I Became a Magical Genius After Regression

Chapter 35

“Wow… what is this.”

Randell, who came out through the stone door, gaped at the sight before him.

Things visible through the darkness.

Faint shapes revealed themselves, melting away the years as the light magic shone on them.

They were all buildings.

Countless single-story buildings and the radial, spider-web-like roads connecting them.

Their sophisticated appearance stood out even more clearly to Randel, who was standing on the cliff.

The long-hidden.

The appearance of an ancient city.

“Ha, really. This was under the canyon?”

Thanks to his title as a mercenary who uses magic, Randel had participated in quite a few large-scale relic excavations.

The last relic where he obtained the God’s Box was also one he joined through such employment.

But no matter which excavation site he recalled, none could compare to the scale of this place.

Even though he could only illuminate a small part with light magic, the grandeur of the entire city was overwhelming.

“This is really insane.”

Randel purely admired.

But then it happened.

Rumble, rumble, rumble.

The sound of something massive moving from behind.

‘No way!’

A terrified Randel quickly turned around, feeling a chill run down his spine with a bad premonition.

But isn’t that how the world works?

Good premonitions always miss, and unfortunate events always hit the mark like a ghost.

Just like that.

The entrance Randel had just come through was closing.

The huge stone door, which he had wondered how it could move, was closing on its own.

“Damn it!”

Randel ran urgently, but it was already too late.

Thud―

The stone door closed completely with a short echo.

“Ha……”

Randel looked at the stone door in disbelief.

But that didn’t mean the closed door would open.

After a moment, Randel gave up his lingering attachment and headed towards the ancient city spread out below the cliff.

“The city is so vast, there must be many exits.”

Thinking that way, he spoke.

* * *

Step, step.

Randell descended the cliff while maintaining his light magic.

Following the half-collapsed spiral downhill path, he was soon greeted by a large arched gate.

“Quite grand, isn’t it?”

Randell passed through the gate, which was engraved with hundreds of patterns, and entered inside.

Rustle. Rustle.

The old path connected to the gate was thickly covered with dust.

So thick that every step Randell took sounded like he was stepping on soil.

Seeing that, Randell corrected his thoughts.

“This is… not just 500 years old.”

It seemed like a city that had been asleep for at least several thousand years.

Buildings lined up along the road.

They were almost all square and uniform, with little decoration.

Surprisingly, most of them were carved from stone, and Randell was convinced by the craftsmanship.

“This is definitely a city of dwarves.”

Even at a glance, the finish and joints of the house bricks were of master craftsmanship.

The only race that could use such intricate stonework for ordinary houses was the dwarves.

Moreover, the arrangement of the houses and the connection of the roads seen from the cliff indicated that this was a planned city.

To create a planned city underground, thousands of years ago?

Humans couldn’t do it even if they were reborn.

“Shall we take a look inside?”

While walking down the road, Randell found a house with an open entrance and went inside.

Since it was a dwarf’s house, the ceiling was low, but fortunately, Randell, still a boy, had no trouble entering.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

Randell made a pointless greeting in the gloomy atmosphere and looked inside.

As soon as he passed through the door (where there used to be one), he saw a fireplace and a dining table.

On the dining table were utensils and wooden plates, with dried-up powders inside.

It was the remnants of food.

The chairs near the dining table were scattered around.

‘This… this city didn’t fall naturally, did it? These are traces of people who got up and ran away in the middle of a meal. Something must have happened suddenly, without any time to prepare.’

He looked around other houses, but the situation was similar.

Randell decided to go to the end of the city for now.

The exit was likely to be on the opposite side.

Rustle, rustle.

“……”

With each step he took, the extreme dryness caused dust to rise and scatter under the light.

The only sound he could hear was his own footsteps.

There were no common sounds of insects, nor the rustling of leaves in the wind.

Randell naturally thought of one word.

‘Underground mausoleum…’

This place was a gigantic tomb in itself.

How did such a magnificent place end up like this?

Was it because they had to migrate due to the natural environment?

Or did a war break out between races?

Randell moved forward with a strange sense of melancholy.

And how long had he been walking like that?

“Huh?”

Randell stopped in his tracks as a dark shadow appeared in the light.

To be precise, a black wall was blocking Randell’s path.

But it wasn’t a normal wall.

The black wall was curved, and its surface was engraved with patterns that looked like waves frozen in place.

‘This is…’

Randell shone his light on something protruding from the wall.

And his face hardened.

In this black ancient city covered in dust, the only thing shining white.

It was a human arm bone wrapped in old clothes.

Only then did Randell realize the true nature of this wall.

‘Isn’t it that the lava flowed in and then solidified?’

Randell stepped onto the lava rock and climbed up.

Then, the revealed scenery.

As far as the light shone, everything was submerged in lava rock, with only tall buildings sparsely visible.

It looked like a black plain.

“…….”

Randell closed his mouth in astonishment.

The term “underground grand tomb” was not a metaphor.

This place was truly someone’s graveyard.

