Cornflower Witch

Chapter 253 The Wraith in the Tomb
Upon seeing these yellowed bones, Lucas acted as if he had found a beloved treasure, having the skeletal creature carefully dig them out and then examining them closely in his palm.

Faced with this scene, Hilti silently stepped back two paces, walked to the side, and continued to observe the surroundings.

Although the bones still contained traces of the 'Dragon Eye' aura, they were very faint. They were clearly not dragon bones, but rather the product of other creatures being tainted by the 'Dragon Eye' aura.

However, since there are stained bones here, it means that the real 'dragon bones' are not far away.

Hiltiya closed her eyes, extended her senses, and tried to find the source of this 'Dragon Eye' appearance.

Unfortunately, underground, her perception was not very good. She could only vaguely sense that beyond the end of this road, in the deeper part, there was a faint aura of the 'Dragon Eye' attribute.

On the other side, Lucas, holding the bone, took out various strange props and powders, and continuously performed a divination ritual. After working for almost an hour, he determined that the location was behind the stone wall at the end of the road.

"This is the direction."

“But we need to dig this place up.” He frowned as he looked at the solid stone wall.

If he were to use skeletal creatures to excavate, it would definitely wear down the bones and be extremely laborious. He was somewhat reluctant to part with these skeletal creatures that he had carefully cultivated.

"Siltia, do you have any good ideas?"

"Me?" Hilti had thought this senior could handle it easily, but seeing that he didn't have a good solution for the time being, she thought of taking it upon herself to solve it.

“I’ll give it a try,” Hiltiya thought of the 'rough vine' seeds she had bought before.

She took out two seeds and threw them out, then used a combination of abilities such as 'Dew, Branching, and Fertile Soil' to catalyze them. The two seeds continued to grow in the soil, and their roots slowly extended deeper.

At this moment, the ever-thickening vines, like two giant pythons, slowly churned within the mud walls, wrapping tightly around the stones at the end of the road, and then contracting layer by layer.

Finally, with a series of cracking sounds, the huge rock was crushed by the vines into small pieces.

At this point, Lucas also sent the skeletal creatures to help. They quickly dug through the rubble to create a path forward.

The two then lowered their heads slightly and entered the pit surrounded by thick vines, continuing to go deeper and deeper.

At this moment, the surrounding soil began to turn black, and a distinct burnt smell emanated from it. The two of them also felt waves of heat coming from the ground.

"It's just ahead." Lucas suppressed his excitement.

They continued digging forward, and after about three hours, as the rocks ahead broke open, a huge, dark cave appeared before them.

Hiltiya took the lantern from her waist, lifted it slightly, and bright light spread from the bottom of the lamp base, illuminating the entire dark cave.

Inside this cave, there are a large number of remains, which can be identified as belonging to many different creatures. On the stone wall directly in front of the cave, a huge, incomplete skeleton is embedded in it.

If it once belonged to a giant dragon, now only the middle part of the dragon's body and a small part of the forelimbs remain; the rest of the dragon's head, tail, wings, bones, and body are no longer present.

Even the remaining parts are charred and broken; if forcibly removed from the stone wall, they would probably shatter on the spot.

"Is this the dragon bone?" Hiltiya's eyes gleamed as she carefully examined the corpse.

【Dragon Bone Remains】(Tier 4 - Dragon Eye): Dragon bone remains of very poor quality, no longer usable for crafting bone dragons, as well as numerous dragon bone weapons and armor.

"It seems I'm not very useful," Hiltia thought, but she wasn't too disappointed, since she was just curious and came to take a look.

On the other side, Lucas looked at the dragon skeleton with great excitement. It seemed that he felt that the dragon skeleton could be used to enhance his abilities.

However, there are other problems to solve at this time.

As the two stepped into the enclosed, dark cave, a rustling sound echoed within.

From among the many corpses and bones buried here, several strange skeletal creatures slowly rose up.

【Crypt Wraith】(Tier 3 - Dead Ash): A creature that is half ghost and half corpse, often found in ancient burial tombs. They gain increased strength in the tomb where they are born. Their abilities are diverse and bizarre, and they are very dangerous.

Compared to the exquisitely pieced-together skeletal creatures around Lucas, these skeletal creatures before him resembled a haphazardly assembled infant. Not only were they asymmetrical, but their hands and feet were also arranged randomly like tentacles. Some were headless, while others had several heads haphazardly pressed together.

Carrying a gray mist filled with the aura of 'death,' these skeletal creatures began to move, rushing towards the direction where the two were.

The bone powder and ash mist that had been buried in the tomb for countless years contained all sorts of strange toxins and contaminants. As they approached, bringing with them dust, Hiltiya retreated repeatedly.

She really didn't want to fight these guys in close combat, so at this moment she took out her long-unused composite longbow, then pinched the vine seed between her fingertips and embedded it into an arrow.

