Western Sardinia, Province of Oristano.
This was a well-developed city, and it was even closer to the sea than Cagliari.
The wind here carried the scent of the sea, giving it a very open atmosphere, and it had a distinguishing feature—an abundance of ruins.
Ancient ruins and the beautiful sea, these two were considered the most important tourist resources on Sardinia.
Across Sardinia, more than seven thousand stone fortresses have been discovered to date.
These stone fortresses are called Nuraghe, and their construction period can roughly be traced back to around the 15th century BC. At that ti, the people of Sardinia gathered around these Nuraghe to establish settlents and lived there, continuing through the prehistoric era until the Phoenicians arrived. These settlents ca to an end in 509 BC, when the Phoenician city of Tharros ca to dominate the entirety of Sardinia.
Later, the Roman Republic—now under imperial rule—arrived here and began a new regi. They renovated the streets built by the Phoenicians and made this place their own residence. Thus, many Phoenician and Roman ruins exist across Sardinia.
The Province of Oristano was one of the cities in Sardinia particularly rich in ruins.
It wasn't far from the southern city of Cagliari—only about two hours by car, and if coming from the sky, the ti would be even shorter. Not to ntion, Kaiser's Shunpo was much faster than any vehicle.
Thus, it took less than fifteen minutes for Kaiser's figure to appear in the skies above Oristano.
"We've arrived."
Kaiser carried Erica, but he didn't land within Oristano itself. Instead, he descended outside the northern city gate.
As soon as Kaiser landed, Erica imdiately struggled and leapt down from his grip.
"You rude brute! You actually carried like that again! What do you take a beautiful lady for? Luggage!?"
Erica was extrely agitated—so much so that her face had turned a bit pale.
She would never admit that her legs were slightly weak now and that she nearly threw up.
"Wasn't this the fastest way to reach our destination?" Kaiser looked at Erica's slightly pale face with amusent and said, "I just wanted to make the best use of ti and resolve the troubles caused by the Heretic God before anything happens on Sardinia. I'm sure Miss Blandelli can understand that, right?"
"You'd better an that!"
Erica glared at Kaiser, her eyes glistening with the hint of tears—a stark contrast to her usual confident composure.
After quite so effort, Erica finally cald down, looked at Kaiser with an unfriendly expression, and questioned him.
"And? What are we doing here?"
If the man before her couldn't give her a proper explanation, she would definitely make him understand what it ant to incur the wrath of a lady.
"What's the rush? We still have a bit of a journey ahead." Kaiser ignored Erica's unfriendly look and said, "Oristano is just a transit point. Our real destination is Tharros."
"Tharros?" Erica imdiately furrowed her brows.
That was a city located on a promontory that jutted into the sea, partially subrged, about twenty kiloters from Oristano.
The origin of this city was a ruin—it was a national city built by the Phoenicians of Tharros, dedicated to the god they worshipped as their guardian deity.
To enable the Phoenician mariti routes to reach the western coastline, the Romans had once used ruins known as Antas and Tharros as strongholds to construct cities. As such, in the eyes of many, Tharros was always just a ruin.
"This is the closest place to the ruins of Tharros. If we take a taxi north from here, it would take about an hour to reach."
Kaiser ca here first to confirm the direction and location.
"S-So, we still have to fly there?"
Erica lost her composure.
Kaiser didn't respond. He simply smiled and slowly—yet swiftly—reached out to grab the back of her neck.
"Relax. It's just a few minutes. Hang in there a bit longer and we'll be there."
As he said this, without giving Erica a chance to resist or refuse, Kaiser once again activated Shunpo and dashed north.
"Stop itttttttttt...!"
Erica finally couldn't hold back and let out a wail.
...
Tharros, Saint Bastian Ruins.
This was a famous ruin located within a vast forest next to Tharros.
There were many Nuraghe in poor condition preserved here, as well as the ruins of nurous settlents. Although many ruins were in good condition, from a tourism standpoint, this place wasn't very popular among visitors. Therefore, compared to other sites, it felt sowhat deserted.
It was still morning. The sun had only just risen from the east not long ago. Since this ruin was located in the northwest of Sardinia, the sunlight was late to arrive and had not yet penetrated the forest—only covering the treetops with a layer of golden veil.
In the lush green forest, the ancient towers stood tall, so tall that they could overlook the towering trees. From outside the forest, one could glimpse these skillfully constructed stone structures.
"Whoosh!"
