Just before Rona was forced into the trapezoidal tomb to scout the way.
Lin Gui had already brought Elvia inside.
By means of the perfect concealment of the 【Shroud of the Gloomy Night】, he led the way, floating in silently.
As the core of the entire tomb complex, the internal protection of this grandest trapezoidal tomb was naturally extraordinary.
Venturing deeper, Elvia saw many heart-stopping trap arrangements.
The walls were densely packed with holes, with the cold gleam of poisoned arrowheads faintly visible within.
The color of some stone bricks on the ground differed slightly from the surroundings, clearly indicating weight-triggered trapdoors or pitfalls.
Massive spiked maces hung from the ceiling.
They were suspended and guided by nearly invisible, thin metal wires.
In some corners, she could even see magic formation bases embedded within the walls.
The runes had dimmed, but the structures remained intact.
Once triggered, it was unknown what kind of destructive energy would be released.
Unexpectedly, these all seemed to be deliberately exposed, allowing anyone entering to see them at a glance.
Before Elvia could hesitate over whether this was a trap.
Lin Gui simply controlled his staff.
He charged through the trap-filled tomb tunnel with her, his speed not decreasing in the slightest.
It made Elvia’s scalp tingle, and she couldn't help but question him in a low voice.
“I said, can't you slow down! What if we hit a trap? This is a Primeval Era tomb!”
Lin Gui’s voice came back calmly.
“The 【Shroud of the Gloomy Night】 can perfectly conceal all physical characteristics and energy fluctuations from both of us.”
“Therefore, these traps that rely on physical triggers or energy sensing cannot detect us.”
“That powerful? Doesn't that make you invincible?”
“Not invincible,” Lin Gui denied.
“Legendary-rank magical perception, soul probing above High Rank, and Prophecy can all see through the Shroud of the Gloomy Night.”
“And ultimately, I am just a Low-tier High Rank squishy mage.”
“I specialize in concealment and perception; I don't even know a single defensive spell.”
“Any knight outside could kill me with a single serious attack technique.”
“If I were alone, being exposed would be no different from seeking death.”
“Then why did you jump into this mess?” Elvia asked, puzzled.
“Don't I have you?”
Elvia was stunned, her face turning slightly red.
Before she could savor the meaning of those words, she heard Lin Gui calmly add:
“If we are discovered, I can push you—a knight who can take hits and fight back—to block the blades for me while I take the time to hide and run away.”
“As long as the distance is great enough, soul probing and magical perception might not find me.”
Elvia was suddenly speechless.
“No wonder you only brought me into this trapezoidal tomb while leaving that half-demon outside to wait... I should never have harbored any illusions about a guy like you!”
“Likewise.”
Passing through trap zones that seemed dangerous but were actually "meticulously" marked.
Lin Gui and Elvia finally reached the deepest part of the trapezoidal tomb.
It was a vast underground hall.
Around the hall, hundreds of stone coffins were arranged neatly.
Like silent guards, they stood around the center.
In the very center of the hall was a stone platform raised above the ground.
A particularly massive coffin was placed upon it.
The lid of the coffin was actually polished from a single piece of transparent crystal.
Lin Gui controlled the staff and flew directly above the crystal coffin.
Through the clear crystal, the scene inside the coffin was clearly visible.
A body wrapped in tattered cloth, long since turned to bone, lay peacefully within.
The skeleton's hands were folded across its chest.
Beside it lay several items.
A longsword with complex runes engraved on the blade, its inner cold light still gleaming despite the passage of time.
An ancient-looking helmet with wing decorations.
A set of magnificent and majestic silver-white armor.
Even lying in the coffin, the extraordinary quality and power of this equipment could be felt.
As a Holy Knight.
That equipment instantly caught Elvia's eye.
In particular, that suit of armor was definitely a treasure of Legendary quality or higher!
It looked no worse than the demi-artifact that the half-demon had found.
Elvia’s eyes sparkled; Lin Gui’s team only had her as a knight.
Then this equipment would naturally...
However, with a casual glance, she saw a badge held in the skeletal remains' hands.
When she clearly saw the style of that badge, she was instantly struck as if by lightning!
This? How was this possible.
She forcefully patted Lin Gui, who was still surveying the surroundings.
“Hey! I said, look at this, quick!”
Lin Gui withdrew his gaze and looked toward the badge at Elvia’s trembling finger.
He felt that the style of the badge seemed somewhat familiar.
Elvia’s voice carried unbelievable shock.
“This is... this is our Carter royal family's badge!”
Lin Gui understood, then turned his gaze back to the neatly arranged coffins around them.
He didn't care as much as Elvia did.
“It seems your ancestor is buried here. You’ll have to kowtow now. I'll let you down.”
Before his voice had even faded, he controlled the oak staff and suddenly flipped it!
“Eek!”
Caught off guard, Elvia let out a cry and fell straight down.
She landed on her backside on the cold, hard ground.
She rubbed her aching bottom and looked up, ready to curse, only to find the space above her empty!
Nothing blocked her vision.
She could clearly see the panoramic view of the tomb ceiling, as if Lin Gui and the staff didn't exist at all.
