Chapter 78 (continued)

"Oh!" I exclaimed in surprise. "That will be a lot of trouble for you!"

Mel shook her head. "I'm glad you like it! You know, Anna always has different colored handbags to match her outfits! So I made some different styles of magical artifacts to match your robes, that way it'll be more suitable, and it's not troublesome at all."

Oh... that sounds wonderful! You're right, we mages should also have different ritual implements to match our robes!

Mel's joyful expression infected me... I couldn't resist wanting to kiss him, so I took his hand and gently kissed his fingertips.

I said, "Teach me how to do it, and I'll make it for you too!"

Suddenly, Mel tapped my tongue with his fingertip, and before I could react, he put his finger in his mouth and sucked on it with a smile, making a loud sound.

... Mel, do you think I'm some kind of jam that you stick to eat?

I pinched his cheek, both angry and amused, leaving a red fingerprint.

While we were talking, Goliath and Xuefeng had already dismantled a pile of mech parts. After being kicked out of the cockpit by the raging dragon, the mech pilots were either stunned, clutching their severed arms and legs, or, if they reacted quickly, loudly begging for mercy. The kind-hearted paladin didn't kill them; he just tied them up. As Mel and I finished talking, we saw Goliath tying a knot in the rope on the last prisoner's hand.

"These ropes have been soaked in holy water. You can struggle as much as you want; even if you break your skin, the holy light will promote healing," Goliath said with a smile. "Why don't you introduce yourselves? Which organization do you belong to?"

The mech pilots stared in disbelief at Goliath's face—I remember now, Goliath does have a certain level of fame; he's the current commander of the Knights of the Temple of Light, and Goliath's at least a popular idol on social media, even if he's not a superstar.

Best Actor

That's true, but it's not surprising that some people recognize him.

... I guess I'm definitely a minority of mages who don't like browsing social media.

The mech soldier cried out that he'd been tricked, and shouted quickly and eagerly, "We belong to 'Homeland' Security Company! Our mission was clearly to kill the bad guys who kidnapped the little girl and rescue the hostage! We only acted because we saw the girl in your team carrying the rabbit... We've been tricked! We're not stupid enough to accept a mission to assassinate a high-ranking priest of the Temple!"

Moli silently hugged Anna and squatted down next to me to watch the show.

He spoke with tears streaming down his face, and it didn't seem like he was lying. When Xuefeng kicked them out of the cockpit, they rolled all over the ground, completely out of fighting spirit, staring blankly at the small emblem of the God of Light on Goliath's chest.

"Are they hired cannon fodder?" Goliath muttered to himself, analyzing, "It seems the mastermind behind this is really well hidden."

The mech soldier glanced cautiously at Xuefeng, noticing he was engrossed in his phone. He swallowed hard and said timidly, "Sir Knight, our company is having some cash flow problems lately, which is why we risked taking on jobs with unclear client information. From a distance, I genuinely couldn't see your clothes or face... Oh, I'll atone for my sins! I'm going to report this! Our intelligence team has also been monitoring the situation; the client's signal activity in this area is frequent... The international archaeological team from Kojinier City discovered radiation signals from ancient ruins here, and it's said they might contain ancient weapons of mass destruction... We suspect the client's activity in this area might be due to this weapon."

Ancient weapons?

So, are the "miracle device" stories circulating online true?

Although ancient times lacked advanced technology, the alchemy of the past was on a completely different level from today's. If ancient artifacts are jokingly referred to as "divine artifacts" by modern people, then modern alchemical products taken back to the legendary era would probably be called "toys."

"Oh right, a lot of mages have come too. I heard the Sanctuary of Truth has even sent people. Ancient ruin excavation is a huge job; if they do it well, they'll be set for life for years... But none of us private military companies have been hired. According to what we've heard, it might be magical artifacts, so we mechanical warriors who don't understand magic are pretty useless. Our colleagues in the industry are watching this lucrative opportunity go to waste... I also heard that warlocks from the Arcane Covenant have come." The mech soldier continued.

Moli's fingers flew across the phone screen, and after a moment she said, "Oh yeah, someone anonymously mentioned it on the spellcaster forum, but it's said to be somewhat dangerous, so the Holy Dragon government is suppressing the news, afraid that people will come out of curiosity to watch."

So, could it be the remains of an ancient sorcerer?

Mel and I were both immediately intrigued. Ancient magical artifacts are even rarer than alchemical creations. Many items and magical implements crafted by great mages were destroyed in the darkness of time. Every newly discovered ancient mage ruin adds to our knowledge base. The ruins themselves are invaluable treasures—perhaps the site of an old mage tower, a fallen mage academy, or the private residence of a venerable master. The defensive systems they contain are enough to leave us modern spellcasters in awe and inspire our deepest studies. And then there are the ancient spellbooks preserved by time, the mage's handwritten notes, which are especially precious. If we could obtain even one or two of them...

Different identities indeed lead to different ways of thinking. Mel and I were thrilled by the potential treasure trove of knowledge, while Goliath and Reynold were completely captivated by the ancient weapons, especially Reynold. His expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly said, "If there really are dangerous ancient weapons, the fanatics will definitely use them against the Federation! The Northern Cross Barrier is sturdy, but it is still a modern invention. I can't guarantee that it can resist ancient magic!"

Well, their concerns are valid. The power of magical artifacts may weaken over time, but if an item is intentionally preserved by an ancient mage, it might even become more powerful than before!

Hmm... If I could get my hands on that ancient weapon, whatever it is... I'd definitely learn a lot of new things by taking it apart!

Let's go find some ruins!

Goliath, under our expectant gaze, dug a pit with his Dou Qi, and Xuefeng kicked the prisoners down into it. Because their hands were all tied with a rope, he kicked the first one, and the rest went down like a high-speed train.

"Should we bury it?" Xuefeng asked excitedly.

Goliath grabbed Xuefeng by the collar and dragged him away from the edge of the pit. The prisoners trembled—probably intimidated by Xuefeng's dragon aura—but after realizing that the paladin would never bury them alive, they breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed into a heap.

"Uh..." Moli hesitated, making a strange sound. Seeing that we were all focused on her, she pointed hesitantly to a spot on the cliff face where sparks were still rising, and said, "Do you think that might be the entrance to the ruins...?"

Following the direction Moli pointed, on the burned-out mountainside, where shrubs were no longer covering it, there was a barely noticeable opening, suggesting that the mountainside was probably hollow, and the legendary ancient ruins...

"We found us so easily?" Reynold exclaimed in astonishment. "Didn't they say that even top international archaeologists had been searching for a long time?"

... Forehead...

"Perhaps because..." I sighed and replied, "I guess most archaeologists wouldn't burn down the entire mountain of vegetation before looking for relics."

Moli nervously twisted her fingers. The once overgrown hill was now a large mound of earth, with plant remains scattered on the ground and black ash floating in the air. Everything around them was clearly visible. I had to use an air-cleansing spell to keep Mel and me from being choked by the ash.

"Moli," I said calmly, "go home and copy this sentence for me. You're not allowed to use your hands, only magic. Copy it a thousand times: 'I am a mage, not a vase-like sorcerer who can only throw big fireballs!'"

"... Teacher, the warlock is going to sue you for occupational discrimination!" Moli said tearfully, her little face all scrunched up as she hugged the black rabbit Anna tightly.