Witch Troupe and the Undead

“Well, that’s just a cultural difference.” Roach knocked on the door, and after confirming there were no traps, he nodded to Leon. As the only one in the team who was essentially a canned character, he was already quite self-aware of his role in scouting ahead. He took two steps forward and pushed open the door.

Behind the door is an identical courtyard, with four pillars and a knee-high railing enclosing a space of about 20 square meters, furnished with a stone coffee table, chairs and tea set, surrounded by stone bookshelves, display shelves, benches and vases.

“A kind of resting space, no mechanisms or traps found.” Leon walked around clockwise. In the center of each room was a glowing crystal providing illumination. Even the little witch didn’t know what kind of mineral this crystal was. She knocked some off and carried them with her, planning to study them slowly when she had the chance.

“This chair…” Roach touched the stone seat. “This place must have been affected by some kind of petrification magic or effect. These chairs were originally made of normal wood.”

The armrests and backrests of the chairs have wood grain patterns, and even the patterns on the cushions and backrests are lifelike. If these were carved from stone, the labor cost would be too high, and they would have no practical value.

If this chair were in the center of the tomb, it would be understandable; however, if it were in an ordinary resting room, then there would be no point in doing so.

“Hmm, petrification wave~” Livia agreed with Roach's opinion, reaching out to summon a stone book from the bookshelf. The cover even had engraved words: “The Legend of the Rose Knight.”

"..." The little witch thought for a moment, then looked at Luo Qi, "What does this say?"

"This... I don't quite understand, Leon, you answer." Roach's head started to throb as soon as he glanced at the title, especially when there was a guy next to him carrying a stick, looking at him with a "powerful physical purification spell" on his face if he dared to pollute the young lady's pure mind.

"Well, I don't usually read popular novels. Hmm, Leslie, you're a bard, you answer."

The witch's gaze fell upon the mermaid, who trembled. Judging from the remaining patterns on the cover and the writing style of the title, it was clearly a pornographic book. Fortunately, the entire book was petrified and could not be read, so the mermaid calmed herself down a bit.

"Yes, this is some kind of chivalric romance novel, probably describing the adventures of a knight named Rose Knight."

"Oh, I see~" The witch put it aside with some disappointment. She seemed to be very interested in this kind of reading material, but the book was completely unreadable.

“Black Sails and Lyre, Nightingale and Iron Rose…” Roach and the little witch examined the books one by one. They were now certain that these books had once been perfectly normal, because the cover of the poetry collection called Black Sails and Lyre was decorated with seashells, but now those seashells had completely turned into stone.

"Silver Moon Palace Joke Forest... Wow, there's even a collection of jokes~ It seems the original owner of this place had a good sense of life..." Leslie picked up a petrified book, glanced at the cover, "Wait, this name sounds like something out of an elf's style~"

"This is what they call treating the dead as if they were alive. These are probably the former owner's collections or things he used to entertain guests, but..." The guy who puts erotic books in the guest lounge doesn't sound like a decent person.

“This…” Livia’s fingers traced the names on the bookshelf, then she grasped a petrified scroll. Completely petrified, the scroll couldn’t be unfolded; only half a name was visible: “Eternal Night King, Part Three…”

“Eternal Night King, hmm…that sounds familiar…” Roach looked at Lulua. Since her name contained the character for “night,” it would be better to ask this saint of the night god.

However, Lulua stated that she did not know such a being at all, and at least the Church of the Night God should not have anyone or anything related to this name.

As the witch took the scroll and was about to leave the bookshelf, she suddenly heard a click beneath her feet. Alessina, who was not far away, rushed over and thrust her twin swords down in a cross shape. "Gravity Mechanism!"

"Click!" The sound of gears jamming came from under the floor. The covers on both sides of the wall flipped up, revealing the dark launch port behind them. Fortunately, the stone bricks did not sink any further. The little witch squatted on the ground, holding her head, and did not move.

Roach quickly stepped forward, grabbed Livia under her armpits, lifted her up, and placed her behind Leon. The others also quickly moved away from the firing ports and took cover behind sturdy bunkers.

