One of the two humanoid skeletons wasn't more than 1.9 meters tall, while the other was less than 1.8 meters tall. It looked ordinary, but it delivered an unimaginable blow to Klein who was above the gray fog.
At that moment, it was as though he had returned to the time when he saw the door of light and the "cocoons." Although the emotions he felt were different, the shock was almost identical.
This... This isn't the corpse of a giant... This definitely belongs to a human... The parents of the Giant King Aurmir were humans? Klein's pupils dilated suddenly, as though they were thirsting to let more light in for him to see it more clearly.
However, no matter how he observed or scrutinized the skeletons, he couldn't find any characteristics of giants from the two grayish-white skeletons.
Their limbs were perfectly proportional, and their bones had two eye sockets. They were definitely not underaged giants!
After a brief moment of silence, Klein lowered his hand with the Sea God Scepter once again as thoughts flashed through his mind:
Perhaps they're parents that aren't related by blood... Maybe, the ancestors of the giants are humans... In the First Epoch where chaos and madness reigned, some humans fused with the Beyonder characteristics, mutating into cruel, irrational, and bloodthirsty giants? On the one hand, their descendants inherited their physical charac^^ the other hand, they gradually recovered mentally. Hence, they stabilized themselves to become a savage and bloodthirsty race. Among them, Giant King Aurmir was the first batch of mutants, but "He" had managed to maintain a certain level of rationality; hence, becoming an ancient god? The source of all of this does resemble the origin myths, the original Creator?
After his thoughts settled into a theory, he began making connections while coming up with more questions:
Why does the Giant King want to label the Waning Forest as a forbidden area and not allow any living creatures to enter?
"He" doesn't wish for the fact of humans being the ancestors of giants to be known?
But if that's really the case, "He" could've just cremated his parents' remains. There's no need to go through so much trouble... Moreover, what's with that strong sense of guilt?
Who opened the tomb? The ancient sun god who killed the Giant King? The God of Dawn, Badheil, or the other subsidiary gods of the Giant King's Court?
Also, since the ancestor of giants was human, what about elves, Sanguine, and other supernatural beings? The ancestors of dragons are actually lizards?
In the middle of the Second Epoch, were there factors regarding their different origins, that led to the conflict between the different factions of the quasi-human and the mutants?"
As Klein didn't have enough clues or information, it was difficult for him to make any judgment or think of any more possibilities. He could only forcefully rein in his thoughts and focus his attention on the City of Silver's expedition team.
At this moment, Demon Hunter Colin led Lovia, Derrick, and company to the stone tablet and saw the remains in the tomb.
They also fell into an indescribable silence for a long time.
Finally, Joshua, who was wearing a scarlet glove, asked hesitantly, "These are the parents of the Giant King?"
From this City of Silver's Dawn Paladin's point of view, the two corpses were indeed not as tall as giants. They were even inferior to him from back when he had just become an adult.
If they were identified as young giants, then the proportions and facial features of their bodies didn't match.
Joshua's question reverberated in the surroundings, but no one answered.
After a few seconds, Demon Hunter Colin slowly said, "That's why it's a secret."
He didn't mention his thoughts or theories.
"...Does this mean that giants are actually a branch of humans, a result of the transformation brought about by Beyonder characteristics?" Upon hearing this, the wine-red-haired Antiona said thoughtfully.
The ancestors of the giants are humans? Derrick felt a little dizzy from the shock. He felt that there was a huge gap between the two.
With this thought in mind, he recalled his companions who had lost control, especially those from the Giant pathway. He slowly and vaguely believed that it wasn't impossible.
Those who lost control usually became abnormally large. Their skin was covered in grayish-blue color, and there was a huge crack in the middle of their brows that sucked in their pair of eyes.
"Perhaps," Demon Hunter Colin answered briefly.
The members of the City of Silver's expedition team fell silent once again.
In this atmosphere, Derrick glanced at Shepherd Elder Lovia and realized that this member of the six-member council had a calm expression. It was neither solemn or confused.
At this moment, Demon Hunter Colin looked around and said, "Split up into groups of two to three people and search the surrounding areas. Let's see if there's anything to be found."
The members of the expedition team snapped back to their senses and began carefully exploring the area according to the Chiefs instructions.
Unfortunately, this Waning Forest didn't have anything of value other than trees, tomb tablets, or tombs.
Without further delay, Derrick exchanged Sealed Artifacts with Haim to prevent his Beyonder characteristic from being purged by the Unshadowed Crucifix.
Then, they followed Demon Hunter Colin out of the Waning Forest, circled around the protruding boulder along the mountain, and found the gigantic cave that was thirty meters tall.
Outside the cave, a stone stele had already shattered into pieces and was growing weeds.
Under the orange glow of the twilight, there was an indescribable sense of waning death.
