The friend disappeared? Lumian, holding a white candle in his hand, looked at the young man running towards him, and his eyebrows moved slightly.
In the catacombs, disappearances are normal. What's abnormal is how this guy still remembers having a few friends and remembering that they disappeared mysteriously
He is not a tomb keeper, and there is no angel sealed on him!
If something seems out of the ordinary, there must be a problem!
“Stop!” Lumian pulled out the revolver with his free right hand and aimed at the young man with black hair, brown eyes and pale face.
In the flickering candlelight, the young man shook his head frantically and said, "Help! Help me!
"They've all disappeared!"
He just slowed down a little, but didn't stop.
boom!
Lumian simply pulled the trigger of the revolver, causing the yellow bullet to grazed the young man's body and fly into the distance, disappearing into the darkness that could not be illuminated by the candlelight.
The young man sensed Lumian's determination to stop him from shooting, and finally stopped, revealing a pleading expression: "Save me! Save me!"
Seeing that Hela beside him remained silent and had no intention of communicating, Lumian had no choice but to ask: "What happened?"
As he spoke, he used the yellowish candlelight in the hands of the three people to take in the environment at the entrance to the third level of the underground tomb.
Unlike the two previous floors of the tomb and the sides of the road which were filled with white bones, there was a small square without any corpses here.
The square is paved with mottled gray stones, with no moss or dirt in the gaps. It is so clean that it feels unbelievable.
In the middle of it, there are two gray-white pillars made of huge stones, one on the left and one on the right. Their surfaces are severely weathered, leaving traces of peeling off piece by piece.
But even so, Lumian, who had excellent eyesight, could still make out that the two giant pillars were engraved with the "Holy Emblem of the Sun" and the "Holy Emblem of the Triangle", and that they were surrounded by symbols such as sunflowers, crankshafts, and connecting rods.
Around the square, in places that the candlelight could not illuminate, there was a thick darkness, as if countless figures were standing there, casting glances that made Lumian's skin show dense small bumps.
The young man with black hair, brown eyes and a pale face replied in panic:
"I don't know. We were about to walk out of this square dedicated to the 'Eternal Blazing Sun' and the 'God of Steam and Machinery' to explore the ancient tomb on the third floor when they suddenly tripped over something and fell one after another. Even the candles in their hands fell to the ground and went out.
"I, I was walking at the back, and I saw them just disappear like that!"
“Disappeared?” Lumian asked deliberately.
For him, the most critical question is not how the person disappeared, but why the witnesses still remember the disappearance.
"Yes, they disappeared!" The young man nodded heavily. "It was as if they evaporated in front of me at an extremely fast speed. I was very scared and didn't dare to look for them or return to the ground. I could only wait in this sacrificial square and praise the sun. Before my candle burned out, someone finally came!"
It can be seen that if you had not been corrupted by the weirdness this time and could have escaped successfully, your belief in the "Eternal Sun" would have been much more devout... Lumian couldn't tell whether the other party was abnormal or not, so he had to ask another question casually: "Are you college students?"
The young man nodded again:
"Yes, we are students from Trier Higher Normal School. We teamed up to come here for an adventure. My name is Gerard."
Lumian couldn't help but laugh, and even wanted to invite this guy to join him and "Hela" in the search for the "Samaritan Woman's Spring". Anyway, this kind of student would most likely not live to graduate, so it would be better to keep him as bait and make use of his remaining energy.
As he was thinking about how to make sure Gerard was okay, Hela suddenly spoke in a cold voice: "We'll take you up."
So kind? Lumian turned his head and glanced at "Hela" in slight surprise.
In his impression, this lady might even have cold blood.
Gerard was so grateful that tears and snot were streaming down his face. He kept saying "thank you" as he approached the two of them.
Lumian watched his every move, took out a white candle from his canvas bag and threw it over.
Gerard hurriedly caught it and lit the new candle with the old candle that had only a short section left.
After seeing another dim candlelight, the college student breathed a sigh of relief and followed "Hela" and Lumian into the stone stairs leading to the second floor.
After walking less than ten steps, Gerard suddenly froze.
Lumian looked over and saw that any remaining panic on his face had disappeared.
“Is it okay for you to return to the ground by yourself?” Hela spoke again, but her words were completely different from before.
Gerard laughed. "No problem, thanks for the candles. It would be a problem if I lost the spare candles."
Uh… Lumian’s heart moved, and he asked tentatively:
"You ventured to the third level of the tomb alone?"
Gerard nodded proudly: "Of course, I have enough courage and experience."
Finally I forgot about those classmates... Didn't I forget them before because we were at the sacrificial square? Ms. "Hela" saw this and suggested sending him there? Lumian nodded with understanding.