There were petrified tools everywhere, and the number of bunkers was indeed considerable. "I let go?" Alessina glanced at the dark firing ports, then suddenly released his grip and sprang away. "Whoosh whoosh whoosh!" Stone arrows flew past in a crisscross pattern, forming a perfect cross that completely covered the rest area in the middle of the courtyard.

"This... shouldn't be the case~" Since this is a rest area, then traps shouldn't have been set up here when the underground palace was built. After all, the books and documents here are just for leisure, not valuable burial goods, and tomb raiders wouldn't be interested in these ordinary books.

This was completely unexpected by Roach. Whether from the perspective of the structure of the palace or the tomb, such a setting should not have appeared.

"This can only mean that the item wasn't a complete one-to-one replacement, or perhaps..."

"The second group of people who transformed the underground palace into a sealing chamber set up this kind of mechanism," Roach said, looking at the ground. "Leon, didn't you already check it?"

“Master Roach, what I’m trying to say is that there is no such thing as a foolproof investigation in this world. Even I make mistakes,” Leon said seriously. “Especially since I’m not a professional locksmith or trap master, I can only check common trap setups.”

"Hey guys, this isn't the time to discuss responsibility, did you hear me...?"

“I heard that, things are getting really interesting now.” Leon turned around, facing the exit of the room, gripped his greatsword tightly with both hands and assumed a defensive stance. Leslie also drew her bow. Even Roach, who was the least perceptive, could hear the sound of metal scraping against the ground and the heavy footsteps coming from the exit corridor.

"Thump~ thump~" Dust from the ceiling slid down with a heart-pounding vibration, the sound growing louder and closer until finally the heavy footsteps stopped at the door. Old Ma rubbed his fists, feeling that he would need to find a suitable weapon sooner or later. The petrified support pillar he had gotten from the mine was not very suitable for dealing with any powerful enemies.

"Boom!" The stone door swung open, and something at least four meters tall stepped in. Its dark golden luster made Old Ma's face turn green instantly. "Dark Gold Puppet!"

The adamantine golem, forged from a mixture of dark copper and adamantine with incredible magic resistance and inlaid with obsidian pieces, would be a nightmare for even a great demon like Old Ma, who would get beaten black and blue without unleashing his full power. And if he unleashed his full power... if he did, the seal beneath this dungeon would really explode.

“Dark Gold Puppet…” Livia looked at Old Ma, then at Roach and the others, her emerald pupils widening slightly. “This… is very difficult to fight!” Although she had never dealt with it before, the old witch who often stole other people’s books had, because the Dark Gold Puppet was the most powerful top-tier guard configuration in the mage tower or library.

"Thump!" The puppet looked like a giant wearing a horned helmet, its amber eyes looking at the team. In its left hand was a tower shield made of adamantite alloy, and in its right hand was a flail with a spiked hammer head as big as a coffee table. Not to mention Leon, even Old Ma felt a phantom pain when he saw it—if he were hit by this thing, he would be covered in bruises!

Well, that only applies to people like Old Ma and Leon. As for Roach, his pieces are scattered all over the place. Even Lulua and Alessina, who haven't activated their Moon Binding, have pieces scattered all over the place.

"Does this thing have any weaknesses?" Leon was a proper paladin who had never stolen anyone's books or picked the locks of a mage tower or an archmage tower. Therefore, he only knew the name of the Dark Gold Puppet and had absolutely no experience with it.

"Eyes, left chest is the energy core, upper arm, thigh and torso connection," Livia quickly listed a series of weak points.

“That sounds like it has a lot of weaknesses…” Leslie said confidently, “It seems that with the young lady around, even something like this…”

“Hmm, these areas are a bit softer than other places, but the chest is very hard and thick…” Leslie swallowed the rest of her words. A bit softer than other places? How much softer?! Even if it's half softer, it's still the strength of adamantite alloy, the kind of thing that's only a few millimeters thick on city gates, something that would take a siege engine five minutes to deform!

"Restrict movement, then run!" Alessina glanced at his teammates, who seemed prepared to fight head-on, and said, "You want to fight this head-on?"

"Ah!" The little witch slammed her palm down. Indeed, her teacher had said that fighting against the Dark Gold Puppet was a losing proposition, and running away was the best option. As for why this puppet was acting as a guard, well, what is the function of a guard? To stop thieves, right?

