“They’re just some cheap tricks…”
Ileya paid no attention to the crowd’s astonishment, simply snapping her fingers midair.
Snap!
The Soulfire in the eyes of the Skeleton Soldiers behind her flickered twice, then they scattered—rushing off in a frenzy to loot the corpses buried in the tomb.
That’s right—loot!
And not for treasure, but looting the corpses themselves.
The Skeletons dragged these dried-out bodies off the stone beds and piled them up before Ileya.
A few minutes later, beneath the heap of a hundred Deadskin Corpses, a pitch-black hole one meter in diameter suddenly appeared, and all the corpses fell right into the pit at that moment.
Even more, four Skeletons joined forces to drag over the two already-dead Steeds, tossing them into the black hole along with the dried corpses.
“Hm…”
With the crowd watching her in silent unease, Ileya nodded with clear satisfaction.
Right now, she had no suitable method, but if she did, she’d love to pack all this death energy—twenty times richer here than outside—straight into her own Kingdom of the Dead!
Once finished, the Lady didn’t dismiss her cheap labor.
She merely took an oil lamp and a few unlit torches from the carriage and handed them to the Skeleton Soldiers…
If this was a Burial Pit, there was a good chance that nearby, there’d be a path to other Tomb Chambers.
Who knew—there might be more than just one Burial Pit here?
“Are we… going to keep exploring? Maybe we should head back up,” Holly said, a little worried about the Lady’s behavior.
Partly out of fear, but also—she did have something of a conscience.
Calling it tomb raiding was putting it nicely; really, it was digging up ancestors’ graves… This kind of thing was just unconscionable…
Such thoughts left the Holy Sword Bearer with a sense of guilt.
And to make matters worse… Ordinary tomb raiders at least went for gold and jewels; but their Lady—she was after the tomb’s owner himself…
But her persuasion would be useless.
After all, the Lady had no morals to begin with~
“This way.” At Arthur’s call, everyone gathered at his side.
At the northeast corner of the vast Tomb Chamber plaza, there was a pitch-dark, narrow staircase leading straight down.
The stairs were so narrow—only one person could fit across, and even then, their shoulders would constantly scrape the walls.
Anyone too big simply wouldn’t fit.
Fortunately, everyone here was on the petite side.
“Let’s go.” Leaving no room for debate, the dictatorial Lady checked their formation.
The Skeletons were assigned to take point and bring up the rear—the two most dangerous spots—while the others stayed in the middle… and so they entered the cramped stairs beneath the Burial Pit.
“Mmm… It’s so… suffocating here.”
Holly furrowed her brow tightly.
Walking these stairs, she felt as if she were being buried alive.
Thankfully, the staircase was only about a dozen meters long, and there were no traps along the way.
The group soon found themselves in the second underground level.
In the moment when their view suddenly widened, what greeted them was a broad stone wall and an old, rustic door.
Though the door was of ancient design, it didn’t look particularly worn, and its surface was covered with some strange patterns.
But as there wasn’t an archaeologist among them, no one could make sense of what those designs meant.
Creak…
A Skeleton at the front, holding a torch, was directed to push the door open—
Whoosh!!
But the next second, the door shattered at the Skeleton’s touch!
The entire door instantly crumbled into a cloud of yellow dust…
Was this… dust?
Ileya looked puzzled and instinctively stepped back.
“Wait—!”
Before she could warn the others, Arthur, standing in the middle of the group, suddenly frowned.
In a flash, he reached out—smack, smack!—and slapped both Holly and Reliel Wood across their faces!
“Mm? Mmm… mmm mmm?!”
Σ(° °|||)?!
Holly blinked, stunned, wanting to speak, but—she discovered that her mouth and nose… had completely vanished!
Glancing sideways at Senior Reliel, the area beneath her eyes was now perfectly smooth—no nose, no mouth at all…
She… could easily imagine what she herself looked like.
A wave of suffocation rushed over the girl, making her instinctively claw at her own throat…
Compared to Holly’s panic, Reliel was much calmer, simply giving Arthur a questioning look.
“It’s poisonous—just endure it a moment…”
He spoke as he smacked his own face.
His nose and mouth “vanished” as well.
As for the Lady—she’d stopped breathing the instant she sensed the dust was off.
As a Necromancer, she could hold her breath for a very long time.
She’d meant to warn the others, but then she saw Arthur’s method.
Perhaps Reliel’s calm rubbed off on Holly, who, in that moment, felt a little more reassured.
But the next instant, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted—right by Ileya’s side, Veil, utterly defenseless, let out a huge yawn!
| * 0 | ———Aahhhn~
A bit sleepy…
“Mm!! Mmm mmm mmm!! (Can’t breathe!)”
“Ah… ah-choo!!” As Holly fretted, the Goddess did not appear to be poisoned… but rather—
Sneezed…?
“Mm… Ah-choo! Ah-choo! Ah-choo!!”
And then started sneezing over and over…
“Run! Run forward!”
Before she could even figure out what was happening, she heard the Lady’s slightly muffled voice from up ahead!
Thud thud thud!!
Led by the Skeleton Soldiers, the group charged forward!
If the Burial Pit before was like a plaza, then the tomb’s lower level was more like a residence.
“Mmm?!”
Just as she entered, Holly jumped—startled by a row of Maid Thousands lined up along the side wall in maid uniforms!
A quick glance around at the furnishings made it clear.
This seemed to be a Living Room; there were many doors on the walls nearby.
Judging by this, those must be the kitchen, bedrooms, and so on.
With so many rooms, where should they run?
Snap!
While everyone hesitated, Ileya snapped her fingers, and a dozen Skeleton Soldiers immediately fanned out, pushing open all the doors connected to the Living Room…
Whoosh—!
From one side room, a giant hammer swung out! It smashed the Skeleton at the door to pieces!
Swish swish swish… From another, arrows shot out, but as the tomb was so ancient, most had rotted away—some stuck awkwardly in the Skeletons’ ribcages.
Some rooms, when opened, spewed huge clouds of that same yellow poisonous smoke!
Of course… when the gas hit the Skeletons’ faces, it had no effect at all.
As all the Skeletons opened the doors simultaneously, Ileya, sharing their sight, immediately determined which room was safe—one without traps—and gestured for the others to follow her!
Thud thud thud…
At top speed, everyone dashed into a room in the southeast corner.
A Skeleton Soldier, waiting by the door, slammed it shut with a bang the instant Arthur, bringing up the rear, entered.
“Ugh… huff… huff! W-we made it…”
Holly, just regaining her ability to breathe with Arthur’s help, collapsed to the floor, greedily sucking in the musty air of the tomb.
It felt… like she’d just escaped death.
“Amisa, are you alright?”
“Ah… ah… I-I’m fine♡~”
Wait… Why did her voice sound so strange?
Ileya suspected Amisa had been poisoned, but Amisa explained that, hidden in the shadows, she didn’t need to breathe at all.
“Ah… ah-choo… mm.”
Veil rubbed her little nose, thinking—
The air outside really was terrible.