Touching the patterns engraved on the wall on one side of the stone steps, Helene soon came to a flat location.
Based on the Underground Mausoleum map in her mind that she found on "Underground Mausoleum Construction Examples" and restored through William, she was able to determine that this was the real entrance to the mausoleum, and that there should be a straight but sloping downward passage ahead.
Holding the lantern, she groped around with her free hand, moving forward carefully like a truly blind person, and soon touched the damp stone wall with a rusted lampstand.
It was exactly the same as the deep passage I saw in my nightmare. Could it be that I had really been to this mausoleum in my dream... She thought about it, found the right direction, and stepped into the boundary between the cemetery and the real mausoleum.
At this moment, a cold breath surged in like the darkness that had enveloped her, completely surrounding her. The chill in the depths of the ground reached its limit at this moment, making Helene feel like her life force was draining away. Only the hand holding the lantern could feel the warmth brought by the light.
If I didn't carry a lantern, would I be swallowed up by this power instantly... Helene tried her best to stay calm, with thoughts in her mind, and she felt like there were monsters peeping at her all around.
This gave her the urge to take off the black cloth covering her eyes and take a look at her surroundings for peace of mind, but the lessons learned from groups of "guinea pigs" made her refrain from taking action.
But then the "Dark Holy Emblem" tied to her left wrist gave out an equally cold but reassuring aura, dispelling the coldness and darkness surrounding her.
"Praise Evernight Goddess, and also praise Miss Angelica who gave me this holy emblem..."
Helene murmured, taking back the hand that was touching the wall and holding the holy emblem and put it on his chest, feeling the reassuring coldness. He recalled the description of Evernight Goddess's authority in "Gods and Divine Power" in his mind, and once again confirmed that the taboo of "must light the lantern" is probably related to the "secret" power.
In the minute after entering the mausoleum, the pleasure of benefiting from the knowledge in her mind was stronger than the month she spent reading books on the ground.
"So, wearing the Holy Emblem, I can stay safe in the tomb without relying on light sources and avoid being swallowed by darkness?
"It's not confirmed yet. It's best not to take risks, but it can be used as a final trump card... To be able to dispel this power with just one Holy Emblem, I'm afraid only a certain Angel of Church of the Evernight Goddess can do it. Miss Angelica The new Honorific Name has the phrase 'Crimson and Secrecy's Shadow' in the description. There should be some connection..."
Muttering silently, Helene continued to walk forward in the dark corridor. She was still touching the wall with one hand and holding the lantern with the other, keeping herself walking in a straight line. Based on the map in her mind and "Hunter's" keen perception of the environment, she quickly completed the downward sloping passage and came to the main area of Underground Mausoleum, which extends in all directions.
During this period, she could feel that her Spirituality was being suppressed in some way, which dulled her premonition of danger and her perception of the environment. Her original connection with the mirror placed in advance on the ground near the entrance to the mausoleum was also completely cut off.
This meant that if she wanted to leave the mausoleum, other than walking out with her feet, she could only venture into Mirror World and leave through the passage connecting the marked mirrors.
"But Mirror World in the mausoleum area is completely different from Molora in other locations. It is shrouded in a strange mist. The three of us simply dare not use 'Ice Mirror' Charm to enter. Unless it is absolutely necessary, it is best not to try this method..."
Helene continued to move forward with a sense of frustration that was suppressed to a certain extent. One hand was always close to one side of the wall, but he changed directions from time to time according to the map in his mind, and never encountered the situation of "hitting the wall".
According to Archbishop Hella Berg, except for me, an outlier, no Exile person has borrowed books or taken exams for a long time. So how are Gusin going to take advantage of the riots to explore Underground Mausoleum? Use a large number of subordinates as cannon fodder to explore, or use some Mystical Item? Helene was thinking as he moved forward, and soon came to a spacious room marked "Soldier Puppet Storage Room" on the map.
According to the introduction in the book, there are many steel dolls waiting to be used here, and a large part of the work of "Experiment Personnel" is to use these dolls to replace the damaged or missing ones in the seal core to ensure the number required for the seal.
Helene reached out and groped around, and as expected, he quickly touched a steel humanoid.
It was two meters tall, and its smooth armor was cold to the touch. It stood in the corner with its feet together and a spear in hand. There were more of the same kind beside it, with only the weapons being different.
"There are four types of weapons, spears, big swords, giant hammers, and bows and arrows. The weak point is behind the neck..." Helene recalled the introduction in "The Making and Maintenance of Puppets". He no longer caressed the bodies of these soldiers like a blind man, but walked around them and continued to walk forward.
I don't know how those "Experiment Personnel" carried a handheld lamp and blindfolded soldier puppets that were much heavier than adults... Could they have a way to make the soldier puppets move on their own and follow them to the sealed area? If this is the case, then Experiment Personnel is not only the enforcer of Molora, but also the enforcer of Underground Mausoleum...
Helene muttered in amusement, wanting to laugh but couldn't.
Because she realized that if Gusin hadn't used the riot to lure away all the law enforcers, she would have encountered these puppet-manipulating Experiment Personnel in Underground Mausoleum, and she was even one of the "Salinger’s Blood Banner" puppets. The level of danger would have been greatly increased!
In this case, Gusin will definitely not give up the opportunity to enter the tomb to look for Sealed Artifact!
As soon as this thought came to his mind, Helene's already somewhat sluggish Spirituality issued a strong warning, and the sound of objects cutting through the air was heard in his ears.
