Martial Arts Worlds

The flames on the candles flickered, casting light on the faces of the Martial Order members, which was the only source of the light.

Kiernan looked curiously around the cave, wondering where the exit was and where this cave could be located.

'It's pretty warm, so we must be in a warmer climate, but that doesn't really narrow it down, as summer is almost upon us.'

"Did anyone find out anything more about Mercedes Rosburg?"

Pankratios asked.

He didn't have high hopes for that, as it had only been a week since their last meeting, and to find something about a person that was basically a ghost in such a short time was a herculean task.

With his arm raised, Valerian Montgomery took the spotlight, and everyone turned to look at him in curiosity.

'Did he also find something?'

Kiernan thought in surprise.

He was also about to raise his arm, but since Valerian managed to do it before him, he gave him the chance to kick up the meeting.

"Yes, Valerian?"

Pankratios said, and crossed his arms curiously.

"I have a Martial Ability called Historical Resonance. I can see the past of the items that I touch, and I visited a museum in Old York and went to the Old Stone Age section there.

"I thought it was going to be pretty far-fetched, but there, I found a very old radio. It worked, and with Historical Resonance, I was able to hear its last transmission before it stopped working."

Valerian said, and then from his pocket, he brought out a box with a dusty screen, and there were knobs to increase and lower volume and also a knob for changing the radio channel.

He put it on the table, and everyone turned to look at it.

Valerian reached his hand to it, used his Historical Resonance, and the radio mysteriously started to work.

The screen, despite being dusty, lit up, and a static voice began to emit from the radio, which sounded slightly muffled but still audible.

"Today… In Paradise World… The weather is sunny with a slight breeze. Today's forecast promises a beautiful day ahead, but tomorrow, a little bit of rain is expected.

"…Wait… What's that?

"…Through the window of my office, I see… What the hell is that?"

"…Boom!

"…Oh my god, the city is in flames! I don't know what is happening, but oh my god… Is that a flying ship?

"It's the Silver Angel! W-why is it here? Who is controlling it? I-It's our Queen's flying ship, but it's currently shooting bombs at the city!

"…Aaaarggh!"

The voice faded away, and the radio went silent.

"Unbelievable, that's a transmission from Paradise World, and by the sound of it, it's one of the last transmissions that we've received before Paradise World became Dead World!"

Amara cried out in surprise.

It was a shockingly good find.

"Silver Angel, and flying ship… It also mentioned the Queen of the Paradise World, but most records say that the latest ruler of the Paradise World was King Redice the Third."

Pankratios said with a troubled look.

"Who was King Redice's wife? Is it talking about her?"

Sabbath asked.

"Paradise World has only one ruler at times. It doesn't have a King and Queen at the same time; that's how it went there.

"I know King Redice had a court full of concubines, but none of them were granted the title of the Queen.

"It means that before Paradise World got annihilated, King Redice lost his power. That place was a world where strength ruled the most.

"The strongest became the ruler of that world, and since King Redice got defeated, it means that somebody stronger took over."

Imperius said.

"The flying ships during the Old Stone Age are also surprising. I thought the flying ships only appeared during the Age of Fist and Blood, which was about a thousand years after the Old Stone Age.

"Maybe Paradise World was just so much more advanced than Martial World, but we don't know, since most of those records have been lost in time."

Xerxus said.

"It's a good find, Valerian. I think we can accurately determine that the Queen of the Paradise World was Mercedes Rosburg.

"It looks like she was the Martial God of Martial World, but when she arrived at Paradise World, she wasn't the only Martial God there.

"Thus, it took her some time to grow in power and take over the King Redice. She became the ruler, and in years to come, the Paradise World met its demise.

"I do truly believe that Mercedes caused its demise, but to know more, one day, we need to do exploration to Dead World."

Pankratios said with a serious look.

"Won't we die at Dead World? It's toxic as hell there, isn't it?"

Sabbath asked.

"We don't know that. I've been trying to do divination about Dead World, but it is always being blocked by something.

"And I think Mercedes is still in Dead World, alive, and she might not be the only one. I doubt that she is willing to rule over the dead."

Pankratios said, saw everyone nodding in agreement, and he then said.

"If there is nothing else, we can—"

At that moment, an arm rose, and everyone turned to look at Kiernan with curious looks.

"Kiernan?"

Pankratios turned to look at him.

"I've also discovered something."

Kiernan said.

When they heard that, they were pretty surprised, but they didn't believe it was anything special, not at the level of Valerian's find.

It was already a great surprise that Valerian was able to find something as important as he did, so two finds of equal importance were not going to happen.

"I've been in Rodero for about a week now, and I've gone to the Great Dungeons of the Rodero, and I found some text in the walls there."

Kiernan said.

"Yes, the words of the Dead Language. I've also heard about it, and I've always wondered who created those dungeons."

Pankratios said with a frown and wondered what he was getting at.

"I believe I've found proof that it was Mercedes Rosburg who created those dungeons during her time at Martial World."

Kiernan said.

The eyes of the Martial Order bulged in surprise, and they thought that he must be mistaken, as no one in thousands of years had discovered the creator of the dungeons.