Enthusiastic applause echoed all around. It was an exceedingly bizarre scene.
It was as though a spectacular performance was underway here, while they were troublemakers who had wandered in by accident, completely out of place in the current atmosphere.
Kallen noticed that the crystals embedded in the standing "audience members" were now giving off a faint glow.
Apparently, these crystals did more than hold them in place; they also helped control the corpses.
But who exactly was controlling these corpses?
Was it some mysterious formation that had never stopped operating inside the tomb, or... Kallen turned his head toward the crystal coffin.
Crack...
A crisp sound rang out, followed by a dull grinding that sounded remarkably like teeth gnashing, amplified countless times.
"Prepare for battle!" After shouting, Muli stood beside Ventura with his Round Shield and Short Blade in hand. Bart and Philomina took their positions behind them, to either side.
Behind them were Blanche and Aisili.
Farther back were Memphis and Mars, along with Richard, who sat there as their wounded member.
Alfred stood beside Kallen as their free-roaming member.
Clang!
The coffin tipped onto its side. A pale hand reached out from inside, then abruptly clenched into a fist.
In an instant, the applause stopped.
The hand slowly opened again and pressed downward.
The entire "audience" sat down.
The hand waved outward again.
The "audience members" all leaned forward, returning to their earlier positions, fixed to their seats by crystals.
Then a figure sat up inside the crystal coffin. She wore white pajamas. Unlike the heavily made-up "audience members," she wore no makeup. She looked close to forty, with a somewhat plump figure and the air of a middle-aged neighbor.
But when she opened her eyes and swept her gaze over them, a terrifying presence bore down on