"Qian?" Brand thought for a moment, felt it didn't quite fit, Qian's steps weren't that heavy, the one coming was a man. He thought for a while, then casually put the fragment of the Book of Mavikart back into the Dimension Hole, and bound that silver thread with his spiritual power—this way, as long as he's still alive, no one could open this Dimension Hole.

After all, the Dimension Hole is different from the Dimension Bag, in the Amber Sword, the price of a Dimension Hole is hundreds or even thousands of times that of a Dimension Bag, although their volume is about the same. This is because the Dimension Bag is too easily damaged, though it has Dimension Attributes, the strength of the bag itself is comparable to an ordinary pocket, very easy to damage, and once damaged, players often suffer heavy losses.

Brand had seen some extremely cunning ones before who simply stuffed the Dimension Bags into their underwear to ensure that as long as they're intact, the bag is safe. Of course, this is the wisdom of the masses, not to be underestimated, after all, there is no most cunning player, only more cunning ones.

Thinking of these messy things, the footsteps on top were getting closer. Brand raised his head, squinted to see a tall figure appearing behind the mist, as he expected, it was indeed Gray Sword Saint Mephisto.

"You better come look at this." Mephisto stood at the edge of the pit, looked down at him, and spoke. This middle-aged man's gray-brown gaze remained somewhat overly calm, calm enough to not hear the sound even if a needle fell, as if the previous chasing of Brand and Qian all over the mountains was just an illusion, and the Lord Grey Sword Saint cared not a whit.

Brand didn't know how this guy's personality formed, but looking at it this way, it was indeed as arrogant as a millionaire, somewhat, how to say, overly proud. But one has to admit, without this kind of innate arrogance, how could he dare to challenge an entire empire?

"What's going on?"

"There's something under the ruins."

Something? The square shouldn't be mistaken, it should have been a gathering place for the ancient Silver People, just a market, what could be under the market? But Brand wouldn't jump to conclusions, he nodded to Mephisto, and climbed up from the pit.

"You're not wary of that man?" Otarais asked in his heart.

"Don't worry, compared to Veronica, I know this guy better." Brand replied, with the character of the Gray Sword Saint, he disdains to attack stealthily, if it weren't for matters related to revenge on the Empire, he might not even bother to take a glance. Besides, now they're in the same boat, Mephisto is a man of his word, he absolutely wouldn't embarrass himself.

Brand climbed up, and indeed Mephisto watched him from start to finish without moving, but Brand's unwary action still let a thread of surprise flash in his eyes—that definitely wasn't feigned, someone who could do this either is a fool or a genius, Brand certainly didn't seem like a fool, otherwise, the recently deceased Anman might get so angry he would come back to life, then the only possibility left is genius.

On the surface, this Sword Saint, a character admired by others, seemed calm, but the calculations in his mind never stopped. Veronica and his deal certainly considered factors of success and failure, but he never contemplated relying on others' strength. As long as Brand agreed to give him a third of the territory, then he could completely build this country on his own strength. But seeing Brand's performance now, Mephisto's heart had a slight change, perhaps collaborating with this young man wasn't a bad thing, working with smart people is always a pleasure. Moreover, Brand was just over twenty and already achieved such success, maybe the revitalized Duchy in the future would still need to rely on his protection.

Mephisto certainly wouldn't be foolish enough to think he could live forever, that's a thought only those with water in their brains who think they're the center of the world would have, whether the Duchy can continue to exist after his death, whether he could find a qualified successor, all these are unknowns.

At this moment, Brand had reached his side, asked: "Where is it?" Of course he didn't know the upheaval in Mephisto's mind, the original thoughts several times changed, this kind of change manifested in the tone: "Over here, I'll take you to see it."

Brand froze, looked at him somewhat surprised.

The place Mephisto found was in a corner of the entire square, that place was collapsed by Andesa in the previous battle, revealing the dark space below. The rapidly growing Golden Thorns before had already extended in this direction, the dense, thorny branches reaching down into the pit, like they had been growing there for centuries, if not observed carefully, one really wouldn't notice there's an artificially excavated path below.

Actually, this was discovered by Qian, Funiya, and Mephisto together, they were guarding the entrance's edge when Brand went over and looked down, immediately took a deep breath: "It's a dungeon!"

The first thing he saw was that in the rock's fracture there was a layer about two fingers thick, several meters wide, like something with crystal-like thin pieces. These things on the passage below appeared like grid-like patterns, Brand knowledgeable took one look to know it was a transmission line for energy, indicating there was a Magic Energy center below the square.

With a little judgment, he concluded that the entire control center of Valhalla was in this Underground City. And the buildings on the World Tree seen before were just a blinding technique.

As for the so-called underground control center and the Magic Energy center, Brand thought over and over about the possibility.

Torch. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"Sword Saint, I think you found the big guy." He looked at the dark passage below, couldn't help but mutter. The grid pattern on the passage extended in one direction, undoubtedly as long as you followed these patterns, you could easily find the final target.

…

Note: The Amulet increases Undead Magic by 1, similar to the D2 setting, it only works when the character has already mastered the corresponding skill. This is slightly different from the previous Lion Medal's Conflict Aura +1.

The chapter on Valhalla might end in three to four more chapters, the battles and adventures are basically concluded, mainly because of previous delays and reorganizing writing ideas which took a long time, so this is a pre-notice. (To be continued. If you like this work, please go to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets, monthly tickets, your support is my greatest motivation.)