Strange Prophecy X Within the Ruins

[Holding hands, we wander through the Six Continents' Relic, exploring the timeless architecture. The wind and sand vie to sing ancient lullabies, and even the perilous cliffs seem to bow before the Twin Stars.]

As the Half-Buried Stele emerges faintly in the twilight, the answer to your long-cherished mystery molts beneath its base. Is your baggage complete? Are you fully prepared?

This is a prophecy that Kevin and his companions derived from leaving the Manor to explore Ruins around the world and examine the knowledge they gained.

And it was something they received at the beginning of the month.

There is generally only one possibility for such a prophecy to occur.

That means they will hardly encounter any trouble in the first three weeks, and perhaps only the Ruins they visit in the last week will be more important.

When nothing happens, they simply cover it up with a prophecy.

Sometimes, if nothing happens for a month, then you will only receive one prophecy for that month.

That's why prophecies are only made when there's something to do; prophecies are meaningless when there's nothing to do.

By this time, Kevin and his companion had been traveling through Ruins in various places for quite some time.

They had just emerged from a very well-preserved Ruins.

This place has become a local tourist attraction, but when they went in, they also saw many ancient Ruins and historians conducting research.

According to the information provided, this Ruins has been located here for a long time, but neither the local government nor the country has shown any interest in protective excavation and restoration.

They left it to sit wherever it pleased, allowed the surrounding residents to wander around freely, and let the Ruins decay over time.

"It's incredible that a well-known team would repair and protect these Ruins free of charge."

Melusina remarked with a sigh from the side.

She had just seen related information at the tourist attraction.

Kevin nodded in agreement. "They are indeed impressive, and I just checked online; they have a very well-organized protection process."

"Even after their excavation and preservation efforts, their preservation procedures ensure that the Ruins are properly maintained after they leave."

In essence, the idea is to turn these Ruins into a revenue-generating project. When there are profits to be made, the local government officials who were previously indifferent will naturally become more interested.

Kevin has great admiration for these cultural organizations that are essentially operating without compensation.

They visited many Ruins during this time.

Apart from some that remain abandoned, many Ruins located closer to the city have been properly preserved.

And almost all of these were done by the same organization.

This organization is well-known, at least within the field of archaeological discoveries.

"Let me see. Next, we're going to the Ruins that's highlighted in the Record Book."

Melusina said, flipping through their travel itinerary.

They visited the site slowly, starting from the nearest and moving to the furthest, without any rush.

Kevin nodded, his expression becoming slightly serious.

"According to the prophecy, this Ruins might offer us some valuable insights, but we must be well-prepared."

"Yes, I know. Are you fully prepared on your end?" Melusina asked.

Kevin gave a no-questions-asked gesture.

Back at the airport, we boarded the airship again.

This is the private airship that Light bought. Although Kevin doesn't travel much throughout the year, Light still made preparations for Kevin.

All necessary personnel are in place.

"Hava, take off, to the next target."

Hava, who had been in charge of Kevin's miscellaneous tasks, nodded, and the Airship began to operate.

Kevin led Melusina to the rest area.

I randomly found a seat and sat down.

He took out a large pile of materials from the backpack next to him and began to compare them.

The Ruins we're going to visit later.

In addition to being recorded in Vipera's Record Book, it is also recorded in previous [Spiral] materials.

Therefore, there is more detailed information available.

This Ruins, located halfway up the mountain, is quite similar to what was foretold in the prophecy.

If nothing unexpected happens, it should be the same Ruins.

"Now that I think about it, Nion's ability is actually prophecy."

Melusina said with some amazement, she hadn't expected there to be such a Nen ability.

Hearing this, Kevin looked up at her and said somewhat strangely, "It's normal for others to find it strange, but why do you find it strange?"

It's worth noting that Melusina even used a wish-granting type of Nen ability.

Isn't that even more outrageous than a prophecy?

"However, this Ruins has already been examined by so many groups of people, so why are there still remnants left?"

Kevin was completely baffled.

This is rather strange.

Whether it's the information about [the Spiral] or the information about Vipera from over two hundred years ago.

All of this demonstrates their understanding and development of this Ruins.

Clearly, many more people have come here and inspected the relevant conditions.

In other words, under normal circumstances, apart from things that cannot be taken away or moved, there should be no other remains of this Ruins.

