The Guardian System: The strongest Summoner's quest to save his family-Chapter 386: A City Like a Corpse (3)

Another building had rows of what looked like power capacitors studding its walls.

<This was a research district.>

The discovery made him pause. The Ignis he fought were feral monsters made of rock and fire, but they had once been people.

The blade-arms and armor plates fused to their bodies weren't natural growths; they were manufactured.

They had been a technological species before the apocalypse twisted them. Looking at the scale of the ruins and the complexity of the broken machinery, their level of technology might not have been that far from humanity's before the System arrived.

They had built telescopes and satellites, established laboratories to push the boundaries of their understanding, and had likely been on the verge of interplanetary exploration before everything went wrong. Without the System to regulate the mana, their entire civilization had collapsed into the feral nightmare he was walking through now.

The knowledge didn't help him now, but it stuck in his mind. It was a reminder of what happened when a civilization failed the test represented by the coming of mana.

<If the Ignis had reached this level of development before mana arrived, what does this say about humanity's future?>

Reidar pushed the thought aside. It didn't make sense to think about what could go wrong with humanity if they didn't put their shit in order.

Besides, humans had the System now, which gave them skills and abilities that changed the nature of their existence.

There was still a chance for them to survive and not fall for the same fate the Ignis had. Though what happened to them was still unclear, and Reidar had the inkling that figuring it out was important.

<Maybe I should also check for some information while I'm here.>

Regardless, introducing the System had transformed everything about how humanity operated and survived.

Before the System arrived and changed the rules of reality, humanity's technological advancement had been progressing at a rapid pace, having launched satellites into orbit around Earth.

They had built and maintained operational space stations. They had been developing detailed plans and conducting preliminary research for establishing permanent colonies on Mars.

The Ignis had likely done the same, and possibly better, given the sophistication of their equipment. This telescope wasn't some crude device cobbled together from salvaged parts. The dishes on the other building weren't makeshift either. They were designed for long-range communication or data collection.

<They were ahead in some ways, and yet it didn't save them.>

He looked at the equipment and wondered if they had tried to build their own portals to escape the apocalypse, just like Mara was trying to do now.

The feed from the Sky-Hunters shifted as one of them circled a district near what he figured was the city's heart, revealing a huge, palace-like structure built from polished stone that even now reflected the hazy light.

Around it were vast expanses of land that were divided by low walls and geometric paths.

<Gardens,> Reidar realized. <Or what had been gardens.>

Now they were just barren plots filled with grey ash and the fossilized remains of what might have been trees.

<A palace.> But this wasn't the capital city, so this place must have either been some rich dude's mansion or a government building.

Reidar's wolf stopped. He pulled his focus to the feed streaming from the Sky-Hunter circling above, watching as the building that dominated the center of the district came into view—a massive structure with tall, ornamental columns.

There were elaborate archways built into its facade, and multiple terraces wrapped around the upper levels of the building.

The roof seemed structurally intact, although there were visible scorch marks in several places where fire or extreme heat had damaged the surface.

The grounds surrounding the palace had various features that suggested careful design. There were pathways that connected different sections of the complex.

Raised beds were arranged in patterns throughout the area. Various structures dotted the landscape that might have served as fountains or decorative sculptures in their original state.

If Mara was in this city, this was where she would go. A research facility, or a governmental one, would have its most valuable materials, its prototype components, and its secure vaults in its central administrative and archival buildings.

A place like this palace was the most logical target here. He couldn't see any signs of her from this height, but she wouldn't be standing in the open. She would be inside, searching for what she needed, and the fact that she could teleport meant that there were going to be few tracks.

Reidar decided the palace was his primary target and pulled up his map to mark the location, noting he was about two miles away. He signaled his wolf to move forward while keeping the other wolves close around him.

He urged the mount into a faster pace, staying in the middle of the road where the ash was thin enough to avoid leaving deep tracks, but he kept his eyes on the Sky-Hunter feed.

He didn't want to stumble into a trap while his focus was on the palace, which was why he kept his eyes on the Sky-Hunter feed as his wolf moved forward. In the end, Reidar reached the palace's entrance, and as the Vorathid Sky-Hunters saw, there were no monsters around, though Reidar didn't know if that was a good or a bad thing.

Reidar knew better than anyone that when there were empty zones, it was most likely because a powerful monster was there.

The problem was that throughout the city, Reidar stumbled upon them often. There were large sections of the city where no Ignis roamed, meaning that something worse lived there.

A predator that had claimed the territory.

<Shit… What do I do now?>

The palace was too quiet.

<Going in would be dangerous. But the Sky-Hunters...>

He pulled up the mental connection to the summons circling around. There was still a risk they would be found out, but at least it wouldn't be him.

<Better than nothing.>

Reidar selected 12 of them and issued the command. The creatures broke formation and dove toward the palace entrance, disappearing into the obscured interior.

Complete darkness swallowed the first few seconds of the transmission, making it impossible to see anything at all.

Then, gradually, the Sky-Hunters' vision began to adjust to the low-light conditions.