rein realized that the grinding gear noises he had heard earlier were emanating from this very level.

"It appears Lord Rein’s earlier deduction was accurate; the ground of the upper layer is indeed mobile."

Hernandez looked up at the massive tray-like mechanisms above them. Periodically, the gears would whirl violently, shifting an entire section of the ceiling.

"It is truly strange that every goblin in these ruins has become undead yet continues to perform their duties. Could an undead deity have invaded the ancient Goblin Empire to cause this?" Haleem whispered.

"It is a possibility," Hernandez agreed with a nod.

Rein remained silent, though he privately leaned toward Haleem’s theory.

Based on the evidence they had seen so far, such a scenario was plausible.

However, some doubts still lingered in his mind.

If a Divine invasion had occurred, the deity wouldn't typically wipe out a thriving empire just to turn it into a realm of the dead. Divine beings require the faith of the living; they usually only resort to total eradication when expanding their influence or crushing rivals.

This was clear from the behavior of major cults and the incident involving the Void Mother Tree in Ferdinand Forest.

Could it have been the work of a Fifth Level Full Moon Wizard specializing in the undead path?

Only a being of that power could potentially transform every inhabitant of such a massive city into corpses simultaneously, right?

But something still didn't fit!

That haunting whispering was almost certainly the voice of an Evil God or one of its high-ranking followers.

A Full Moon Wizard would not leave behind that specific type of ethereal murmur.

"Wait... besides the sound of the machinery, that strange whispering has become much louder since we entered this area." Rein frowned, lost in thought.

He had been listening intently to his environment and realized the mysterious female voice was now significantly more intense.

"Ahh~" Haleem suddenly groaned, clutching his head in visible pain.