However, the Prophecy Poem clearly states that if he goes there, he will find something, something that others have not discovered.

And it was something he had always dreamed of.

It's hard to understand.

Those organizations, those Ruin Hunter.

He was able to discover things that no one else had.

Why?

Based on this, it must be that there are some special circumstances surrounding the two of them, because only special circumstances or abilities can enable them to discover things that others cannot.

However, the problem is that its special features cannot be found; it can only be discovered by going into the Ruins and examining them carefully.

It can't be because he's a time traveler, right? That's too far-fetched.

Of course, it's not impossible.

They toured the Ruins step by step, following the distances between near and far.

So they didn't stay on the airship for long.

The next afternoon.

They landed at the airport.

This time, however, they brought more things, including backpacks and other items.

"Are you ready?" Kevin asked.

Four Nen Beast appeared directly next to Melusina, Four Maids- like Nen Beast carrying a backpack.

"Ready? Let's go."

This is also in accordance with the preparations described in the prophecy.

Be prepared.

Both of them succeeded, and they believed they were in a state of readiness.

After all, once you get off the Airship, you still have to walk a long way to reach your destination.

The Guide outside were already prepared.

The two got into the car and headed into the distant forest.

"Are you archaeologists? Or some kind of weird Hunter x Hunter?"

"That's Guide driving in the front asked."

"We're, you could say, Hunter x Hunter."

"Hunter x Hunter, I think so too. Generally speaking, only Hunter x Hunter travel in groups of only a few."

The Guide shared his own insights.

Clearly, the place Kevin and his group were heading to was nothing unusual.

"Does that Ruins get visited every year?" Kevin asked, noting that it might be even more popular than he knew.

The Guide shook his head.

"There aren't that many, but every few years people still go. Sometimes it's just a few people like you."

"Sometimes it's just a group of people. You can tell they're like scholars, with lots of bags and packages; usually it's a whole convoy."

He clearly used this method to determine whether the person who hired him was a scholar or Hunter x Hunter.

"But that place is indeed too far away. There used to be a Small Town nearby decades ago, but it became so remote that even the Small Town moved away."

The Guide chatted with them casually.

The road into the mountains became increasingly difficult to travel.

They bumped and jostled their way along the way, and it wasn't until noon the next day that they finally arrived at their resting place.

After resting for half a day, we walked forward for less than half a day again.

We stopped outside a small cabin in the mountains.

"Go forward from here, do you see that mountain? Keep looking at that mountain, and you will reach the place you want to go."

"But there's no road ahead; you'll have to walk. I can only take you this far."

As he spoke, he pulled out a Satellite Phone and waved it around.

"If you're planning to leave, remember to call me a day in advance. I'll be here to pick you up anytime."

If you need any temporary supplies, they are stored in this hut; you can come and get them yourself.

It won't be long; it will take about half a day to get there from here.

The Guide was clearly very experienced, talking on and on, covering every aspect before finally preparing to leave.

It was already quite late, so Kevin and his companion decided to rest for the night and set off again early the next morning.

The next day at noon.

Kevin and his companion finally arrived at the marked location.

"This place is indeed remote enough that it would be very troublesome to repair, so we can only protect it in this simple way."

Kevin stood there, looking at the Ruins in the distance, and said.

Melusina wore a sun hat and looked into the distance.

The Ruins in the distance are quite obvious, as you can see man-made stone pillars and various sculptures embedded in the mountainside from afar.

In Vipera's Record Book, he recorded only two very important Ruins.

One of them is the Ruins where he hid the route. By going through those Ruins, one can find out where to start, where to go to smuggle oneself across, and then reach the Dark Continent.

The Ruins were very well hidden, and almost no one knew about them except for those who had traveled to the Dark Continent with him at that time.

The other Ruins is the one where Kevin and his group are currently Ruins.

Because this Ruins clearly points to the Dark Continent, in Vipera's words in the Record Book.

When he saw that book, this was the first Ruins that came to mind.

"Let's go in and take a look, but we still need to be careful."

Although this Ruins has been visited by many people, it should theoretically be very low in danger.

But they had made a prediction, and although they didn't explicitly mention danger, they told us to be prepared.

Therefore, it's always good to be cautious.

