By the time we arrived at the ruins, it was dark out. I convinced Marcus that it would be wiser to not set any traps until after I could activate the runes if they were even still there. If not, then I would have to recarve the rune and activate it then. As we made our way to the pillars I looked around for any signs of wildlife that may attack us. Sasha, Marcus, and Lucia were all doing the same as anything could be out there.

“What exactly does this runic crest look like?” Marcus asked as he pushed the gondola through the swampy water. The area around us was a mix of mud, web-like trees, moss, and an infestation of bugs with a few stone pillars standing out in the otherwise dense swamp.

“Really the entire city is the crest. The activation rune should be carved atop one of these pillars. It should look similar to the sun and moon within a circle and with some runic symbols etched around the circle.” I explained.

“You still haven’t told us what this will even do? Are you sure this is a good idea?” Lucia asked.

“I trust him. He hasn’t lied to me yet so you should probably do the same.” Sasha said to Lucia with a tone that sounded as if she was insulted by her question.

“It’s fine. I should have probably told you all anyways. The magic returns things to a set state. Turns out that the Empire was afraid that the capital would fall to either the swamp or invaders so they created the city as one large ritual ground to return the city to a state before its destruction. Every time the city added a new level to the city they would update the runes to return it to its most recent state. They also added in a part of the ritual that would use the swamp itself to push the levels out of the ground and create a massive pyramid city whenever they decided to activate it.” I explained in lengthy detail.

“So what you’re saying is that you are getting rid of the swamp and bringing back the city as it was before the war?” Marcus said with a curious look.

“In a way, yes.” I replied.

“And how does that help me and Alsenia?” Lucia asked in an extremely selfish way.

“Because we need an army. Underneath the Empire was a huge army that has been asleep for ages. According to some of the books I skimmed through, the Empire forgot how to activate them so they were left to rot. Though I think I know how to activate them.” I replied.

“I see. So you want to help the Empire by bringing the city back but also use the army below to help me take back Alsenia.” Lucia stated.

“Exactly, now help me look for the activation rune.” I said as Marcus pushed the boat against some tree roots near a few of the pillars.

We searched through the pillars that only stuck out of the swamp a few feet at most. Some of which was broken a bit but eventually, we found it. Thankfully the activation rune was still there. With a bit of re-etching, the rune was finally able to be activated. Placing my hand on the rune I poured some of my essence into the stone. The rune began to glow and I began to feel a slight vibration.

Looking around we all began to see the broken stone pillars pull themselves back into place. Around us, the pillars began to look as they were rising out of the ground. Though as it was rising it seemed like dirt and water was being removed from under us. As if the dirt was being placed under the city in order to stabilize it.

As soon as we realized this we all got back on the boat and quickly tried to get back to the entrance to the city. As we moved closer though the more the water drained until we could no longer travel by boat. The mud had yet to fully disappear where we were but in the distance, we could see the rounded pyramid-shaped city slowly rising above the treeline in the distance. Rows and rows of houses lined the sides of the pyramid with plenty of ramped streets. Stairs lined the streets for those walking while a set of strange cables went down the ramps with carts attached to them.

Sasha and Lucia wanted to get out and walk the rest of the way. However, the mud was still below us. Between Marcus’s remarks that it wasn’t safe and my fear of getting sucked below the mud they stayed in the boat. However, as slow as the mud was being removed and how far away we were from the top of the city we had to spend the whole night on that small boat.

Taking turns, we kept watching for creatures that could attack us. Thankfully, we didn’t have any show up during the night. Though when the mud finally disappeared completely we found that we were halfway up the circular pyramid. Below us, the river that had flowed into the swamp from the mountain had been pushed to the sides of the city as if it was a giant moat surrounding the city before converging into a single river in the distance. However, there were also streams of water flowing beside the stairs on the street just like in the underground. Meaning that water was somehow being transported up to the top of the city.

With the sun rising in the distance we started heading up the pyramid to the top where everyone was. Though as the sun was rising we heard shouting in the distance. Looking up we saw Emperor Nehkasha and many others staring down at us but they were too shocked by the scene below them to care about us.

“Where the fuck did the swamp go?” and “What in the nine hells happened?” were passed around a lot. Emperor Nehkasha being the loudest of the bunch by yelling out “Nero, what in the nine hells did you do, you son of a Norhs?” His yells fell on my ears with two separate thoughts: One being that it sounded like he was happy and the other being that he was not prepared for this and was kind of pissed.

Marcus had the same thought and gave me a look as if I was heading to my funeral. Even so, I walked up the rest of the way to where they were still taking in the view. Looking down where they were looking we could see what looked to be farmland closer to the bottom of the pyramid. Emperor Nehkasha, upon realizing that we had just walked up there stomped towards us.

“When you said that you could bring the city back to its original state I didn’t think that you meant you would literally bring the city back.” Emperor Nehkasha said with a fairly frantic tone.

“Well, I didn’t lie. I wasn’t trying to do anything you would disapprove of.” I replied.

“Disapprove of? I am so happy right now. My entire people's culture rose out of the ground in my sleep. Nothing could have made me happier.” Nehkasha said with a confused look before hugging me.

“Are you sure? This would make you a target for other nations again.” I asked with a concerned tone.

“Of course. Even if other nations attack us, we have the advantage of the high ground and a maze-like city. There’s even a river that they have to cross in order to get to us.” Nehkasha said with a joyous tone before hugging everyone else.

“I guess.” I replied with a concerned tone as I wasn’t sure just how safe he thought he was.

“Anyways, thank you. I can never repay what you have given me and my people.” Nehkasha said with an ecstatic look.

“You’re welcome. All I would like is the ability to use the golems that your ancestors created years ago.” I said, hoping that he would agree.

“Go right ahead. It’s not like I could activate a golem,” Nehkasha said before walking down the hill to explore the city that he had lived above until now.

“You heard him. Let’s go summon an army of golems.” I said to Sasha and Lucia before going back down the hill we just came from.