So whether the other party runs away or chooses to waste time fighting to the death, it means that it has already played the role of guarding—driving away the intruder and delaying enough time to sound the alarm—once the footsteps are heard, unless the mage is not at home, even if he is sleeping soundly, he will know that a thief has broken into the house.

After a brief silence, the puppet suddenly accelerated, charging towards the largest horse at a normal jog. "I..." The old horse nimbly tried to dodge using the shadows, but two beams of golden light shot out from the puppet's eyes, instantly pulling it out of its shadow movement mode. "It has this move too? Pfft!"

The spiked hammerhead slammed heavily into Old Horse's face, and the four-meter-tall horse-headed giant fell like a small mountain, crashing headfirst into a pillar, causing the ground to shake violently.

“Dimensional Anchoring…” Livia was held in Leon’s arms, while the others used their own abilities to rush towards the exit. As for Old Ma… it’s alright. Hellish Great Demon, Sub-Lord, Cricket Dark Gold Puppet, if there’s only one, we can’t kill him.

"You guys..." Another blow landed on his head. Old Ma looked at the young lady in despair as she gave him a "good luck" gesture. "I'll fucking..." Dark demonic flames rose up. Without blowing up the underground palace, he unleashed a significant portion of his power, grabbed the spiked ball that was being thrown at him, and pulled the puppet in front of him with a forceful tug. "Take this punch!"

Hearing the clanging of metal against metal and the dull thud of the spiked tower shield colliding with the flesh of a horse-headed giant behind him, Leon silently made a prayer gesture. Even if it was a demon, at this moment, in this situation, he should be offered sincere respect and prayer.

Chapter 392 Deepest Mourning for Old Ma

It was another U-shaped room, with a structure not much different from the previous lounge. It looked like some kind of exhibition room or a room for visiting burial objects, with cabinets and shelves displaying various petrified and petrifying artifacts on all four sides.

At the very center is a screen-like clothes rack, a completely petrified replica that presents the texture of fabric folds, as if it were fluttering in the wind. However, now it is just a uniquely shaped stone.

This place is at least several hundred steps away from where they encountered the Dark Gold Golem. At least that's how Roach estimated their running speed and time. However, due to the panicked run, no one remembered the route, so the exact distance is unclear.

This fact also means that they got lost and could only continue downwards. At least finding a way down wouldn't lead them astray. As for the reason, it can be judged from the degree of petrification and the replacement of the surrounding objects.

The reason why you can't go back is simple—the radius of petrification and displacement is expanding, and the displacement process is constantly ongoing; going back would definitely lead to getting lost.

Conversely, the path leading down, which had been largely replaced and petrified, presented clear directions. To put it bluntly, the path back was constantly changing, while the path down remained constant. The stone coat rack had been moved aside, becoming a natural screen, and the group sat on the low railings, using these completely petrified former wooden railings as seats.

The beam of light projected from the luminous crystal in the ceiling was like a natural spotlight. Leslie jumped to the center of the beam, holding a longbow in her hand, pretending it was a harp. "Ahem~ Please be quiet, everyone~" Livia raised her eyes, her eyes shining with an emerald light, seemingly curious about what the mermaid was going to do.

"Ahem~" Leslie produced a handkerchief from somewhere and pretended to wipe her eyes. "Just now, a companion left us forever~"

"Who is it?" Lulua looked at Roach, who narrowed his eyes. This opening remark reminded him of some unpleasant memories.

As we all know, college students are semiconductors to various degrees, classified as "diodes" or even "transistors," and are usually in one extreme state and the other extreme state.

They are either lifeless, having spent four years in college and not recognizing any of their classmates except their roommates; or they are so energetic that they are so outstanding that they remain memorable to professors and counselors even many years after graduation.

The same applies to academia; one is either an academic slacker or... an academic tyrant. Leslie's behavior immediately reminded him of those "overly lively" "academic slackers."

"Old Horse's life was a glorious one, a life of selflessness, and a life of being beaten up one-sidedly. While we were here celebrating our escape, he was using his handsome horse face to test the strength and power of the Dark Gold Puppet Mace..." Leslie recounted with a sorrowful expression, which made Leon's expression turn strange. He nudged Lulua next to him, "Does this lady have some kind of conflict with that demon?"

