That Intis fellow had actually been telling the truth?
Edward stepped closer to the stone door. Lightning once again danced across his palm as he tried to channel it into the space beyond. Yet, despite its immense power, the thunder dissipated quietly before the door, leaving no mark at all.
So…what lay behind this door must be the true "core" of the ruin.
Cautious as ever, Edward vanished abruptly. Two or three minutes later, he reappeared, having completed the ritual of summoning and responding to himself. That way, even if danger lurked behind the door, he could immediately withdraw to the Sefirah Castle.
He took another step forward, attempting to slip through the stone door in spirit form—
But failed.
His incorporeal body touched the stone yet could not pass through. It was as though this door existed not only in the material world but also within the spirit world.
"Open."
Edward considered for a moment and used the Apprentice's Door Opening ability, trying once more. Still, nothing.
"As expected of the Abraham family's handiwork…this defence was designed to guard against 'their own kind.'"
So how was he supposed to get inside?
Placing his palm on the door, he closed his eyes and murmured, "The method to open this stone door."
The next second, he sank into a hazy dreamscape. After a long stretch of darkness, a slender hand appeared, holding a small key. It slid the key into the central star of the crest and gave a gentle twist. With the grinding of gears, the black stone door rumbled open, revealing the main burial chamber within.
"A key?"
Edward's eyes snapped open, dazed for a moment. In his hand now rested a bronze key—the very one he had acquired from Emlyn at the start of his transmigration. Later, it had been through this key that he came to know Christine.
Back then, Christine had sought him out precisely because of this legendary key that was said to unlock the Abraham family's treasure. But as she sailed off to pursue the Laurel, the matter was left unresolved. When he met her again, she had already inexplicably transformed into the "Fallen Mother Goddess." Edward had dismissed her earlier talk of "treasure" as nonsense.
Yet now, two centuries back in time, he had stumbled upon a genuine Abraham "treasure."
"Could it really be this key?"
Edward frowned, fitting the bronze key into the central star as he had seen in the dream.
With a scraping sound, the key slid in completely.
He twisted gently—
Click.
The key jammed.
In other words, it was the wrong one.
Strangely, Edward let out a sigh of relief.
If it had actually worked…a coincidence spanning two hundred years would have been far too chilling. Not even the Russian Priest could orchestrate something like that.
Retrieving the key, he tossed it into the new dimensional pocket he had crafted just days ago. His gaze lingered on the door as he sank deep into thought.
Suddenly, his eyes shifted to the corridor he had walked down. Something clicked in his mind. He reached toward the black stone door—
Steal.
In an instant, the door vanished. Where it had stood was now an open entrance, leading into an expansive burial chamber.
At the very centre, atop a raised platform, rested a coffin of deep, pitch black.
The surrounding walls held iron sconces, each cradling a white candle that still burned quietly. The flames did not waver; they were frozen, as if in a still image, showing no trace of centuries gone by.
Along the direct path from the doorway to the coffin lay shrivelled corpses. Their clothing styles varied, clearly from different eras. Some wore coats of the current fashion—obviously people who had entered within the last few years.
Most unsettling of all, each corpse bore sparse white hair, wrinkled skin, and mottled spots like men and women of eighty or ninety. There were no obvious wounds. They seemed to have simply grown old and died here—very recently, in fact, before decomposition had even begun.
"!!!"
The sight made Edward's heart sink. After all that circling around, this was indeed one of Amon's traps—disguised as an Abraham ruin.
Just imagine—an Abraham descendant, after braving countless dangers to reach this place, stepping inside in hopes of treasure…only to plunge straight into Amon's snare. Despicable!
Damn it! I knew that Intis bastard had bad intentions. Handing me a map to an Amon ruin was nothing but an attempt to kill me!
You just wait—
I'll remember this grudge.
Even as fury burned in him, Edward hesitated. Should he withdraw immediately? Yet according to his divination at the Sefirah Castle, this trip held benefits and no harm for him.
A thought stirred in his mind: since this was a trap Amon had left for the Abrahams—or for people of the Door pathway—then surely there must be something valuable here, bait to lure them in.
Otherwise, who would jump into an empty tomb?
With that thought, Edward waved his hand, transfiguring a few rabbits that darted inside.
They hopped along cautiously, sniffing here and there, until they reached the black coffin. Yet, nothing unusual happened.
Snap.
Edward flicked his fingers. The rabbits instantly swelled and twisted into vines, wrapping tightly around the coffin and slowly prying open the lid.
