Otaku Translation: The Amber Sword V3C53

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Chapter 53: The King Beneath the Earth, Part 4

The two figures moved through the pitch-black mine tunnels, their path illuminated only by the faint glow of a . Collapses were not confined to the area where they had fought earlier; Brandon saw evidence of cave-ins everywhere—piles of earth and rocks obstructing most of the passageways. Some sections were entirely blocked. Though Brandon could have shattered the debris with ease, he opted to detour around them to avoid triggering another collapse.

leaned against Brandon, feeling the steady rhythm of his heartbeat. Her own heart raced in response, her cheeks flushed with warmth. She felt she should say something to break the awkward silence but found herself at a loss for words. After some hesitation, she finally spoke. "What about the others?"

Brandon shook his head. He remembered how he, Cinnabar, , and had been separated during the chaos, while Yuta was even farther away, her current whereabouts unknown. Glancing at Metissa’s status card—a silver card that hadn’t turned gray—he took some comfort in knowing the was likely unharmed.

"Not sure," he replied. "But it seems like they’re fine." He recalled that when the collapse occurred, Metissa had been trapped with Kulan. If she wasn’t in danger now, then perhaps Kulan was the one facing trouble. Brandon knew well enough that Metissa alone wouldn’t stand a chance against Kulan.

Cinnabar murmured an acknowledgment.

"How’s your wound?" Brandon asked, his mind briefly wandering to the possibility of the blood of gods acting up prematurely.

"It’s... nothing," Cinnabar quickly deflected, trying to steer the conversation elsewhere. "But there’s something odd."

"What do you mean?"

"We’d barely begun our fight before all this happened. Looking back, I can’t see how we could’ve caused such a massive quake."

Brandon fell silent. Since regaining consciousness, he too had harbored doubts about the source of the tremors. While four gold rank combatants fighting within the confines of the mine was inherently dangerous, they had exchanged only a handful of blows—none particularly devastating beyond Brandon’s initial strike. Even gold-rank warriors weren’t walking earthquakes; their mere presence shouldn’t destabilize an entire mountain.

Time hadn’t allowed for much thought during the collapse, but now, as he reflected, inconsistencies piled up. Could it have been a natural earthquake? If so, ’s sense of humor had grown cruel indeed. Still, whether it was seismic activity or something else, these questions remained speculative until they reached the surface and assessed the extent of the damage.

For now, Brandon navigated the labyrinthine tunnels like a mole, searching for a way out. Yet as time wore on, his suspicions deepened. By the third dead end, he confirmed what he had feared: their section of the mine was sealed off.

Still, the search wasn’t entirely fruitless. He discovered that the lift connecting their level to the fourth floor still functioned. The downside? It led only to the fourth level.

The fourth level of the mine connected partially to the third, but its lower reaches—the fifth level—were part of the Great Hive, a complex network of caves linking various segments of the fourth floor. Perhaps they could find another route back to the third level from there.

Before entering the mine, Brandon had gathered intel from Joka. There were five lifts between the third and fourth levels. Though their area was blocked by fallen rock, other parts of the third level might remain accessible.

Deciding quickly, Brandon carried Cinnabar into the fourth level, hoping to test their luck.

When the lift clanged to a halt against the rocky walls, Brandon stepped into familiar territory. This level was just as dark as the others, but under the crystal’s light, he noticed signs of partial collapses here as well. However, the sturdier rock formations meant less structural damage compared to the upper levels.

Yet Brandon grew more perplexed. The notion of a coincidental earthquake seemed increasingly implausible. But how coincidental could it truly be?

If it was an earthquake, had similar events before. , after all, marked the transition zone between low- and mid-tier regions in the game. Players arriving during this period would surely have mentioned quakes on forums, especially in Ostann, where earthquake-related posts were common—but not so much in Eruin.

As he sifted through his memories, one peculiar thread surfaced. A strange post—one concerning .

