My interracial harem of beautiful queens

Chapter 193 Undead

After a long and careful examination of the floor, no clues leading to the lower level were found. The only conclusion Adam drew from this was that the entrance to the third floor was in that same secret door he accidentally opened. However, these were merely his speculations.

Sitting on the grass, Sierra lay back with a sigh, squinting her eyes. It was evident that she was fed up with wandering for so long, just like the rest of them. But at least the others could keep their irritation in check, while the highly emotional Queen of Nymphs endlessly complained.

"How boring! We haven't found anything at all. It's all fields and flowers, for heaven's sake! Not even any treasures, what bad luck..." she said, gradually raising her voice to a shout, thereby getting the attention of Adam and Dereris, who were resting nearby.

Adam sighed, shaking his head. He, too, was dissatisfied with the fact that they had spent so much time and found nothing. Although he genuinely liked this place and found the atmosphere enchanting, it was somewhat disappointing not to stumble upon their goal – the map – after such an extended exploration.

He needed to find another map, provided today's outing was successful, which he was already beginning to doubt. However, they still gained some valuable information. He became intrigued by the history of the unknown tribe, while Veronika secured a promise from Dereris and added a new language and pentagram to her knowledge base.

"Veronica, there's only one option left – to go down that passage I accidentally opened," said Adam, getting up from his seat and approaching the Demon Queen, who stood with her arms crossed, clearly displeased. He looked towards the exit and sighed, "As far as I'm concerned, we're just wasting our time here. There's nothing to find, unfortunately."

"I agree, but... I'm uncomfortable with the strange energy I felt from that passage. It's reminiscent of something demonic but more distorted," Veronica replied to his words, expressing her concern with a raised eyebrow and a wrinkled nose out of annoyance. She glanced at Adam and sighed, "Fine, we can try, but on the condition that you won't leave my side for a step, alright?"

"No problem. But... why do you treat me like a child?" Adam muttered, shaking his head.

Within a few minutes, they were leaving this place. Before plunging into the long tunnel, Adam cast a glance at this place and smiled. The graveyard of memories had played a significant role – now he and his companions would remember this place and the owner's emotions.

Twenty minutes later, when he and his group had disappeared, the graveyard of memories suddenly began to transform. Once beautiful flowers began to wither, and the lush green grass started to dry up.

Lichen began to grow rapidly, soon covering the entire space. Negative energy filled the room, and soon the skies were covered with clouds, followed by rain.

The world seemed to change – sincere love vanished, oaths were broken, and all that remained was endless loneliness, consuming your soul and making you suffer. In this little world, there was no more "positivity." Can this be called death?

***

Before entering the narrow passage leading downward, Veronica first cast ten spells throughout the dungeon to ensure the safety of the descent. She was extremely insistent on this matter and used an overwhelming amount of magic to make sure there were no dangers.

And while Adam hoped for a trouble-free descent, it was impossible, considering that they were essentially marauders. During their search, Veronica discovered a creature.

"M-m... what? Hmm..." 

At one point, Veronica began muttering something to herself, but it was impossible to make out anything. However, Adam concluded that she had found some anomaly because even golems didn't elicit such a reaction from her. And in conjunction with the imposing magical energy of the dark attribute...

"This could become dangerous," muttered Dereris, flying up to Adam and sitting on his shoulder.

"...Dereris, you've gotten heavier," commented the man with a smirk.

"..."

As it turned out, Veronica's interest lasted for two hours, and the others anxiously waited for what the deeply engrossed woman would tell them. And the result shocked them...

"This is an undead... an unusual undead. It's a Lich with Wraith properties. Its magical energy is impressive, but it doesn't pose any immediate danger. However..." Veronica informed them and then paused for a few seconds before continuing, "In terms of strength, it's comparable to Adam, although it surpasses him in magical energy. Moreover, I managed to establish communication with it, and after decoding its speech, I realized that it's speaking the Astionas tribe language."

"Wow! I thought you were going crazy! Good job, Veronica!" Sierra praised her with a bright smile.

BOOM!

