“I finally arrived here.”

On a fairly high hill, Ivo saw a mansion that had become ruins. The death energy was thick enough to prevent all living things from surviving and forced those who were hit to die.

The impact of the battle between Veibel and Raven, although Ivo could not see it directly, he could imagine it in his head. Between the two of them, Veibel must have been seriously injured while Raven must have been able to escape from this place.

Without thinking, Ivo walked and saw more clearly the ruins in front of him. A mansion that was quite far from the White Snow Academy and Ernest City. This was a place that was even outside the city walls. A place where no Ernest City citizen dared to enter.

“This is the first time I have come to this place,” Ivo muttered as he touched the ground that was so fragile when he touched it, the ground became fine sand without shape.

This was the effect of magic. Such a big battle took place in this place but no one noticed or was disturbed. When he looked up, he could feel traces of golden mana through Mana sense. The feeling of a form that pressed down like a dragon and also dominated all living things.

The gray energy of death colored this place like a canvas that only contained gold in the form of fog. Ivo walked through the ruins of a small mansion where no one should have been here.

That should be it. When he looked at it, a silhouette of a person with a short body seemed to be digging something behind the gray fog. The view from his eyes was so limited, that he couldn't recognize who it was or whether the person was dangerous or not.

"What are you doing kid?"

Ivo asked after being surprised when he saw a child who didn't even look 12 years old digging the fragile soil in this place. His body looked weak and he tied his stomach with two stones. Even so, his hands didn't stop digging.

He continued to dig the soil slowly becoming deeper until his body was lower than the ground. The shovel that threw out grains of sand, had blood stains flowing from his hands.

Even so, he didn't stop. Slowly, the mound of sand became higher and the child became deeper into the ground.

Ivo was about to ask a second time when he saw the boy’s dull and red eyes staring back at him. “Is there anything I can do for you, sir?”

“What are you doing kid?” Ivo asked a second time.

“I…” The young man was about to answer when tears streamed down his cheeks that were covered in dust and dirt. His cries were not like those of someone who had lost a loved one, they were cries without sobs where only tears fell to the ground.

His eyes looked at the empty grave in front of him. The young boy was about to answer but couldn’t. When he looked at Ivo, he seemed to see the man but also seemed not to see him.

His eyes flowed even more with tears when he saw the grave beneath his feet. His body slumped weakly when he realized what he was doing.

“I cry for the death of someone whose life was full of futility. I cry for what I might face when I face death.”

“Will I be judged when I die… or is all that is at the end of life just a meaningless void.” The little boy sobbed, his legs shaking unable to hold back the tears that flowed. The sobs became louder which made Ivo know that this was not a pretense.

His eyes were no longer directed at Ivo. He looked at the grave he had dug with his hands.

“Truly… you live in vain by prioritizing the sword you always swing. I heard stories of you among my family where you were considered a pillar and light that reformed this world. I heard stories recorded in the archives where you were once worshipped as a genius in this world.”

The boy raised his head while shouting with all the strength he had.

“Where are you now, my ancestor? You are now dead without anyone remembering you.”

“Where are those who used to praise you? They have now forgotten you.”

“Where are your students who you were always proud of? Where are your comrades who you used to tell with all your heart? Where is the story of you who was called a genius? Where?”

The boy’s voice shook the fragile ground causing the sand in the grave to fall back. His voice slowly became smaller. The sadness slowly turned into a look of pity for the person who “Where did you end up now?”

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“In the end, you died without even a grain of ash. What’s the point of you living by swinging a sword, living without meaning in this world.”

“In the end, you’ve been forgotten.”

One step, Ivo couldn't help but step back when he saw this child. It wasn't fear that was in his heart, but his heart even trembled when he heard those words.

This child… he has the attitude that my teacher used to have. Even his aura is exactly the same.

Even Ivo could feel a sense of awe when he saw the little boy in front of him. He didn't know what the relationship between this boy and the Zombie from the Rumanoff family was. Because even Ivo himself didn't know the Zombie's past.

What he knew was nothing more than the family name he had.

Rumanoff.

They were truly mysterious. The Rumanoff family had never been recorded in the history of this world or even mentioned explicitly. Like blank sheets of white paper without a single black ink on them. Although there were some traces of people with the last name Rumanoff, it seemed that no one had ever recorded their history.

The atmosphere suddenly became silent. Only gusts of wind and dust hit Ivo when he looked into the grave that the little boy had dug. Blood flowed from his peeled skin, his body now lying helplessly in the grave with a face red from crying.

