Chapter 165: A Warning from the Main Tomb Chamber

“This way~” Following the direction of Veil’s finger, everyone squeezed once again into another opening in the cave.

How many caves is this now…?

They’d been wandering these crisscrossing labyrinth caves nonstop, passing by countless corpses along the way.

Some were humanoid, some only vaguely so, and many belonged to wild beasts.

But unlike the slaves and maids buried here before…these weren’t carefully preserved mummies, but bodies that had simply dried out and decayed over time.

These creatures must have entered the labyrinth cave from somewhere else, but while getting in was possible, for most, getting out was not.

In the end, they’d all perished, trapped alive within the labyrinth cave.

The hollow eyes of these corpses seemed to stare at everyone who entered, silently foretelling their own fate.

To be honest…Holly was already lost at this point.

If she were told to retrace her steps alone right now…her end would probably be the same as those bones on the ground.

She wanted to ask Senior Veil, who was still being led along by a dog leash in front of her…if this plan was really reliable.

But remembering the times she’d embarrassed herself before, Holly managed to bite back her question.

Although she didn’t have much faith in the Mascot Senior, and felt Veil was pretty unreliable…

Especially when she scratched her head and made those silly, clueless faces.

Uh…it was true, she was very cute…

But this was hardly the time to be admiring cute little girls…

Still…even if she had no confidence in Veil, she trusted the Lady’s judgment completely.

If Ileya believed Veil could do it…maybe she really could…right?

Following behind the group, Holly watched Ileya’s rather calm expression, and the anxiety she’d been holding onto slowly faded away.

She didn’t notice at all that her mindset was subtly changing.

She was even starting to develop a strong sense of blind faith in the Lady ahead.

Oh…

And right at that moment, Veil came to a halt.

“We’re here!”

Honestly, even if she hadn’t said so, everyone would have realized they’d arrived.

Because what stood before them now wasn’t yet another fork in the cave…but a massive stone gate.

The stone door looked old and imposing, with no ornate carvings or any inscriptions.

Ileya directed a few skeleton soldiers to push on the door, but it didn’t budge an inch.

And the feeling of pushing against it…was hard to describe.

This stone door seemed to exist just for show…there probably wasn’t even an axle inside, just two enormous stone slabs.

Rather than calling it a door, it might as well be called a Grave-Sealing Stone.

This…was likely the final barrier within this Tomb.

But…how were they supposed to get inside?

Ileya stepped forward and knocked twice with her finger on the stone door.

The stone felt completely solid; if Amisa wasn’t injured…maybe she could use Shadow Shift to slip through a crack…

But with Amisa barely suppressing her looming madness, Ileya wouldn’t allow her to try, even if she was willing.

So…what now?

[Get out.]

Just as everyone found themselves at a loss before this simple yet effective stone door—

A low, sigh-like voice suddenly echoed in all their minds!

“Eh?!” Holly jumped in fright, glancing about in confusion.

Reliel instinctively put her hand on her sword hilt, though she only frowned thoughtfully.

As for Arthur, he simply turned his head to look at Ileya.

For a very simple reason—this voice was—

“Soul Transmission?”

Veil, still wearing a dog leash around her neck, even imitated Ileya’s arched brow.

This was communication transmitted by soul vibration.

It sounded complicated…but just like humans need to vibrate their throats to speak, Necromancers could produce this effect subconsciously, as long as they wished.

In a world without an Underworld, this might be considered quite secretive.

But to Ileya and Veil, it really wasn’t a big deal.

[Or die…]

Gradually, the voice reaching into their very souls grew louder than before.

Everyone could even feel a pressure weighing upon their very spirits!

Buzz!!

In an instant, the soul-level tremor gave them all…the urge to turn and run!

But at that moment, apart from Holly who instinctively took a step back…

The rest all managed to withstand the pressure.

Seemingly realizing something, Reliel turned her head toward Ileya just like Arthur did.

Because previously…she’d felt this kind of soul-suppressing sensation from Ileya, too.

Only…this presence from behind the stone door was stronger, and much more forceful…

The Lady, who was being watched by her little sister, stroked her chin thoughtfully.

Now, she finally understood why there were no souls in the tomb, and why the Death Energy in this labyrinth felt so “fresh”…

So it turned out…there was an Undead creature here, continuously absorbing the power of death.

This was…the first Undead being with self-awareness she’d encountered since arriving in this world.

Maybe she could exchange cultivation insights with it?

Just as she was thinking this, Ileya’s voice—like a clap of thunder—resounded in everyone’s mind!

[Hey!! Who are you!!]

Hm?!

Other than Veil, even Arthur instinctively clutched his head!

“Hm? Ah…”

Seeing the others react like this, the Lady finally realized—

Her Soul Transmission hadn’t restricted its area, so everyone around was affected.

Still not very skilled at this~

As for Ileya’s question…there was no immediate answer from within.

A long silence followed…

Not even the word “get out” appeared again.

“Looks like…we’ll still have to find a way in.”

Ileya stroked her chin.

If she let her soul leave her body, she could simply float inside herself.

But unless she went crazy, she’d never risk putting herself in that much danger.

As she pondered, Arthur suddenly stepped up beside her and gently tapped on the stone door.

He seemed to be estimating its thickness.

Then, he casually felt around his waist pouch…

Realizing he had nothing, he lowered his head and started searching the ground.

Under everyone’s gaze, Arthur picked up an L-shaped stone and weighed it in his hand.

“Hmm…this should do.”

Murmuring to himself, Arthur pressed the stone against the door…and twisted!

As if…he were turning a doorknob.

What…was Arthur having another one of his “episodes”?

Just as Holly was thinking that, she saw—

At the spot where Arthur turned the L-shaped stone, a small stone door actually appeared out of thin air.

And he easily pulled it open.

“This…” Not just Holly—Reliel’s eyes went wide, and even Ileya arched her brow.

What exactly was Arthur’s extraordinary ability?

A flash of doubt crossed Ileya’s mind, but now wasn’t the time to get bogged down in that.

Because behind the door Arthur opened, there was still a wall of blue stone.

“Too thin?” he muttered to himself, stone still in hand, repeating the operation again.

He did this four times, and finally, the massive stone door was carved open by Arthur from the bottom—into a small entryway.

Whoosh—!!

As the last small door opened, a frigid wind blasted across their faces!

Rot, despair, ruin, withering…

At this moment, everyone except Veil and Ileya felt—

what true, manifest “Death Energy” was.