At the moment the stone door opened, besides the “deathly aura” that rushed toward them, there was also a darkness that almost overflowed from the doorway.
Like tentacles, the darkness resembled beasts unleashed from a cage, constantly stretching out its feelers and fangs toward the outside…
It seemed intent on swallowing and tearing apart any living being that dared to intrude upon this place…
And just as everyone was peering into the interior of the stone door…
Whoosh—!!
On both sides of the stone door’s interior, two rows of ghostly blue flames ignited at that very moment!
Looking closely, these flames did not ignite out of thin air… they were held aloft by desiccated corpses standing on both sides, acting as humanoid candelabras.
As the ghostly blue flames flared up, everything behind the stone door was revealed to everyone.
“This… this, this…”
Seeing the scene inside, Holly trembled, unable to finish a single sentence. Even Rhylier was stunned in that instant.
Because inside the stone door, aside from the two rows of mummy candelabras, everything else… was glittering with gold.
Gold coins and gems were piled into small mountains. It was just like the legendary treasures guarded by dragons.
And above these mountains of treasure, a massive sarcophagus was suspended by golden chains.
“So much… so much treasure… are we rich…?”
To say nothing of Holly, who had been a commoner all her life, even during her past life as a wealthy young lady… she had never seen so much gold! How… how much was there? It would have to be calculated in hundreds of tons!
Gulp… the girl slowly swallowed her saliva, her head turning stiffly to look at the others.
She saw Rhylier walk to the side of one small mountain of treasure and bend over to pick up a gold coin.
Of course, she wasn’t greedy, nor did she want to bite it to verify its authenticity. Instead… she looked at the pattern on the gold coin.
This gold coin was not in the style of the current Kingdom’s currency; the thing engraved upon it was… a plump apple.
The mark of the Golden Apple Adventurer Group! This was a gold coin from a hundred years ago… from when the Kingdom was first established!
It made sense… an anonymous ancient tomb of this scale was bound to be extremely old, however—
Buzz!!
At that moment, everyone’s souls shuddered once again!
That soul-crushing pressure struck again! And it was even more terrifying than the last time!
The weakest and least prepared among them, the Holy Sword User herself, even shook all over and sat on the ground with a thud!
Although Rhylier wasn’t in such a pathetic state, her face was pale… her eyes looked toward the top with a hint of fear… at that sarcophagus hanging in the air by golden chains.
Whoosh!
In front of Ileia, a pale-faced Amisha also flickered out from her shadow, shielding her young lady…
Very strong. The monster inside that sarcophagus above might have already reached the level of a [Rank 6] Transcendent.
Feeling the sensation of trembling emanating from within her soul, Amisha really wasn’t sure if she could win even if she were at full strength… let alone in her current condition…
She glanced sideways at Arthur, who was also standing there looking up at the sarcophagus. She didn’t see the slightest hint of fear on his face.
This allowed Amisha’s nerves to relax slightly… perhaps they could only rely on this fellow of unknown origin.
[Greedy ones, this King shall grant you…]
Buzz, buzz, buzz—!!!
The soul pressure within everyone’s minds continued to increase!
Even Arthur’s eyes showed a hint of solemnity… strong, the monster in this sarcophagus… was truly strong!
[Death!!]
Whoosh—!
The moment the words fell, the black “death” manifested into reality! Waves of black ripples undulated out from the sarcophagus in the air!
Whoosh… the ghostly blue flames on both sides flickered violently at this moment!
The black ripples… they absolutely could not be touched by those ripples!
This was the first thought in Amisha’s mind, while Arthur instinctively reached for his waist again… only to find once more… that he had nothing on him right now.
And at this critical juncture… Ileia performed an action that no one expected.
She looked at the black ripples rushing toward them like a tide, looking at the faintly visible screaming faces within those ripples…
She yanked the silver dog leash in her hand—
“Eh…?” She dragged Ville directly in front of her, then raised her foot…
Off you go!
With one kick, she sent the Goddess Miss flying straight toward the oncoming ripples of death!
“Young Lady?!”
“Ville!!”
Everyone was in a daze for a moment, but before any of their emotions could explode, the ripples of death had already slammed into Ville’s body!
But in the next second, the cruel scene they imagined did not happen.
The moment these materialized black ripples of death touched Ville’s body, they were like mud entering the sea, instantly melting and dissipating… seemingly dissolving into the black and white maid uniform Ville was wearing.
This…?!
Amidst everyone’s dumbfounded state, the monster in the sarcophagus above also seemed to be stunned; it didn’t say a word for quite a while.
“What did you kick me for (口)!”
Regardless of what the others thought, Ville turned around… her cheeks puffed out high as she spoke indignantly!
But before Ileia could answer, the voice that echoed through their souls rang out again…
[Heh… to think… you could block this King’s probe. Then… what about this time?]
Whoosh!!!
As soon as the words fell, the ghostly blue flames burning on the mummy candelabras around them suddenly surged!
And in the next second, all of them swept toward Ville’s position!
In almost an instant, the spot where Ville stood was enveloped by soul fire. The endless ghostly blue flames swirled like a tornado punishing sinners in purgatory!
Step, step…
Arthur and Rhylier took two steps forward, seemingly wanting to rush into the fire tornado to rescue Ville… but they were stopped by Ileia’s outstretched hand.
“Don’t worry~” Compared to the others, Ileia’s expression was incredibly relaxed.
These flames that could easily incinerate a soul were indeed terrifying, that much was true. But for this girl… it would be more effective to just throw a rock at her.
Whoosh… a few minutes later, the soul fire tornado gradually dissipated, revealing… Ville standing in the center of the vortex, her face full of confusion.
She looked up with some bewilderment, staring at the sarcophagus above.
“What is your problem…”
[…]
[Life Harvest!!]
Seemingly completely infuriated by this girl who had taken his ultimate move and still looked confused! The tomb owner’s soul roar exploded once more!
The black death energy formed a massive scythe in the air!
With its swing, everyone except Ville instinctively took a step back! That sensation of approaching death could stir up the deepest hidden fears in anyone’s heart!
It felt as though if they were touched even once by that black great-scythe, their souls would be shattered on the spot!
Whoosh—!!
The scythe swung down, passing directly through Ville’s body! This strike acted directly upon the soul; any touch meant certain death!!
[I am the incarnation of death! The King of the Dead who walks the world!!]
The tomb owner was clearly very confident in this strike, shouting loudly after swinging the scythe!
But…
“You’re sick in the head…”
Standing where she was, Ville was still full of confusion, and even instinctively used her pinky to pick her ear.
Holly could quite understand the “King of the Dead’s” current mood. Getting slapped in the face… one just had to get used to it.