The Cornflower Witch

Book 2: Chapter 127: The Wraith in the Tomb

Vol 2 Chapter 127 The Wraith in the Tomb

Seeing those yellowed bones, Lucas treated them like treasured relics, ordering his bone creatures forward to carefully dig them out, then holding the fragments in his palm to examine them closely.

For a scene like this, Sylutia silently stepped back two paces, moved to one side, and continued to observe the surroundings.

Although traces of the Dragon Eye Aspect lingered within those bones, the aura was very faint; it was obvious they were not true dragon bones, merely the remains of other creatures tainted by the Dragon Eye Aspect.

Still, since there were tainted bones here, that meant the real dragon bones could not be far away.

Sylutia closed her eyes and extended her perception, trying to locate the source of this Dragon Eye Aspect.

Unfortunately, her sensing wasn’t very effective underground. She could only faintly detect that beyond the end of this tunnel, deeper down, a faint Dragon Eye Aspect aura was emanating.

On the other side, Lucas held a bone in one hand while producing various strange tools and powders, repeatedly performing divination and detection rituals. After nearly an hour of busy work, he confirmed the direction: it was just behind the stone wall at the end of the passage.

“This is the direction.”

“But we have to break through here.” He frowned as he inspected the sturdy stone wall.If he used the bone creatures to dig, the bones would suffer wear and it would be very laborious. He felt reluctant to damage those painstakingly cultivated bone minions.

“Sylutia, do you have any good ideas?”

“Me?” Sylutia had assumed this senior could handle it easily. Seeing him without a quick solution, she decided to step in.

“I’ll give it a try.” Sylutia remembered the Thickwood Vine seeds she had bought before.

She took out two seeds and tossed them, then applied the composite technique Dew Prayer·Branch Grooming·Soil Blessing. The two seeds sprouted in the soil, their roots slowly extending downward.

At this point, the vines thickened and writhed like two giant pythons inside the soil walls. They wrapped around the stone at the end of the passage and tightened layer by layer until it began to contract.

Finally, with continuous cracking sounds, the massive stone was crushed by the vines and shattered into pieces.

Lucas then sent his bone creatures forward to help. They quickly cleared the rubble and uncovered a path forward.

The two of them ducked slightly and entered the pit lined by thick vines, pushing deeper into the tunnel.

The surrounding soil began to blacken. A distinct singed odor spread through the air and waves of heat attacked them both.

“It’s just ahead.” Lucas suppressed his excitement.

They continued digging and advancing. About three hours later, with the stone ahead breaking apart, a vast, dark cavern opened before them.

Sylutia removed the lantern from her waist and lifted it slightly. Bright flame spread from the lamp’s base, illuminating the whole black cavity.

Inside the cavern lay numerous carcasses and skeletal remains from many different creatures. Embedded in the stone wall straight ahead was a huge, badly damaged skeleton.

If it had once belonged to a true dragon, only the central portion of the dragon’s torso and a few front limb bones remained; the bones of the head, tail, and wings were gone.

Even the remaining pieces were charred and shattered. Forcibly removing them from the stone would likely cause them to crumble on the spot.

Is this dragon bone? Sylutia’s eyes gleamed as she examined the corpse carefully.

[Dragon Bone Remains] (Fourth Tier · Dragon Eye): Dragon bone remains in very poor condition, no longer usable to craft bone dragons or many dragon-bone weapons and armors.

It looked pretty useless, Sylutia thought, but she wasn’t too disappointed—after all, she had come mostly out of curiosity.

Lucas stared at the dragon bones, his emotions surging. It seemed he believed the remains might still help him increase his own power.

But other problems still needed addressing.

As the two stepped into the sealed dark cavern, a rustling sound echoed inside.

From among the many buried corpses and bones, several grotesque bone creatures slowly crawled up.

[Tomb Wailing Spirit] (Third Tier · Dead Embers): Semi-ghost, semi-corpse beings commonly found in ancient burial tombs. They gain strength within their birth tombs, possess varied and bizarre abilities, and are extremely dangerous.

Compared to Lucas’s neatly-assembled bone minions, these bone creatures looked thrown together like a baby’s chaotic collage: asymmetrical on both sides, hands and feet arranged like writhing tentacles, some headless, others bearing multiple jumbled skulls.

Gray mist carrying the Dead Embers aura surrounded them as they moved toward the two.

The powdered bone dust buried in this tomb had been here for who knew how many years. The miasma contained unknown toxins and contamination. As the dust approached, Sylutia continuously stepped back.

She truly did not want close combat with these things, so she produced her seldom-used composite longbow and pinned a vine seed to the tip of an arrow between her fingers.