After entering the cave, the City of Silver's expedition team followed the weathered stone slabs and the peeling murals. They walked between the withered weeds and rough gravel, and they warily explored the area.
With every step they took, they would feel that their lifespans were weakening and were becoming dehydrated.
After an unknown period of time, the City of Silver's expedition team finally saw a grayish-blue door which was open.
On both sides of the door were pieces of iron-black fragments that seemed to belong to some sort of armor.
"There should've been guards here," Colin said simply. He took out a bottle of medicine and gulped it down.
His light blue eyes were quickly tinged with a layer of dark yellow, and two complex dark-green symbols appeared in his pupils.
After carefully observing the grayish-blue door for a while, he nodded and walked into the dark hall.
All of them passed through the door and came inside. The hall seemed to be held by an invisible hand as it rose up after a loud thud.
More than ten seconds later, the hall stopped moving. Outside the door, a magnificent palace propped up by stone pillars appeared. It looked like the residence of the guards.
Derrick subconsciously looked around and swept his gaze across the various items in the hall. He saw two murals with ancient characteristics.
The main character of a mural was a giant who wore full-body silver armor and emitted an obvious glow. At the location of his eyes, there was a blob condensed from the dawn of light. In the middle of another mural stood a lady dark brown hair. She was a female giant in a long leather skirt. She held a wheat head and fruits and was surrounded by fields ready to be harvested, clear lake waters, fruit-bearing trees, and bright mushrooms.
God of Dawn Badheil... Goddess of Harvest Omebella... Derrick came to a realization as he nodded slightly.
He then retracted his gaze and saw the Chief staring at the mural that represented the Goddess of Harvest. His expression was still as heavy as before.
Is the Chief hoping that the City of Silver would also have a real "harvest"? As Derrick thought, he followed the orders of Shepherd Elder Lovia, forming a team with the others. They then searched for valuable items and checked if there were any hidden passageways.
About seven to eight minutes later, they gathered together and followed Chief Colin Iliad into the main door of the hall.
Colin Iliad stabbed the two swords into the gap between the stone slabs in front of him. He stretched out his hands and pressed them on both sides of the door. With just a bit of force, it opened its mouth with a heavy rumble.
The orange and splendid light of dusk silently shone in, allowing the City of Silver's expedition team to see palaces and the numerous towers that delivered a strong visual impact.
The scale, magnificence, and epic feeling of a myth felt more obvious and shocking due to the close proximity between them. Everyone subconsciously held their breaths and forgot about anything else, fully immersing themselves in the scenery.
It was the same for Klein above the gray fog.
This was the King's Court of the giants.
This was a real divine kingdom.
After about ten seconds, Demon Hunter Colin pulled out his swords and half-turned his body, saying to Shepherd Lovia, "Try checking out the situation on both sides. I can't see what lies ahead too clearly."
The two dark-green symbols in his eyes slowly dissipated.
Lovia acknowledged his order and took two steps forward to the door.
Outside, there was a platform with staircases on both sides. In front of them stood a railing formed from grayish-white stone pillars that faced the tallest building in the area. There was a huge blue-gray door with countless mysterious symbols carved on both sides of it. It looked extremely dignified.
The corridors, stairs, and other objects connected the multitude of palaces and towers together. They were magnificent and brilliant.
Lovia's silver-gray hair floated up as the stone that was bathed in the light of dusk protruded out, forming a grayish- white doll.
The doll didn't have any spirituality. It was like a strung puppet as it walked to the left.
It followed the staircase and walked down one level after another amidst the rich orange light to help the expedition team confirm the situation.
Suddenly, its body stopped as fine silver light burst out from within, turning it into countless fragments.
Shepherd Lovia wasn't alarmed. She followed the steps from before and created another stone golem, making it head to the right.
This time, the stone golem walked to the end of the staircase and stopped at the entrance of the palace below without anything happening along the way.
Demon Hunter Colin watched intently the entire time before saying, "Let's go to the right, but we have to be careful as well."
Although he didn't find any danger, the fact that he couldn't discern the actual situation using his Beyonder powers meant that there were many problems.
With such a reminder, Derrick and company became even more and more tense. The groups of three began to slowly walk down as they watched each other's backs.
As they walked along the high stairs, Joshua, who was wearing a scarlet glove, suddenly heard a series of tapping sounds coming from behind him.
It was as if there was a person following them in silence.
And at this moment, Shepherd Elder Lovia was to his side. From the corner of his eye, he could tell that the footsteps were definitely not coming from her.
A chill ran down Joshua's spine as he hurriedly said in a deep voice, "There are footsteps behind me."
Lovia turned her head and allowed the five-meter-tall Silver Knight to appear in front of her. It sized up Joshua's back with its scarlet fiery eyes.
After a few seconds of silence, the Shepherd Elder shook her head.
"There's nothing there."