"I don't know~" Lulua chuckled sheepishly. She was completely unaware of the conflict between Leslie and Old Ma. Their conflict was indeed quite significant. If it weren't for Old Ma, Leslie would still be a useless mermaid freely eating seaweed in the sea—and if you add in Old Ma's bullying and intimidation when she joined the group... then the conflict was indeed considerable.

"Let us remember this admirable meat shield who always managed to draw the enemy's attention; even a passing gargoyle would rush over to slap him."

"...?" Livia tugged at Roach's sleeve, looking bewildered. She wanted to ask when Old Ma had been slapped by the gargoyle.

“Sigh, most bards are like that. She’s just… um, trying to liven things up,” Roach sighed. The little witch’s eyes instantly turned into crescent moons of emerald green. She patted Leslie’s leg with her little hand, a reproachful expression on her face, and whispered with a laugh, “You’re naughty~”

"Let us remember his sacrifice and mourn the loss of a respected comrade."

“I will not mourn for a demon, but… I hope his soul will soon be freed from hell.” Reiner smiled and shook his head, placing his hands on the hilt of his sword in a gesture of a paladin praying for his comrade. “In the name of the Holy Lord, I pray that his face will not turn into a pumpkin on the harvest festival.”

What do pumpkins look like at the harvest festival? First of all, they are very large, with bright colors, plump and full of juice. However, that's not the point. The point is that the pumpkins at the harvest festival are ultimately chopped to pieces with an axe by the farmer chosen to represent the "harvest," with juice splashing everywhere.

This is both a ceremony to celebrate the harvest and offer sacrifices to the goddess of the earth, and a very relaxing activity. The chopped pumpkins are eventually gathered together and juiced for the harvest festival feast in the evening, while the pumpkins themselves are stewed with ingredients such as pork into a large pot of orange-colored thick soup.

For farmers in most human kingdoms, including the Empire, this was the best celebration they could hold, and it would be even better if there were a few pieces of cured meat and a few barrels of ale.

"I'm hard to say whether it's a blessing or a curse," Roach shrugged. "However, I don't think he'll fall so easily."

“He’ll definitely get a black eye and a swollen face,” Alasina interjected. “At the very least, he’ll get a good beating.”

"Ah, then... why are you writing a eulogy for him?" Lulua was completely baffled.

“Because it’s to liven things up,” Alessina whispered in Lulua’s ear. “Maintaining a good mindset is important for adventurers, especially since we’re lost right now and we were just chased around like crazy. To keep morale up, it’s the bard’s responsibility to tell jokes and liven things up.”

Otherwise, if morale is low, cooperation between the parties will be problematic. If they then fall into a process of blaming each other and passing the buck, it will be even worse, almost foreshadowing the failure of an adventure or even the complete annihilation of the entire army.

Besides buying and selling loot and supplies, the bards in the team are mainly responsible for calming people down and, when appropriate, acting silly and playful to liven up the atmosphere and shift the topic away from failure and who should be held responsible.

Such discussions, reflections, and punishments should take place after setting up camp in a safe place or even after returning to town, not during the adventure.

At the same time, on the other side.

Old Ma forcefully ripped off the deformed tower shield. The dark gold golem's body was covered with deformed marks from being punched. At the same time, demonic fire burned fiercely in the gaps, which was then forcibly extinguished by the anti-magic properties of the obsidian.

"Hiss~" The horse's head was now swollen like a pufferfish, and even a few of its teeth had been knocked out by the chain hammer. If it weren't for the fact that he was a demon and teeth could regenerate, he would have to say goodbye to dry food and start drinking thin soup to survive.

His body was covered in blood, with bruises and scars everywhere, and his fists were cracked. For a demon sub-lord, these injuries would only be considered minor cuts and bruises, but... the damage to his dignity and mental well-being was far more severe than the physical injuries.

"Damn it, who invented this thing?! I remember my old master dealt with it so easily..."

Of course, Niel Riley is not only a proper witch, but she has also put in a lot of effort to study the craftsmanship and weaknesses of similar Dark Gold Puppet. Otherwise, Livia wouldn't have been able to rattle off a list of weak points right off the bat.

