Bab 82: The secret of the pyramid (1)
In the morning, we set out for the dungeon. At the city's exit, the startled guard, the same one as yesterday, bowed enthusiastically and hurried to open the gates. The pyramid was not far from the city, just a couple of kilometers away. Its tall structure, of perfect shape, appeared to radiate golden light under the rising sun.
"Seleria, isn't it too bright for a tomb?" I asked.
"Well, my family loves wealth and grandeur. Don't think it's made of gold, they simply added gold sand to the whitewash for the pyramid. That's why it shines when the light hits it at a certain angle."
"It seems like someone is already waiting for us," I noticed a figure in a red robe near a small entrance. It felt suspicious.
"Greeeetingsss, young adventurers," the treasure guardian intentionally drawled his vowels, adding an air of mystery to the unfolding scene. "You've come to challenge the sphinx and vie for its treasures. Not all of you will pass the trial, but that's your choice."
Seleria put her hands on her hips and approached the figure. The person tried to turn away, but the princess managed to peek under the robe.
"Ahem, mother, what ARE YOU DOING HERE!?" the princess stomped her foot angrily; just as I thought, it was Queen Sheraza.
"Well, darling, someone has to guard the tomb of your ancestors, and it's best if it's someone from the royal family. You have plenty of your own concerns, and you won't call your father for this, so here I am, working part-time," the queen's feeble excuses seemed incomprehensible.
"But I thought this was a job for the Academy's professors?"
"Well, I'm an adjunct librarian at the Academy, so it's not a problem," the queen waved away the misunderstanding playfully.
"And I thought you were a librarian at the palace?"
"Well, well, don't worry about the details. I must tell you about the dangers that await you ahead, about the immeasurable treasures and other less interesting stuff. But I already told you all that yesterday, so have a safe journey."
Sheraza pressed a lever behind a stone, and the passage creaked open.
"Go ahead, I'll wait for you downstairs. I'll either grant you access to the treasure chamber or take you to the hospital, depending on your performance."
Inside, it was dark; there wasn't a single torch on the walls, and the corridor was too narrow to allow more than one person to pass at a time. We had to line up in a column, alternating between mages who created magical light and warriors. Vina was the first to volunteer. The princesses and guild masters brought up the rear. We arranged ourselves as follows: Vina-Grain-Algo-Leira-Vivien-Kurone-Miriam-Rizel-Werner-Ragni-I-Seleria-Asura-Katrina. Lights of various colors illuminated the corridor, each mage summoning their own style of radiance.
"Follow me in the search for treasures!" the spirited merchant marched ahead without asking for anyone's opinion.
"Vina! Are you sure you want to be the first to meet the sphinx?"
"I want to be the first to see the treasures! Finally, we're not after some old junk but real gold!"
"Everyone be careful and watch your step; there might be traps," I warned my comrades as we proceeded down the corridor.
The path was narrow and constantly turned to the sides. Though there were no branches, it felt like we were going in circles.
"Damn, what a silly labyrinth with only one passage!" Vina complained. "And there's nothing here, just in case, listen to me, while there's time, I'll tell you a bit about the valuables."
"KYA!"
"What was that? Check if everyone's here?"
The column remained intact; it seemed that no one was missing.
"I don't like any of this. Anyway, I wanted to tell you about gold. First of all, the material matters, choose gold with higher purity. If I'm not around, your mages can test it with lightning magic. The more gold content, the better it conducts mana lightning, so you'll be able to verify its authenticity. Precious gemstones are also important; just make sure you can tell the real ones from fakes."
"Waaah!"
"What now? Again?"
We exchanged glances once again but didn't notice anything unusual.
"What's going on here? It would be good if you knew how to verify the authenticity of diamonds, but for the other gemstones, rely on me and choose the most appealing jewelry. In this matter, you can trust a woman's taste."
"Well, how can you say that? I could also choose something beautiful."
"Grain, don't try. Your choice would probably stop at gilded knuckle dusters. Just trust the girls to decide," Vina suddenly stopped, and the whole column came to a halt. "What the hell!!"
"Vina, what's going on?"
"The passage has ended. Did we miss any turns?"
"There were no turns here."
"Va-va-va-va-va!!"
This time, the cry sounded very close.
"Seleria, did you notice anything?" I turned around, but behind me, there was an empty corridor. "Can any of you tell how many people were following me?"
All of a sudden, everyone focused on me. Katrina, Seleria, and Asura were no longer with us.
"Where did they go?"
Ragni was examining the wall intently behind me.
"There's something strange here. It seems there's a large hall below us, accessed through five narrow passages. And it looks like the girls have already fallen into four of them."
"Darn it, I'll go after them. How far is the nearest passage?"
"One after three turns and another after six."
"Got it."
I rushed back; it wouldn't be right to leave the girls alone in this dark tomb.
"Uvaaaaa!" the dragoness hurtled down the narrow descent into the unknown. Perhaps I should have given more time for warning about traps.
Soon, a dim light appeared below her, and Ragni soon found herself in a large room with a stone floor.
"Darn it, they could have added some sand here," the dragoness stood up, rubbing her bruised spot. The room was of impressive size, faced with black stone. Large bronze braziers stood in the corners on tall legs. In the center of the room was a long rectangular recess in the floor, and next to it stood three figures.
"Wow, girls, you've been here already, you could have caught me," Ragni approached her guildmates who were floating in the clouds.
"Oh, Ragni, you got caught too?" Seleria addressed the dragoness nonchalantly.
"What do you mean 'caught'? I was studying the peculiarities of local architecture. What is this place?"
"It seems like an ancient trap. Hopefully, there's a way out from here," Katrina surveyed the vaulted ceiling, smooth and rectangular, with no hint of a weak spot. Only five openings led here, from which the girls came. "I wonder who else will come here."
