Free Web NovelInside the ruins was a place quite… odd. Since the entire place was submerged into the sand with the entrance sticking up at an angle, the inside of the ruins wouldn’t magically align itself.
So, everything was tilted.
Moreover, with their inability to fly, they could only descend as if climbing down a steep cliff. “This is quite a new experience.”
Dune glanced over, and noticing Yasenia using her tail as an anchor as she descended leisurely, a touch of envy came to her. ‘Having a tail… is quite useful.’
She had thought that a tail as large and long as Yasenia’s would only be cumbersome. Yasenia showed quite the opposite. Her flexible and long dragon tail was a third, incredibly long arm that Yasenia manipulated at will.
‘Even in battle, that tail must be quite useful.’
Yasenia glanced around at the rather clean passageways and asked. “Has this ruin been explored?”
“Most items fall down until they get stuck somewhere. So, it’s difficult to tell.”
“Right.” Yasenia blinked, her gaze stretching downward. The place was like a very large mausoleum. There were corridors stretching ahead and to the sides, with time-eroded decorations perched on the walls.
These decorations were tilted downward due to gravity, making them look crooked when compared with the tilted ruin.
“Should we visit the corridors to the sides first?”
Dune shrugged. “Up to you, Lady Yasenia. We don’t know the insides of these ruins, so explore as you will.”
Yasenia nodded. “That’s fair. What do you want to do, dears?”
Evelyn tried to extend her spiritual sense, but it only moved a few hundred pitiful meters. So, she asked her back. “Guide us. Your Spiritual Sense is the strongest among ours.”
“That’s… incorrect.” Yasenia glanced at Tatyana and smiled. “Where should we go?”
Tatyana pondered. “Do you smell anything? I can stretch my spiritual sense quite far, but there are closed doors that block my spiritual sense.”
Tatyana usually stayed passive, but that was not because she couldn’t move. The time when she purposefully held back was during Distancia. The thing was, she was just too lazy to move or make suggestions, and since Yasenia could easily handle everything, she spent her time at leisure.
Of course, since her Little Treasure asked, Tatyana didn’t mind taking the lead.
Yasenia sniffed the air, and then she shook her head. “My sense of smell is a bit clogged up because of the dusty area. Still, if there is a nearby treasure, I am sure to smell it out.”
Tatyana had expected that. A dragon’s nose was not an omnipotent treasure finder, after all. “Since that’s the case… let’s sweep the wings and then move further inside. Sometimes, the people who built these ruins leave behind identification items that you might need later. There should be some traps and such, but I don’t believe the danger level is high.”
Tatyana smiled. “Plus…” Waving her hand, space before her sank inward, revealing a greenish-black gate. “Come out.”
Hundreds of phantasmal creatures came out from the fissure, floating in front of Tatyana. “Oho, so flight is not allowed, but spiritual beings can float.”
Yasenia blinked and waved her hand as well, summoning Soluna into her arms. Soluna blinked and hugged Yasenia’s arms, pecking her lips. “Hehehe, hello~.”
Yasenia’s eyes softened, and looking into her exotic Moon and Sun pupils, she asked. “Love, can you float here?”
Soluna had been listening to the conversation, so she quickly tried. Once she did, her body managed to stay afloat. “I can float, but not fly.”
Her words were a bit ambiguous, so Andrea asked. “What do you mean by that?”
“I mean that I must stay near what is considered ground. I can’t float upward, just sideways and downward. My current distance from the floor feels like the maximum.”
Soluna was about 10 meters “above” the ground, so it was not much. Tatyana shrugged. “That’s more than enough. Go and scout. If you see anything interesting, tell me.”
Mourning wails escaped the hundreds of undead spirits, moving around in groups of ten. “And now… we wait.”
Yasenia’s lips twitched, her eyes both amused and complicated. “This… how to say… it takes away from the experience?”
Tatyana leaned back comfortably, her eyes languid. “Does it matter? When you can save effort, you should save effort.”
AAAAA!
A shriek of a banshee echoed from the distance, making Dune and the others jump. Yasenia tilted her head. “Is that a scream of pain, or a scream that she has found something?”
After all, unintelligent banshees couldn’t really communicate much without screaming their souls out. Tatyana chuckled. “That was a scream of finding something. Let’s go.” freёwebnoѵel.com
The group continued forward, taking a left and then a right. At that place, a group of spirits was hovering above a broken something. Seeing the undead float ominously, Dune was conflicted. ‘It’s really… convenient. Should I have someone learn necromancy?’
She had some underlings with Death Energy, so it wouldn’t be too much to tell them to learn some basic undead summoning techniques.
Yasenia landed on the wall where the thing they encountered had broken, and then sniffed around. “Hm… nothing interesting. A mid-ranked Transcendence Realm treasure.”
Her energy covered the broken chest, and after separating some pieces, a beautiful dagger appeared in her hand. Other than the dagger, there were many high-level Heaven Ranked treasures, but Yasenia just swept them away with a disinterested wave of her hand.
Andrea looked at the pieces and then turned to glance at her Dogkin Maid, Leila. “This seems like an armory chest. Perhaps it was smashed here when the ruins moved around?”