"Are you okay?" Ivo immediately jumped down and carried the little boy out. When he looked at him closer, he could see a silver necklace made of scrap metal engraved with a name.

Zariel Rumanoff.

“Zariel? I’ve never heard of it. But, he really is from the Rumanoff family.”

Once again, this person is from the Rumanoff family. This is a family that even all Destiny players themselves know nothing about other than that they exist.

While placing Zariel's body on a white cloth that he took from the bracelet, Ivo placed Zariel's head on a soft pillow and covered him with a warm blanket. In the distance, the orange sun slowly set in the west, bringing a sign of the coming night.

A strong gust of wind and a cold wind came from there, under the orange light he looked at the ruins of the destroyed Mansion. Ivo was not afraid of wild animals or bandits and so on. In the city of Ernest, only crazy people dared to go outside the walls that surrounded this city.

The forest that he had just passed through did not even show any signs of life. Even when he walked towards this place, Ivo did not see a single wild animal. "This place can be said to be a safe zone for the time being. Although it is a bit annoying."

Ivo sighed softly when his mana sense could not even sense anything beyond a distance of one meter in this place. There was also the energy of death that eroded his skin and the golden mana that often cut off a person's mana sense.

The battle between Mana owners always left a disaster. Even if it was only at the first awakening stage.

The foreign mana left in the battle area would change the nature of a place. If ordinary humans came to this place, when they returned there would only be cold corpses left in front of the gate.

“I originally came here to see if there was any inheritance in this place. But…” Ivo sat on a rock that had been eroded by half. When he saw the ruins in front of him, the sword slashes that still left such clear traces, and the various broken swords on the ground, Ivo knew that there was nothing left in this place.

“There really is nothing left. Even if there was money, it would have been destroyed in the midst of the battle between the second awakening stages.”

“But there’s no harm in looking around.” While muttering, Ivo walked and circled the ruins in this place. Even so, he was just walking around without any purpose. He didn’t even hope that he would find anything useful.

After all, the biggest loot from this place was the Embodiment of Self. The sword used by the Zombie that was later handed over to our beloved Regressor.

This place… is empty. That’s a fitting word. No inheritance, no treasure, and nothing of value.

“Since I’m here, it might as well be a little fun.” Ivo smiled as he looked at the dense death energy in the air.

There was still some time until Ivor’s show. After all, he was an Assassin who lived in the dark and mostly performed his acts at night.

With the mana crystal in his hand, Ivo mobilized the mana within it that was equal to the mana within his body. Amidst the gray fog and the golden aura that repelled each other, another energy appeared in a blue color that was close to white.

While humming, Ivo controlled the energy and began to arrange the mana casually to form another magic in the air. He did not form a magic circle like most Magicians did, but he directly controlled the mana even when his mana sense could not sense it.

The strands of thread intertwined with each other. Not just one, but hundreds of strands of thread that were as thin as hair. The hundreds of strands of thread slowly merged with each other to form threads made of magical energy. When the process was complete, the threads connected to his fingers as if they were extensions of his body.

On each of his fingers, the threads began to spread throughout this place but each thread could not extend more than 5 meters. “The range of this magic is limited by the range of my mana sense. It’s quite bad even for low-level magic.”

In this place, the range of my mana sense was only 5 meters. Although the range of my mana sense had increased to 10 meters thanks to the assimilation and training I did, in an environment like this, it wouldn’t be strange for its range to decrease.

“Although my mana sense is enough for now, you are still too careless.” Ivo moved his hand and controlled all the threads around him.

The threads moved nimbly and bound a large black object behind Ivo. A large monster opened its jaws and was about to devour him but was immediately stopped by the threads.

Ivo stepped lightly but the distance he took was quite large with each step. He jumped casually and turned his body.

“Wow, I didn’t expect you to follow me all the way here.” Ivo looked at the large snake that was trying to devour him.

It was the black-scaled snake that had stalked him when he first came outside the walls of Ernest City. When he looked closer, there were green traces behind the snake’s scales and the snake’s eyes seemed to be covered by a thin layer of membrane.

Ivo jumped up while swinging his arms. He avoided the snake’s black tail that was sweeping around the place. The magic threads binding the snake’s head tightened.

This was not because of Ivo’s physical strength. He used magic energy to make the threads tighten. The snake’s jaws opened wider than they should have.

“Since you wish to die, then I will grant your wish.”