Alex kept his eyes fixed on the moving red marker as it gradually drew closer.
According to the map, the entity was approaching the entrance they had just passed through. Alex didn't know what it was or how strong it might be, but there was no reason to take unnecessary risks before they even understood the situation.
He quietly raised his hand and cast
A black veil descended around Alex and Sherry, forming a faintly distorted canopy that concealed their figures from the surrounding area. The artificial light above seemed to disappear within the darkness, leaving only a dim view of the ruins through the spell.
Sherry looked around in confusion.
"It's a precaution."
Alex didn't explain further. His attention remained focused on the System Map displayed within his vision, where the red marker continued moving steadily toward their position.
Sherry seemed puzzled by his sudden use of a concealment spell, but she didn't ask any more questions. She trusted Alex enough to know that if he had suddenly become cautious, there had to be a reason behind it.
"Let's move somewhere safer first."
Sherry nodded quietly.
The two of them began moving through the ruins, keeping their pace slow and their movements careful. Alex avoided the open streets whenever possible, guiding Sherry between broken walls and collapsed structures while keeping the Dark Curtain around them.
Every few seconds, he glanced toward the corner of his vision, where a small live map continuously updated their surroundings. The red markers shifted in real time, allowing him to track the movements of the threats without exposing himself.
'It's getting closer.'
Alex slowed down slightly as the marker approached. For a brief moment, he wondered whether it had somehow detected them.
But then he noticed something strange. The marker didn't change direction. It continued along the same route, moving toward the entrance without deviating even slightly.
Alex watched carefully as it finally reached the massive gate and stopped there for a short while.
Then, without doing anything else, the red marker turned around and began moving back along almost the exact same path.
Alex's expression relaxed slightly. 'So it wasn't coming for us.'
The entity had followed the same route from the beginning, approached the entrance, lingered there briefly, and then returned to the ruins.
'It's probably on patrol.'
That was a useful piece of information.
If the entity was following a predetermined route, then the red markers weren't necessarily roaming randomly throughout the ruins. Some of them might have specific areas they were assigned to patrol.
Alex couldn't help but become curious.
'What exactly is that thing?'
The System had marked it as a threat, but the map didn't provide any additional information. There was no name, rank, or description that could tell him what he was dealing with.
He was tempted to investigate.
After all, this was the first actual entity they had encountered since entering this independent space. Learning what kind of guardians existed inside the ruins could make their journey considerably easier.
But curiosity wasn't worth risking their lives.
Alex had no idea how strong the entity was. More importantly, he didn't know whether attacking one of these guardians would trigger some kind of response from the others.
If they could communicate with one another, attacking one might alert every other guardian in the area. That would turn their careful exploration into a nightmare.
They had only just entered the second section, and their priority was still finding Sherry's parents and the missing expedition team.
There was no reason to attract unnecessary attention before they even knew what they were dealing with.
After confirming that the red markers had moved far enough away, Alex finally dispelled
After taking a short break inside the ruined building, they resumed their search.
The second section was far larger than Alex had initially expected. What had looked like a small abandoned city from the entrance stretched far into the distance, filled with countless buildings, broken roads, towers, courtyards, and structures whose original purposes were difficult to determine.
Searching everything manually was going to take a considerable amount of time.
They couldn't simply enter every building, search every room, and hope to find someone inside. There were simply too many structures to investigate one by one.
'At this rate, we'll be searching for days.'
Alex opened the System Map again and compared their current location with the highlighted area.
Unfortunately, the map didn't provide an exact location for the expedition team. The entire region was highlighted as the search area, meaning there was still plenty of ground they had to cover themselves.
Alex sighed inwardly.
'The Complete Revelation Map is supposed to be the highest level, yet it still makes me do the actual work.'
Even so, it was far better than searching blindly.
With the map guiding them and Sherry recognizing the traces left behind by her parent's expedition, they could at least narrow down their search.
They continued moving from one ruined structure to another.
Most of what they found was useless.
Sherry occasionally stopped to examine something that caught her attention, but most of the time, she would eventually shake her head and move on.
Then, after nearly an hour of searching, Sherry suddenly stopped. A faint symbol had been carved into the side of a partially collapsed building. Sherry immediately recognized it.
"This is one of the expedition markers."
Alex walked closer.
"What does it mean?"
"It means this area has already been searched." Sherry carefully examined the symbol. "My parents used markers like these during their expeditions. They would leave them behind so the others wouldn't waste time searching the same place twice."
Alex glanced toward the partially collapsed building.
"Then let's take a look inside."
The two of them carefully entered through the damaged entrance. The moment Alex stepped inside, he immediately noticed something strange.
The rooms were relatively clean.
There was very little dust, and although parts of the building had been damaged, there were no signs that the interior had been left untouched for an extended period. Some areas had even been cleared of rubble.
Sherry slowly looked around. Her expression gradually changed. "These traces..." She stepped closer to one of the rooms, carefully examining the ground and the objects scattered nearby.
"They aren't that old."
There was a faint tremble in her voice.
Alex looked toward her.
For the first time since they had entered the ancient ruin, Sherry's usually restrained expression gave way to a faint but unmistakable hope.
The ancient ruin was an independent space, and before they had anchored it to the outside world, its flow of time had been unstable.
They had known from the beginning that the three years which had passed outside didn't necessarily mean three years had passed inside.
'If the time flow here is different...' Alex's gaze swept across the room. 'The expedition might not have experienced three years inside the ruins.'
The possibility had existed from the very beginning, but seeing these traces made it feel far more real.
Alex looked toward Sherry.
"Let's keep going."
Sherry nodded, and the two of them continued forward.
As they moved deeper into the highlighted region, the ruins gradually became more imposing. Several large towers rose above the surrounding buildings, while the remains of massive structures were scattered throughout the area.
The old road beneath their feet had almost completely disappeared beneath dust, cracks, and overgrown vegetation
Alex checked the System Map again.
They were getting closer to the center of the highlighted area. At the same time, several red markers had appeared farther ahead.
Alex's expression slowly became serious when he noticed there was more than one. The red markers weren't moving toward them, but several were gathered around the area ahead.
Alex looked around.
There were several towers nearby, but most of them had collapsed. One, however, was still standing.
It was heavily damaged, with large cracks running across its exterior, but its upper section remained mostly intact.
Alex glanced toward Sherry.
"I'll take a look from above."
"Be careful."
"I will."
Alex moved toward the tower.
Using the remaining sections of the structure, he quickly climbed upward until he reached one of the higher levels. From there, he had a much clearer view of the surrounding ruins.
The abandoned city stretched endlessly beneath him.
Then, with his enhanced senses, Alex finally spotted one of the entities represented by the red markers.
The guardian was enormous, standing roughly three meters tall. Its humanoid shape immediately reminded Alex of the sentinels he had seen in sci-fi movies back on Earth.
The resemblance was almost uncanny.
The guardian's body appeared to be made from some unknown material. It wasn't quite metal, yet it didn't resemble ordinary stone either. Its surface was mostly smooth and strangely reflective, catching the artificial light from above as it moved through the ruins.
Nothing about its appearance suggested that it was a living creature.
More importantly, it didn't wander aimlessly. The guardian followed a fixed route through the ruins, occasionally stopping at certain locations before continuing onward.
Alex remained completely still as he watched it from a distance.
'So this is one of the things represented by the red markers.'
He had already suspected that the markers represented some kind of guardian, but seeing one with his own eyes was completely different.
Even from afar, Alex could already feel a faint sense of danger.
Whatever this thing was, it clearly wasn't something that should be taken lightly.