After being fired, the seeds grew rapidly, entangled the skeletal creatures, and hindered their movement. Meanwhile, Lucas also began commanding his skeletal creatures to fight the enemy. With his squad holding off the enemy, Sylvia could safely draw her bow and shoot arrows from the rear.

At this moment, a 'grave vengeful spirit' vigorously swung its strange forelimbs, slashing down like a scythe. A flash of gray-white light appeared, and it directly cleaved one of Lucas's skeletal creatures in two, shattering bones all over the ground.

After that, another vengeful spirit from the tomb slowly climbed up the stone wall, and two huge, striking and eerie eyeballs appeared in the hollow eye sockets of its skull.

Under its gaze, Lucas's face suddenly turned pale, his body swayed, and he barely managed to stand by supporting himself on the skeletal creature beside him.

Was that a mental shock? As Hilti was wondering what had happened to Lucas, she saw the tomb spirit change direction, its eerie eyes fixed on her.

A chilling, malevolent feeling travels along the line of sight, especially when the two people look at each other; this feeling is particularly intense then.

Feeling a little uncomfortable, Hilti shook her head slightly, circulating the 'Moonlight Breathing Technique' within her body to quickly dispel the discomfort.

Then she glared back at the vengeful spirit in the tomb opposite her, only to see it fall off the stone wall. After a while, it shook its head and stood up again.

Although she didn't know why the same attacks didn't work on her, Hilti's attention was diverted by the approaching tomb spirits.

At that moment, a five-limbed, crawling tomb vengeful spirit, with one limb wielding a bone blade, broke through the bone defense line controlled by Lucas and arrived in front of Hilti.

The long, bone-bladed limbs rose up, like a whip cracking, and slashed down with a sharp whistling sound.

Given the distance and confined space, it would be extremely difficult for Hilti to hide, even if she wanted to.

The girl gripped the hilt of the knife tightly and drew it out quickly.

The sharp blade failed to cleave the enemy for the first time, but it still managed to cut into the inside of the bone blade, tearing a gash. In her haste, Hiltiya was also thrown back a few steps by the impact, only managing to cushion the force by bracing her toes against the tunnel wall.

They are very strong. Perhaps due to the environment, these tomb spirits are much more powerful than Hiltia imagined, and their strength is comparable to that of the castle knights outside.

In close combat, she might not have the advantage, but her original major was not close combat. It's just that using swords and knives is convenient for dealing with weaker enemies.

Hiltiya took several steps back before coming to a stop.

Facing the enemy who was pursuing her again, she raised her hand, her eyes shimmering with emerald light, and thick vines extended from the tunnel, trapping them.

Even though the tomb vengeful spirit continued to struggle, hacking and tearing, destroying the vines, under the blessing and command of Hilti, the vines in the tunnel continued to grow until they finally completely enveloped it, and the cavities inside the bones were also filled by the vines.

After a few breaths, the vines strangled the tomb spirit layer by layer, finally tearing it to pieces.

After dealing with one of them, Hilti scattered the vines and headed back towards the dark cave. At this moment, Lucas was fighting three 'tomb vengeful spirits' with difficulty.

Both sides were at the third tier, and the tomb vengeful spirit also had the advantage of the terrain. Under such circumstances, Lucas held out for a long time, which shows that his strength was already quite good.

If Hilti hadn't come, he estimated it would have taken a considerable amount of time and effort to defeat the three-headed tomb vengeful spirit.

However, Hilti didn't want to linger too long, since the two of them had been inside for most of the day, and if it got any later, the army in Jiaoshi City would probably have surrounded the mine.

She raised her hand, and several vines from inside the tunnel drooped down, then continued to extend and entwine, strengthening the wood fibers within, making them harder and harder, and revealing complex and special textures, with wisps of pale gold light wandering within them.

Half a minute later, a special spiral spear fell into Hilti's hands. She held it and spun it a few times, then aimed it at the vengeful spirit in the distant tomb and took a deep breath.

'Spiral Spear!'

Patterns of flowers, birds, and air currents appeared on the spiraling gun body. When Hilti threw it, golden lightning appeared in an instant, leaving a long trail of light that pierced through the furthest tomb spirit.

The moment it struck the enemy, the gun exploded with lightning, and the 'Emerald Honey' essence within it transformed in an instant, turning into a powerful electric current that penetrated the entire tomb's vengeful spirits.

Then, the vengeful spirit from the tomb collapsed, accompanied by wisps of white smoke, and remained motionless.

Seeing this result, Hilti shook her head slightly.

Although she defeated the enemy, she always felt that there should be a better way or technique to use this ability. Perhaps only when she sees the original mythical weapon 'Edaniel' will she know the true nature of this ability.

Then, Hiltiah waved her hand again, and four spiraling spears shot out from her side, piercing through the remaining two tomb wraiths and killing them in the dark cave.

With the battle over, the two finally had ample time to search for any buried relics or treasures. Meanwhile, outside the mine on the surface, a flurry of hurried footsteps arrived, and under the officer's fierce command, they began to seal off and surround the area.

(End of this chapter)