After firing, the seed sprouted rapidly, winding around the bone creatures to hinder their movement.

Meanwhile Lucas commanded his bone minions to engage the enemies. With his squad holding the line, Sylutia could safely loose arrows from the rear.

At that moment, a Tomb Wailing Spirit swung a strange forelimb like a scythe. A gray-white streak flashed as it sliced straight through one of Lucas’s bone creatures, splitting it in two, bone fragments scattering across the ground.

Another Tomb Wailing Spirit crawled onto the stone wall. Two glaring, chilling eyeballs materialized in its hollow eye sockets.

Under that stare, Lucas’s face went pale and his body trembled. He steadied himself by gripping a nearby bone creature.

Is that a mental attack? Sylutia wondered what had happened to Lucas, but then the Tomb Wailing Spirit changed direction and fixed those penetrating eyes on her.

A cold, malicious thought slithered down the line of sight. When their gazes met, the feeling hit especially hard.

This is unsettling, Sylutia slightly shook her head. She circulated the Lunar Radiance Breathing Technique in her body, quickly dispelling the discomfort.

She glared back at the Tomb Wailing Spirit. The creature slid off the stone wall and took a long moment to shake its head before regaining its footing.

Though she didn’t know why the same attack had no effect on her, Sylutia’s attention had been drawn to the attacking spirit.

At that moment, a five-limbed Tomb Wailing Spirit crawled forward, one limb brandishing a bony blade. It burst through Lucas’s bone defense line and lunged right in front of Sylutia.

The long bladed limb whipped down like a cracking whip, emitting a sharp shriek as it descended.

In such confined space, dodging was extremely difficult even if she wanted to.

The girl tightened her grip on the dagger hilt and pulled it out in a blur.

Her sharp blade failed to cleave through the enemy on the first strike, but it did bite into the inner side of the bone blade, tearing a gash. The impact sent Sylutia flying backward a few steps; she braced her toes against the tunnel wall to cushion the force.

Strong. Perhaps due to the environmental boon, these Tomb Wailing Spirits were far more powerful than Sylutia had expected, roughly matching the strength of castle knights from the outside.

In close combat she might not have the advantage. Her main specialization wasn’t melee; she usually used blades for convenience against weaker foes.

Sylutia retreated with quick steps and then planted herself.

Facing another oncoming assailant, she raised her hand. A green light shimmered in her eyes and thick vines extended from the tunnel floor and ceiling, binding the creature.

Even though the Tomb Wailing Spirit continued to struggle, hacking and tearing at the vines, under Sylutia’s reinforcement and command the vines grew thicker. Layer by layer they wrapped and filled the hollows of the skeleton.

After a few breaths, the vines constricted and strangled the spirit, finally ripping its bones into shreds.

After finishing off that one, Sylutia allowed the vines to loosen and resumed advancing into the dark cavern. Lucas, meanwhile, was holding off three Tomb Wailing Spirits single-handedly, fighting desperately.

Both sides were Third Tier, but the Tomb Wailing Spirits had the field advantage. Under these conditions, Lucas had already been faring well for quite a while.

If Sylutia hadn’t come, he would likely have paid a high price in time and resources to defeat the trio.

Sylutia did not want to delay for much longer. The two had already been inside most of the day; any later and Scorchstone City’s army might have surrounded the mine entrance.

She raised her hand. Several vine tendrils in the tunnel dangled, then extended and coiled together, strengthening the woody fibers until they hardened. Complex, special patterns appeared across them, with faint golden glimmers coursing through.

Half a minute later, a special spiral long spear formed in Sylutia’s hand. She twirled it effortlessly a few times, then took a deep breath and aimed at the distant Tomb Wailing Spirit.

Spiral Spear!

Floral and avian wind-flow patterns appeared along the spiraled shaft. When Sylutia threw it, golden lightning flickered in an instant, tracing a blazing arc that pierced the farthest Tomb Wailing Spirit.

The moment it struck, the spear’s electric light detonated. The Verdant Nectar Aspect within the spear instantaneously converted, becoming a violent current that pierced the entire Tomb Wailing Spirit.

The spirit collapsed, trailing faint white smoke, and lay motionless.

Sylutia shook her head slightly at the result.

Although the enemy was defeated, she felt this ability still had better applications or techniques. Perhaps only by seeing the original mythic weapon Aedanil would she understand the true nature of this skill.

She gestured again. Four spiral spears flew from her side, piercing the remaining two Tomb Wailing Spirits and killing them inside the dark cavern.

When the fight ended, the two finally had ample time to search for any buried relics or treasures. On the surface outside the mine, hurried dense footsteps had arrived. Under the officers’ fierce shouts, they began to seal and encircle the area layer by layer.