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TWL Chapter 71: Echoes of the Forbidden Prayer Room
🕑 Added 2024-01-15 16:31:53 +0000 UTCFacing the guard's comforting hand, Black Wind continued to avoid it. It looks behind the guard and its eyes showed fear, as if it saw a natural enemy.
“Tell me, could it be that Black Wind is like this because the Earl is gone? If that’s true, then this horse is really smart.”
The guard reached out to try to grab Black Wind's reins, but he backed away repeatedly.
"Leave what you're doing for now. Let's secure Black Wind together... Hmm? Why is the wind blowing?" The guard was dissatisfied when he received no response from his companion. When he turned, he discovered that the half-assembled camp was deserted.
A piece of firewood slowly rolled over and didn't stop until it hit his shin guard. The guard seemed to realize something and turned sharply. Black Wind is also gone.
A wind came from the front, drying the cold sweat that ran down his face. Around him, everything was silent, without hearing the neighing of the horses. Another wind blew, and he too disappeared.
...
Geralt adjusted his state for a moment, bowed his head, and drank a magic potion. Instantly, black veins formed around his eyes, and even the sclera of his eyes turned black.
His two amber cat eyes began to glow in the darkness, and when he turned to look, the others felt as if they were prey to a wild beast stalking them, making their hairs stand on end.
Some soldiers close to Lann noticed this and instinctively raised their shields, gripping their weapons tightly.
Geralt glanced around in the darkness and suddenly said: "Someone has been here."
'What?' Lann suddenly became nervous. 'Could there be some unexpected enemy?'
Geralt reached for a torch and walked more than ten steps in the darkness. A man's skeleton was illuminated into everyone's sight.
The skeleton looked like a pile of firewood, worn by the wind, and a hoe had embedded itself in its ribs, burying it in the ground.
Geralt stepped forward and tried to pull out the hoe with a little force. Unexpectedly, the spine of the skeleton broke into two sections with a snap.
“It’s been at least fifty years.” Geralt judged. “It must be a tomb robber. He got the news about this magic laboratory from somewhere, so he wanted to come here to try his luck.”
Lann relaxed slightly; At least they were not unexpected enemies during the expedition. In this type of ruins, the worst thing was the uncertainty.
Geralt continued searching the body and took out a necklace encrusted with a ruby, then found a pile of Orens.
Geralt threw an Oren to Lann and said: "Oren is the currency of the Kingdom of Temeria. It seems these grave robbers have come a long way."
Then he raised the necklace in his hand and gestured to the hoe: "These grave robbers must have discovered something and wanted to take it away. But they couldn't get out, and finally they quarreled among themselves."
"Since they have obtained something, I think we can follow their traces. They must have been to the laboratory, and we can reach our destination by following them."
"Generally speaking, grave robbers won't take things like these notes and the like since they consider them worthless. If there is nothing you want in the laboratory, let's find more grave robber corpses and search them."
Lann nodded and said: "You're the expert here. I'll listen to you. Can you really follow the trails of grave robbers after fifty years?"
“You hired me to do this, didn’t you?” Geralt didn’t even look back.
Then the witcher took a deep breath, and his eyes in the darkness seemed to shine a little brighter. He turned his head slightly. In a place where outsiders like Lann and others couldn't see, the pheromones around him were gathering towards the witcher.
During the process to become a witcher, they receive a special ability called: Witcher Senses.
After activating that ability, their five senses can receive information that ordinary people cannot detect. Smells that even werewolves can't smell will become striking guiding signals in their eyes. The rain-washed ground would have luminous footprints under their eyes. Even in sealed, unventilated rooms, they would feel flashes of lights pointing them to the exits.
These are special ways in which environmental information is presented under synesthesia. Witchers with this ability are all born detectives.
At this moment, dozens of marks of different shades caught Geralt's eyes on the floor at the same time, and hundreds of smells entered Geralt's nose in the air at the same time.
He compared this information one by one with the information he collected from the bones. Gradually, a luminous road that only he could see appeared in front of him in the complex maze of underground ruins.
