The warm applause echoed around, creating an extremely eerie scene.
It felt as if there was an incredibly exciting performance taking place here, and they were the intruders who had stumbled in by accident, completely out of place in the current atmosphere.
Karun noticed that the "audience" who had stood up had a faint glow emanating from the crystals embedded in their bodies at this moment.
It seemed that these crystals not only served to fixate them in place, but also had the ability to assist in controlling the bodies.
But who exactly was controlling these bodies?
Was it a mysterious formation that had been continuously operating in the tomb, or... Karun turned his head to look at the crystal coffin.
"Click..."
A crisp sound rang out, followed by a dull friction, much like the amplified sound of grinding teeth.
"Prepare for battle!" After Murie shouted, he stood side by side with Wontu La, holding a round shield and a short knife. Behind them, Bart and Philomena took their positions on the outer sides, followed by Blanch and Easley.
Further back were Memphis and Mars, as well as Richard, who was sitting there as a wounded soldier.
Alfred stood by Karun's side as a free man.
"Bang!"
The coffin overturned, and a pure white hand reached out from inside, suddenly clenching into a fist.
In an instant, the applause ceased.
The hand slowly relaxed and pressed downward.
All the "audience" sat down.
The hand waved outward.
The "audience" all leaned forward, returning to the appearance of being fixed in their seats by the crystals.
Immediately after, a figure sat up from inside the crystal coffin. She was wearing a clean white nightgown, unlike the heavily made-up "audience." She had a natural look, appeared to be around forty years old, with a slightly plump figure, giving off a neighborly auntie vibe.
But when she opened her eyes and swept her gaze over, a terrifying aura struck.
Murie's short knife danced behind her.
Mars immediately whispered to Memphis beside him, "Warrior."
When facing a warrior, it's best to use binding and pressure formations.
Memphis shook his head and said, "The low temperature in the air has dissipated, she possesses strong spiritual power. Set up a triple defense formation."
This meant completely giving up on active attacks and directly choosing passive defense.
Mars hesitated for a moment, but ultimately agreed, and began to set up the formation with Memphis.
"I thought it was someone from the Conjes family coming to bring me an audience again, hehe."
The woman's lips didn't move, but her voice echoed around.
Then, the woman's body floated up from the coffin, and a mirror formed beside her, as if she had just woken up and was grooming herself.
"The Robe of Order, hehe, are you from the Order of the Gods?"
Karun spoke, "Yes, madam."
Her hairstyle was very ancient, but this was also a prominent feature, indicating that she was married.
Unlike now, where apart from some noble families, most ordinary people no longer paid much attention to hairstyles, and various hair salons had long since sprung up to help people express their individuality.
Karun also noticed a detail, that there was a black hairpin added to her hair, with a short black veil attached to it. This decorative detail proved that her husband had passed away, and she was now a widow.
"How is the Conjes family now?" the woman asked.
"Unfortunately, madam, the Conjes family has been in decline for over a hundred years. It's even hard to find someone with the Conjes surname outside."
"Ah." The woman shook her head. "So that guy named Preston, didn't manage to revive his family, huh?"
Preston. Conjes?
Not only did he enter here, but he also met this woman?
From the sound of it, he left alive?
But why didn't he cause any more waves after leaving alive?
The woman checked her appearance, then carefully scanned everyone on Karun's side, observing them closely.
"So, what is the purpose of the Order of the Gods coming here?" she asked.
Karun replied, "Because this place was discovered, the news reached the Order of the Gods, and they issued a task. We came here to investigate after receiving the task."
At this point, it was naturally impossible to say that they came to steal from the tomb secretly. They had to bring down the Order of the Gods and make it clear that the Order of the Gods was aware of their actions.
"Since when did the Order of the Gods become so stingy? Have I violated the dignity of the order by sleeping here and amusing myself?"
"We are just here to investigate, madam."
The woman raised her hand, and a black shadow wriggled in her palm, but it failed several times to transform into a human form.
"Interesting, my shadow servant is gone, did you kill him?"
"I think this may be a misunderstanding. When we entered, he tried to attack us."
"Misunderstanding?" The woman nodded, seemingly accepting this explanation. "Do you know how much effort it takes to create him?"
"I'm very sorry."
"No, no, no need to apologize, because your apology now is based on your doubt about whether my strength is enough to threaten you, right?"
"Of course not."
The woman pointed at Karun and said, "It may not be apparent on you, but the others, they seem to be your subordinates. I have already seen many answers from their expressions."
"It's madam's aura that has made my companions impolite."
"Hehe." The woman laughed. "If I say you can leave now, will you leave? Or, will you try to come up together and see if you can defeat me and take these..."
