Those two humanoid skeletons, one no taller than one meter ninety centimeters, the other no more than one meter eighty, looked completely ordinary, yet they brought Klein above the Gray Fog an unimaginable shock.
At this moment, he felt as if he had returned to the time when he saw the Light Gate and the "Cocoons". Although his emotions were different, the shock was almost the same.
"T-These aren't the remains of giants... They definitely belong to humans... Are the parents of the Giant King Ormir humans?" Klein's pupils suddenly dilated, as if he wanted to see more clearly.
But no matter how he observed or examined, he could not find any giant characteristics on those two gray-white skeletons:
Their limb proportions were normal, and their skulls had two eye sockets—they were definitely not underage giants!
After a short silence, Klein's hand holding the "Sea God Scepter" lowered again, and a thought after another flashed through his mind:
"Perhaps they are not blood-related parents... Perhaps the ancestor of giants, the origin of giants, is humans... In the chaotic and mad First Epoch, some humans fused with Beyonder characteristics and mutated into cruel, bloodthirsty, irrational giants with reproductive instincts? Their descendants inherited physical traits on one hand, and gradually regained mental normalcy on the other, thus stabilizing into a savage and bloody alien race. Among them, the Giant King Ormir was one of the first mutants, but he preserved a certain degree of rationality and became an Ancient God? Is the source of all this, like myths and legends, the original Creator?"
After settling his thoughts into guesses, Klein, while letting his imagination run wild, also had more questions:
"Why did the Giant King declare the 'Decaying Forest' a forbidden land, not allowing any creature to enter?"
"Doesn't He want it to be known that the origin of giants is humans?"
"But if that was the case, He could have simply cremated his parents' remains, there was no need to go through so much trouble... And what about that strong sense of guilt?"
"Who opened that tomb? The ancient Sun God who killed the Giant King? Or the surviving 'God of Dawn' Badhail or other subsidiary gods of the Giant King's court?"
"Also, since the ancestor of giants is humans, what about elves, vampires, and other humanoid supernatural beings? Is the ancestor of dragons actually lizards?"
"Was the confrontation between the humanoid camp and the alien camp in the early and middle Second Epoch influenced by their different origins?"
Due to a lack of sufficient clues and information, Klein couldn't make any judgments or think of any more possibilities, so he forcefully restrained his thoughts and turned his attention back to the City of Silver exploration team.
At this time, the 'Demon Hunter' Colin, leading Lovia, Derrick and others, had already arrived in front of the stele and saw the skeletons in the tomb.
They also fell into an unspeakable silence, and for a long time no one spoke.
Finally, Joshua, wearing crimson gloves, hesitantly opened his mouth and asked:
"Are these the parents of the Giant King?"
In this "Dawn Knight" of the City of Silver's view, the height of those two skeletons really didn't resemble giants, and was even shorter than himself when he just came of age.
If they were young giants, their body proportions and facial features wouldn't match either.
Joshua's question echoed in the vicinity, but no one answered for a while.
After a few seconds, the 'Demon Hunter' Colin slowly spoke:
"That's why it's a secret."
He didn't mention his own thoughts or guesses.
"...Doesn't this mean that giants are actually a branch of humans, a division caused by the mutation of Beyonder characteristics?" Upon hearing this, Antilna with wine-red hair said thoughtfully.
The ancestor of giants is human? Derrick was stunned by this possibility, his mind reeling, and he felt that the difference between the two was simply too great.
Shifting his thoughts, he thought of his companions who had lost control, especially those on the 'Giant' pathway, and vaguely felt that such a possibility was not impossible.
— Those who lost control often became abnormally huge, their skin all turned gray-blue, a huge split opened between their brows, drawing their eyes together.
"Perhaps," the 'Demon Hunter' Colin replied briefly.
The members of the City of Silver exploration team fell silent again.
In such an atmosphere, Derrick glanced at Elder Lovia, the "Shepherd", and found that this member of the "Six-member Council" had a calm expression, neither gloomy nor dazed.
At this moment, the 'Demon Hunter' Colin looked around and said:
"Form groups of two or three people, search the surrounding area, and see if there are any other findings."
The members of the exploration team immediately came to their senses and, following the chief's orders, cautiously began to explore.
Unfortunately, in this 'Decaying Forest', apart from trees, the stele, and the tomb, there was nothing of value.
Without further delay, Derrick and Heinm exchanged their sealed artifacts to prevent their own Beyonder characteristics from being extracted by the 'Cross of No Darkness'.
Then, following the 'Demon Hunter' Colin, they left the 'Decaying Forest', skirted around a huge boulder protruding from the cliff, and found that enormous cave, a full thirty meters in height.
Outside the cave, there had originally been a stele, but by now it had shattered and collapsed, overgrown with weeds.
Under the orange-red twilight light, it gave an indescribable sense of decay and decline.
Entering the cave, the City of Silver exploration team walked along weathered stone slabs and almost completely worn-away murals, treading through withered grass and rough gravel, moving forward with extreme caution.
With each step, they felt their life force grow weaker, moisture unceasingly leaving them.
No one knew how much time passed, but the City of Silver exploration team finally saw an open gray-blue gate.