Chapter 349: Sacrificial Square |
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His friends had vanished? Lumian, clutching a white candle, watched as the young man dashed over, his eyebrows twitching slightly.
In the catacombs, it was common for people to disappear. What was unusual was that this guy still remembered his friends and their strange disappearance.
He wasn't a tomb administrator, nor did he have an angel sealed within him!
Any anomaly that occurred meant that something was wrong!
"Stop!" Lumian drew his revolver with his free right hand and pointed it at the black-haired, brown-eyed, and pale-faced young man.
In the flickering candlelight, the lad shook his head frantically and said, "Help! Save me! They've all vanished!"
He slowed down slightly but didn't stop.
Bang!
Sensing Lumian's determination to stop him, the lad finally halted and revealed a pleading expression.
"Save me! Save me!"
Observing Hela's silence with no intention of making conversation, Lumian had no choice but to inquire, "What happened?"
As he spoke, he used the yellow candle flames in the trio's hands to survey the environment on the third level of the catacombs.
Unlike the first two levels of the tomb, which were surrounded by white bones and had corpses lining both sides of the path, this level had a small square devoid of corpses.
The square was paved with mottled cobblestones, with no moss or soil in the crevices. It was unbelievably clean.
Two grayish-white pillars made of boulders stood on either side of it. Their surfaces were severely weathered, leaving peeling marks.
Even so, Lumian, with his keen eyesight, discerned the Sun Sacred Emblem and Triangular Sacred Emblem engraved on the two pillars. Surrounding them were symbols like Sun Flowers, crankshafts, and connecting rods.
Around the square, where candlelight couldn't penetrate, the darkness was dense, as if countless figures stood there, casting gazes that made Lumian's skin prickle.
The young man with black hair, brown eyes, and a pale face replied fearfully,
"I don't know. We were just about to leave the square where the altars of the Eternal Blazing Sun and the God of Steam and Machinery stand to explore the ancient tomb on the third level. Suddenly, they stumbled over something and fell, one by one. Even the candles in their hands fell to the ground and went out.
"I-I was at the back and saw them vanish just like that!"
"Vanish?" Lumian asked deliberately, probing for more information.
To him, the most pressing question wasn't how they vanished but why the witness still remembered their disappearance.
"Yes, they vanished!" The young man nodded fervently. "It was as if they evaporated right in front of me at an incredibly fast speed. I-I was so scared that I didn't dare look for them or return to the surface. I could only wait in this sacrificial square, praying to the Sun. Just as my candle was about to burn out, someone finally arrived!"
It's clear that if you aren't affected by the strangeness and manage to escape, your faith in the Eternal Blazing Sun would surge… Lumian couldn't discern anything amiss with the other party, so he casually posed another question.
"Are you college students?"
The lad nodded again.
"Yes, we're students from Trier Normal College. We formed a team to adventure here. My—my name is Gérard."
Lumian couldn't help but chuckle. He even considered inviting Gérard to join him and Hela in their search for the Samaritan Women's Spring. After all, the chances of a student like him surviving until graduation seemed slim. He might be more useful as bait.
As he contemplated how to determine if there was anything wrong with Gérard, Hela suddenly spoke with a cold tone, "We'll escort you back."
Surprisingly kind? Lumian turned to Hela, taken aback.
His impression of this lady was that even her blood ran cold.
Gérard was so grateful that tears and snot streamed down his face. He continued to thank them profusely as he approached.
Lumian observed his every move. He retrieved a white candle from his canvas bag and tossed it over.
Desperately, Gérard caught it and lit the new candle with the old one, which had only a small segment left.
Seeing the flickering candlelight, the college student breathed a sigh of relief and followed Hela and Lumian down the stone staircase leading to the second level.
Just as he took ten steps up, Gérard was suddenly stunned.
Lumian looked over and noticed that the lingering fear on his face had disappeared.
"Will it be a problem for you to return to the surface by yourself?" Hela asked again, but her words were entirely different from before.
Gérard chuckled.
"No problem. Thank you for the candle. Sigh, losing the spare candle is troublesome."
Uh… Lumian's heart stirred as he probed, "Did you venture to the third level of the tomb alone?"
Gérard nodded proudly. "Of course, I possess enough courage and experience."
He has finally forgotten about his schoolmates… Did he not forget because he was at the sacrificial square? Did Madame Hela notice that, thereby suggesting escorting him? Lumian nodded in enlightenment.
After watching Gérard ascend the stairs and leave through the entrance of the Old Ossuary, Lumian and Hela returned to the sacrificial square.