The woman pointed at the treasures placed on the small altar around them.
"Take these things out together?"
Karun didn't hesitate and said, "We are willing to leave."He came to rob the tomb, the mechanisms and puppets in the tomb were all within his expectations, including the corpse that underwent a strange transformation after the coffin was opened.
But the person lying in the coffin stood up with a clear mind and began to communicate with you normally...
This was no longer tomb robbing, but rather a direct robbery in someone else's home in front of the owner.
Of course, ethical constraints could be set aside at the appropriate time, but Karun really couldn't sense the depth of this woman.
Even with the crystal as an aid, it was really frightening to suddenly make thousands of corpses move as if they were under a spell.
"Oh? You agreed so readily?" The woman seemed surprised.
"I deeply apologize for disturbing you again. If you need an audience... I will be responsible for bringing them in," Karun said.
"Hehehe."
The woman's laughter echoed incessantly.
Everyone's eardrums felt a piercing pain from this laughter.
After a long time, the woman stopped laughing and said to Karun, "You are an interesting one, more interesting than the one from over a hundred years ago, but he ultimately did not keep his promise to me."
"I am different from him," Karun said seriously.
"Oh?"
"I will keep my promise to you, I swear by my loyalty to the God of Order!"
The woman's figure left the crystal coffin and landed in front of everyone.
She had entered the security perimeter, and Murie immediately stepped forward without hesitation, wielding a short knife.
"Buzz!"
The woman raised her hand and directly caught Murie's knife with her fingers.
Murie's eyes gleamed, and his aura instantly surged.
"A member of the Benda family?"
The woman kicked him.
"Bang!"
Murie was kicked away, but just as he flew a few meters, an invisible force pulled him back, and he received the woman's second kick.
At this moment, the giant-sized Wentula rushed over.
The woman casually waved her hand, and a crystal whip struck Wentula's body.
"Snap!"
Wentula was whipped to his knees, and the stone on his chest began to crack.
After being kicked twice and forcibly pulled back, Murie was kicked for the third time. He remained motionless, but blood had already spilled from the corner of his mouth.
In theory, they should have been the first line of defense, but unfortunately, the first line of defense was suppressed too quickly, causing Filomena and Bart to be late in following up.
Bart appeared behind the woman and swung his sword.
The woman didn't even look, and a burst of light flashed from behind her, sending Bart flying.
Filomena approached the woman, and her right fist came smashing down.
The woman raised her hand to block the punch, but it was empty.
The woman looked slightly puzzled, and Filomena's fist had already struck her abdomen. The next moment, Filomena opened her fist, and her palm, covered in blood and flesh, released a dagger that pierced the woman's abdomen.
Suddenly, a powerful force appeared, and Filomena was sent flying, but she did not resist and landed, allowing herself to fall to the ground in a way that disregarded her image, dissipating most of the force.
"I can't believe I can't see through your moves. It's interesting, little girl," the woman said.
Filomena stood up and said, "The poison on my dagger is very potent."
It was a poison personally concocted by her grandmother.
"It's useless against me." The woman pulled out the dagger and casually threw it on the ground. "Because I am already dead."
At this moment, Murie let out a low growl and swung his knife again.
The woman dodged his attack and appeared behind him, kicking him in the back. Murie was sent flying again, but he immediately stood up after landing.
"To be able to stand up again, the Benda family's legacy is truly resilient," the woman remarked.
Mas and Memphis prepared to activate the formation.
But the woman raised her hand and pointed upwards, causing huge crystal stones to fall, each containing a dragon head. These were the terrifying flames created by them in the corridor earlier, and now, there were probably hundreds of dragon heads facing the people below.
"If it's a battle formation you want, then I'll open one too," the woman said.
Mas and Memphis did not activate the formation.
Alfred stepped forward and activated the Enchantment of the Succubus.
"Hmm? Illusion," the woman smiled and a "spectator" in the audience section stood up, looking bewildered.
She transferred the effect of the Enchantment of the Succubus.
The woman's eyes gleamed, and Alfred immediately stepped back, covering his eyes as a stinging sensation blurred his vision.
Blanche felt a chill on her back, and the woman appeared behind her.
When a priest is approached by an enemy in close combat, the outcome is often extremely tragic.
But Blanche was not attacked; the woman just reached out and tousled Blanche's hair, enviously saying, "You need to take care of your hair, don't wash it too often, you know?"
Blanche was stunned for a moment, then nodded.
The woman didn't do anything to her.
Elsie felt a chill on her shoulder, and when she turned her head, she found the woman standing beside her, with her hand resting on Elsie's shoulder.
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"You have so many soul imprints of demonic beasts on your body. Aren't you tired?" the woman asked.