This was the first time she personally experienced how Lin Gui appeared to others while using the 【Shroud of the Gloomy Night】.
“He really is... gone in every sense of the word...” she muttered to herself, a trace of chill rising in her heart.
Legendary-rank invisibility spells would, at the very least, be susceptible to a sharp eye because the caster still occupied space and would block the background more or less.
But Lin Gui's 【Shroud of the Gloomy Night】...
Looking through the position where he had been, she could actually see what should have been obstructed behind him!
This was simply terrifying.
She couldn't imagine it.
If an enemy mastered such magic and stayed beside her all day without her knowing...
“Thankfully... this guy is an ally for now...”
She could only comfort herself this way.
Collecting her thoughts, Elvia walked to the crystal coffin and carefully studied the badge inside.
“It is indeed the Carter royal family's badge... but I have never seen this design before...”
This was truly strange.
“There's text here.”
Lin Gui’s voice suddenly rang in her ear.
Elvia complained.
“You suddenly threw me down just to see if I would trigger a trap, didn't you? You came out only after knowing the ground was safe?”
Lin Gui replied indifferently, “If you trigger a trap, I can still save you. If something happens to me, you can only wait for death.”
Elvia did not refute him.
Although Lin Gui's methods were far too unreasonable.
Deep down, she strongly agreed with this extremely logical, even cold, survival logic.
“I just hope this guy can give a heads-up next time...”
She grumbled, coming to the side of the coffin where Lin Gui was pointing.
It was covered in dense rows of text.
Elvia only took one look before squinting; she couldn't understand it!
This was not the common human script currently used on the Akara Continent.
Instead, it was a more ancient and complex set of characters.
From beside her came Lin Gui’s deep and clear voice as he read aloud, appearing to recognize the text:
【To my eternal star, the last pearl of Carter, Queen Catriona:】
【When you see this letter.】
【I presume that I, along with my loyal knights.】
【And all the brave souls willing to go to their deaths, have already been laid to rest here.】
【The kingdom has fallen, and demons are like a tide.】
【We exhausted the kingdom's strength and gathered all the knights and the volunteer militia of commoners.】
【Yet we still failed to block ‘its’ trampling footsteps.】
【The city walls collapsed amidst wailing, and the banners turned to ash in the flames.】
【I witnessed my loyal knights being torn apart in the demon tide with my own eyes.】
【Brave commoners built the final line of defense with their flesh and blood.】
【And then... annihilation.】
【We bled dry, only to watch helplessly as the darkness devoured everything.】
【The last hope lies in this ancient ‘Annihilation Formation’ left behind in the depths of this rift.】
【I will use my remaining life.】
【And the souls of all the officers and soldiers who followed me here as sacrifices to activate it.】
【To temporarily block this moving calamity, this god carrying unknown horrors, right here.】
【Catriona, my love, my Queen.】
【Lead the remaining subjects to the hidden mountain land marked on the map in the letter.】
【Hide yourselves and avoid the fires of the apocalypse.】
【Do not look back, and do not grieve for us.】
【Live on.】
【.......】
【.......】
【In the end, we succeeded.】
【The formation is operational, and "it" is trapped here by us.】
【To prevent future generations from accidentally entering and disrupting the balance that maintains the formation.】
【I ordered the last Legendary mage in the army to shatter the surrounding high cliffs.】
【To bury this ancient tomb, along with me and all my soldiers, completely in the abyss of the rift.】
【Catriona, my beloved Queen.】
【I miss you every single moment.】
【Do you still remember our first meeting?】
【Under the oak tree at the Royal Academy, you were holding a thick magic book when you crashed into my arms.】
【Books were scattered everywhere, and you glared at me crossly, your golden eyes shining brighter than the sun...】
【Do you remember the day of the coronation, wearing your crown and royal robes before the eyes of thousands, yet secretly winking at me?】
【In that moment, I knew I was willing to use my life to protect your smile and the kingdom under your rule...】
【Do you remember our final parting?】
【At the secret crossroads leading to the shelter, you clutched my cloak tightly, your tears soaking my shoulder guards...】
【I promised I would find you. I'm sorry, Catriona, I broke my word...】
【Once the formation is activated, my soul will be bound to it.】
【It will gradually burn and extinguish as the formation operates, until finally... I won't even have the qualification to enter the Netherworld Sea.】
【How I wish... I could see you one last time.】
【Even if just to see your safe form from afar...】
【How I wish...】
【Forever yours in love, the last Hero of the Carter Kingdom, Reinhardt Cameron.】
Lin Gui slowly finished reading all the inscribed words.
Beside him, Elvia had fallen completely into a state of immense shock and confusion, unable to speak for a long time.
The Queen's name, Catriona...
She had searched through all the royal family trees but had never found this name!
The founding monarch of the Carter Kingdom was clearly a male emperor, not a queen!
However, the hidden shelter in the mountains mentioned in the letter...
The location it described was clearly the steep, hidden mountain land where the Carter Royal Capital was now located!
The Royal Capital had been established there since the Golden Age!
Countless generations of Carter kings and scholars had found it strange.
Why would the founding monarch choose to establish the Royal Capital in such a remote, steep, and inconvenient mountain land?
