Chapter 83

As cherry blossoms danced in the wind, Misaki opened the old diary and read the words of promise written there.

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"Inside... it's a bit dusty."

"It's been off-limits recently, so no one has come in, I guess."

After dealing with a large number of sandworms, they entered a pyramid-like structure and found a staircase leading down. Since no one had entered since the warning from the Adventurers' Guild, the stairs were filled with sand from the outside, making it feel quite dusty as they walked.

"It looked pretty big from the outside, so it seems to be quite spacious inside."

"Even with the lamp, there are still many dark areas."

"Right... I'll check the map app just in case."

From the outside, the pyramid had one side that was over 100... no, 200 meters long. It was so long that it was hard to estimate. As they descended the stairs and reached a square-like area, it was so vast that even the high-quality lamp couldn't illuminate it all.

There were supporting pillars and strange copper statues, making the visibility poor. Unlike a dungeon, the lack of light inside was quite unsettling. I'll use the map app to avoid any surprises.

"This level of darkness is almost nothing to me."

"Can you see, Luna?"

"Yeah, I can see clearly to the back. Something is coming this way."

Luna pointed without hesitation into the darkness that I couldn't see. Checking the direction on the map app, I could indeed see a red dot moving slowly toward us. Vampires are reliable in the dark.

"Whoa... something creepy just appeared."

"What's under those bandages?"

"Maybe it's like a dried fish?"

As we waited for what would come, a monster finally entered my field of vision. It was humanoid, covered entirely in white bandages, and moved slowly with its arms hanging down. The bandages were slightly yellowed and smelled bad. The only part not covered was the eyes, which glowed red. It was a complete horror.

Without waiting for it to approach, Luna immediately threw her spear at the mummy. The mummy, without any resistance, was hit in the head and lurched backward.

"Hmm, the effect is weak."

"Physical attacks might not be very effective."

That one hit should have taken off its head, but the mummy righted itself and continued to advance as if nothing had happened. The spear remained stuck in its head, which was a bit scary. Soon, the spear was enveloped in light and returned to Luna's hand. It must be an automatic retrieval feature.

Even after taking that hit, it didn't seem to have taken any damage. I should check its status.

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● Species: Mummy

Level: 40

HP: 15,000

MP: 0

Attack: 850

Defense: 400

Agility: 10

Magic Resistance: 20

Special Ability: Physical Damage Halved

Skill: Regeneration

---

It's not particularly strong. The combination of physical damage halved and regeneration is troublesome, but its slow movement makes it easy to gang up on and finish it off. We quickly ganged up and defeated it. The mummy dropped yellowed bandages, which I didn't want to touch.

After defeating the first one, we continued forward and encountered multiple mummies, but we handled them easily by ganging up on them.

"Ogura-san, can I take on a mummy once?"

"Huh? Sure, go ahead."

The physical damage halved and regeneration made it impossible for Noelle to instantly kill them as usual, which was a bit troublesome. Each time one appeared, it slowed us down.

Another mummy appeared, and this time, Cisaha wanted to take it on. She must be a combat enthusiast. Well, she's been quiet so far, so a little bit should be fine. She'll be satisfied after defeating one or two.

Cisaha ran toward the mummy as usual. The mummy had decent attack power, but she could easily avoid it. We all watched her battle, ready to help if needed.

"Ha! Phew!"

When she thrust her staff at the mummy, it hit its arm. I thought it would just lurch back like when Luna hit it, but the arm was torn off. She then punched its head, shattering it, and defeated it as quickly as when Noelle and I ganged up on it. What's going on?

"Seriously...?"

"No way! How can she defeat it so easily!?"

Noelle was surprised and seemed a bit shocked, as she had confidence in her own power.

"Hehe, when I punch, I add a rotational force to my arm. This sends the shock deep into the body. It also has a divine blessing."

Not only did it send the shock deep into the body, but it also shattered it. And the rotational force... is that a corkscrew blow? And the divine blessing is just an afterthought...

"Is the afterthought the main thing?"

"Is she really a priest?"

"Yeah, unfortunately, she is."

It seems the divine blessing is the cause. There are special effects like this that aren't shown in the status. As a holy class, it's not surprising that she can deal massive damage or even one-shot undead.

Luna, seeing Cisaha's battle for the first time, tilted her head in doubt, even questioning if she was really a priest. Even vampires are questioning her.

"Hmm, no particularly strong monsters have appeared yet."

"Maybe the anomaly was only outside?"

"Mummies are durable, but they're slow, so they're not a threat."

After being impressed by Cisaha's battle, we continued forward. I thought there might be traps in such a ruin, but there didn't seem to be any. Maybe other adventurers had already explored and disabled them?

We came here expecting anomalies, but so far, no strange monsters have appeared. If we can just keep going deeper, it would be convenient for me.

"Huh? Why isn't this mummy disappearing after being defeated?"

"Indeed... it's still there after being defeated."

"Maybe this can happen?"

As we continued to defeat the mummies, one didn't disappear after being defeated. I stabbed it with Excalibur just to be sure, but there was no reaction, so it must be dead. The map app showed a gray mark where the mummy was, confirming it was dead.

This had never happened before, so it was strange. We continued forward, checking the map app. As we moved away from the last mummy, the map app showed a change. The gray mark suddenly turned red and started moving toward us at high speed.

"What!? Hey! It's coming from behind!"

We quickly turned around, and the mummy, which had been moving slowly, was now running with its bandages turning bright yellow. Its covered mouth had broken open, revealing fangs, and its hands had sharp claws extending from them. What the heck is this?

"Ugh... it's stronger than before..."

I was the first to react, stepping forward to block the mummy's clawed attack with a pot lid. The impact was heavy, and it seemed to have a lot of power. It was clearly stronger than before and seemed like a different monster.

"Hey!"

"Whoa!?"

As I blocked the attack, I heard Estelle's usual relaxed voice, signaling she was casting a spell. The stone walls around us extended and crushed the mummy from both sides. Only its extended arm remained, swaying like it was growing out of the rock. This is terrifying! I almost wet myself...

"We can't use fire magic inside the building."

"You've come up with another gruesome attack method..."

Even with physical damage halved, being flattened seems to cause instant death. Using fire inside would harm us, so she considered it, but it felt even more gruesome. The mummy, crushed, finally turned into light particles, and the bandages that emerged from its arm were even more yellow and smelled worse.

"So, what was that?"

"Hmm... from the map app, it seemed like the gray mark suddenly turned red and came toward us."

"Does that mean it came back to life?"

"Not just came back to life, but it seemed stronger."

From the map app, it was clear that the mummy we had defeated earlier had come back to life and attacked us. What's going on?

As we continued to defeat mummies, another one didn't disappear after being defeated. We needed to deal with it before it came back to life. I checked its status to see if there was any explanation.

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● Flare Mummy Species: Mummy

Level: 50

HP: 8,000

MP: 0

Attack: 2,400

Defense: 300

Agility: 150

Magic Resistance: 0

Special Ability: Physical Damage Halved

Skill: Activation

---

I see. It looks the same as a regular mummy, but when defeated, it activates and changes. We decided to have Estelle burn this mummy before it could rise again.

"It looks similar, but it's a different monster."

"It's more troublesome than regular ones, but we can just burn it before it rises. The solution is simple."

"For regular adventurers, it would still be quite troublesome..."

I noticed it with the map app, so it was fine, but if it suddenly attacked from behind, a C-rank adventurer wouldn't stand a chance. Burning each one after defeating it would be a lot of work without a mage. The Adventurers' Guild was right to make this place off-limits.