Ancient Missing Link (6): The Flower on the Corpse
As I peered into the bronze mirror, I frowned at the grotesque sight of the tomb connected to the well. An underground tomb? Was this not the ruins of the ancient civilization we were looking for, but simply this city’s old graveyard? It sent chills down my spine to see piles of bleached bones stacked near the well. What the fuck—a 24/7 Wonhyo Daesa skull-water fountain? This wasn’t a goddamn cannibal restaurant.
“Hold on, Franc unnie. Hide first! There are torches down there—someone might be moving around!”
“No, shine the light on the tomb’s architectural style before you hide! We need to date it first!”
“Dana. Exercise some restraint. This spell does not transmit sound. Even if someone approaches, we will not notice. Taking cover is the correct choice.”
─Whisper, whisper. The party members each spat out their opinions. Too many boatmen, and the ship sails straight to Mantle.
“I’ll hide for now.” Franc chose concealment. Time was on our side. Let’s stay calm and proceed carefully.
The sparrow golem, hardened like a stone in the darkness, recorded the tomb like a security camera. Skulls were packed densely into the walls like some Aztec ruin, and it was fucking revolting. Was that jar over there an urn? We swallowed hard in the space thick with the aura of death.
Larilura rubbed her forearms and muttered.
“This doesn’t look like the ruins we’re searching for. There’s no reason to stockpile potions in a place like this.”
“We don’t know yet. The tomb’s style resembles late-period ancient civilization. If this was during the Great War, soldiers might have used it as a temporary shelter… No, even then they would have at least covered the bones with sheets.”
Dana agonized. I turned my gaze away from the bronze mirror for a moment. Because it was a small hand mirror, the party members were crowded around Franc like puppies licking a candy wrapper. Even in this situation, Dana’s cat-like posture looked vaguely obscene.
I checked for any undead crawling toward our safe zone or other adventurers, then returned to studying the bronze mirror.
“…It’s moving?”
Franc asked the party for opinions and launched the sparrow golem.
─Scamper!
It darted into pillars or rat holes, pre-scouted the next hiding spot, then sprinted forward. Real-time Solid Snake. The assassin sparrow crossed the underground tomb. Just how vast was this damn place? Every single wall was crammed with bones like a haunted house. There had to be thousands of skeletons!
One might grow numb to the surreal atmosphere, but the low-resolution footage from the bronze mirror radiated a ghostly aura that mere bone props could never imitate. Anyone who ate and slept in a place like this could not possibly be sane. They’d have to be a serial killer who made bowls and spoons out of human corpses.
“The traps are broken.”
At that moment Franc spoke while examining a collapsed passageway. My bad premonition had been correct. Sure enough, someone had explored this ruin before us. It wasn’t particularly surprising. This line of work was always like that. Even back with the hobgoblins, monsters had occupied the temple. So why would a hidden ruin of an ancient civilization be any different? Bastards who came first, looted everything of value, and left without spreading rumors might have simply taken a shit all over the place.
‘Whoever that unknown predecessor is, at least they disabled the traps, so that makes things easier for us.’
We didn’t have to fear traps and could simply look around inside. It was a fucking stroke of luck. If the “previous visitor” was still inside, we wouldn’t have been able to leisurely disarm traps using the golem from out here. Not with this fist-sized sparrow golem anyway.
We continued our cautious investigation. But human concentration is not infinite. After an hour, the eerie atmosphere of the underground tomb began to feel familiar, and the tension we’d felt upon first entering gradually faded. Our minds grew distracted by the thought that undead might appear regardless of the soundproof barrier.
──It appeared in the mirror as though it had been waiting for exactly that lapse in vigilance.
“…Hup!”
Franc, who had been controlling the sparrow golem, clapped a hand over her mouth. Larilura fell flat on her ass. Had she been so absorbed that she felt like she was the one infiltrating? The whole party recoiled like people in a horror movie when the ghost finally pops out. If I hadn’t been watching the outside, I might have embarrassed myself in front of my wives.
The corpse the sparrow golem discovered was that bizarre.
──A mummy wearing a black robe. The mask on its face had shattered, exposing only the left side; its eyeballs were shriveled like dried pollack. It was the desiccated corpse of a woman whose skin had turned brown.
“F-fuck… that scared the shit out of me.”
“I-I was a little surprised too.”
Dana pressed a hand to her startled chest and panted. Veronica was gripping the base of her own horn. What the hell? Was this the Bicorn tribe’s method of mental healing? Did grabbing the horn calm the mind? Maybe it was similar to how a guy feels relieved when he scratches his dick.
