Our Family Has Fallen

”The material is just an ordinary stone pillar, and the power on it has long since completely faded. As for this sacrificial ritual...” Alhazred walked around the stone pillar, seemingly a bit disappointed, ”it’s crudely barbaric and doesn’t have any very distinct features.”

Amanda remained silent. She also understood that if she had truly discovered anything, she wouldn’t have kept quiet. Their conclusions were the same.

”Don’t worry, the Beast Lair is vast. We’ve only explored the periphery; nobody knows what surprises lie in wait inside.”

Lance didn’t seem to care—if it had been so simple to discover something, he wouldn’t have needed to toil over decoding the manuscripts, nor would he have specifically brought two people along for the trip.

It appeared that Alhazred paid no attention to Lance’s words. Instead, he lifted the Skull Candleholder, closed his eyes, and murmured softly, his words even more indiscernible through his mask.

When he opened his eyes again, they showed a certain gravity.

”The power on the stone pillar has disappeared cleanly, but there are many evil auras mixed in here. This can’t be explained by simple corruption alone—what on earth happened?”

Lance found his words somewhat embarrassing—It wasn’t as if he could say it was his ancestor’s handiwork, could he? He quickly changed the subject.

”Let’s continue; we’ll know more once we go in.”

Lance didn’t waste words and led everyone directly deeper in... and as they went deeper, the situation quickly changed.

Although there were some signs of alteration outside, most of it was still just simple destruction.

But now, the deeper they went, the larger the space became, and the passages and rooms seemed to have been consciously modified.

Originally, the passage could only accommodate one person, and two people would have been a tight fit, but now, three people could walk side by side without crowding, and the height had also increased. At the very least, Lance felt there was enough room to swing a weapon.

What had merely been an access point for sewer maintenance had been dug open into a vast hall, an extravagant transformation.

The brick wall structures had been dug out, with only a few randomly piled bricks and stones serving as support, but they offered little sense of safety. On the contrary, there was more concern that the piled-up bricks would collapse before the ceiling caved in.

These expansions and widenings had made the originally solid sewers dangerous, and Lance found it hard to imagine why it hadn’t collapsed.

I reckon it won’t collapse, right?

”We’ve somewhat left the scope of a sewer here. What exactly have those Pigmen done?”

Even Lance, who had been here once before, couldn’t help but issue an exasperated sigh as he surveyed the surroundings.

But there wasn’t much time left for Lance’s complaints, as an encounter erupted suddenly.

”Enemy!”

Suddenly sensing something, Lance had just cried out when sharp squeals from the Pigmen echoed from the dark tunnel ahead.

In the light of the torches, the twisted silhouettes of several creatures rushing towards them could be made out, and among them, one figure that was slightly taller was very obvious.

”It’s a Pigman drummer—don’t give it a chance to strike, take it down first!”

Without waiting to face the enemy, Alhazred didn’t waste words. He lifted the Skull Candleholder in his left hand, holding it before him, formed a strange gesture with his right hand, and started chanting.

Suddenly, the candles on the Skull Candleholder were lit by invisible forces, emitting a ghostly blue flame. The skull’s eyes shot out two cold beams of light, and the entire skull glowed with a faint luminescence, all the more apparent in the dim environment of the Beast Lair.

Hand of the Abyss!

Under the influence of the magical artifact, a mysterious power descended, as if dark red spiritual tendrils extended from the Void, engulfing the gaunt silhouette of the Pigman drummer.

Though the summoned spiritual tendrils disappeared in an instant, even the twisted flesh creations couldn’t endure that malevolent force and immediately froze in place.

”WAAAGH!!!”

Boudica’s frenzied roar echoed in the passage; the slightly more spacious area further freeing her from any restraints. She charged forward, aiming to slay the drummer.

But at that moment, a slight tremor traveled through the ground, and in the gloom, a massive shadow moved swiftly, surging out to collide with Boudica.