"It's okay..."
"Heh, you are very talented. Can you summon powerful demonic beasts?"
"I can, but it takes some time."
"We won't waste that time, okay?"
"Okay..."
"Good girl," the woman reached out and touched Elsie's cheek, "You eat very well."
Although she was called fat, Elsie dared not get angry.
Because in close combat, she was only slightly better than Blanche, and this woman could easily crush her skull with a wave of her hand.
In fact, they had already lost.
In the face of absolute power, even the most precise teamwork was not very effective.
However, the woman seemed to have no intention of killing anyone.
In the end, the woman appeared in front of Karun.Karun clenched the Sword of Arlus in his hand.
The woman halted her steps, not advancing further, and spoke, "I can let you all leave, but the condition for your departure is that I must keep one person behind."
"I will not abandon any of my team members," Karun replied, "especially not in a situation that feels like we're being picked out at a market."
"No, you will agree."
The woman's figure retreated, leaving a trail of afterimages, finally settling back at the edge of the crystal coffin.
"My shadow has died; I need to keep one person to become my new shadow. The rest of you can leave this place safely."
Ignoring the woman's astonishing strength, just the sight of nearly a hundred stone-carved lizard dragon heads above was enough to grant her the qualifications and ability to control the entire situation.
Even now, Karun did not regret bringing his team members here, because no matter what they had faced before, as long as there was the slightest chance, he couldn't convince himself to turn back.
From the moment they entered the tomb, they truly entered the phase of 'no coffin, no tears.'
The current situation was simply a matter of extremely bad luck.
Everyone repositioned into their combat formation, the same as before, even though the woman had previously charged through it from start to finish.
Watching their movements, the woman nodded, seemingly satisfied with the quality of these young people.
Sometimes, knowing you can't win but still insisting on fighting is a display of courage and perseverance.
Ventura had reverted to the appearance of a little boy, his chest bloody. With one hand covering the wound and the other raised, he said, "Madam, I will stay and become your shadow."
Ventura volunteered to sacrifice himself to ensure the captain's safe departure; for him, there was nothing to hesitate about.
Alfred watched Ventura's back and laughed, continuing to rub his eyes as he spoke, "Children are no fun, Madam. Keep me instead; I'll tell you stories and provide music."
Out of the eleven people present, only Ventura and Alfred were willing to volunteer themselves for sacrifice immediately; the others lacked such resolve.
But for Ventura and Alfred, it wasn't for the whole team; it was for Karun.
Muri pursed his lips, glanced back at Karun, and raised his hand, saying, "Muri Benda is willing to stay."
He hesitated for a moment but still chose to step forward; he owed Karun his life, after all.
Karun remained silent, observing carefully; he was looking for the woman's weakness.
The woman spoke, "I didn't ask for volunteers. I will decide who stays."
With that, she pointed at Ventura and said, "I despise those with good family backgrounds the most. My husband and I suffered great injustice because of such reasons in the past. So, I will keep the one with the best family background among you to continue enduring endless loneliness with me. Only this can slightly alleviate the pain in my heart."
Ventura fell silent, well aware that his family background was the lowest among the team.
Mas, Blanche, and Bart exchanged glances. They all came from knightly backgrounds, with parents and grandparents as officers in the knightly orders; theoretically, their family backgrounds were similar.
Esley hesitated, calculating the rank of her parents' research institute and their titles.
Richard whispered, "Does the Guman family count as high here?"
As he prepared to raise his hand, Memphis stopped him, saying, "No, it doesn't."
Richard insisted, "You can't tarnish my Guman name!"
"There's no tarnishing."
At that moment, Filomina raised her hand and said, "Filomina Felshe. My family was once the archbishop family of the York City region. Although I dislike this cliché of sacrificing oneself to save teammates, I must take responsibility for my surname. I can stay. After all, it's all a dream, and it doesn't matter where you dream."
Muri smiled and raised his hand again, saying, "I am willing to stay and be your shadow, Madam. There is no higher family background here than the Benda family."
The woman had only mentioned one surname, that of the captain of the guards for the generations of high priests.
Muri felt that he was the woman's target; indeed, he had taken the most hits just now.
The woman asked, "Are you the Order's Whip Squad?"
"Yes, Madam," Muri replied.
"The threshold for the Order's Whip Squad of the Order Church has reached such heights? And I see deep family traces in most of you.
Hehehe... What a surprising Order's Whip Squad.
However,
why aren't you speaking?"
The woman pointed at Karun.
Ventura immediately spoke up, "Our captain is an orphan who grew up in an orphanage. His family situation is even worse than mine!"
The woman shook her head and said, "No, none of your family backgrounds can compare to his."