“Your assessment seems right. It feels like a chest containing some luxury artifacts to display. Perhaps, it was a shelf.”
“Oh. That seems to be the case.”
Snake muttered, somewhat awed. “To use mid-level Transcendence Ranked treasures as displaying materials… quite a wealthy individual lived here.”
Yasenia, who had quite literally tens of thousands of such treasures, blinked. “I… guess.”
Snake caught her doubtful tone, but she didn’t linger. After all, she knew that Yasenia and the others were in another league of their own. Rather, the fact that Yasenia agreed out of politeness made her somewhat happy. ‘At least they are treating us with some respect.’
She had been a bit worried. Even when they didn’t really show hostility, sometimes, disregard was scarier. So, this small gesture relaxed Snake a touch.
After entering the ruin, they walked around the tilted structure and found some treasures haphazardly strewn around. Yasenia picked up everything, while Eve, by her side, kept an account. She had said she would give a share, and Yasenia was not about to renege on that deal.
Tatyana commented. “Over there seems to be one of the main halls.”
Having explored for a few days, they noticed that this ruin was some sort of sanctuary. The corridors had some eroded paintings of large rituals and gatherings, while the ceiling had traces of eroded murals.
They guessed that at its peak, this place would’ve been a luxurious gathering location and gorgeous structure.
Evelyn commented. “Just the fact that this place remains sturdy even after who knows how long it has been buried in here is a testament to its durability and exquisite architecture.”
Kali nodded in agreement. “I wonder what we’ll find out in the main hall. We visited another one, but it was empty.”
Angel added. “I feel that this ruin has been found in the past. The few treasures we found were located by the floating wraiths and such, which would’ve been difficult to encounter by a random group.”
It was an adequate theory. If it were not for Tatyana’s phantasmal creatures, they would’ve missed around 80% of the treasures they found.
Yasenia pushed the doors, but found out that they were locked. “It doesn’t budge.”
She could, of course, blast it open with a single punch. However, these places sometimes had gimmicks that collapsed the entire place if you forced entry into an important section. So, opening it as it should or hijacking what kept it closed were the best options.
As Tatyana had said, they needed to be cautious. Currently, they were not outside, but in the Forbidden Zone.
Fennec spoke. “What if one of those Heaven Ranked treasures you encountered was something like a key, Lady Yasenia?”
“Not a bad suggestion.” Yasenia nodded and spoke softly. “Garest, dear, can you sort out the treasures we found recently for me and project them outside?”
Soon, over 300 treasures appeared around them like floating illusions. Snake exclaimed softly. “Wow! What treasure rank is your Spatial Ring, Lady Yasenia…? Ah.” She held her tongue and smiled apologetically. “Sorry for that rude question, Lady Yasenia. I was thoughtless.”
Yasenia had taken some liking to this group, so she didn’t mind. “My Spatial Storage is quite high-ranked. I can’t tell you the specifics, but I am sure it is stronger than whatever you are thinking.”
Snake nodded, grateful. Then, she focused on the treasures. “Hm… Isn't that hollow spot over there quite similar to the ceremonial dagger we picked up at first, Young Miss?”
Anna spoke softly, and Yasenia looked back and forth. Tatyana smiled. “Seems like Anna got it right.”
“I see. Garest, dear. Take out that dagger for me.”
She could retrieve it with a thought, but since Garest was a nascent spirit with limited intelligence, she liked to speak with it like this from time to time as it matured.
At her words, the [World Garden Realm Storage] quite happily opened up and placed the dagger in the hollow space that Anna pointed out.
A small rumble was heard around when it fit inside, and a second later, the dagger fell down.
Yasenia picked it up and stepped back. “Tatyana, do the honors~.”
Tatyana sobbed exaggeratedly. “My Little Treasure is trying to use Mommy as bait! I am so sad, sob, sob, sob.”
The dragoness whipped her butt with her tail playfully. “Stop playing around and send your undead to open the door.”
Tatyana, who had thrown herself into Yasenia’s arms, chuckled. She didn’t leave her arms and waved her hand. “Alright, open it.”
A few large and bulky skeletons appeared, and those creatures pushed the doors open. The door opened widely, revealing a large hall with everything thrown into disarray.
Their spiritual senses quickly swept the area, and at the end, Yasenia and the others noticed something… or better said, someone.
Yasenia tilted her head, and Tatyana spoke with interest. “Oh? A remnant evil spirit. It seems to have absorbed quite a bit of resentment and gained strength.”
“How strong?”
Tatyana rubbed her chin. “Enough to give Dune a somewhat harsh fight.”
Dune, who had been somewhat tense from the billowing evil aura of that floating figure, nodded. Snake and the other three were quite outclassed, so they took a step back carefully.
Meanwhile, Yasenia asked. “So… if I kill it, will something happen?”
Tatyana shrugged. “Who knows. That thing has lost all sense of self. However, just in case this is a gimmick, do not delete it. Try to defeat it instead.”
“Got it.” Yasenia disappeared, appearing right in front of it. Before the thing could react, Yasenia’s punch tore through space and landed on it.