She even developed a spell specifically to counter and deal with the Dark Gold Puppet—however, she didn't teach this spell to Livia. Perhaps the old witch felt that "she had already stolen all the books that needed to be stolen, and from now on there will be a cleansed library for you (the little witch)," so she didn't teach the little witch this spell.

"Ah, damn it, it was invented by an elven mage..." Old Ma thought for a while and remembered that this damn thing was invented by an elven mage. It was originally designed as a puppet to guard the library, the secret vault, and the treasure vault.

It's not aimed at thieves or old witches, but at dragons. Therefore, it has very high physical and magical defense and uses heavy weapons that can penetrate dragon scales and dragon magic protection. As for the problem of slow movement speed and low agility, it doesn't matter - after all, dragons are large and their agility is not high in dragon form.

“Speaking of which…” Old Ma looked around, “Where did the young lady and the others go?” He picked up the dark gold chain mace, turned it a few times, and found it quite handy. So he casually twisted a rope made of hellish magic and fastened the chain mace to his waist.

"Boom! Boom!"

"Here we go again!?" Old Ma hadn't taken more than a few steps when he heard those familiar thumping footsteps. "If you're so rich, why not bury some valuables with you!"

Dark Gold Puppets are generally priceless, with no gold coins or other currency to measure their value. They are usually bartered, but more often than not, mages have to find ways to collect the materials and make them themselves. Not to mention the labor costs, it would take at least seven or eight years to collect all the materials.

A typical archmage of the Silver Star level having a Dark Gold Golem in their mage tower indicates they are very wealthy or have inherited their teacher's legacy. Most Dark Gold Golems are even treasures passed down through generations of mages from the same faction. As for larger Dark Gold Golems... those are considered strategic weapons.

The most fundamental difference between a golem and a puppet is that the former needs to be operated and remotely controlled by a wizard, while the latter is autonomous. However, for most people, the most obvious difference is that golems are very large, generally between 7 and 20 meters tall, with some exceeding 35 meters. They are earth golems, with bodies made of mud and vines.

Metal golems are generally neither more than 10 meters tall nor less than 5 meters tall. Therefore, this 4-meter-tall autonomous dark gold golem is classified as a "puppet" rather than a "golem".

As for the Dark Gold Golem, Old Ma could only say that if he could defeat it, he could manipulate Lady Dream into seven or eight different forms without weapons. Even with weapons, he couldn't guarantee he could defeat it. Having a mage and not having a mage makes a world of difference in combat power.

Imagine a little witch with very weak stamina, who is not good at close combat or can only crouch and defend, sitting inside a 7-meter-tall golem made of dark gold. She operates this golem like a giant warrior, using her enormous magical power as a base to add layers of protective spells to this golem, whose defense is already abnormally strong. Then, in a completely safe situation, she uses the golem's own energy core to absorb magical power and turn it into a powerful magical bombardment.

Even a Star Silver Mage could hold their own against a witch like Elena, and for a faction capable of building a Dark Gold Golem, having a "Sage" or "Witch" is practically a necessity—because without that level of expertise, it's impossible to create such a large Dark Gold Golem. In short, these things are extremely expensive, so expensive that even Old Ma thought there was only one Dark Gold Golem.

"Thump!" The footsteps stopped, and the walls on three sides of the room collapsed. Three dark gold golems stepped out to Old Ma's astonishment. One carried a sword and shield, one carried a tower shield and spear, and one carried a large hammer. There were three of them, each shining with a dark gold luster.

"Hiss~" Old Ma gasped, amazed by the wealth of the owner of this underworld palace, and had to admit that if there were no dark gold golems below, these four golems would probably be the most expensive burial objects in this underworld palace.

"..." Old Ma looked at the puppets that made up a combat squad, then looked at himself, and without hesitation, turned and ran. He could fight one-on-one, but he would be badly beaten in one-on-two, and in one-on-three... he would just be getting beaten up. Even if he unleashed all his power, he would only go from being beaten up to occasionally fighting back, and then he would be beaten into a pig's head.

On the other side, as Roach pushed open a stone door so exquisitely crafted it was almost flawless, a chilly wind rushed in. Before him stretched a long corridor that extended to both sides, ending at a staircase leading down to a magnificent structure resembling an opera house.

