<h4>Chapter 537 Cursed Ground Ahead?</h4>


    A few dayster...


    Vicente and La reached the border of the Seidel Kingdom and the Chutha Dynasty, having slowed down hours ago to find the ruins of The Skull City.


    The Skull City was not a hidden ce that only a few knew about. Great powers within and outside the kingdom knew of its existence, which asionally resulted in subordinates and members ofrge groups moving to the ruins.


    What would happen if a specialist discovered a ce like the current destination of Vicente and La? There were two options. The first was to try to explore and collect the resources for themselves. The second, usually associated with stronger people finding lower-level things, was to show their powers of the possibilities in such a ce.


    That''s what a Sovereign or a Paragon would do when they came across ces like The Skull City:?give the opportunity to weaker juniors or subordinates.


    Some of the more famous ruins on the continent practically hosted contests and the like every few years. But in other ces like The Skull City, anyone coulde and go at any time.


    Usually, information about such ces would be easily essible to anyone who wanted to look it up, and you would be free to go to such a ruin whenever you wanted.


    But even though The Skull City was a well-known ce, La didn''t have a map of the area to know exactly where this ruin was. All she knew was that somewhere in the area where she was now, there were the ruins of this ancient city.


    She said to Vicente. "The Skull City is between the Brudercoln Canal and the Rising Tropics. Brudercoln Canal is 40 kilometers to the south, while The Rising Tropics is 30 kilometers to the north of where we are.


    The kingdom''s border with the Chutha dynasty must be between 30 and 45 kilometers to the west, so this area between these three points is where the ruin we''re heading for is located.


    Vicente looked around and saw nothing but the forest, densely popted with nt organisms that practically covered the view for kilometers.


    He suggested. "Let''s split up and search different areas. This area isn''t particrly strong, and with your skills, we can find the right ce in no time."


    Their short-rangemunicators would work perfectly up to about 25 kilometers, which wouldn''t make it too difficult tomunicate with each other if they were sessful.


    So they split up, with La heading south and Vicente heading north.


    ...


    After 20 minutes, Vicente''smunicator vibrated.


    "So?" Vicente asked as he activated hismunication device, bringing it close to his mouth as he poured his mana into it.


    La replied. "I will give you directions toe to me. I found The Skull City."


    "Oh?" Vicente eximed, eager to explore the ce.


    "Go back to where we left off a few minutes ago and go south for 3 kilometers. When youe to a hat-shaped rock, go southwest for 6 kilometers. I''ll meet you there."


    "Okay. Give me two minutes, and I''ll see you."


    After hanging up themunicator, he immediately followed La''s instructions to the letter.


    All people in this world were taught to know how to orient themselves spatially and geographically while still at the basic academy, even without the use ofpasses or other devices.


    La''s guidance was perfect, and soon, the two of them were together again, moving toward where she had found one of the entrances to The Skull City.


    La said to Vicente as they moved on. "There are people there. When I found the entrance I''m taking you to, I saw a group of people camped outside the ruins. I imagine a group from outside the kingdom is exploring the ce.


    We''ll likely find people inside the city."


    "No problem," Vicentemented. That might generate trouble, but it wasn''t enough to make him abandon his ns.


    After five minutes of moving around, they arrived at the entrance La had found, a ce that didn''t indicate that people had lived there before.


    Near the top of a hill, tworge t stones stood 5 meters apart, while pieces of wood connected them, forming an entrance portal.


    On these wooden pieces between the tworge stones were dozens of skulls, serving as decoration for the entrance to The Skull City.


    To one side of this entrance was a small t area of 100 square meters, where three huts and some people were camping, probably waiting forpanions who had entered The Skull City.


    On the other side of this entrance was a ravine where The Skull City was located.


    Vicente and La stopped in front of it and saw inscriptions on the two parallel stones.


    ''Cursed ground.''


    ''The home of damnation.''


    ''If you enter, you will regret it.''


    ''Punishment of the Paragon.''


    ''The eternal scourge.''


    Vicente and La read these inscriptions, most of them written by people who had managed to leave this ancient ruin.


    But there were also some ancient inscriptions in anguage Vicente didn''t recognize.


    La had studied ancientnguages in her organization, so she tranted for Vicente as she expressed her concern. "This is a cursednd, the origin of my enemies, and from this day forward, an infinite hell. Come in andpete for opportunities. The price is small. Punish my opponents or die to the joy of their corrupted souls.


    Professor Dirty Scout."


    Hearing La''s voice, one of the men in the area, a Mid-level Mage, said. "This is the cursednd of Deerfall. Seventeen thousand years ago, the people of this city fought a war against another independent city in this area.


    Back then, the Seidel Kingdom and the Chutha Dynasty weren''t centralized states like they are today. Many independent cities within their territories functioned almost like sects.


    The story goes that Deerfall drove Professor Dirty Scout to despair when his wives and daughters were raped and killed, and his sons were enved and eventually killed as well. Sometime after losing everything, he reappeared and destroyed the entire poption living in the area, casting an eternal curse over thend.


    Since then, the souls of his enemies have remained trapped in The Skull City, suffering in this cursednd where there are only two fates for those who pass through this entrance: to emerge victorious or to die and serve the darkness in this cursed ground."


    Vicente and La looked at the man in the beautiful armor who looked worriedly in the direction of the entrance to The Skull City.


    The orange-haired man said as he looked into La''s eyes. "Anyway, your knowledge of Eregean is excellent. Not many people speak this ancientnguage so well these days."