Hulim ventured deeper, soon arriving at a long corridor.

  The corridor’s rock walls were carved with numerous murals and inscriptions—preserved through the ages precisely because they were chiseled into stone.

  Hulim examined the contents carefully, and a discovery immediately stunned her.

  "This is...... Ancient Mogalian script!!!"

  "Could it be......"

  "Is this the city of the Mogalia Civilization—the protagonist of the most powerful era?!"

  Hulim hurried to read on.

  The knowledge she’d gained in Manacos proved invaluable. Though she couldn’t recognize every Ancient Mogalian character, she could grasp the general meaning.

  As she slowly advanced along the corridor, the stories etched into the stone unfolded before her.

  First and foremost: this was indeed a city of the Ancient Mogalia Civilization, built at the peak of that era.

  The carvings recounted the history of the mighty Mogalia Magic Kingdom—dubbed a "civilization"—and the reason for constructing this city.

  In short, the Mogalians had pooled their entire civilization’s wisdom to build an "Eternal Capital," a project that took countless years.

  And they had succeeded brilliantly.

  For while their civilization had vanished into the annals of history eons ago, this Eternal Capital remained intact.

  It was just unclear why it lay underground......

  The carvings offered no explanation for that.

  "Could this city not have been underground from the start? Did it sink later? But then what is that River of Light beneath the dome......"

  Hulim didn’t dwell on the question for long. After all, she wasn’t an archaeologist.

  She continued down the corridor.

  The content of the carvings soon shifted to religious themes—singing praises to the gods and recounting their deeds.

  These tales were not far removed from those of the modern Seven-Day Church.

  It was clear that the Seven-Day Church, as the closest link between the mortal realm and the gods, had existed for an unimaginably long time.

  However, when she finished reading all the carvings, Hulim noticed something amiss......

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  "Strange. What’s going on here?"

  She thought she might have misread, so she hurried back to check again—but it was still missing.

  Unconvinced, she examined the corridor repeatedly, but the content never appeared.

  "It’s really not here......"

  Hulim stood frozen, puzzled and unable to figure it out.

  Why,

  in the carvings of a church dedicated to worshipping the gods, was one deity omitted?

  There was no mention whatsoever of Vesus, the God of Mystery and Wisdom!

  The entire corridor only recorded the deeds of five gods......

  Unable to find answers, Hulim pressed on, hoping to uncover more clues.

  What she discovered next left her deeply shocked.

  "Five-Gods...... Church?"

  These were the words she saw in a large hall, describing the branch of the church once housed here.

  The Five-Gods Church,

  not the Seven-Day Church.

  "Only five gods—no Vesus, the God of Mystery and Wisdom?"

  In an instant, Hulim understood why the corridor had no mention of the God of Wisdom: because in that era—

  the God of Wisdom did not yet exist!

  "What on earth is happening? Could it be...... that Vesus appeared later?"

  "But if he appeared later, when and how did it happen? And...... is he the only one who appeared afterward?"

  "Aside from Mother Earth Goddess Terra, who created the world, were the other gods truly present from the beginning......"

  Vaguely, Hulim felt she had touched upon the greatest secret of the gods.

  Or perhaps it wasn’t a secret at all. Everything from the distant past had been quietly sleeping underground.

  It was just that the Church and those in the know had never made it public.

  After calming her emotions, Hulim continued exploring the church ruins. But due to the passage of time, little information remained.

  Before long, she left the church and wandered the city again.

  "I should find something to eat first......"

  She’d wasted so much time that her stomach was already growling.

  Within the city, there were trees bearing berries. Using her wilderness survival knowledge, Hulim quickly identified edible ones.

  However, berries alone couldn’t sustain her forever.

  Hulim descended to the city’s lowest level, near a river.

  She wove a rope from vines, tied it to the hilt of the Demon Sword Helkem, and pointed the sword at the river’s surface, waiting patiently.

  A few minutes later.

  Splash!

  With a sound of breaking water, a large fish was pierced through the body by Helkem.

  Hulim quickly pulled the sword back,

  then removed the fish impaled on the blade and lifted it in her hand.

  "Perfect. Dinner is sorted."

  "Next," Hulim looked around, "I need to find a place to build a fire and cook."

  She soon spotted a suitable spot and headed there with the fish.

  On her way, she passed a suspension stone bridge and was drawn to something in the distance......

  "Boom, boom!"

  A group of round, transparent creatures hopped around on a riverbank shoal, completely unaware of the danger approaching.

  "......It’s been a long time since I’ve had Bopom powder cuisine."

  Hulim’s eyes lit up, and she sprang into action.

  ......

  Over an hour later.

  Crackle! Pop!

  Beside a bonfire,

  several slices of fish were skewered on branches and roasted over the flames.

  Not far from the bonfire, there was a simple stove with an improvised cauldron, inside which a pale blue paste simmered.

  "......Adding this pulp juice should do it."

  Hulim poured a bowl of purple pulp juice into the cauldron, mixed it with the pale blue paste, and stirred continuously.

  After a few minutes, the purple paste’s moisture evaporated, turning into a translucent, sticky liquid like honey.

  "Done! Bopom jam!"

  Hulim lifted the cauldron and set it aside to cool.

  Once the fish slices were golden brown,

  she placed them all on a cleaned stone table and spread the purple Bopom jam on each one.

  When everything was ready, Hulim picked up a fish slice, brought it to her mouth, and took a gentle bite.

  "Mmm, delicious!"

  A happy expression immediately spread across her face.

  "Bopom jam is so tasty~!"

  "Thank you, Bopoms—I’ll remember you~!"

  After that day, the Bopoms, who had lived a carefree life here for years, faced the greatest crisis in their history.

  ......