Seemingly sensing danger, Boudica had just enough time to brace her Axe Spear in front of her. In the next second, when the forces collided, she found herself at a disadvantage and was sent flying backward, crashing to the ground.

However, Boudica was no ordinary person. The blow she had just received did not cause direct harm; it was more a result of being caught off guard. But this also ignited her fury, and she snatched up her weapon and charged back into the fray.

The Pigman drummer was still there, but Boudica wasn’t the only one in the team capable of dealing damage. While Alhazred controlled the Pigman drummer with his spell, Amanda raised her hand and threw a Flying Dagger.

Even in the darkness, she could identify her target using the brief Spirit Light from the spell cast moments before, a testament to her considerable skill.

The Flying Dagger accurately embedded in the Pigman drummer’s chest, inflicting damage, but this superficial wound wasn’t enough to kill it. Instead, the pain triggered the Pigman drummer’s frenzy. It broke free from its daze, opening its broken-fanged mouth to let out a roar.

The intense emotion was about to be channeled into the Human Skin Drum with the motion of its lifting hand, ready to burst forth.

Just then, a gunshot suddenly echoed through the corridor and, amid the flash that followed, Lance’s figure, gun in hand, came into view.

In the next second, the Pigman drummer’s head tilted, and it fell to the ground. Despite some setbacks, they had managed to control the situation from the start and eliminate the most troublesome ’pressure’ creature by overwhelming it with damage.

What kind of battle starts without immediately taking out the Spellcasters?

But the battle was far from simple. Lance, his attention momentarily diverted, only then noticed that Boudica hadn’t dealt with her opponent immediately.

Considering her current strength, it would take her no more than two strikes to fell a robust Pigman Butcher.

The surroundings were dim, and from a distance, even with Lance holding up a torch, it was difficult to see clearly what lay within the shadows. He had no choice but to activate Spiritual Vision to perceive the essence beneath reality.

But it was this glance that allowed him to spot two small figures, seemingly absorbed by the darkness, moving ghostlike and taking advantage of the recent commotion to move forward.

And there were two of these creatures!

One was clearly targeting Boudica, who was a short distance from the rest of the group, while the other was charging towards the team.

”Boudica, watch out!”

His shout was accompanied by another gunshot. The bullet whistled through the air, followed by the clang of metal on metal. The eruption of sparks clearly showed the shot had been blocked.

In Lance’s eyes, the small figure paused only briefly before rising again, while the other had already charged forward.

The creature moved so fast that even Lance wasn’t sure he could shoot and stop both of them. Without hesitation, he pointed a summoning finger to call his animal friend.

”Wang Cai, go!”

Wang Cai, who had been roaming the Void, responded to the summons and crossed the boundary between reality and the Void in a truly spectacular manner.

To Wang Cai, the darkness and many obstructions of reality didn’t exist. Its form, trailing shadows as it ran, appeared like a streak of light. In the next second, it reassembled into a wolf’s head that swept past the small creature, jaws snapping shut.

Others might not be able to see, but Lance could see the wolf’s head formed by Wang Cai tearing chunks from the creature’s soul as if devouring flesh.

Sudden, agonizing screams filled the environment, alongside the creature’s frantic struggle in the darkness, unable to harm the figure of Wang Cai.

Both Amanda and Alhazred, Transcendents with exceptional spiritual insight, witnessed this scene.

They were worldly individuals, but it was precisely because of this that they understood just how preposterous Wang Cai’s existence was.

Ghosts, Wraiths, and various other malevolent spirits are also spiritual constructs; their attacks bypass the physical body to strike directly at the soul.

Alhazred was no stranger to Spiritual Bodies sealed within ruins. However, those were typically highly unstable, lacking consciousness, driven only by destructive instincts, and usually reliant on a real-world anchor or some form of obsession.

But Wang Cai was unique: it lacked a real-world anchor, was not under Lance’s control, possessed self-awareness, and initiated its own actions.

But shock was fleeting, for the small figure had already charged into the light cast by the torches…