Someone is attacking!
Her hair stood on end, and her body instantly entered a fighting state. She immediately protected the lantern under her arm with one hand, and rolled away from the place. Star flames ignited beside her, creating more light to prevent herself from falling into the darkness. Her free hand condensed incandescent Flame Spear. Before she could stand still from the roll, she threw it towards the location where the sound appeared.
Boom——
The high temperature dissipated the coldness and dampness of Underground Mausoleum, and the blazing flames made Helene feel a glimmer of light through the black cloth and eyelids. The attacker fell to the ground without saying a word, making a sizzling sound and the smell of flesh being roasted by the high temperature.
To die like that...Helene was a little surprised. In her imagination, the person who dared to enter Underground Mausoleum must be a Mid Sequence Beyonder. No matter how bad it was, he would not be blown to death by a Flame Spear.
He carefully used his ability to control flames to extinguish the remaining flames. After waiting for a few more minutes and hearing no other movement, Helene approached the location emitting high heat and groped for the opponent's body regardless of nausea.
Soon, she confirmed the identity of the attacker with the help of several still-hot coins, a sheathed dagger and other miscellaneous items left behind.
He was one of the Exile people sent by William to explore the inside of the tomb.
After entering the mausoleum for such a long time, even if he did not violate the taboo, he would still starve to death... Could it be that he was contaminated and became one of Sealed Artifact's puppets, so he was not cleaned up by Experiment Personnel... Helene touched it again, and suddenly found that the corpse was missing something: a head.
The Exile who attacked her just now was a headless corpse!
In shock, Helene immediately remembered one of the possible pollution effects of "Salinger’s Blood Banner" that Miss Angelica had specially reminded: a headless corpse and a flying head that would chase people.
The weak point of those soldier dolls is also the neck... Inside this mausoleum, separation of body and head is the most common way to die?
Helene shook his head, keeping this in mind, lit a flame to clean his dirty hands, left the storage room filled with puppets, and continued walking deep into the mausoleum along the shortcut found on the map.
In the center of the Molora city, in front of the simple and heavy Knowledge Church, a large number of excited Exile visitors have gathered.
They have been dealing with law enforcers for a long time, and they know that these guys with indifferent expressions and rigid thinking are actually quite effective in combat, fearless of death, and some even possess extraordinary strength, so they usually dare not provoke them at all.
But as more and more people flocked to the city center, the law enforcement officers in black robes and neat lines stood among the crowd like rocks facing a tsunami. Although they stood still, they became increasingly inconspicuous.
The disparity in numbers quickly aroused the violence of the Exile enforcers. They used homemade Molotov Cocktail, front-loaded soil guns, short knives tied to sticks, and all kinds of weapons to attack the law enforcers.
The expressionless black-robed law enforcers also fought back forcefully, and the scene suddenly became chaotic.
William, who was hiding on the top floor of the church, cautiously looked down. His eyes quickly swept over the dark crowd. After a rough calculation, he turned back to Tia, who looked worried, and said:
"There are almost 10,000 Exile people gathered in the square, and almost the same number of people are coming from nearby streets... And the entire city's law enforcement force should be concentrated here, but there are only less than a thousand people."
Tia also took a look and was frightened by the excited mobs that were still pouring into the square. He retracted his head and asked:
"With such a big difference in numbers, will this church fall?"
"It will definitely happen if this continues. Molora's Exile criminals are all serious criminals. Most of them have several lives on their hands, and there are many Beyonder. After being stirred up by Gusin, they are almost equivalent to an army..."
William's brain calmly calculated, and he soon discovered that Knowledge Church was not as safe as he thought. When more incited Exile people crowded into the square, they could trample all the law enforcers to death just by stepping on them.
Then it was the turn of the interior of the church.
I hope the captain can complete the mission quickly, otherwise even if she finds the Sealed Artifact, we will not be able to leave Molora through the occupied church... William thought about it, suddenly felt something, turned around, and looked behind him.
Archbishop, who was wearing a white robe, held a thick book in one hand and put his other hand behind his back, and walked leisurely to the room where the two were hiding.
Seeing Hella Berg who was not worried at all because of the unfavorable situation, William's anxiety also eased. He bowed respectfully and asked:
"Archbishop Your Excellency, may I ask Helene, I mean Luo, how is she doing now?"
Since the other party has clearly expressed its support for Helene, he is not going to beat around the bush.
Hella Berg smiled and replied in a calm tone:
"She has entered Underground Mausoleum and is ready to complete her mission, but there are two people like her. Who can gain the advantage depends on their own efforts."
There are two more... William The images of Gusin and Lisa immediately appeared in his mind, and he nodded slowly.
Passing over William and Tia, Hella Berg walked to the window, his amber eyes overlooking the chaotic square below, his expression suddenly a little cold.
It was like he was watching a monkey show performed on his doorstep.
Deep in Underground Mausoleum, Helene continued to grope forward, becoming more steady and confident.
She felt that the surrounding environment was very familiar, not only because she had a complete and detailed map in her mind, but also because she had the "experience" of repeatedly entering the tomb in nightmares.
I really wanted to take off the blindfold and see if it was the passages I had seen around me... She touched the black cloth covering her eyes with her free hand, and then slowly put it down. She always felt that this "death-seeking" impulse was also part of the Underground Mausoleum pollution.
Suddenly, her progress stopped.
From the other end of the passage, there was a dull sound of steel and stone colliding.
Those are the footsteps of the steel doll walking!