Kaiser, carrying Erica by the back of her neck, suddenly appeared atop one of the Nuraghe and landed on it.
"Alright, we're here."
Just as Kaiser finished speaking, Erica sluggishly climbed down from him.
Then, a flash of sword light suddenly burst forth and struck toward Kaiser.
"Clang!"
Kaiser extended a single finger and used the pad of it to block the angry stab from the magic sword.
"Broke through your defenses?"
Looking at Erica stabbing at him with her sword, Kaiser's lips curled slightly.
"…I really think I need to show you what the wrath of a lady ans." Erica trembled all over in anger, forcing a smile as she gritted her teeth and said, "I, Erica Blandelli, have never suffered such humiliation—you'd better prepare yourself."
"Give it a rest." Kaiser pushed aside Erica's sword nonchalantly and said, "You're not my match."
The mont those words left his mouth, Erica beca even angrier.
As a celebrity in the Milan magical world and even the entire Italian mystic side—a renowned prodigy—no one had ever dared to speak so arrogantly before Erica.
Though young, a Great Knight was already the highest rank below Paladin. The fact that Erica held the title of Great Knight proved that she was no re genius, but also a formidable individual.
At the very least, she didn't believe she would lose to soone who wasn't even a Paladin.
And how many Paladins were there?
Probably so few in the world that one could count them on both hands and feet.
So, soone saying she wasn't their match—Erica had never encountered such a thing.
But Erica also had to admit—the man before her, whose identity was shrouded in mystery, possessed unfathomable strength.
She truly was no match for him.
"Don't let find out who you really are."
Erica said hatefully, clearly planning to use her family's secret rituals to curse Kaiser the mont she got back.
Of course, Kaiser didn't mind—he even hoped Erica would do just that.
He was quite curious—if Erica used so secret magical ritual to curse him, would his resistance to magical power bounce it back onto the caster?
If it did, then Erica was in for quite the surprise.
"Look over there."
Suddenly, Kaiser pointed in a direction, prompting Erica to look.
The two of them now stood before a clearing deep within the forest. Due to their elevated position, they could see a broad plaza with excellent visibility.
Although weeds had spread and covered the area, Erica could still see traces of settlents carefully built from stone, and in one corner of the plaza stood a massive tree with a thick trunk.
Piles of collapsed stone—origin unknown—covered the ground around the tree.
But from this angle, Erica still saw that among the weeds and stones covering the ground, there was a hollow space.
It was a triangular cave entrance.
"Could that be the entrance to the temple?"
Erica instantly realized sothing and looked toward Kaiser.
"That's right." Kaiser nodded and said, "The presence of a Nuraghe here proves this is an ancient settlent ruin. The surrounding traces also confirm that."
"A Phoenician settlent ruin?" Erica seed to understand what Kaiser was getting at and said solemnly, "In those days, settlents were considered even more sacred than temples or tombs. If a Heretic God appeared here, then…"
"Then it's perfectly normal for Him to be drawn to the spiritual nature of this land and take this place as a temporary stronghold." Kaiser smiled and said, "Prepare yourself. What you're about to see is a true Heretic God."
With that, Kaiser leapt from the top of the Nuraghe and dove into the cave.
"..."
Erica took a deep breath, then followed, jumping into the cave and entering the temple.
There were stairs inside the cave, leading downward.
This was a true underground temple—its interior skillfully constructed from stacked stones, with even the gaps filled with masonry. It was crude, yet solemn.
The first thing Erica noticed upon entering was the damp air.
This was highly abnormal.
Sardinia has a diterranean climate—generally quite dry. The air flowing underground being so humid could not be normal.
But Erica didn't say anything—or rather, she couldn't.
One could not feel it outside the temple, but the mont she entered, Erica was struck by an indescribable atmosphere.
That aura felt as if it were telling all who entered: there is an imnse, magnificent, vast existence here, making her body tense and her heart tremble.
As a magician, as a knight, Erica's exceptional sixth sense and sharp magical sensitivity were screaming in alarm—urging her to flee imdiately.
"Follow ."
Kaiser's voice remained calm and natural, as if he felt none of the atmosphere or hidden danger. He walked forward toward the depths of the temple.
Erica followed on instinct, and the two of them walked through a corridor for about ten minutes.
Along the way, several branching paths appeared before them, but before Erica could even use magical power or spells to sense the right direction, Kaiser moved forward without hesitation, as though he already knew the way.
Finally, the two reached the end of the temple...
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