With a grinding sound, the heavy lid cracked open, the gap widening until it finally crashed onto the ground with a boom. The black coffin toppled over as well.
Its interior was empty, save for a thin golden cushion embroidered with a worm marked by twelve rings.
Apart from that, there rested a crystalline object the size of a baby's fist, clear and translucent like a hive, as well as a crystal orb in which countless writhing insects clung together.
Edward instantly recognised them. The first was a high-sequence Beyonder characteristic of the Marauder pathway, while the latter belonged to the Door pathway.
As expected, good things!
That thought had barely formed when a surge of dread descended upon him. His spirituality raged violently—there was no need to think; Amon had already sensed the disturbance and was about to arrive.
After a brief hesitation, Edward seized the two Beyonder characteristics with an invisible hand, then promptly ended the summoning of himself, vanishing from the underground ruin.
As he left, the floating lanterns instantly reverted to stones and clattered to the ground.
A few seconds later, a man in a mage's robe appeared before the overturned coffin. He wore a black, pointed soft hat, with a broad forehead and a lean face.
"So he escaped?"
Amon adjusted the monocle on his eye. A flash of light gleamed across the crystal lens, and the corners of his lips curled into a smile. "Oh, what's this called again…double happiness?"
"Interesting."
———
Inside the Sefirah Castle.
Edward sat upon the bronze seat, holding the two Beyonder characteristics in his hands. His heart still raced with excitement. Thankfully, he had used his method of "praying to himself" in advance—otherwise, he truly would have fallen just now.
Wait. Why was I even that scared? After all, I have Madman to the Right. If Amon had actually followed me into the castle, it would be him who should be afraid!
Damn! I missed a perfect chance to kill off one of Amon's avatars!
Edward slapped his thigh, torn between going back to try again or not. But the thought of Amon's countless tricks quickly cooled his reckless urge.
—Next time. Next time for sure!
It took him quite a while to calm down. Only then did he turn to the two Beyonder characteristics he had brought back at the last second. After some divination, he muttered:
"What a pity. One is a Secret Sorcerer, the other a Parasite—both Sequence 4. Though they're extremely valuable, they aren't of much use to me right now. Just more things to stash away."
"Hm?"
Suddenly, Edward's gaze sharpened, fixing on the Parasite characteristic. Within the crystalline hive, a faintly glowing, semi-transparent worm curled into a half-moon shape, radiating strange light. Around its body shimmered twelve translucent rings.
A Worm of Time?!
Shit!
Did Amon really follow me here?!
Edward immediately tossed a coin, ready to invoke Madman to the Right to erase this avatar. But just then, the Worm of Time wriggled and spoke in an aged voice:
"Mysterious existence, please show mercy."
It slithered out of the Beyonder characteristic and twisted into the form of an old man with a full head of white hair and surprisingly handsome features.
"I was merely concealing myself this way to escape Amon's sight. I did not mean to intrude here."
"…"
Edward fell silent for a few seconds before speaking. "Pallez Zoroast?"
The old man froze, surprise flashing across his face. "You…know me."
So it really was him.
But how had he ended up in Amon's ruin?
Edward leaned back casually and asked, "Why were you inside Amon's ruins?"
Pallez gave a bitter smile. "I had parasitised a descendant of the Abraham family. He stumbled upon a treasure map and followed it to that place.
"I tried to dissuade him, but he refused to abandon any chance of lifting his family's curse. I was too gravely injured to seize control of his body, and could only watch helplessly as he walked into the tomb and withered to death.
"To protect myself, I was forced to discard my last Sequence 4 characteristic—besides my Sequence 1—and used it to mislead Amon's gaze, making Him think a mere Sequence 4 fool had fallen into His trap.
"I gambled that He wouldn't bother with such prey, and waited for the next unlucky soul to come along so I could escape."
Faced with this mysterious being he couldn't see through—one who gave him an even greater sense of danger than Amon—Pallez chose honesty.
"I don't even know how long I slept inside the characteristic. I only awoke just now when I sensed mortal danger."
Looking around at the aura, both familiar and utterly alien, Pallez forced down his shock. "This place is…"
"Don't you already know?" Edward said calmly, watching him.
"…"
Pallez rubbed his temples. He truly couldn't tell whether he was lucky…or utterly unlucky.
After all, he had barely escaped Amon's trap, only to stumble headlong into the Sefirah Castle.
———
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