"I found it". Geralt walked into the darkness first, followed by the others.
This underground ruins gradually showed its true appearance in the eyes of Lann and others. This should be a huge palace, with long corridors and staircases connecting halls and secret rooms, like a maze, and full of obvious ancient elven style.
However, in the darkness, the characteristic elegance and beauty of the ancient elves disappeared, leaving only an empty echo of footsteps and a feeling of fear.
Everyone soon arrived at a place that seemed to be a prayer room. Geralt's glowing eyes glanced around the room, and suddenly he raised his hand and released an Igni Sign.
The flames whose power had been deliberately controlled flickered gently in the darkness, and the people behind them could not even feel the change in temperature.
Rows of candles were lit by the flames released by Geralt, illuminating the room; behind the candles was a statue of a female, with a holy appearance and seemingly compassionate appearance. She might be some kind of god in elven faith.
Next to the female statue are two leopard statues, which seem to be guarding something.
This room seems to be a prayer room.
The candles used for lighting were placed on a tall candlestick, and underneath the candlestick were boxes that had been violently pried open.
There are many bones on the side of the box.
This room seems to be more than just a prayer room.
Geralt stepped forward to check and said: "These boxes should be used to store treasures. It seems that there was another large-scale uneven distribution of the spoils here, and many tomb robbers died."
Facing the corpses of these tomb robbers, the soldiers behind him were ready to move. Lann glanced at them and tilted his head in agreement.
The grateful soldiers bowed slightly towards Lann and moved forward excitedly to loot the corpses, earning surprisingly good rewards.
Geralt took the necklace out of his pocket and compared it to the statue of the unknown woman, stepping forward and placing the necklace around the statue's neck.
The size, the length, were perfect. However, the statue, which once carried divine grace, seemed to have fallen to the mortal world, losing its original nobility and taking on an earthly touch.
Seeing that the necklace and the statue matched, Geralt nodded his head, as if he had already expected it: "These tomb robbers should have found the treasure here. Lann, the laboratory you want has not been found yet, which is good news."
After saying this, Geralt stepped forward to remove the collar. Right at the moment he touched the necklace, the walls of the entire room began to emit a purple glow.
Suddenly, Geralt and Lann's witcher medallions began to vibrate violently.
“That’s not right!”
These purple glows joined together, forming a solid barrier around the prayer chamber.
Lann looked back and saw that the entrance they had come through was also covered in a film of light. There was no way out.
In the room, the brightest light came from the two leopard statues next to the female statue.
Bathed in an unknown purple light, the color of the stone on the surface of the two statues quickly faded, as if they were peeling off a layer of stone skin to reveal the true beasts beneath.
The two pairs of eyes, as bright as Geralt's in the dark, suddenly opened, and the two leopards rushed towards the group emitting high-pitched roars.
Lann, who was always vigilant, threw the druid aside to avoid the stone leopard's attack. The ground they were standing on was crushed by the leopards' claws in the next second.
These leopards not only had sharp claws, but they were also strong.
Lann shouted: "This goddess who I don't know who she is doesn't seem to want you to take away her necklace anymore, and I think the cause of death of these tomb robbers may not be the uneven distribution of the spoils!"
The Druid shouted: "These are not leopards, they are magical creatures summoned from other worlds by ancient elves using 'summoning magic'!"
Swade also shouted: "Quickly, come protect the Earl!"
Instantly, several soldiers with shields rushed towards Lann, but were deflected by the leopards at the last moment.
Fortunately, they had strong armor and thick shields, and no casualties were suffered, but they were all badly beaten.
This stone leopard's head is as big as a shield, and it can chew off most of the iron sheet with just one opening of its mouth.
Lann stepped forward and forced away the magic stone leopard with a sword, and shouted to the druid: "How do we kill these magical creatures? Do we need to completely tear them apart or find and break their inner core?"
The druid waved his hand to activate his own magical shield, but the leopard collided with him and broke the shield, sending him rolling away.