─Swish!
With instantaneous judgment, Franc slipped the golem into the robe’s hood. She was probably trying to hide the sparrow golem’s body while continuing the investigation. It was dirty, but her quick thinking was goddamn impressive.
Franc, illuminating the mummy’s nape, muttered with a disturbed expression.
“…Could this corpse have died recently?”
“S-since it’s a m-mummy, shouldn’t it be old…?”
Larilura, who still hadn’t managed to stand, answered while sniffling.
“She can’t even control her own body yet she still answers so diligently. Here, take my hand.”
“Ughuu… As expected, only sunbae can do it…”
─Sob sob. I grabbed Larilura’s hand and pulled her to her feet. She must have been even more frightened than us since she’s scared of dark places. Larilura pressed a hand to her chest and stared at the floor.
“Sunbae. My heart didn’t fall out somewhere around here, did it?”
“Put your hand on your solar plexus. If it’s still pounding, it’s attached.”
“…I can’t tell because of my breasts.”
“You really don’t need to share that detail.”
─Thwack! I gave Larilura a light forehead flick and refocused on the mirror’s image. It might be called a mummy, but it looked nothing like a properly prepared ritual mummy. Frankly, it was just a dried-up corpse. Even the eyeballs were still intact.
Dana scratched her head.
“Fuck. I can’t determine the time of death from an ambiguous corpse like this.”
“I don’t know how to examine corpses either…”
Our wives raised the white flag. Dana’s major was too far removed, and Franc was a complete amateur. Indeed, learning how to estimate time of death wasn’t exactly common life experience.
“Hey, hubby. You’re good at this kind of thing, aren’t you?”
“Don’t say it like that. You’re making Larilura see me as some kind of scary bastard.”
“Huh? I’ve never looked at you that way though?”
“Yes you have, a little.”
Larilura immediately seized on the end of my sentence as if she absolutely never had. Anyway, this girl was subtly a pain in the ass too.
“Fine. I’ll take a look.”
I mobilized every scrap of knowledge I’d absorbed from 21st-century movies and dramas. From the FBI to Korean forensic teams, I dredged up every line spouted by every actor and pulled it from my elite brainpan. Let’s trust the directors’ professional spirit. Hopefully they’d done their historical research properly.
“Franc. Send the golem inside the clothes.”
Once I confirmed no one was nearby, I gave the order. The sparrow golem burrowed into the robe as instructed. Even though it was a woman’s body, the emaciated mummy offered zero parts worth lusting over. To be honest, it was downright gross. I was almost jealous of Larilura, who had covered her eyes saying it wouldn’t help.
‘No signs of decay.’
They say a human corpse turns into a disgusting image after just one day. The thin-skinned areas—stomach, groin, armpits—discolor from pooled blood, and as time passes the soft parts swell up with decay gases. This mummy showed none of those symptoms. It was strange. How had a corpse mummified in an underground tomb where air barely circulated?
I bit my lip and asked.
“Veronica. Is there any way to determine the mana, temperature, or humidity of that tomb?”
“It would be difficult without entering.”
“As expected. Sorry for making you do the unpleasant task, Franc. Keep investigating.”
“It’s okay.”
Franc answered with the generous smile she reserved exclusively for her husband. The night-vision sparrow golem continued examining the mummy’s body. At least it wasn’t a rotting corpse—that was a relief.
─Rustle, rustle.
If it had audio support, that would have been the sound. After the movement, the sparrow golem emerged from the robe. Something was clutched in its beak.
Dana recognized it and her mouth fell open.
“…A flower?”
It was a white flower. It clashed horribly with a corpse.
I placed a hand on Dana’s shoulder to stop her from speaking, pulled out the notebook from my inner pocket, and reread the information Nefertiti had given me before.
‘This bastard… he’s an Immortalis black mage, isn’t he?’
An evil fuck who joined the same organization as that unicorn black mage! Of course, since this mummy didn’t seem to have any sense of organizational loyalty—like an idiot wearing a uniform or getting a tattoo—I couldn’t say for certain. But my gut feeling screamed that it was.
I opened the page where I had recorded information about Immortalis. Because it was the kind of information that would get me killed if discovered, I had encrypted it. It was a Word document modified on a Hangul base. Since I had written it as ‘The Greatest Company in the World, SEGA’, even if someone found it they wouldn’t be able to decipher it and ruin my life.
‘Let’s see… that bastard’s name was Abidus, right.’
