The ruin didn’t appear different from the last time they saw it. Everything looked the same: the passageway was four or five times bigger than the outside one which spread out from the door, and murals on the walls showcased soldiers, golems, and monsters that glared down at them while baring their teeth fearsomely.
Yet, the opponents they were worried about didn’t appear. Lyla commented on this first, “I was worried that the shadows would rush at us as soon as we opened the door.”
Lyla had been clutching her staff tightly; likewise, Hans pulled out Estellade and had his guard against the entrance while Snoc scattered mithril all over the floor.
Kooo!
Nowem also glared at the entrance while crouching. Even Elena didn’t know what was going on, but she read the situation, gripped her staff tightly, and held her breath. However, when the group opened the door and realized that there were no shadows behind it, they relaxed slightly.
“Shadows? What is that?” Marilyn asked.
“You know how Zich said that there were dangerous beings that we couldn’t beat last time?”
“Those were the shadows?”
“They were one of the dangers,” Lyla explained to Marilyn about the shadows. Unlike her usual carefree self, Marilyn looked serious as she listened to Lyla’s explanations intently. Zich and his companions went inside the entrance. Intimidating murals on the walls and the ceiling fiercely looked down on them. It made everyone including even those besides Marilyn and Elena nervous.
“Is this the entrance to the tomb?”
Elena had heard quite a bit about this place. Still, no matter how detailed she heard about it, seeing it in person was a completely different matter. While seeing the murals that made her crouch while walking, she asked Snoc if they were close to their destination.
“Yup. If we keep following the passageway from here, we will see a large door. Then after we pass through the door, we’ll reach the tomb. Like Snoc said, the party soon arrived in front of a large door. Zich opened the door and revealed the insides of the tomb into view.
“This is…”
“Woooow!” Elena could only exclaim in admiration at the majestic sight before her. Even the rest of the companions looking at it for their second time held their breath at the overwhelming feeling of the tomb pressing down upon them—of course, except for Zich as he had evidently been wrung dry of emotions.
“Fortunately, all the statues have returned to their original spots,” Zich said, and the other companions approached Zich’s side. Seeing the statues standing on top of their respected podiums, Snoc let out a breath of relief. No one rebuked him for it since everyone who witnessed the might of these statues felt different degrees of relief.
“Are those the statues that are immune to magic?” Elena asked Snoc again.
“Yeah, since even Ms. Lyla’s magic doesn’t work on them, you should also be very careful.”
Hearing that even her teacher’s magic didn’t work on them, Elena was filled with nervousness. Marilyn listened to them from the side and looked down at the statues with surprise. She muttered, “…There are traces of battle.”
There were burnt marks and scratches all over the tomb.
“Yeah, because we really fought with all we had here.”
“With the dangerous existences here, right? So, if the shadows are one of them, are the statues another one?”
“Exactly.” Zich stared at the statues. “It was a really dangerous situation for us. With their overwhelming statures and the sheer force coming from them, hard exteriors that swords couldn’t pierce through, and a special characteristic that nullified magic, they were truly tough opponents.”
“If magic doesn’t work on them, then I guess I would also be useless.”
“What certainly doesn’t work on them are traditional types of magic. Curses might be different. We also have the shadows to consider, and you can use magic against them.”
Zich and his companions followed a zigzag pattern to the bottom of the tomb. They arrived at the floor and carefully moved to the closest statue. The statues didn’t move.
“They won’t strike their swords at us immediately for no reason.”
“It certainly seems so.”
Zich and Lyla were relieved to see the unmoving statues, but they couldn’t completely let down their guard. They didn’t know when the statues would suddenly come down their podiums and strike with their swords to slice them all.
“As we discussed before, let’s go near the pyramid later,” Lyla warned everyone.
Last time they were here, the tree on top of the pyramid vibrated before the statues began to move, and that vibration occurred after Zich climbed on top of the pyramid. Thus, they reasoned that the next series of events had happened because Windur approached the tree.
Knowing this, Zich agreed easily, “Yeah, I know.”
Before anything, they had to search the tomb first. They had to find the object they thought was sealing the tree and free the tree from it. They thought the object would be a marble filled with mana like the Lake’s Tear or a Flame’s Tear, but they couldn’t be completely sure of it. They entered the Golden Emperor’s grave first. They thought that since the Golden Emperor was the one who established the empire and brought it to its golden age, there was a high chance that they could find something there. Although they didn’t find anything there last time, they had also not been actively searching for anything. Yet, that wasn’t the only reason why they went inside the Golden Emperor’s grave first.
“This is the grave!”
“Wow! Wooo!”
Marilyn and Elena were amazed as they looked around the stone room. Yet, unlike them, Lyla had her mouth shut the whole time as soon as she stepped into the room, and as if he knew what state she was in, Zich slowly followed her from behind, half a step away at a time. Lyla stopped in front of a coffin. Just like how her memories, it was a simple and plain structure compared to the scale of the grave. Lyla quietly looked down at it from the side.