Ignoring his suddenly impaled mother-in-law, who had been impaled to the floor, the man asked Veronica with curiosity, "So, can you tell us what it told you?"

"Eh? I don't know their language, so..." Veronica replied, shrugging, and then retrieved a magical stone and infused it with energy. Dereris flew over to her, understanding the woman's actions, and after a few seconds, her speech improved significantly.

In short, the voice of the speaker was distorted due to the telepathic conversation, and combined with a natural speech defect that could be attributed to the undead, it sounded like the sounds of a zombie boy from a square game with grass on the icon. Adam couldn't make any sense of it, and it was challenging for him to draw an analogy with any language, as it sounded like half normal, familiar speech, but with accompanying clicking sounds produced by the tongue.

However, after the third repetition, Dereris managed to roughly translate the creature's speech. When she relayed the translation to them, it resulted in a rather unusual message.

"Go away... danger... kill..."

Suddenly, Adam felt like he was talking to Lucius, but the difference was that he didn't quite understand what this creature was trying to convey. It seemed like it was asking them to leave, then threatening with death, and finally warning about danger. It sounded like the ramblings of a mad schizophrenic.

Judging by Veronica and Sierra's faces, they didn't quite understand what this undead was trying to communicate either. However, based on their character, Adam could make one conclusion – they certainly wouldn't retreat, even if they fully understood the message from the undead. That was their nature.

And considering what was at stake, or rather, what would be at stake, Adam strongly doubted they would back down after coming this far.

"Haha... amusing attempt, but I won't back down. We've come so far that curiosity is tearing me apart!" Veronica said, raising her fist into the air and grinning like a madman from the movies.

And after a few minutes... forming a line with Adam at the very back, they began their descent. The passage was very narrow, only wide enough for one person. It was about 1.5 meters wide and had a maximum height of two meters. In preparation for the ascent, Adam gathered his hair into a simple hairstyle and took a deep breath.

The air here was thin, and it smelled as if generations of people had died here. His mind occasionally encountered attacks that failed due to natural resistance. They descended carefully, avoiding traps, to prevent any chance of this place exploding or disappearing.

No one spoke or made unnecessary noises. The tension was palpable because this expedition would answer the question: "Are they wasting their time?" Each of them hoped the answer would justify the effort they were putting in, as pacifying an enraged Veronica would be extremely difficult otherwise.

And then, approximately twenty minutes later...

"What a strange place," Sierra muttered as she stepped into a large room with a high ceiling.

Having overcome this horrifying passage, which could confidently be called "claustrophobia's nightmare," Adam and his companions entered a spacious room the size of a football field, with a ceiling so high it was impossible to see.

The entire place was constructed from some black stone that was uncomfortable to walk on. There was no lighting here, and the only way Adam could see was thanks to his demon lineage. Fortunately, while Sierra and Dereris didn't possess such a unique ability, they had spells that mimicked this effect.

It's worth mentioning that the room was cluttered with various scrolls and books, and some areas had pentagrams that emitted a not-so-friendly aura, so Sierra sealed it all for added safety.

"It looks like a typical research room for mages. I suppose this tribe conducted their research here," Dereris muttered, flying towards the books that reeked of antiquity.

"This is getting very interesting," Veronica said with a smile.

The discovery of ancient books delighted Veronica's inner researcher, so she forgot about everything else and immediately rushed to grab the scrolls. However, before her hand could touch the parchment lying on the floor, she stopped.

"Is something wrong?" Adam asked as he approached her.

"These scrolls... papers. They're cursed," Veronica said, furrowing her brow and surveying the room. She made a shocking revelation, "If we touch them, they'll be destroyed. We can't get rid of the curse directly; we need to draw an additional pentagram."

"Hmm..."

Adam was somewhat surprised by the level of protection the Astionas tribe had placed on their knowledge. However, after a bit of thought, he concluded that these people might have left this place and protected their legacy just before departing.

Regarding the method of transporting these valuable papers, Adam had an idea.

"I have a way."

Using [Inventory].

To be continued...