Just seeing the name brought that fucker’s face to mind. According to my reasoning, that Ada unicorn black mage had two objectives: turning Nefertiti into a golem engine and locating the Underground Tower. The plan that bug-like unicorn had devised was ultimately a stepping stone for those two goals.
‘The reason Abidus was looking for the Underground Tower was 99% because of the Elixir.’
The Elixir was an item that would be insanely profitable whether used to repair a broken horn or converted into research funds! Perhaps that bastard planned to fix his horn, gather the materials to turn Nefertiti into a golem, and then destroy Sargadis.
I clicked my tongue as I put the notebook away. It felt like an enemy I had forgotten about had suddenly popped out from a completely unexpected place. I had been wary because Nefertiti said they were an individualistic group.
A woman mummified in the damp underground, and the flower growing from her corpse! I expressed my utter disgust with 100% sincerity.
Our party was the third visitor to the underground tomb of Mozriun. The living mummy who came first and disabled the traps was the first. The one who found her hiding place and killed her was the second.
“Franc. For now──.”
I had thought that far and was about to ask Franc to manipulate the golem again when—
“Ugh…?!”
The image in the bronze mirror suddenly cut off and Franc let out a small groan. I forgot what I was going to say, startled, and grabbed her.
“Franc!! What’s wrong?!”
“I-it’s nothing. The connection with the golem was severed. My head feels a little heavy, but I’m otherwise fine.”
Veronica picked up the bronze mirror, swept her palm across it, and her expression turned grave.
“The golem we sent on reconnaissance has been physically destroyed. There is a high possibility we have been detected.”
“Detected?”
Was pulling the flower the cause? Or perhaps it had been in the golem’s blind spot. Either way, the fact that the golem had been smashed meant the new owner of the tomb had noticed our scouting.
Thud thud thud thud thud thud…….
As if to support that thought, the sound of countless footsteps rumbled!
The color drained from Franc’s face as she remained in my arms.
“Zombies! The number… at least several dozen!!”
“Fuck!!”
They could even control the undead of the ghost city?
I released Franc and grabbed my spear. The party members prepared for battle. A horde of zombies was approaching from hundreds of meters outside the window!
“Everyone get ready! We’re going into the well!”
“You intend to enter?! My dear, fleeing from here would be wiser!”
“Even if we run out into the streets we’ll be outnumbered! The numerical difference is too great!! We’ll go inside and block the entrance!!”
No matter how superhuman we were, could we fight head-on against the mana that had turned an entire city into ruins?!
We jumped out the window and sprinted toward the well. No one in this party would be injured by a two- or three-story drop.
─Whoosh!
We grabbed the breaking well pulley and descended. The height was low enough for Larilura’s marionette to enter by twisting its body. The well was quite deep, but the rope was sturdy, so landing was simple.
“OOOOAAAAAA!!!”
Once I reached the bottom, I looked up. Fuck—I shouldn’t have looked! The zombies were staring down the well hole and groaning!
“The rope! Cut the rope!”
Franc sliced the pulley rope with a knife. Escape? If there was a way out, let’s secure our lives first and think later!
“Those crazy bastards!!”
Dana, who seemed about to cast some spell by aiming her holy symbol, suddenly gave up and screamed.
“Hey!! Hurry and get in!! Those fuckers are jumping!!”
“Eaaaaaaaagh!!!”
Zombies that couldn’t wait any longer and were bungee-jumping without ropes!
We rushed into the hole of the underground tomb like freshwater eels flopping on dry land.
─Crunch!!
The zombies falling to their deaths splattered bodily fluids everywhere.
─Crunch!! Crack!!
The corpses of the first fallen zombies hadn’t even disappeared yet, but the suicide zombie horde kept throwing themselves down. If the fallen zombies acted as cushions, soon some would be able to move even at the bottom of the well!
"Eoh byþ utan unsmeþe treow!"
"heard hrusan fæst, hyrde fyres,"
⟨ Rooted Guardian of the Earth ⟩
"wyrtrumun underwreþyd, wyn on eþle!"
─Rumble rumble!
Boom!
Soil surged from the well wall where the rune characters had seeped in. The zombie’s arm was crushed and swallowed by the earth wall that closed with a solidity reminiscent of a shutter door.
“…Hoo, hoo.”
The urgent situation had improved slightly, but looking at the big picture, it could hardly be called good. Without anyone saying a word, our entire party looked in the same direction—toward the inner depths of the underground tomb where cold air circulated.