A semi-circular corridor embraces a circular stage, surrounded by countless stone statues. On the stage are frozen dancers and musicians—a death theater within a tomb.

Roach and his companions were positioned at the upper entrance of the theater, with staircases on either side leading to the VIP seating area. The magnificent set had been completely transformed into stone, and the props made of gold and silver had lost their luster; in contrast, the dancers and musicians possessed a lifelike quality.

"This is really... insane." Leon repeatedly gripped and released the sword hilt. The dancers and musicians were already dead, but were solidified on the stage by some kind of magic and spell, becoming flesh and blood idols, frozen in their most brilliant moments.

The lead dancer was a beautiful blonde woman whose golden hair shone like the sun in the light streaming down from the ceiling. However, her face, like that of the musicians and dancers, had an unnatural bluish-white hue.

“Dream Poison… Hmm~ How wicked~” Livia frowned. That bluish-white color was the unique effect of this poison. It would make the deceased die as if in a dream. It was a common drug used by nobles to commit suicide. Unlike other poisons, it would not make the deceased vomit or show a hideous face. It would just be as if the deceased were asleep. This was very important for high-ranking nobles who valued dignity.

However, if the person is on stage, then this effect is impossible. If the person then engages in strenuous exercise after drinking the toxins, the toxins will take effect more quickly and kill the target. At the same time, this process will produce extremely painful symptoms.

"After they drink the poison, have these dancers perform in front of the terracotta figures. Then, when their performance reaches its climax, which is also when the poison takes effect, use a stillness spell to freeze them at that moment, preventing their faces from contorting in pain... Tsk~"

Leon closed his eyes and calmed himself down. This wasn't the first time he'd seen something like this. He'd seen plenty of decadent nobles, blasphemous cultists, and perverts who called themselves artists. And this kind of perverted behavior, obsessed with the moment of death, wasn't new to him either. Otherwise, he wouldn't have recognized how it was done so quickly.

"Spell, dispel~" Livia stretched out her small hand, as if she had grabbed something in the void, and pulled hard. Countless fireflies flew out from the frozen performers on the stage, and at the same time, the stillness spell was dispelled.

One by one, the bodies, no longer sustained by magic, collapsed to the ground and turned to ashes, leaving only the rapidly oxidizing, fading, and decaying clothes.

"Hmm~ That's awful~" Livia clenched her hands slightly, gathering countless fluorescent lights into her palm and storing them in a glass bottle. As she dispelled the spell, she also completely shattered their souls, granting these performers, who had been frozen in time for an unknown period of time, enduring near-eternal torture, complete liberation.

On stage, the dancers turned to ashes, while the audience below remained standing. Roach observed the terracotta figures, taking a moment to confirm that they were not petrified living people or corpses, but simply fired terracotta figures, and even hollow ones. After marveling at the technological prowess of the civilization that built this underground palace, he also expressed his contempt for its perverse aesthetics and behavior.

Besides the dancers, the nobles in the VIP seats on both sides were also frozen in place. On the small tables, there were wine bottles, pure silver wine glasses, fruit platters, and even the fruit inside was carved from gemstones. However, judging from the surprised and fearful expressions on the faces of these nobles, it was clear that they were not there voluntarily to be buried with them.

“Bound up…” Leon examined the bodies of these nobles. There were rope marks on their hands and feet, and on the ground were the remains of ropes completely corroded by time. They were bound here alive and then frozen in place—without even drinking poison, they were frozen in place, watching the corpses on the frozen stage, each posing in a performance position, their souls imprisoned within their bodies.

“Minister, Duke of Blackrock, charges: treason, breaking oath.” Leslie picked up a petrified plaque from the small table. Judging from the edges that still retained some of their original color, it seemed to be a thin silver sheet, and the words on it were still legible.

"They are all nobles who betrayed the Eternal Night King, or nobles he felt betrayed, it's simply..."

“Tyrant!” Alessina concluded.

"Tyrant? Don't be ridiculous. This guy can't be called a tyrant. In our area, there's an emperor who likes to bury dolls in his grave and makes his tomb look like a palace. He's called a tyrant, but compared to this guy, his scale is much bigger." Luo Qi complained. A tyrant should at least be a "ruler," okay? This guy is so weird that it's hard to even tell if he's human.