Chapter 431: Command

Hearing Lu Mian's answer, Abner's eyes widened slightly, his eyebrows twitching.

Eloise's mouth hung slightly open, as if she wanted to say something but it was stuck in her throat.

She quickly revealed a smile, sweeping a meaningful, scrutinizing gaze across Lu Mian's face.

At this moment, Abner returned to normal, looking at Lu Mian and saying with a "tsk-tsk" sound:

"You're truly ruthless, actually going back specifically to finish off that wax sculptor."

"Couldn't be helped, he was stopping me from burning those wax figures," Lu Mian smiled quite gently.

Abner's eyebrows twitched again:

"You really burned them?"

"Of course," Lu Mian said quite sincerely, sharing his discovery, "After the outer layers of those wax figures melted and peeled away, what was exposed were all human corpses."

Abner wasn't surprised in the slightest. He clapped his hands, laughing with a mocking tone:

"Well done! I must praise your courage."

*It's as if he's saying I'm fearless because I'm ignorant... * Lu Mian didn't believe for a second that Abner was truly praising him.

Eloise maintained her previous smile, speaking with the tone of a bystander:

"It wasn't just members of the Sauron family who went mad at Red Tianebao; there were also butlers, guards, manservants, and maids. Their states after self-mutilation were all very terrifying, not suitable for their families or the public to know, so they could only be reported as missing, with a large sum of money paid out."

*Even so, they were still able to hire new servants... Is it because the salary is very high, or because they blocked the news and only selected outsiders who had just arrived in Trier and knew nothing? * Lu Mian knew that ancient families like the Saurons indeed had some servants who had served them for generations, but their numbers were no longer significant.

"Shall we continue forward?" Eloise asked in turn.

"Of course." Lu Mian still wanted to track down that heavily wounded black giant spider, take the Beyonder characteristic that would precipitate from it, and study that shriveled, blackened, withered heart.

Abner Medici answered with action, walking directly toward the depths of the hall.

As the yellowish light of the carbide lamp shone, the darkness retreated, exposing the dark red blood left behind by the mutated giant spider.

As he walked, he asked Eloise casually:

"Who is responsible for taking the extracted hearts and sending them to the depths of the underground palace?"

"Members of the Sauron family going mad and disappearing into the depths of the underground palace doesn't mean that normal members of the Sauron family cannot enter the depths. Especially the heirs of Red Tianebao; they often go to certain rooms and halls in the underground maze. Puifor was playing the King Cake game for the first time, and it started after he became the King."

*Influenced by that mad, violent spirit? * Lu Mian recalled the formless entity that had hovered above his head after he won the King Cake game, only to be deterred by the aura of the "Blood Emperor" and unable to descend.

Soon, the three of them reached the end of the hall, passing through the open wooden doors and walking along a corridor lined with numerous soldier reliefs and a few storage rooms.

The yellowish light shone further ahead, first outlining the silhouette of a pair of wooden doors, then revealing a figure.

The figure wore light-colored formal attire and had a head of black curly hair; his appearance was slightly mean-spirited. It was the critic Anyong, a participant in this gathering who had been assigned to Count Puifor's team.

"Did you get lost?" Abner Medici greeted him with a "warm" tone.

Anyong held a carbide lamp that no longer emitted light, smiling bitterly:

"We split up to act long ago, all feeling we could find that Count's crown. Who knew, before I could even conduct a careful search, the carbide lamp suddenly broke. I could only feel my way back in the dark, looking for a room with a bell pull."

"How truly unlucky," Abner exclaimed with exaggerated sympathy.

He had already reached the pair of large doors, standing to Anyong's side.

Suddenly, his empty left hand released one fireball after another, which landed around the critic, creating a circle of raging flames.

"What are you doing?" Anyong asked in astonishment.

Abner answered with a smile:

"Helping you light the way. Isn't it very bright now?"

Anyong fell silent, the red flames leaping constantly on his face.

*He isn't even surprised that Abner can create fire and possesses supernatural powers... * Although Lu Mian had felt something was off about Anyong when he first saw him, as if he were a troublemaker sent by Puifor Sauron, he hadn't expected the situation to be this abnormal—to the point where he couldn't even be called "slightly off."

The flames crackled and burned, and the temperature around Anyong rose rapidly.

Lu Mian swept his gaze over, seeing the critic's face begin to soften strangely.

A drop of viscous liquid, like that produced by a melting candle, seeped out from his skin.

Lu Mian's temples throbbed, and at the same time, Abner extended both hands, leaned forward, and pushed open the pair of wooden doors with force.

With a creaking sound, the scene behind the doors was dyed in yellowish light.

The walls there had been chiseled with one hollow after another, stuffed with coffins of varying sizes. The ceiling had iron chains hanging down, suspending coffins of different colors, and the floor was completely occupied by an uncountable number of coffins, leaving only narrow gaps for people to pass through.

At this moment, Anyong raised his hands with hollow eyes and tore at his own face.

The half-wax, half-real skin was ripped away, revealing bloody flesh and deep cyan, nearly black, blood vessels.

A strong smell of blood and the scent of burning candles mixed together as they drifted out, and all the coffins in the hall began to shake simultaneously.

*Pop, pop, pop. * The lids of coffins of different colors opened one after another, and out crawled one black giant spider after another, covered in compound eyes, thick bristles, and embedded with withered hearts.

The rustling sounds merged into one, and the black giant spiders almost covered every corner of the hall.

They aimed at Lu Mian and the others, their mouthparts extended, and a red-white fireball rapidly condensed on their bodies.

Dense swarms of fireballs flew out, just like a coordinated volley from an artillery battery.

Whether it was Lu Mian, Abner, or Eloise, they all lunged toward the side of the corridor, avoiding the position directly facing the hall.

*Boom-boom-boom! Boom-boom-boom! *

The entire corridor was filled with flames and ravaged by shockwaves, and the walls on both sides showed signs of collapse.

Lu Mian chose an empty storage room on the side, successfully avoiding this round of violent bombardment.

Eloise did the same; only Abner used Anyong as a shield.

Amidst the continuous explosions, the critic, who had already lost most of his face, was torn to pieces, his flesh and blood flying everywhere, parts of his body appearing in a state of melting wax.

The rustling sounds started again, and the massive number of black giant spiders seemed to be pouring out of the hall.

Lu Mian's scalp tingled. His first reaction was to hurry and "teleport" away.

Facing these mutated black giant spiders, he could handle one without issue, two would be a bit of a struggle, and three would require considering a retreat—and right now, there were dozens of them!

*Mother of pigs! With so many of you, what do you eat to survive normally? Air? * Lu Mian cursed inwardly while preparing to activate the black mark on his right shoulder to use "Spirit World Traversal."

Suddenly, he heard a voice that was nearly ethereal and very faint.

This voice quickly became clear, coming from Eloise Einhorn.

Immediately after, the young lady's voice, using Hermes, echoed out:

"I command you, in the name of the Sauron family bloodline."

"Leave this place!"

The rustling movements ceased abruptly, and the entire area fell into an indescribable silence.

After a few seconds, the sound of arthropods crawling rapidly started again, but they were moving away in all directions.

Lu Mian stopped his attempt to use "Spirit World Traversal," casting his gaze toward the corridor outside.

The flames there were gradually extinguishing, and no black giant spiders appeared.

Lu Mian left the side storage room, lost in thought, and saw that in the hall ahead, all the coffins were wide open, but there was no sign of the black giant spiders.

Eloise, wearing a light-colored, simple long dress, stood in the corridor. Her right hand was clenched, her left palm hung down, and her temperament seemed different from just a moment ago—like a military commander who had arrived before her loyal soldiers, naturally exhibiting a charm that made people want to submit and obey.

*Clap, clap, clap. * Abner Medici stood up from behind the torn-to-pieces critic Anyong, holding his lamp.

He laughed with a mocking tone:

"You're an Einhorn, aren't you? Why use the name of the Sauron family?"

Eloise shot a cold glance at this member of the "Iron and Blood Cross Order," causing him to instinctively shut his mouth tight.

"I have half the blood of the Saurons." Eloise turned to look at Lu Mian, revealing a smile once more. "Shall we continue forward?"

"Of course!" This time, it was Abner Medici who answered first.

Lu Mian stretched his neck and smiled, saying:

"The game isn't over yet."

Although he had already developed the urge to escape the underground maze, the more he felt that way, the less he could show it.

His experience and Aurora's teachings had both told him that in such situations, one must not let others guess one's true thoughts.

The temperament that made people instinctively submit faded from Eloise, and she returned to her obedient and quiet state.

Lu Mian and Abner entered the hall ahead side-by-side, seeing that the wooden coffins of different colors were all completely empty, with nothing inside. The corpses that should have been there seemed to have been eaten by the black giant spiders.

Just as they were about to pass through this "mass tomb," Lu Mian saw a black giant spider lying in the corner. Its side was hideously torn, and dark red blood was still flowing out continuously.

This was the Beyonder creature that had fought the three Hunters earlier. Now, because of its heavy wounds, it couldn't leave the tomb according to Eloise's "command" and could only huddle in place, "licking" its wounds.

Seeing Lu Mian and the others, the black giant spider half-raised its body, emitting a chirping sound with a clear threatening intent.

Glancing at the withered heart on the black giant spider's back, Lu Mian smiled casually and said:

"It belongs to me. The other spoils of war will belong to you two. How about that?"

Abner Medici immediately laughed:

"Is your vision really that limited? Only you would value such a thing."

Eloise curled the corners of her mouth, smiling lightly:

"I have no problem with that, but since it's your trophy, you'll have to take it yourself. I won't provide any help."

"I like that answer. You can occasionally say something decent," Abner "praised" Eloise, then turned his gaze toward Lu Mian.

These two "Hunters," a man and a woman, seemed to be waiting to "appreciate" Lu Mian's performance.

That black giant spider was only heavily wounded; it clearly hadn't lost its ability to fight!

(End of chapter)