Upon seeing this, Lann quickly called for two shield guards to come forward to protect him. The druid must not have anything happen to him.
Once the druid was helped by the guards, he seemed to regain his temper. He took out a wand and began to recite magic words, and the wand began to branch and grow instantly, turning into a battle staff the same size as a person.
The druid, with his sleeves rolled up, ran towards the leopards, while answering: "Magical creatures that have similar characteristics to ordinary creatures, also have similar weak points. The methods of killing ordinary creatures are also effective against them."
“Isn’t that still a leopard! At most, it’s bigger and stronger!”
"They are different!" Geralt took out a bomb without a fuse from the strap of his alchemy backpack.
“They have weaknesses that leopards don’t have!”
Geralt tugged on the ring and then dropped the bomb at his feet.
Green smoke instantly expanded from beneath Geralt, mixing with fine metal particles and other magical materials, accompanied by a hiss caused by static electricity.
[Dimeritium Bomb]!
Both magical leopards rushed towards Geralt at the same time. Unable to react in time in the air, they collided with each other and rolled on the ground.
The magical creatures, despite their quick reaction, were unable to adapt in time and lost their balance in the air. After the bomb explosion, Geralt jumped out of the leopards' attack range. Both creatures, disoriented, rose from the ground.
The magical creatures' reactions were really fast; They quickly righted themselves and dispersed again.
But as the battle continued, Lann noticed that the two monsters, after being affected by the Dimeritium bomb, were moving noticeably slower.
The principle was simple: the existence and activity of magical creatures depended on internal magical energy for their functioning. Although the Dimeritium bomb did not completely cut off their magic supply, it easily hindered the function and efficiency of that magic.
The massive size and impressive strength of the magical leopards were intrinsic and would not change. But the speed and reaction of the magical leopards were directly related to magic.
After receiving the impact of the Dimeritium bomb, the two leopards seemed to have been set to half speed. Their gait was heavy, their reactions slow, their balance poor, and when jumping they lost control and rolled clumsily when they landed.
Then, the fight became easier.
What the human soldiers feared most about these feline-like magical creatures was their speed. A heavy armor is like a steel coffin to them. They just wait for the opponent to lose their health a little bit, and then find the gaps and weaknesses in the armor to deliver a fatal blow.
But when their speed slowed and they were unable to attack stealthily or escape, it was the perfect time for the human soldiers, with their strong armor and sharp swords, to demonstrate their skills.
“Shield guard, enter!”
Due to the Dimeritium Bomb exploding on the spot, the druid had to back away a bit since he couldn't use magic.
Although Geralt was also affected and could no longer use his signs, he still relied on his superb swordsmanship and reflexes to hold down a leopard. He should be able to deal with it on his own after spending a little time.
The other leopard was now alone, facing eight large, fully armed guards. Slowly, the guards cornered the leopard against the corner of the wall, not attacking, just pressing down with their large shields.
Each blow from the leopard left shocking marks on the shields but caused no effective damage.
As the eight shield guards' shrinkage range became smaller and smaller, the stone leopard was soon sandwiched between the eight huge shields like a sandwich, unable to move.
Then, Lann approached with the rest of the group. From the gaps in the shields, they stabbed, drew swords, stabbed, drew swords.
If it weren't for the lack of room to maneuver, the spears would have been more effective at this time.
The stone leopard seems to only have a layer of stone skin when it is in statue mode, and its current touch is just a little tougher than that of ordinary flesh and blood creatures.
Even though the size of the leopard was like that of a calf, it could not break free from these burly men. Soon, his roars gradually weakened, and finally, with a 'bang', he fell to the ground and did not get up.
Lann poked his head out from above the shields, and a purple light gradually began to seep from the leopard's body. Then it turned into a pile of purple dust.
The danger was temporarily resolved. Lann looked towards Geralt, who was already putting away his sword.
There was a stream of light behind him, and dust was slightly flying with his footsteps.
Only one word came to Lann's mind: Professional.
