Chapter 492: Act 340 – Charles’s Unexpected Incident
When Brendel opened the stone coffin, the temperature in the tomb had already dropped to a level where a layer of fluffy white frost covered the tomb walls, and a faint clattering sound could be heard in the darkness. Yuta, standing at the door with the others, was slightly taken aback by the sound. Turning to look for its source, she found that it was the Merchant Miss beside her, who had turned pale, trembling from the cold, her teeth chattering.
“Are you alright?” The fiery-haired, blue-eyed leader of the female mercenary band had a trace of confusion in her eyes, not understanding why this young girl insisted on standing here even though she was freezing. However, she knew that among everyone present, this ‘fiancée’ of the Lord should be the weakest, so she kindly asked, “Do you want me to take you outside first?”
Romain hugged her shoulders, shivering from the cold, but shook her head vigorously like a rattle-drum, responding in a trembling voice, “N-no, no, I-I want to see B-Brendel open that th-that coffin. I-I want to see wh-what’s inside…”
“But aren’t you cold?” Yuta clearly saw that the other party was freezing to death.
“I-I am cold…”
“Then can I take you outside?”
“N-no, no!” When the Merchant Miss answered, it was evident that her curiosity had overcome her rationality, expressing that even if she froze into an ice sculpture, she must see what was inside the stone coffin. This mindset, in Brendel’s original era, would at least be seen as pioneering in the quest for truth.
“…”
Yuta clearly didn’t understand the spirit of “to hear the truth in the morning and die in the evening,” and she looked at the strange young girl, momentarily speechless. She of course didn’t know that a year ago, on that night when the Crusian Madara invaded Erluin, Brendel had the same thought while watching the fearless young Romain.
At the same time as the mercenary leader felt a bit speechless, Brendel finally, with Charles’s help, managed to pry open the lid of the coffin with a ‘creak.’ This enormous stone coffin was trapezoidal, resembling the style of an Egyptian pharaoh’s tomb, making it clear that it was entirely different from the burial customs of the contemporary Cruzian cultural sphere. Typically, Cruzian coffins were rectangular or hexagonal like vampire coffins. The Erluinians, inheriting the culture of the Cruz, were not much different, while the mountain dwellers traditionally did not use coffins but would dig a pit in the grave. Therefore, Brendel deduced that this tomb might be quite old, certainly predating the history of the mountain dwellers.
To be cautious, Brendel only pushed the coffin lid open a small crack, but he was immediately stunned. Through the crack, he saw that the enormous coffin appeared to be completely empty, with no bones or mummies that should have occupied the main position. However, he did notice a fair number of gold and silver funerary items.
“Is the BOSS not in here?” Doubt arose in Brendel’s mind; he cautiously gestured to Charles beside him. The two quickly pushed the coffin lid open, only to find that the coffin was not empty after all. Amid the oxidized gold and silver items, at the center, where the bones should have been, lay a pile of crystal fragments.
As soon as Brendel saw those crystal fragments, a chill ran up his spine. For these fragments appeared to form an indistinct humanoid shape lying on a piece of fabric, with clearly defined limbs and torso but lacking a head.
“Damn, senior sister, don’t scare me.” Brendel couldn’t help but murmur in a voice only he could hear. However, no matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t tell what the remains actually were.
“What the hell is this?” Charles, upon seeing the crystal fragments in the coffin, couldn’t help but freeze for a moment. Generally speaking, many burial customs involved preserving the deceased as mummies, but there was no known method for rendering a body into crystal form. And the absence of a head made it even more bizarre.
Brendel inspected the inside of the coffin carefully. Aside from the pile of humanoid crystal fragments, there was nothing else resembling a corpse. If he wasn’t mistaken, this should be the tomb’s owner. As for the nearby funerary items, Brendel recognized a few familiar pieces among them, all magical gear, likely the rewards for this BOSS battle in a game.
Could this be the BOSS? He thought, casting his gaze once more at the pile of crystal fragments. No way, even though his mental counterattack was sharp, could he really shatter something so weak in one blow? Brendel suddenly felt a bit at a loss.
But it wasn’t just Brendel; Charles seemed to recognize the humanoid crystal fragments as well. Hesitantly, he mentioned telepathically, “It seems… this is that thing from before, boss.”
