Mystery: Death Singer

"Phew~"

Inside the first-floor library, Solana finally regained her breathing as she had wished. She closed her eyes and clasped her hands together, like a nun devoutly praying to the great being she believed in.

Freya's reaction wasn't as dramatic; she twitched her nose and then gave Solana beside her a hesitant nudge.

"Sorana, do you feel that the fishy smell is stronger than before?"

Edric, who had already jumped from the bookshelf to the floor, raised an eyebrow upon hearing this and looked at the two of them with interest.

Solana shook herself, carefully recalling the scene from their last visit here, then shook her head hesitantly:

"I'm not sure either. You know, we weren't prepared at all when we came here last time, and we almost passed out from the toxic air. I don't remember many of the details..."

Freya looked suspicious. She felt that the puddle she had just passed seemed to have expanded a bit, and although the air quality in the library was much better, there was still a faint fishy smell, just not as obvious.

Just then, a heavy but not slow footstep suddenly rang out in front of the three of them. It was a zombie that had caught the scent of the living and launched a fierce attack!

Seeing the zombie rushing towards her, Freya, who was feeling somewhat irritated, suddenly brightened up. Before Edric could make a move, she raised her steel longsword and, as smoothly as a hot knife through butter, sliced ​​the zombie in two at the waist, securing the first kill of the night.

Edric, who hadn't been stealing the monster, raised his gaze, his grey eyes looking deeper into the darkness, and urgently warned:

"Watch out! There are still quite a few undead creatures approaching!"

Before he finished speaking, he took out a bottle of dark green liquid from his pocket and threw it directly into the deep darkness in front of the three of them.

Crack!

With a crisp cracking sound, the emerald green liquid exposed to the air rapidly evaporated. During this process, the undead and skeletons that were gradually approaching Edric and his companions suddenly stopped, then turned sharply towards the broken bottle, roaring as they pounced on it.

"This is the 'Corpse Bone Flower Hydrosol'?" Freya's eyes lit up. Seizing the moment when the undead creatures were going berserk, she took the initiative to swing her longsword and charge forward.

Beside her, Solana, who had already gripped the great axe tightly, followed closely behind. The two of them, with one sword and one axe, quickly wiped out the undead creatures controlled by the "Corpse Bone Flower Dew".

Unbeknownst to them, several shadowy figures had lost their autonomy and fallen completely under Edric's control, allowing the guards hidden around them to be replenished.

Edric followed the two women and cleaned the entire first floor again. After confirming that there were no hidden dangers, he finally saw the so-called "entrance"—as he expected, it was another large hole leading to the next floor.

As if guessing what Edric was thinking, Freya shrugged helplessly:

"There's nothing we can do about it. The staircase is right next door, but you can tell from the sound that it's all submerged in water. Whether it's for safety or speed, it's safest for Solana to just drill a hole."

Good heavens, so this is the kind of "archaeologist" he is. My apologies... Edric smiled obligingly, indicating that he understood.

Upon entering the second floor of the library, Edric hadn't even settled in when he felt a chill rush towards him, and Freya and Solana, who were behind him, immediately wrapped their robes tighter around themselves.

"Freya." Solana quickly scanned the surroundings and whispered uneasily, "You seem to be right. Something has indeed changed here. It definitely wasn't this cold when we came last time."

Finally, she glanced at the calm-faced Edric and asked, unable to hide her envy, "Mr. Edric, don't you feel cold at all?"

As Edric directed the shadows to plunge into the surrounding darkness, he nodded slightly and said, "The potion has made my physique completely different from that of ordinary people. I have a good tolerance for cold, and at least this level of cold is still within my tolerance range."

Just then, Freya's expression suddenly changed, and she pointed to a bookshelf lying on the ground beside her, looking astonished:

"Last time I came, I took out a few documents from it; it was still standing upright then!"

Upon hearing this, Edric slowly stepped forward. The torchlight dimmed considerably, but it still served its purpose. After examining it carefully for a moment, he said without turning his head:

"It looks like some kind of medium to large creature passed by and knocked the bookshelf to the ground; there are obvious impact marks on it."

Upon hearing Edric's words, Freya and Solana shuddered instantly. If they had left just a little later last time, they might have bumped right into that unknown monster!

Suddenly, a faint sound arose in the otherwise silent second-floor library, and several shadowy figures simultaneously lost their connection with Edric.

"Watch out, something's getting close."

Edric drew his revolver, which was loaded with enchanted bullets, and peered into the darkness with his greyish-white eyes. His expression immediately changed, and he exclaimed in surprise:

"spread!"

Upon hearing the warning, Freya and Solana instinctively lunged forward. Just as they were rolling around on the cold ground in a disheveled state, one after another, crystal-clear and chilling icicles rose up from the ground, completely covering the spot where the two had just been standing!

pong!pong!pong!

Without any hesitation, Edric fired three shots into the darkness the moment he issued the warning. With "Death Eye," even if the opponent was hiding in the dark, it was no different from being exposed to a spotlight in his eyes.

Freya and Solana's spiritual vision was far less effective than Edric's, but they were still ruthless individuals who dared to explore the ruins of the Fourth Epoch. They drew their revolvers and opened fire in the general direction in which Edric had fired!

pong!pong!pong!

Amidst the dense gunfire, a massive figure over three meters tall leaped out of the darkness. Its body was devoid of flesh and blood, consisting only of a crystal-clear skeleton, but with dense, jet-black hair that seemed to be biting the skull like venomous snakes!

The hairs were clearly defined, thick and venomous like snakes. A sense of familiarity suddenly reminded Edric that he had seen something like this before; it was a memory belonging to Tingen—

At the time, he was hiding outside the residence of the "witch" Triss. Under the cover of night, he secretly observed his target by using the shadows. He saw a white bone statue with hair in her hands!