‘Then… did they abandon this city because of a volcanic eruption?’

It seemed that an underground volcano had erupted, and lava had flowed into the city.

So the dwarves had no choice but to abandon the city and escape.

‘But there was no volcanic terrain near the canyon?’

No matter how underground it was, if a volcano with this much lava erupted, a large crater would have formed.

And the three adjacent territories would have been covered in volcanic ash, turning them all into a hell on earth.

But Randell had never heard of such a thing.

While Randell was pondering.

Thud…….

‘Huh?’

He heard a faint rumbling sound.

At first, he thought he had misheard. What sound could there be in this deserted place?

But it wasn’t.

Thud, thud.

Thud, thud.

The sound continued to be heard regularly.

Moreover, it was gradually getting closer to where Randell was.

‘What, what is this?’

Wasn’t I alone here?

Wasn’t this an abandoned city?

Even as Randell was grasping the situation, the rumbling sound was quickly approaching.

**Sssss…**

Eventually, the ground beneath Randel’s feet became blurry.

How massive must the approaching entity be for the dust on the ground to rise from its vibrations?

“…Light off.”

As soon as Randel saw it, he extinguished the light.

He closed his eyes to adapt to the darkness and simultaneously enhanced his vision with mana.

While it was impossible to see clearly through the darkness, he could grasp the general situation.

‘Let’s go.’

Considering the presence of lava that had engulfed the city, he might have to stay in this underground city for quite some time.

But to live alongside such an unidentified entity?

One day, he might wake up feeling stiff, only to find himself not in the city but in the afterlife.

Having reached this conclusion, Randel held his breath and moved towards the source of the vibrations.

Just in case, he timed his movements with the vibrations shaking the ground, erasing his footsteps.

‘I’m here.’

Randel hid in an alley and quietly observed the main street.

A tense atmosphere flowed through the brief silence.

And then, thud, thud.

The vibrations shook the ground again, causing the dust to rise like mist.

‘…!’

Finally, a silhouette emerged.

A massive figure, about 5 meters tall, with long limbs breaking through the dust cloud.

At first glance, it looked similar to a giant—a member of the demi-human race.

However, the massive weight and unusually thick body clearly indicated that it was not a living creature.

Moreover, the red light that swayed up and down with each step.

It was undoubtedly eye light.

Randel knew it well.

“Damn… It’s a metal golem!?”

Randel unconsciously cursed.

Golems are powerful magical weapons.

There might be about 50 of them across the entire continent.

With its unique massive body, anti-magic power, and infinitely regenerating characteristics, it was optimized for guarding something.

Modern wizards also tried to create golems, but the results were not very good.

The moment the golem’s size exceeded 3 meters, the mana consumption increased exponentially, making it impossible to achieve cost-effectiveness no matter how much they researched.

‘Is it the guardian of this city?’

It seemed to have been asleep for a long time with the city and woke up to patrol after detecting an intruder.

An intruder named Randel.

‘Run.’

Randel immediately came to a conclusion.

He couldn’t defeat the golem even if he died and came back to life.

It was natural since it had anti-magic power that wouldn’t even get scratched by one or two 3rd circle spells.

Even if he managed to land an effective hit, it was a problem.

The golem would regenerate quickly unless its weak point, the magic core, was precisely destroyed.

‘It’s my nemesis.’

But then.

Thud.

The golem, which had been walking with two steps, suddenly stopped short.

And then.

Zing―

The golem’s red eyes shone into the alley.

Exactly where Randel was.

‘Damn!’

Terrified, Randel quickly hid behind the wall and held his breath.

‘Did it see me? It saw me, right?’

It was certain.

If it hadn’t seen him, it would have continued thudding along. Why would it stop at this exact moment?

‘What should I do? Should I wait? Or should I run before the golem moves first?’

Facing such an overwhelming enemy, his mind went blank for a moment.

But still, how many years of mercenary experience did Randel have?

Randel quickly snapped out of his panic and came to a conclusion.

‘Let’s watch a little longer.’

Did they say that if you hit the grass with a stick, a snake would crawl out?

If Randel moved hastily based on assumptions, he could end up being the snake that gets hit by that stick.

In such cases, it’s like jerky in the hands of a golem.

But then something even more surprising happened.

Something approached Randel.

Wham!

It grabbed Randel’s hand in an instant.

“Gasp!”

Randel was so startled that his heart nearly dropped, and he reflexively shook off the touch.

He stepped back and was about to cast an attack spell…

“Need help?”

“Huh, huh?”

“Follow me.”

The owner of the voice spoke briefly and then dashed off to the other side of the alley.

Only then could Randel see the figure.

The figure disappearing into the darkness was small, only reaching Randel’s waist.

Yet it moved incredibly fast.

‘A d-dwarf?’

Judging by the height, it seemed so.

The problem was, whether it was a dwarf or not, it was too suspicious to follow in a place like this cemetery.

But there was someone urging him to make a decision.

Thud, thud!

The golem started moving this way.

‘Damn it!’

Randel gritted his teeth and took off.