After watching Gerard go up the stairs one by one and leave through the "Old Ossuary Entrance", Lumian and "Hela" returned to the sacrificial square.
This time, when Lumian looked at the two sacrificial pillars belonging to the "Eternal Sun" and the "God of Steam and Machinery", he felt completely different about them.
Maybe that means the protection of the gods!
But even though they symbolized the watchful eyes and protection of the gods, the two stone pillars inevitably showed signs of weathering and corrosion after having spent a long time deep in the underground tomb.
With the mentality that more protection would give him more assurance and that there was nothing to lose by giving it a try, Lumian faced the sacrificial pillar engraved with the "Holy Emblem of the Sun", raised his body slightly, and opened his arms: "Praise the Sun!"
"Hela" watched quietly without interrupting his prayer.
After Lumian finished his brief praise, the two of them made their way to the "Chrismena Night Pillar" in the north, using the black lines above their heads and the road signs at the edge of the square.
Lumian, holding a white candle, had just walked a few steps away from the sacrificial square when his heart suddenly moved and he looked down at his feet.
A skeleton piled beside the road and covered with dark green mold had fallen down at some point, with its hand bones lying across the road, as if trying to grab the ankles of passers-by.
If Lumian had walked faster and paid less attention to his surroundings, he might have tripped over the corpse!
This instantly reminded him of Gerard's description:
The university student's companions tripped over something, fell to the ground, extinguished the candle, and were "swallowed" by the catacombs, with even the trace of their existence completely vanished!
Did they trip over these fallen skeletons? Lumian kicked the hand bone away thoughtfully.
Amid the sound of snapping, he and "Hela" continued to move forward, but after a few steps, they encountered a white skeleton with half of its body lying on the road.
Lumian frowned and subconsciously looked back at the place where he almost tripped.
The dim candlelight spread to that side and was already very weak, but Lumian still relied on the "Hunter" vision to barely see all the details.
His pupils suddenly dilated, and he found that the pale hand bone that he had kicked away had returned to its original position, continuing to serve as a stumbling block for passers-by!
“Are they still alive? Undead creatures?” Lumian looked around nervously and asked.
“No, but it could be.” Hela responded succinctly.
Seeing Lumian's bewildered expression, she further explained:
"They are probably affected by the environment deep in the tomb and have become somewhat abnormal. Once the hidden dangers and terrors in the environment erupt, they will all surely turn into undead creatures."
All turned into undead creatures... Lumian imagined that scene and shuddered instinctively.
The skeletons on this floor, whether complete or incomplete, number at least a million, and there may be an order of magnitude more. If they all become undead creatures that hate the living, things will be extremely terrifying!
Seeing that "Hela" had no intention of returning, Lumian followed her. The two of them relied on the guidance of the road signs and the black line above their heads, passing through the skeletons that tried to "block" them, and slowly headed towards their destination.
After an unknown amount of time, they finally arrived at the "Chrismona Night Pillar" without encountering any living people.
This is a huge pillar made of black marble, with its top touching the top of the cave. There are no patterns or symbols engraved on its surface, and there are no signs of weathering or corrosion.
Lumian was stunned.
You know, the two stone pillars in the sacrificial square, which symbolize the "Eternal Sun" and the "God of Steam and Machinery", have also been weathered and corroded!
Is this more special than the sacrificial pillar
As if she had guessed Lumian's feelings, Hela said coldly: "Chrismena is a member of the Witch Cult, which can also be called the Witch Family.
“She herself is a Sequence 2 ‘Disaster Witch’, who fell in the ‘Four Emperors’ War’ of the previous era, and fell in Trier in the Fourth Era, but her characteristics were all taken back by the Witch Family.
"In addition to the 'Chrismona Night Pillar', there are also the 'Marian Night Pillar' and the 'Leius Night Pillar' on the third or fourth floor."
"Who are these two?" Lumian thought they must be angels too, otherwise they wouldn't be equal to Crismaena.
“Marian was the pope of the Church of Evernight at the time, and Leus was a follower of the ancient god of death, a ‘Death Archon’. Their characteristics were also recovered by their respective forces. As for whether there are other angels who have fallen here, I am not sure, but many angels who followed the ‘Blood Emperor’ must have fallen.” After saying a few simple words, Hela pointed to the stone stairs behind the ‘Chrismona Night Pillar’ and said, “Let’s go to the fourth floor.”
Lumian hummed, and suggested replacing the almost burned-out white candles before descending to the fourth floor.
After attending the occult gathering, Franca and Janna walked along the same path they came from to the underground area corresponding to the Opera House Arcade.
After turning a fork in the road, Franca leaned slightly to Janet's ear and said, "Someone is following us."
Is someone following us? Janna was shocked.