Demon King: Hero, don’t run away!
Chapter 253 Sudden Change in Style

Yang Yu led the team at the forefront, as the vanguard, with Bai Jin closely following behind, using magic to illuminate their path, while Iyas took up the rear, responsible for watching their backs.

This tunnel had a certain slope, allowing them to descend smoothly into the depths.

The faint glow emitted by Bai Jin, though not enough to light up the profound darkness, was sufficient for Yang Yu to see what was ahead and prepare in advance.

The squad’s progress was slow, each step taken with the utmost caution, and it took some time before they reached the end of the tunnel.

Jumping down from the collapsed entrance, Yang Yu landed steadily on a passage paved with bluish stone slabs.

Following closely behind, Iyas and Bai Jin also landed securely on the spacious passage, their curiosity piqued as they surveyed the entire corridor with the help of the magical light.

The passage was as wide as five carriages, with consistent height and width, mainly constructed from blue and white stone blocks, exuding a naturally formed aesthetic beauty.

On both sides of the passage, walls were interwoven with colorful hues, forming a series of exquisite murals.

Gently touching the slightly glowing ground, Iyas felt this place was somewhat familiar,

"This place, it couldn’t be another type of Underground Maze, could it?"

Her gaze sweeping over the strange murals, Bai Jin dismissed Iyas’s idea,

"This looks more like some ancient ruin than an underground city. If it were an Underground Maze, there should be a distinct Magic Fluctuation, but so far, I’ve sensed nothing."

Yang Yu opened the System panel, but no new Tasks popped up on the task interface.

Previously, whenever they entered the range of an Underground Maze, the task interface would display tasks for conquering the maze, but this time there was nothing.

Perhaps this underground city had already been conquered by others, or as Bai Jin had said, it was some form of ancient ruins.

In the game, ruins represented both danger and opportunity, potentially housing countless treasures and Experience Value. Correspondingly, there would also be a variety of powerful monsters and intricate mechanisms.

However, the game’s ruins, like real ruins, could be dilapidated and picked clean of treasures, with all traps sprung, leaving behind only a series of Ancient traces, becoming a mere point of information.

Walking to the center of the passage and looking at the murals on both sides, Yang Yu attempted to delve deeper into the ruins.

The images depicted in the murals were somewhat abstract but did not hinder comprehension; even if one started reading from the middle, it was still clear what story was being told.

This layer’s murals depicted the progression of a civilization from simple farming and Flame starting to a feudal Kingdom ruled by a King, complete with systems and governance.

But at the end of the story, a dramatic twist occurred as countless people gathered to overthrow the King’s throne.

Following the staircase at the end of the first floor, Yang Yu and the others entered the second layer.

In this layer, dense Black Energy lingered in the passageway.

This Black Energy was harmless to humans and animals, simply permeating the corridor.

Even as Yang Yu and his team walked through the Black Energy, they did not feel any discomfort.

Continuing to survey the murals on the sides of the passage, Yang Yu was surprised to discover that after the kings were overthrown, a brief peace followed. Then, smoke of war rose, the fallen Kingdom became several fragmented civilizations, these civilizations collided with each other, sparking the light of Wisdom, and developed a variety of new technologies—on the murals, one could even see war machines similar to tanks and aircraft.

At the end of this layer, a great war erupted among the several civilizations. However, the second layer’s murals did not reveal the outcome of the war.

To learn about the subsequent developments, they had to proceed to the third layer.

In the third layer of ruins, clusters of bubble-like black liquid filled the passage.

These blob-shaped black liquids were exactly the same as the Corruptors Yang Yu and his companions had seen before they transformed into black creatures.

Unlike the Corruptors, these black liquids seemed to have their own minds, moving slowly, not requiring any Core.

Opening the panel, each of the squirming black liquids bore three large question marks; their names were unknown, but each of these black liquids had its own attribute and Blood Bar.

Yang Yu carefully took down one of the slimes, and it immediately turned into Black Energy that dissipated in the corridor—it took a while and didn’t return to a solid form, as if it had truly died.

Instructing Iyas and Bai Jin behind him to be cautious, Yang Yu wielded his sword to clear the way, cutting down one black liquid after another just like the black slimes.

Yang Yu also took the opportunity to finish viewing the murals on the third floor.

The third floor murals did not reveal the outcome of the war.

What they showed was that all civilizations joined forces to become one civilization—technology took off completely, with nearly two-thirds of the space from the beginning to the end of the third floor dedicated to their technological greatness—they even flew out of their planet and possessed a space fleet.

However, at the end of the third floor, the style of the murals changed abruptly again.

A massive giant held all the shining stars in his hands, and the civilization’s pride, their spaceship, looked like ants before this giant.

This civilization had encountered a god.

Eager to see what came next, Yang Yu immediately entered the fourth floor.

But on the fourth floor, the content of the murals came to an abrupt halt.

It wasn’t that the murals didn’t tell what happened next.

It’s just that the murals seemed corroded by something—in only the sparse fragments, one could glimpse just the tip of the iceberg of subsequent developments.

Moreover, on this floor, there were none of the slime-like black liquids, not even a trace of Black Energy.

The same situation occurred on the fifth floor.

The fifth floor’s murals were also corroded by something unknown, covered in black blotches, making it impossible to know what the murals were actually portraying—there was no Black Energy either.

Left with no other option, Yang Yu and his party could only proceed to the last floor.

The sixth floor of the ruins was a huge circular altar inscribed with ancient texts unknown to Yang Yu and his team, forming a pattern akin to a Magic Array.

In the center of the ancient altar, there was a Holy Grail filled with Purple Crystals.

The Holy Grail was made of stone and seemed to be designed simply to hold Purple Crystals.

"This is the center we’ve been searching for," Yang Yu pointed to the Array at the center of the altar, certain of his conclusion.

"Isn’t this going a bit too smoothly?" Iyas felt something was amiss, "It’s been only an hour or two since we arrived at these ruins, and we’ve managed to reach the last floor without any trouble."

"Plain sailing isn’t necessarily a bad thing... But it looks like this is just the calm before the storm."

"What do you mean?"

Yang Yu didn’t explain, but instead tossed a scroll to Bai Jin, instructing her to open it and place it above the Holy Grail in the middle.

Soon after, a dazzling light swept through the entire underground ruins, dispelling the remaining Darkness.