This time, when Lumian looked at the two sacrificial pillars representing the Eternal Blazing Sun and the God of Steam and Machinery, his feelings for them were entirely different.
Perhaps they symbolized the protection of a deity!
However, even with the deity's gaze and protection, the two stone pillars inevitably showed signs of weathering and corrosion after countless years in the depths of the catacombs.
Lumian believed that more protection meant greater confidence. He wouldn't lose anything by giving it a try. Facing the sacrificial pillar engraved with the Sun Sacred Emblem, he raised his body slightly and spread his arms.
"Praise the Sun!"
Hela watched silently, not interrupting his prayer.
After Lumian finished his concise praise, the two of them made their way toward the Krismona Night Pillar to the north, following the black line above their heads and the road sign at the edge of the square.
Lumian, holding a white candle, had only taken a few steps away from the sacrificial square when his heart stirred. He cast his gaze forward.
At some point, a skeleton, covered in dark-green mold, had collapsed by the road. The bones of its hands lay across the road, as if it wanted to grab a passerby's ankle.
If Lumian had walked faster and failed to carefully observe the environment, he might have tripped over the corpse!
This instantly reminded him of Gérard's description: The college student's companions stumbled over something and fell to the ground, extinguishing their candles. Only then were they "swallowed" by the catacombs, leaving no trace of their existence!
Did they trip over these fallen bones? Lumian thoughtfully kicked the hand bone away.
Amidst the clanking sounds, he and Hela continued forward. However, after a few steps, they encountered another white skeleton with half its body lying on the road.
Lumian frowned and instinctively looked back at the spot where he had almost tripped.
The dim candlelight barely reached there, but Lumian could barely make out the details with his Hunter's eyesight.
His pupils dilated as he realized that the pale-white hand bone he had kicked had returned to its original position, still serving as an obstacle for passersby!
"They're still alive? Undead creatures?" Lumian asked, his nerves on edge.
"No, but it's a possibility," Hela replied succinctly.
Seeing Lumian's puzzled expression, she explained, "They must have been affected by the environment deep within the tomb and are exhibiting certain abnormalities. When the hidden dangers and horrors in the environment erupt, it's likely that they will all turn into undead creatures."
All of them turning into undead creatures… Lumian instinctively shuddered as he imagined such a scenario.
Whether complete or incomplete, there were at least a million skeletons on this level. It might even be an order of magnitude more. If they all became undead creatures with a hatred for the living, the situation would be terrifying to the extreme!
Seeing that Hela had no intention of turning back, Lumian followed. They relied on the guidance of the road sign and the black lines above their heads to navigate through the bones that were trying to obstruct them and slowly made their way toward their destination.
After an unknown amount of time, they finally reached the Krismona Night Pillar without encountering another living person.
It was a colossal pillar made of black marble, its upper end reaching the cave ceiling. There were no patterns or symbols engraved on its surface, nor were there any signs of weathering or corrosion.
Lumian was taken aback.
In the sacrificial square, the two stone pillars symbolizing the Eternal Blazing Sun and the God of Steam and Machinery had been weathered and corroded!
Is this pillar more special than the sacrificial ones?
As if sensing Lumian's thoughts, Hela spoke coldly, "Krismona is a member of the Demoness Sect, which can also be called the Demoness family.
"She was a Sequence 2 Demoness of Catastrophe. She perished in the War of the Four Emperors in the previous epoch, dying inside Fourth Epoch Trier. However, her characteristics were retrieved by the Demoness family.
"Apart from the Krismona Night Pillar, there are also the Marianne Night Pillar and Lius Night Pillar on the third or fourth level."
"Who are these two?" Lumian believed they were angels as well. Otherwise, they wouldn't be on par with Krismona.
"Marianne was the pope of the Church of Evernight back then, and Lius was a Blessed of ancient Death, a Death Consul. Their characteristics were also retrieved by their respective factions. As for whether other angels perished here, I'm not sure, but many of the angels who followed the Blood Emperor must have perished." After Hela briefly explained, she pointed at the stone staircase behind the Krismona Night Pillar. "Let's go to the fourth level."
Lumian tersely agreed, and they quickly replaced their rapidly burning white candles before ascending to the fourth level.
…
After attending the mysticism gathering, Franca and Jenna retraced their steps to the underground area corresponding to the arcade of the opera house.
As they turned a corner at a fork of the road, Franca leaned over and whispered into Jenna's ear,
"Someone's following us."
Someone is following us? Jenna's heart skipped a beat.
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