“Should I open it for you?” Zich asked and Lyla hesitated a bit before she nodded.
Grrrr!
Slabs of stones gritted against each other as the lid slowly opened. A corpse sleeping inside the coffin slowly revealed itself.
The Golden Emperor. It was the body of the Emperor with such an extravagant name. He was also Lyla’s father, and he looked like an old man who had fallen asleep. Now that they were looking at him, he looked a bit similar to Lyla.
Lyla didn’t say anything; she merely looked down at him with an intense gaze.
“Is this person the chamber’s owner?” Marilyn leaned her head from behind.
Lyla did not reply. She just continued to look down at the corpse.
It was Zich who replied. “Yes. Apparently, he was called the Golden Emperor in an ancient empire.”
“Wow, that’s a grand name. Was he that amazing of a person?”
“According to an elf who used to be our companion, he was an emperor that founded an empire that even elves dared not to cross and led the empire to its golden age.”
“Is that so?” Marilyn looked down at the corpse with a surprised face. Then, she glanced at Lyla. “Why is Lyla acting like this?”
“There’s a small story behind it.” Zich shrugged. “Well, it’ll be fine. Let’s leave her alone for a while.” Zich dragged Marilyn’s arms to the side, and Marilyn followed his lead. Zich also grabbed the others and left the chamber. Lyla stood alone in the chamber and stared quietly at her father she didn’t remember for a long time.
* * *
After they came out of the stone chamber, the group scattered. They had all moved together in case an ambush happened, but there was no need for them to keep staying together since things were calm. Thus, Zich told the disciples to scatter and look for any suspicious signs or activities. Even if something like last time happened, their skills were high enough to join up with Zich and Lyla later on easily. Zich also went into another chamber and assessed his surroundings. Marilyn followed him from behind closely.
‘Nothing seems to be particularly out of order.’ Zich went out of the chamber and then looked at the pyramid. ‘If there’s something here, then it’s probably over there…’ However, they couldn’t immediately check the pyramid. ‘Even if nothing good turns up, we should first search all the chambers.’
When Zich was about to move to the chamber, he saw Lyla coming out of the Golden Emperor’s chamber. Zich and Marilyn approached her.
“How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine.” It didn’t seem like Lyla was faking it since her tone was calm.
‘I mean, even if he’s supposed to be her dad, she has no memories of him.’
Moreover, Lyla didn’t really like her status as Clowon’s Princess. It was completely understandable that she would be able to quickly organize her emotions. Lyla asked, “Were you able to find anything?”
“No. It seems like there’s nothing really important inside the chambers.”
“As expected, will the most likely place be the pyramid?”
“I also think so.”
Lyla and Zich looked at the pyramid.
Lyla said, “But even then, we have to go to the pyramid later.”
“Yeah, I was thinking that too. We should also search all the stone chambers just in case. Who knows? Maybe what we’re looking for is in an unimportant-looking chamber.”
“Yeah, I agree.” Lyla tapped on Zich’s back. “I’ll translate the letters on the stone chambers. Maybe something will come up.”
“The letters on the stone chambers?” Marilyn intervened while quietly listening to their conversation. “Are you talking about the letters written on the stone chambers?”
Lyla replied, “Yep.”
“You’re able to translate that?” Marilyn’s eyes widened in shock.
“I was able to coincidentally learn it. I can’t immediately read it like a book, but it won’t take long for me to translate.”
“We’re very proud of our talented mage.” Zich lifted up Lyla.
“Even if you praise me, you won’t get anything so stop your nonsense.”
“I got it. So stingy. Normally, wouldn’t people at least buy a meal if they hear a compliment like this…”
After kicking Zich in the shin as he continued to spout nonsense, Lyla was about to return to the chambers. However, Lyla tilted her head as Marilyn remained behind even when Zich left.
“Marilyn, weren’t you going to go with Zich?”
“I was planning to do that, but I want to see you translate the letters in the stone chamber. Even though I’m a curse caster who does different magic compared to other mages, I still have the curiosity that is characteristic of all magicians.”
“Is that so?” Lyla nodded. She also had the curiosity of a mage, so she completely understood Marilyn’s reasoning. “There’s nothing much to see, but if you want to, you can do that.”
“Thanks, Lyla!” Marilyn was very excited about Lyla’s reply.
The two went inside the chamber. Unlike before when Lyla did not even glance at the coffin, Lyla began reading the letters on the walls.
Marilyn took one step forward while watching this sight. “I’m really sorry to bother you, but Lyla.”
“Yeah, why?”
“Would you be able to read this passage written here?” Marilyn gathered her hands together and asked while looking sorry. It seemed as if her curiosity as a mage had been sparked again.
Lyla didn’t refuse and read the short passage. It wasn’t an important passage; the passage simply just praised the Golden Emperor.
“Thank you so much!” Marilyn gave a small bow.
After saying it was fine, Lyla turned around and continued to read the letters in the stone chamber.