The moment the phrase crossed Brandon’s mind, alarm bells rang. He recalled the title of the post: "Large Quantity of Cold Iron Ore for Sale, Seeking Appraisal for Two Unidentified Items." In those early days of the game, such posts were legion, given the influx of unfamiliar materials players encountered. What made this particular thread memorable, however, was its sudden claim of discovering a trove of cold iron ore—an anomaly at a time when high-grade resources were scarce.

The poster claimed to have stumbled upon two mysterious artifacts while mining a vein of cold iron ore. One was —the first documented appearance of material online. The second item appeared to be a silver sphere, though discussions failed to yield conclusive answers. The sphere didn’t vanish from public discourse, though; later reports identified similar objects across different locations.

These items tied into ancient lore.

In the ancient verses of Azure Poem, a text revered in Cruzean lore, there were tales of an era before chaos, predating even Marsha’s creation of the world—an age known as the "Twilight Era." Legends whispered that during this primordial time, beings of golden and silver dwelled amidst the chaos, alongside enigmatic entities referred to as the "Divine Folk."

Some claimed Marsha herself was one of these divine beings, while others believed she was crafted by them. Yet the true nature of the Divine Folk remained shrouded in mystery. Beyond the pages of Azure Poem and similar archaic myths, no trace of their existence lingered—not even in the half-truths and rumors spun by wandering bards across the continent.

Thus, just as Marsha came to symbolize the embodiment of rules within the game, the Divine Folk represented reality itself. Players often speculated that the Divine Folk alluded to the game’s creators—entirely real, yet wholly absent from the virtual realm, unlike Marsha, whose presence straddled both worlds.

One fact stood clear in historical accounts: it was the Divine Folk who guided the first generations of golden and silver beings in constructing the initial Sage Sanctuaries. From these sanctuaries, Marsha wove the fabric of Vonder, drawing upon the power of the Elemental Codex. The shaping of the world was not instantaneous; it unfolded over eons. During this time, the golden and silver races relied on the sanctuaries for protection against the relentless assaults of the Twilight Dragon—until the fall of Babel, the last bastion standing.

With the destruction of Babel, the bloodlines of golden and silver scattered across the land, marking the dawn of the Year of Chaos. Much of what transpired before or after this pivotal moment had long since been buried beneath layers of history. Though the golden and silver legacies nearly faded into oblivion over countless generations, remnants of the sanctuaries endured.

Brandon knew this firsthand. The fairyland of the King of Knights, the ruins to which he had led the refugees from Ridenburg, was one such sanctuary. These relics were scattered across the world, taking many forms.

Some existed as semi-tangible realms, hidden within the folds of space and time, like the ethereal fairylands. Others were purely fantastical constructs, such as the fabled Tower of Babel, said to be an unbreakable fortress at the pinnacle of the world. Still others were fully material, built by the Silver Folk. These latter sanctuaries bore the brunt of devastation during the wars. Entire regions, like the Iron Plains, sank into the earth, and entire peoples, like the runic dwarves, were nearly wiped out.

Yet some ruins survived, becoming sacred sites in modern times. The most renowned example Brandon could think of was Heaven’s Gate, a holy place maintained by the state of the Church Knight Order. Others remained obscure, like Valhalla, the Sealed Kingdom.

Regardless of their form, many of these sanctuaries held treasures waiting to be discovered. Exploring them was akin to archaeology, with adventurers uncovering artifacts left behind by the ancients—the legacies of the golden and silver folk. Brandon himself carried one such relic: the golden apple, a gift from the golden lineage. Though silver relics were considered inferior in quality, their effects were far from negligible.

With this knowledge, Brandon began piecing together a theory. The tremors they experienced earlier likely stemmed from the magical resonance caused by the excavation of a high-grade artifact. Between the Magical Eye Gem and the cold iron ore, he felt confident identifying the source of the disturbance.

Yet something still didn’t add up. A single Silver Folk relic shouldn’t have triggered such widespread upheaval. There had to be more to the story.

Brandon furrowed his brow, his mind racing to connect the dots.

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