"Mmm, probably no one. I fell through at the end of the corridor, and there were no more traps beyond that."
Ragni's words did not instill hope in the hearts of the girls.
"This is bad; it means we'll have to fight this thing together."
"Fight this?!" Ragni was puzzled.
Katrina had just conjured a ball of light in her hand and tossed it into the air. As it ignited, it illuminated the entire room. On the opposite side of the rectangular recess, they could see a gilded door, likely leading to the treasure chamber. But above the door stood a statue, an enormous black statue with the body of a lion and the head of a human, wings on its back, and golden shackles on its paws. The statue was almost five meters tall.
"Is that the monster?" Ragni took a step back. "But why isn't it attacking?"
"If it's a golem, it follows clear commands," Seleria's knowledge shone through. "Most likely, it has a command to attack anyone attempting to enter the treasure chamber. However, if it were to attack everyone in the room, we wouldn't stand a chance; it would pick us off one by one. Besides, there should be a safe area here to drag the injured to."
The princess examined the room. "Most likely, it attacks when you approach the door or if you attack it directly. Since this is only a trial, it won't attack those who lie still and show no signs of aggression."
"Enough lectures. All we need to do is take down this statue," Ragni stepped forward and stepped on the rectangular recess in the floor.
In an instant, the statue turned its gaze towards the dragoness and flapped its wings.
"Well done, Ragni, now it noticed us. Scatter!"
The girls rushed in different directions, and at that moment, the golem lunged into the attack. With one leap, it covered half the room and landed where the princesses had just stood.
"Fire all together!" Katrina commanded, and Seleria and Ragni unleashed a burst of flames at the sphinx, while the princess herself struck it with a powerful lightning bolt.
The sphinx winced under the powerful attack but quickly recovered, flapping its wings, and the streams of air blew away the princesses' magic. Without wasting time, the monster leaped towards Seleria, extending its massive paw.
"Darn it, can't dodge in time!"
Seleria was still flying towards the wall when the creature's paw rapidly closed in on her. But at that moment, a blue flash streaked in front of her. Asura, wielding her katana, struck the paw and pushed it aside.
"Thanks."
"Don't mention it. I was hoping to sever its paw in one strike, but it seems I overestimated my abilities."
The impact left a deep gash on the creature's wrist but not deep enough to cause serious damage.
"What are golems even made of?"
"Well, this one is likely made of obsidian, with wings of orichalcum; otherwise, it wouldn't be able to dispel our magic so easily. But inside, there must be a metallic frame. You can't make pure stone move with any kind of magic."
The sphinx raised its paw again, this time aiming at the blue-haired warrior. Asura struggled to block the attack, but the monster wasn't deterred and, standing on its hind legs, struck with its second paw. Asura couldn't defend against this strike, but luckily, she wasn't alone.
Katrina released a bolt of lightning at the sphinx's paws. It passed through the golden bracelets on its limbs, causing them to fuse together. The sphinx roared and flung Asura away. The dragoness caught her in mid-air and gently set her down, while Seleria unleashed a burst of flame at the creature's face, stunning the golem.
"Thanks," Asura said.
"No time for thanks, we need to come up with something. Our magic hardly affects it," Katrina hurried over to the other girls.
As the sphinx struggled to move away from the fiery flash and Katrina's lightning, Ragni asked, "Seleria, did you say it has a metallic frame inside?"
"Probably."
"Then I understand why its paws fused together with one strike. Asura, can you strike if we channel fire magic through your blade?"
Asura's face contorted with an unfamiliar anger. "I'll do it, but only this once."
"Seleria, try to stun it again with a burst of fire. I'll try to magnetize its hind legs. Ragni, direct the flame into Asura's sword. Let's try to knock its head off."
With a monstrous roar, the sphinx broke free from Katrina's magic and lunged for its next attack. The girls sprang into action as well.
Katrina hurled two bolts of lightning at the sphinx's front paws. The front paws immediately clamped together, but the hind ones remained firmly on the ground.
"Seleria!"
The red princess created a fiery fist and hurled it at the creature's face. The explosion enveloped its head in thick smoke, and Asura took her chance.
With her flaming sword, she leaped at the creature, but as she got close, she noticed that the sphinx had turned its head to the side. Her fiery strike missed its face, leaving the monster unharmed. Swiftly realizing the approaching threat, the sphinx blocked the flame on Asura's blade with one wing and swiftly threw her against the wall.
"Darn it, it's smarter than it seems," Katrina gritted her teeth.
Ragni wanted to help the injured warrior to her feet, but she politely declined. "I'm fine; my defense helped me withstand the blow," Asura said, swaying a bit and rubbing her eyes. "But a couple more of those hits, and I won't be able to hold onto my sword."
"We'll have to come up with a better plan. This creature learns quickly," Katrina said.
"It's a pity he's not here," Ragni lowered her brows sadly.
"AAAAAAH!! Thunk"
To the girls' surprise, someone else stumbled into the room through the last unclosed passage.
"Darn it! We should have expected something like this," Katrina exclaimed.
On the stone floor sat a dark-haired young man with two black swords.
"Krito!! I never expected you to make it here," the girls were delighted to see their comrade, perhaps even more than they should be.
Noticing the newcomers in the room, the sphinx obediently returned to its guarding position, giving them time to assess the situation.
"Can you give us a brief overview of the situation?" I took it upon myself to ask.
"He guards the entrance," Katrina explained. "He attacked us when we stepped into the center of the room. He's made of obsidian, though the wings seem to be made of a different material, and he has a metallic frame inside. I was able to magnetize him twice, but he quickly adapts to our tactics."
The information was scarce, but it was enough for me to devise a plan.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone