Chapter 2029 - 545: Burial Grounds_5

"Hahaha! My head!" The pig-headed knight let out an excited screech, fighting more bravely in the stalactite cave.

The faces of the Ratmen were filled with fear, but their nightmare was far from over, as a flash of cold light silently reached for their necks.

"Shhh—"

Blood splattered!

Before the Ratmen could see what happened, one head after another bounced into the air like fleas.

Hu Wan was deftly swinging a dagger around the edges of the battlefield, mercilessly harvesting one lively throat after another.

Mixing in with the Ratmen and reaping continuously, in the blink of an eye, the other Ratmen couldn't recognize this "traitor."

Only when they locked eyes with him were they scared half to death by the ghostly green soul fire and screamed as they fled in all directions.

"Undead! Damn it! It's undead!"

In the chaos, a few dirty-robed Mouse Priests emerged from the rear.

They roared in anger, waving their bone staffs, as several eerie transparent flames swooped toward two Lizardmen players.

Those flames had no warmth, yet radiated a chill that pierced the marrow, reaching the depths of the soul.

"What the hell is this magic?"

The Minotaur Warrior was grazed on the shoulder by a soul fire and felt no burning pain, but instead experienced numbness in half his body, causing his movements to slow down instantly.

"Is there actually a magic that hits SAN value?! There's no slot for that!" The pig-headed knight was also startled, quickly raising his battle axe to defend.

The Mouse Priests, seeing their attack success, were about to chant a second spell when suddenly the ground shook violently.

"Crack—"

Countless sharp bone spears burst out from the rocks beneath them without warning, like white flagpoles rising from the ground, instantly skewering those fragile spellcasters like candied bunches.

Blood flowed down the bone spears, and the Priests' screams were abruptly cut off.

Witnessing the Priests' gruesome deaths, the remaining Clan Rat Warriors around them completely collapsed.

They dropped their weapons, screamed, and fled into the darkness of the cave, leaving behind a mess of corpses.

"Damn! These rats really can't fight!" The pig-headed knight cursed and spat on the ground.

He had just started enjoying himself, but the battle was already over.

"Clearly, these little guys were just the first wave."

Yiye Zhiqu snapped his fingers, dispersing the raised bone spears, then lit the fallen torches, handing them to his teammates.

"Let's go, let's see what's hidden inside?"

This quest line has been buried for quite a long time.

Back in the Twilight Province, they discovered traces of Ratmen activities near the Ten Thousand Ridges Mountain Range, and in later decisive battles, those Ratmen blatantly revealed their identities and intervened.

Now the Ratmen had shown up again at the southern Spinor Earl's Domain, giving them reason to believe that the clues for the next expansion are hidden in this cave.

With anticipation in their hearts, they held the torches as they walked forward, yet the further they advanced, the heavier their hearts became.

The firelight dispelled the darkness in the cave, with the bones on the ground becoming increasingly shocking to the eyes, fractured ribs and skulls discarded casually in the corners of the cave.

Little mice nibbled on the leftovers left by big mice, not leaving a bite for the cockroaches, even starting to squeak and fight.

Finally, they reached a relatively open space.

And the scene that unfolded before their eyes evoked a visceral discomfort even among players accustomed to scenes of carnage in games.

The usually irreverent pig-headed knight gulped after a moment of silence and cursed softly.

"Saint Sis above..."

It was a bloody and mangled altar.

It's hard to say whether its primary material was stone, bone, or flesh not yet gnawed away. A crystal smeared with filth sat at the altar's center, with bizarre runes carved into the stone floor exuding a spine-chilling aura.

Yiye Zhiqu walked forward, snapped fingers with his diamond-ringed right hand, igniting the braziers around the altar.

The flickering flames coated the copper basins with a layer of greasy sheen, making the Minotaur Warrior feel a bit queasy.

"...I don't want to know what those candles are made of."

Yiye Zhiqu gave him a glance.

"No one asked you."

Brother Hu Wan was the calmest.

Perhaps having done the material sorting work too often, he skillfully walked to a corner to rummage, dragging out a corpse dressed in uniform.

"Found it, it's the missing railway bureau surveyor... Unfortunately, he's already dead."

Just as he dragged out the corpse, the pile of bones against the wall collapsed, and numerous things scurried out, almost taking down the two lizardmen on the spot.

"Damn—"

"What the hell is this?!"

"May Saint Sis bless them, and lend me their souls." Yiye Zhiqu, activating "Undead Vision," walked into the midst of the corpses.

The soul fire in his eye sockets flickered slightly, and he began to softly chant an incantation to summon corpse ghosts, preparing to call a few people up to inquire about the situation.

However, a bizarre scene unfolded; a faint green wave of magic power swept across the area, but the corpses on the ground remained utterly motionless.

"What's wrong?" Hu Wan noticed the anomaly.

"Something strange..."

Yiye Zhiqu halted his casting, pinching his jaw with finger bones, his tone filled with deep confusion, "These bodies... are empty."

They have no souls...

A silent atmosphere flowed over the altar.

No one spoke, only the occasional sound from the fire basin breaking the silence until a drop of water fell from the stalactite column, finally shattering the stillness.

"Empty?"

The minotaur warrior furrowed the scales on his forehead, scratching his head with his fingertips.

"Strange... Could it be that these ratmen actually gave them the last rites?"

That's the kind of work priests do in the human world; he had never heard of ratmen doing such things.

They would only clean the bones even more thoroughly.

"I don't know."

Yiye Zhiqu shook his head.

"According to the mechanics of 'Catastrophe OL,' the souls of the dead do not dissipate immediately. The Divine Chosen ones are generally taken away by their respective deities, and nobles probably as well. As for ordinary people, if they are not given last rites by a priest, they either gradually transform into undead creatures or naturally dissipate over time... But these people, they are clearly not nobles."

Altogether, on the Aus Continent, there might not even be this many nobles. The bodies lying here must number at least in the thousands... and that's probably an understatement.

He was a player adept at researching game mechanics, which was precisely why he could derive main storyline task triggers from the details of the plot.

But the current situation still left him feeling a bit troubled. Neither the altar before him nor the sacrificial candles in the fire basin seemed like something the ratmen would create.

Dwarven kerosene lamps would more likely be the decorative items within a ratman nest.

"Damn, could it be the Ten Thousand Souls Banner?!"

"... That doesn't seem right, the style doesn't match."

Just as everyone was discussing this strange phenomenon, a deafening roar suddenly echoed from the depths of the cave.

"Roar—!!"

The sound was filled with furious anger, the stone fragments on the cave roof falling, and the entire ground trembled under that wild rage.

Soon after, a suffocating immense pressure surged in like a tide, accompanied by the overwhelming battle intent of the clan rats.

Who knew what gave them the courage, but those little mice came charging back in!

"Prepare for battle!"

The soul fire in Yiye Zhiqu's eyes jumped suddenly; this time, he cautiously pulled out his magic wand, gripping it in his right hand adorned with a golden diamond ring.

"This sense of oppression..." The soul fire inside Hu Wan's skull slightly contracted, and the dagger in his hand was positioned in front, his voice carrying a hint of excited trembling, "At least it's Gold Level!"

"Gold Level BOSS?!"

The minotaur warrior and pig-headed knight were similarly unafraid, instead exchanging excited glances, gripping their weapons tightly, their eyes full of eager greed.

It's time for action!

"Agreed! Leave the warrior equipment for me!"

"Damn, even if a ratman gear drops, you have to be able to use it first."

"No problem! If the equipment is good enough, next time I'll switch to being a ratman!"

"...Badass."

The four quickly assumed a battle formation, applying all the buffs they could use, ready to face the surging tide of rats and the map's BOSS.

However, no one noticed that just above the altar, within a depression in the shadows, a pair of cold eyes were silently watching them.

That gaze pierced through the darkness, lingering momentarily on those two skeletons and two lizardmen, holding an unfathomable meaning enough to make one's skin crawl...