The Eternal Bastion continued moving for the next two days without suffering any new attacks. Lilith used that time to practice her blood magic much more carefully after discovering that piercing walls was a quick way to attract the attention of the maintenance crews.
She had managed to create small weapons, reinforce specific parts of her body, and better control the amount of energy she used, although she was still far from mastering those abilities. Claire insisted that resting was also part of training. Lilith was fairly certain that was simply an elegant way of preventing her from destroying another training dummy.
On the morning of the third day, she found something far more interesting than a training room.
Lilith was having breakfast when she heard the bells announcing a reduction in speed. By then, she could already recognize some of the signals used by the fortress and knew that this meant a stop. She stood up with the glass of blood still in her hand and approached one of the windows.
The buildings blocked most of the view outside, but she could clearly feel the vibrations beneath her feet gradually weakening until they disappeared completely.
No stop had been announced.
That meant something had happened.
She quickly finished breakfast and headed toward the upper walls. She did not have to search for long to find the reason. A crowd had already gathered around one of the eastern observation decks, and when Lilith managed to reach the railing, she immediately understood why the Eternal Bastion had stopped.
There was a city in front of them.
Or what remained of one.
The ruins stretched across an enormous valley several kilometers away. Hundreds of stone buildings rose among trees and vegetation, some still standing several stories tall. A partially collapsed wall surrounded the settlement, and in the center stood a tower so tall that it could be seen even from the Eternal Bastion. There was no smoke, no movement, and no cleared roads around it. The forest had begun swallowing the streets a long time ago.
"Impressive, isn't it?"
Lilith did not need to look to recognize Claire.
"Did we know it was here?"
"Not exactly."
Claire stood beside her. She wore the light armor she had used during their first expedition, and a backpack rested over one shoulder.
Lilith looked at the backpack and then at Claire.
"You're going out?"
"I see your observation skills are still improving."
"Claire."
"Yes. The explorers want to inspect the ruins before we continue."
Lilith smiled.
Claire immediately shook her head.
"No."
"I haven't even asked yet."
"You're going to."
"Then you're saving me time."
Claire sighed. "You've only just started getting your magic under control."
"Exactly. I need practice."
"Exploring an abandoned city is not practice."
"You say that like it's a bad thing."
Claire stared at her for several seconds before giving up. "I'll meet you at Gate Three in half an hour."
Lilith barely managed to hide her satisfaction.
This time, getting ready was much easier. She wore the same clothes from her first expedition, added the gloves she had bought during the last stop, and secured her sword at her waist. She also placed two small bottles of blood inside a bag. She had no intention of relying on them constantly, but after discovering how exhausting her magic could be, she preferred having a reserve available.
When she reached Gate Three, she found a considerably larger group than during her first outing. There were around twenty people, including explorers, soldiers, and specialists responsible for studying the ruins. Claire was speaking with a man holding several maps when Lilith approached.
"Thirty-two minutes," Claire said.
"You counted?"
"Of course."
"That's somewhat concerning."
The gates began to open before Claire could respond.
The journey to the city took a little over an hour. Lilith had already experienced what it was like to walk through the Demon Continent, but this region was different from the forest they had explored during their first expedition.
The trees were thinner and had trunks that were almost white. Small lizard-like creatures watched the group from the branches, disappearing whenever someone came too close. They encountered no large monsters, although the explorers kept their weapons ready throughout the entire journey.
The first signs of the ancient city appeared long before they reached the walls.
A road.
It was almost completely covered by dirt and roots, but they could still make out large stone blocks placed side by side. Lilith crouched down to touch one and felt a faint magical vibration beneath her fingers.
"You feel it too?" Claire asked.
Lilith nodded.
"There's magic."
"It remains in almost every ancient ruin on this continent."
"After how much time?"
Claire looked toward the city.
"That's exactly what we're trying to find out."
They continued following the road until they reached an opening in the wall. Up close, the ruins seemed even larger. Vegetation covered entire buildings, and some trees grew directly from the rooftops. Several statues still stood along the streets, although all of their faces had been destroyed. Lilith tried to determine what race they represented, but their proportions appeared human.
The group divided into several smaller units without moving too far apart. Lilith remained with Claire and four explorers. They advanced along a main avenue while examining the nearby buildings.
There were no bodies.
That was the first thing that began to unsettle Lilith.
A city of that size should have housed thousands of people, but there were no skeletons, graves, or obvious signs of a battle. Some doors were still open. There were tables inside the houses and abandoned objects lying in the streets. It looked as though the inhabitants had simply gotten up one day and left.
"What happened here?" Lilith asked.
"No one knows."
"I'm starting to hear that answer far too often."
"Welcome to the Demon Continent."
They entered a building that appeared to have once been a shop. There were empty shelves and broken ceramic containers scattered across the floor. Lilith found several black coins beneath a table, but the engraved symbols did not resemble anything she had seen inside the Eternal Bastion.
Claire picked one up.
"This is old."
"How old?"
"Very."
Lilith sighed. "Another incredibly precise answer."
Claire smiled and kept the coin to give to the researchers.
They continued until they reached a plaza. In the center stood an enormous dry fountain surrounded by six statues. The tower they had seen from the Eternal Bastion rose at the opposite end. From there, Lilith noticed something she had overlooked before.
The tower was intact.
Not partially.
Completely.
While every nearby building showed centuries of deterioration, that structure looked as though it had been built only a few years ago.
"Claire."
"I see it too."
The explorers began approaching cautiously. Lilith took a step toward the tower, then stopped. She had heard something. It was a very faint impact coming from a side street.
"There's someone there," Lilith said, her expression becoming slightly disturbed.
Claire immediately drew her sword. "Where?"
Lilith pointed toward a collapsed building. The rest of the group fell silent. Another sound reached her ears.
This time, it was not an impact.
It was breathing.
Fast, irregular, and unmistakably human.
Lilith began walking toward the source while Claire moved beside her. They rounded a wall covered in vegetation and found a narrow alley.
At first, it seemed empty.
Then Lilith saw a hand sticking out from behind several stones.
She ran toward it.
A young woman was leaning against the wall. Her face was covered in dirt, several wounds marked her arms, and her traveling clothes were partially torn apart. A short sword rested beside her leg.
Lilith crouched down and said, "She's alive."
The stranger's eyes opened.
For an instant, they stared at each other.
The young woman saw Lilith's red eyes.
Then her fangs.
Her expression changed immediately.
"Vampire..."
Before Lilith could respond, the stranger grabbed the sword.
The blade shot directly toward her neck.