Brendel nodded but didn’t answer. His gaze flickered, and he suddenly spotted an unusually familiar item among the funerary goods. Nestled within a heap of gold and silver, there lay a palm-sized dark gray stone slab, its surface dull and unremarkable, looking as if it had chipped off from the coffin lid. If Brendel hadn’t been puzzled and scanned the inside of the coffin repeatedly, he might not have noticed this seemingly inconspicuous stone slab.
Curiously, he picked it up and suddenly realized it was very similar to something he had seen before. After hesitating for a moment, he took out something from his pocket.
It was also a stone slab, gray and dull, nearly identical in appearance to the larger stone slab in his hand, except for its size, being only thumb-sized. This small stone was something he had found in the Forbidden Fruit Garden, where the Golden Magic Tree was located, during his escape from the Xavier Mountain Path with Romain and Freya. It could be considered a relic of Viscount Neisong, or rather, the belongings of Antinna’s father.
He recalled that among all the belongings of Antinna’s father, only this slab was something he did not recognize. At the time, he thought it was some kind of alchemical material, given that the Amber Sword contained countless materials, and it was entirely reasonable for him to not know them all, as he was a combat class, not a secondary player.
However, according to the alchemist Tama’s assessment later, this slab was not a mineral or any other alchemical material, as it showed no magical response and resembled an ordinary stone slab. Several times he had considered throwing it away, but ultimately, he couldn’t bring himself to do so, as it was obtained in a special scenario, and who knows if it could be a plot-related item. If he discarded it, it would be lost forever.
To his surprise, he now found a similar object in this nameless tomb within Duke Toniger’s territory.
What could this be?
The appearance of this strange stone slab among the funerary items indicated that it must have some value, at least having been recognized by the owner of the tomb. Brendel glanced at the other funerary items. While they may not be priceless (being rewards from a level thirty dungeon), most were magical items, with the rest representing equivalent value in gold, silver, and pottery.
The appearance of this stone slab, previously in Antinna’s father’s possession, now found in this ancient tomb from hundreds of generations ago, intertwined secrets from two different eras, causing Brendel to furrow his brow.
He pondered for a long time but could not reach a conclusion. The most reasonable hypothesis was that this stone slab might be some special funerary item, possibly imbued with unique significance in a certain era, while Viscount Neisong just happened to be an “archaeology” enthusiast. Only then did everything make sense. However, this notion somewhat disrespected the deceased, as there was no circumstantial evidence to prove that Antinna’s father was a tomb raider.
Moreover, the fact that Viscount Neisong carried such an ordinary stone slab with him, alongside the letter to Antinna, suggested he was at least proud of this collection. Brendel truly couldn’t fathom what this item could be worth; it wasn’t a flint spearhead from the Stone Age.
After contemplating, Brendel decided to cautiously put the stone slab away. At the very least, the presence of this peculiar stone slab in the tomb indicated that it had likely endured a time span longer than Erluin itself.
“Hey, there are fate cards here.”
Brendel suddenly heard Charles’s surprised voice in his mind. He turned around to see his servant beckoning towards the coffin, causing a dark object to fly up from within the layered cobwebs—like a box. On the surface of the box was a sunken triangular shape, with an incised circular shape tangent to it. The two patterns formed a peculiar symbol, surrounded by ascending flame motifs.
However, his attention was immediately drawn to a glimmering silver line beneath the box, so thin it was almost invisible to the naked eye. Upon seeing that silver line, Brendel’s expression changed, his voice trembling as he shouted:
“Put it down quickly!”
Sadly, it was too late; Charles had already grabbed the box in his hand, turning back to look at his master, puzzled.
But suddenly, the entire tomb began to tremble, the floor shaking violently in waves, dust raining down from the ceiling. The surrounding support columns leaned, emitting a nauseating creaking sound. Everyone understood what was happening; it was clear someone had triggered some formidable mechanism.
“Ah!” Charles jumped, “Ah… my lord, this is just an accident.”
To him, this truly was an accident. Explaining from the background of the card, he was essentially a wizard raised in an ivory tower. Unlike adventurers, NPC wizards generally grew up amid vast seas of books, having little to no connection to adventure and would be unaware of where traps were located in dungeons.
But both Brendel and Charles overlooked this fact.
Moreover, Brendel had also missed a more important point: Charles was a native, not a player wizard.
“Damn!” Brendel felt an overwhelming sense of dread wash over him, and he quickly said, “Forget about the accident, run! This tomb is going to collapse!” Most underground tombs had self-destruct mechanisms, and players with any experience would not fall into such traps. He looked at Charles, drenched in a sweat.
The two exchanged a glance before turning to flee simultaneously.