I don't know who had the time or inclination to carve out a path from where they were standing to the Ruins.

Follow the path forward.

You can see many signs of camping not too far from the Ruins.

In particular, one area seems to have been turned into a campsite, where all sorts of abandoned camping gear are piled up, ready for anyone to pitch a tent.

All kinds of stoves are available.

However, their first task was to go inside the Ruins and take a look.

This man-made structure is half-buried at the bottom of the mountain, and it is clearly being maintained by people over time, so it looks to be in pretty good condition.

You can even see some protective measures built with simple Rock and wooden fences.

Outside, there were mostly collapsed buildings and stone pillars, although the two of them didn't have a deep understanding of the Ruins.

Therefore, judging from the collapsed building, it appears to be a temple structure used for sacrificial purposes.

Entering the main building of the Ruins through the Gate that is over ten meters high and six or seven meters wide, we found ourselves completely inside the mountain.

Take out a spotlight and look around.

Murals, large stone sculptures behind the two entrances, various reliefs on the walls, and some items of unknown purpose.

The most eye-catching thing is the mural, and it has been cleaned, so it's very clearly visible.

For those who don't understand it, it may not be possible to interpret its true meaning.

But for someone like Kevin who knew about the Dark Continent, the mural was practically a blatant hint.

The two looked at it carefully.

The murals are arranged chronologically; the very first one depicts a region inhabited by giant monsters, where people live in a very miserable state.

Then they gathered at the beach, and a group of them, led by one of them, sailed across the ocean.

The sky was painted with the sun and stars, and in such ancient sites, this scene was marked as having taken a very long time.

They then fell into a whirlpool in the sea, then inexplicably drew a wall, and finally landed.

The scene of peace and prosperity, with their leader wearing a crown.

The mural is simple, but its meaning is clearly that of the humans in the farthest reaches fleeing from the Dark Continent.

For our ancestors, they may have been more powerful than humans are today, but that place was still hell for them.

In addition, there are various stone tablets and carvings around it.

This Ruins almost definitively proves that humanity's ancestors originated from the Dark Continent.

Aside from the murals on the stone walls on both sides, the most eye-catching Ruins of the entire site is the Altar in front.

In the center of the altar stands a Square Stone Pillar. While the surrounding objects show signs of wear and tear over time, the central Square Stone Pillar remains pristine, without a single scratch or dent.

It's practically impossible for someone to maintain it regularly, which only shows that the stone pillar is exceptionally sturdy and hasn't been damaged by time.

Naturally, one would come to this square stone pillar and begin to examine it.

"If you're looking for the only strange thing about this place, it's probably this," Melusina said, pointing to the stone pillar.

Kevin nodded in agreement.

This place can be described as exceptionally clean in some respects.

Whether it's some simple repairs to the Ruins or the basic protective measures around them.

Everyone was telling them that many people had been here before.

The time span is very long.

Don't expect there's anything left for them here.

All that was left for them was Ruins, apart from the strange-looking central stone pillar, the rest of the ruins were quite ordinary.

"There are many characters carved on this stone pillar, but I can't understand them."

Kevin crouched down to examine it carefully.

"I can recognize some of them, but with so many characters, I can't even connect them into a coherent whole, let alone understand their meaning."

He could probably make out words like "protect," "dispel," "evil," and "king" in the text.

Melusina looked to the side with a hint of helplessness; the Four Maids were Nen Beast large and small bags.

"So what exactly does the Prophecy Poem mean by preparation? Doesn't it mean we should be prepared?"

Kevin shook his head. "In essence, Prophecy Poem are not so easy to interpret. The more you know, the more you can learn from Prophecy Poem."

The more we know, the clearer the hints the Prophecy Poem gives.

He shrugged as he spoke.

Clearly, neither of them knew much about the Ruins; even after arriving here, they still didn't understand what they were longing for.

In a sense, these murals are indeed what Kevin wanted.

But can it truly be considered a dream come true?

So what exactly are these preparation tips?

Isn't it about material preparation? Mental preparation? Or is it about having the necessary strength?

The information given was too vague.

Somewhat helpless.

Kevin stretched out his hand and fanned out a gust of wind.

The wind, formed from the Nen Aura, blew away the dust on the stone tablet.

Then, the stone tablet lit up.

"Um?"