Why not choose the wider, more fertile plains or hills?
In history, several generations of Carter kings had tried to move the capital.
But in the end, they were all forcefully rebuffed by the Royal Elder Council on the grounds that "the Royal Capital can never be moved."
The source and reason for this ancestral instruction had always been one of the biggest mysteries within the royal family.
Could it be... that the current Carter Royal Capital was not some glorious land chosen at the time of founding...
But rather... a shelter from the final escape?!
Then this self-proclaimed "Hero" Reinhardt in the coffin.
And that Queen Catriona, who was never recorded in history...
They were the true origins of the Carter Kingdom?!
Just as Elvia was shaken to her core, nearly overwhelmed by this subversive information.
A crisp system notification suddenly rang in Lin Gui’s mind!
【Ding! Strong obsession and unfulfilled wish detected; Special Commission triggered!】
【Commission Content: Deliver the remains of Hero Reinhardt to the Tomb of Queen Catriona, allowing him to meet his lover.】
【Delivery Route: Withered Rift → Carter Royal Capital → Tomb of Queen Catriona】
【Task Reward: Special High Rank soul magic—Eyes of the Netherworld.】
【(Allows the user to see soul patterns and statuses, perceive spirits invisible to ordinary people, and resist soul peering and charms to a certain extent.)】
【Note: Strong residual soul energy detected in the Hero's remains is about to be exhausted.】
【Host is advised to move them from the formation energy node immediately.】
【Current formation operational energy has been taken over by the armor and longsword.】
【Do not attempt to remove the sword and armor to avoid unpredictable consequences.】
【Host must ensure at least a trace of soul obsession remains within the remains to trigger the subsequent task assessment.】
Lin Gui’s mouth twitched slightly as he complained in his mind.
“System, you're taking ‘commissions’ from dead people now?”
【Ding! According to the fundamental rules of the Akara Continent, only when a soul completely merges into the Netherworld Sea is it considered ‘death’ in the true sense.】
【The target's residual soul has not completely dissipated.】
Lin Gui raised an eyebrow.
“In other words, this Hero isn't completely dead yet?”
【No, he is dead.】
【The residual soul is less than one-thousandth; even a god could not save him.】
Lin Gui rolled his eyes; that explanation explained nothing.
“Delivering mail for dead people... I can no longer imagine what the future task targets will be...”
However, this reward, 【Eyes of the Netherworld】, indeed held an extraordinary attraction for him.
Being able to perceive souls.
It would undoubtedly greatly compensate for the biggest flaw of the 【Shroud of the Gloomy Night】: its inability to hide soul detection.
Just as Lin Gui was thinking.
A slight but clear sound of a trap being dismantled came from the distance.
It was keenly captured by his 【Wind Listening】 and entered his ears.
Lin Gui’s eyes narrowed.
“The knights are here!”
Not daring to stay, Lin Gui immediately called to Elvia, who was still in a daze.
“Push the coffin open!”
Elvia snapped out of her shock.
Though puzzled, she followed his instructions and gathered her battle force.
She moved the heavy crystal coffin lid to open a wide enough gap.
The moment the coffin lid was moved, she instinctively reached out.
She wanted to take the longsword and that suit of armor.
“Don't move!”
Lin Gui shouted sharply to stop her!
Elvia was startled, her hand frozen in mid-air as she turned back with a confused look.
“Didn't you open the coffin just to take these extraordinary pieces of equipment?”
“Do not touch them; there are trap connections inside!” Lin Gui explained urgently.
“If you move the sword or the armor, we might not even make it out of this tomb!”
Elvia immediately pulled back her hand, feeling a lingering fear.
“Then why did you open the coffin?”
Lin Gui did not answer but leaned over.
He carefully picked up the skeletal remains of the Hero named Reinhardt from the coffin.
He quickly took off his own mage outer robe.
He wrapped it carefully, then stuffed it into Elvia’s arms.
Elvia blurted out, “Holy crap,” nearly throwing it away instinctively.
Lin Gui immediately warned her:
“Don't drop it! This is your ancestor!”
“If you dare drop him, I’ll teach you a lesson on behalf of your ancestor, you unfilial descendant, and leave you here to face the knights alone!”
“Huh?!” Elvia stood there, dazed, holding a bundle of bones. “Are you fucking kidding me?!”
“Alright, no time to explain! The knights are coming; start setting up the traps as planned!” Lin Gui spoke rapidly.
“Go, find an empty coffin, move it to a position about a hundred meters from the entrance, and place it prominently—it must be visible to the knights at first glance!”
“At the same time, create the illusion of many traps ahead.”
In a rush, Elvia tied the mage robe containing the bones onto her back.
Remembering the trap plan Lin Gui had told her when they came, she asked with a strange expression:
“Are you sure you want to do that?”
“Yes!”
Having said that, Lin Gui no longer paid her any attention and straddled his oak staff.
He flew toward the magic glowstones on the ceiling that emitted a soft light.
Seeing this, Elvia could only look in the direction he vanished and curse indignantly.
“Damn it! What a lunatic! This is the first time I've ever seen an ambush set like this!”
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