Walking before the throne, Mozo quickly organized his thoughts and arrived at an answer with a very high chance of success.
Without hesitation, he sat down upon the throne and began putting his plan into motion.
---
Above the grand hall, Count Hearn had already led his people into the Cromwell-era ruins.
Looking around at the remnants scattered throughout the site, winches, steel chains, support beams, and countless unopened crates of excavation equipment, it was obvious that the noble who had discovered the ruins beneath had barely begun exploring before Duke Cromwell had sent him to the guillotine.
Even so, that noble had successfully opened a tunnel leading to the underground elven ruins and had even constructed a sturdy mining elevator.
That alone saved Hearn and his team a great deal of effort.
As he examined the surroundings, Count Hearn frowned and said:
"Such a massive operation, yet the Empire knew nothing about it. Those parasites truly cared nothing for the Empire's interests. They deserved the guillotine."
None of the other Beyonders commented.
Instead, they pretended to remain vigilant, scanning the surroundings.
The conflict between the imperial government and the landed nobility was not something they were qualified to discuss.
Ironically, that was also why Duke Cromwell, despite slaughtering large numbers of nobles without trial, remained one of the most controversial figures in history.
After those nobles died, the Empire undeniably grew stronger by reclaiming the authority and Sealed Artifacts that had accumulated in their hands.
Likewise, it was only because the Empress had executed Duke Cromwell that the once-weakened royal family had instantly gained enormous support from the noble class.
After venting a few curses, Count Hearn wasted no more time and stepped onto the mining elevator first.
The teams led by the three Sequence Five Beyonders followed behind him.
To be honest, as both a Sequence Three demigod and the highest-ranking commander present, Hearn could have easily remained at the rear and ordered others to descend first.
No one would have criticized him for it, either professionally or personally.
Yet he chose to lead from the front.
Part of that was confidence in his own strength.
The other part was concern for his subordinates.
As they descended, the elegant carvings and ancient inscriptions covering the walls confirmed their earlier conclusion.
This was indeed an elven ruin.
The only mystery was why an elven ruin existed here.
Even at the height of their power, the elves had never established colonies in this region.
Their territory had always centered around the ancient forest surrounding the Twin Sacred Trees.
After surveying the area, Count Hearn waved a hand.
Countless hawks burst forth and sped through the tunnels ahead.
A short while later, receiving feedback through his summoned birds, he increased his pace.
The others hurried to keep up.
At the same time, several Beyonders stared curiously at the inscriptions lining the walls.
The writing certainly possessed the elegance and beauty characteristic of elven script.
This should undoubtedly be an elven ruin.
So why couldn't they recognize a single word?
Apparently noticing their confusion, the captain who had received the prophecy earlier chuckled and explained:
"Those are the writings used by the elves of ancient times. The script you're familiar with is also Elvish, but it's the modern version. Not recognizing these characters is perfectly normal."
"If you could read them, that would be the suspicious part."
The explanation immediately cleared things up for many of the Beyonders.
At the same time, their expressions grew even more solemn.
They might not be able to read Ancient Elvish, but they certainly knew what it represented.
The appearance of Ancient Elvish meant this ruin dated back to the era of the Sun King.
After the Sun King's death, the elves had abandoned that script entirely as a memorial to their fallen monarch.
And the Sun King's era predated the founding of several Churches.
The fact that a structure from such an ancient age still stood intact today was proof enough that immense wealth and countless mystical resources had been invested in its construction.
Under normal circumstances, the more valuable a ruin was, the more dangerous it tended to be.
Not to mention the prophecy claiming that a Great One would return here.
The more they thought about it, the more dangerous the expedition seemed.
Merely realizing what kind of ruin they had entered was enough for many members of the team to regret not leaving behind a will.
As they ventured deeper, some sharp-eyed Beyonders noticed that although nothing had happened so far, Count Hearn's expression was steadily worsening.
The atmosphere grew increasingly tense.
That tension reached its peak when they discovered two corpses.
Two Beyonders who had died only recently.
Oddly enough, the pair appeared to have killed each other.
Had they fallen victim to some terrifying illusion?
With that possibility in mind, everyone quietly took out anti-illusion runes and potions.
Meanwhile, deep within the grand hall, Mozo observed everything through the throne's monitoring spells.
He stared at the two corpses with confusion.
If he wasn't mistaken, they were probably the "World" and "Hanged Man" that White Dove had mentioned.
The outer sections of the ruins did contain maintenance automatons, and those constructs possessed limited combat capabilities.
But setting that aside, the way these two had died didn't look like murder by a third party at all.
One had been stabbed in the back.
The other had bled from all seven orifices.
Had they found some valuable treasure and turned on each other?
Yet there didn't seem to be anything particularly valuable near the bodies.
As for illusions, that was even less likely.
There were no illusion mechanisms in this ruin.
Scratching his head, Mozo decided not to dwell on it.
The dead couldn't be brought back to life.
If they were still alive, he might have been able to manipulate the ruin and safely escort them out.
But now?
There was nothing he could do.
Better to focus on the matter at hand.
Under Mozo's observation and subtle guidance, Count Hearn's group finally arrived safely and intact before the final gate.
It was a gigantic bronze door.
The door had already been sealed from within.
Without activating the Golden Army, even Mozo himself had no way to open it.
Which meant the Beyonders would have to figure it out themselves.
Yes.
The reason Count Hearn's group had reached the bronze gate so smoothly was twofold.
First, there truly wasn't much remaining military force within the ruins.
Second, Mozo had deliberately allowed them to enter.
Otherwise, according to the ruin's original defensive protocols, they would have triggered multiple defensive spells at critical junctions.
The tunnels would have collapsed.
And they would have been buried beneath countless tons of earth.
Even if Count Hearn, as a Sequence Three demigod, might have survived, the expedition certainly would not have progressed this smoothly.
As for why Mozo had intentionally let them in?
Naturally, it was because he planned to fleece the authorities for everything he could.