Chương 297: Gravescape Mystery

The Gravescape is a place I acquired mostly by chance. Kyrtian was a random encounter that I made, and the sequence of events led to me learning how exactly he was able to access this alternate space, which is something that I could have easily missed. If not for learning first-hand that it was only thanks to some trinkets, I probably wouldn't have bothered to turn the necromancer's soul into a spectral servant so quickly–If at all. Also, the Gravescape was a bit of a bizarre place as I came to learn.

The new Kyrtian was a bit…

'Limited' in terms of communications, so I came to learn most things myself. First of all, it seemed like the true, initial purpose of the Gravescape was to be a safe haven that could only be freely entered and exited by someone with the knowledge and ability to craft the necessary trinkets… I don't know whether Kyrtian had been telling the truth about the fact that his grandfather, or whatever, had been the one to create this place.

I found small corridors leading to a bunch of chambers clearly meant as bedrooms, rooms meant to accommodate dozens of craftsmen at once, which were filled with old, rusted equipment. I found areas equipped with rare, carved mana crystals made solely from mana of the sun attribute, intended to allow for agriculture even in this sunless space, and most of all, I eventually managed to find a hidden passage leading to a room unlike any of the others…

Unfortunately, there were no rare treasures lying around, but I did find something that some would qualify as more precious than any pile of gold or ancient artefacts–Knowledge. I found an old book filled with someone's handwritten notes. It was akin to a diary of some kind, but after I managed to decipher the handwriting and old-timey words plaguing the book, I realised that it was definitely left by the person who created the Gravescape.

Unless Kyrtian's grandfather had lived for an ungodly amount of time, he definitely wasn't the one who had built it. According to what was in the book, this place was built with the intention of serving as a refuge for a species of people I had never heard about, as they struggled in a war against some old country that didn't exist anymore, but while I knew nothing about this old country or the people mentioned, a name quickly made the timeframe of when this diary was written clear.

Lataniel the Suneater Since the diary mentioned a 'Forest of the Impaled', it meant that it was written after Lataniel had risen to prominence and ended the war targeting his nation… Which meant that he was probably already completely insane by that point and starting wars for the sole purpose of causing bloodshed. He wasn't called the Suneater for nothing. Despite his great achievement, achieved through extreme brutality, he was targeted by the nobles and the court of the country he served following the war.

The reason was actually quite simple: Lataniel had grown extremely popular with the people, and the power in place, which was mistrusted and weakened by the war Lataniel had ended, took his existence as a threat, and they thus pulled every string imaginable, leading to his execution via decapitation. … The diary was definitely written after Lataniel was 'killed'. Despite having clearly been slain, he didn't stay still as the dead should.

Apparently, it was assumed to be a coincidence or curse at the time, but the man who used to teach me history told me that they actually figured out the truth quite quickly. The mixture of Lataniel's great strength, the hatred of those he massacred, the wrath of the people who supported him, and his own resentment led him to not depart following his death, and he instead possessed his own corpse, becoming something in between a revenant and a dullahan.

I only know the details of the big events of this story, but as an undead, he was apparently unbeatable. Weapons shattered against his bloodied armour, and magic seemed to recoil in fear in his presence, rendering him essentially immune to all energy-based attacks. He slaughtered all of those who wronged him, as well as anyone who had the misfortune of being in his way, but once his revenge was accomplished, he still didn't pass on, and instead decided to make his existence the entire continent's problem.

Lataniel took control of his country, and under his corruptive influence, all of the people under his guard turned into life-hating undeads. From what I know, Lataniel wasn't defeated by any noble hero or anything. An unknown knight of no particular feat or strength was somehow able to defeat him by taking advantage of a major weakness he had. Which was his disembodied head.

By sealing it inside a box made of a special material, the connection uniting head and body was severed, causing the body to simply collapse into a dark miasma, whilst the box containing the head was hidden. Some say it was buried, and others say it is currently sleeping at the bottom of the treacherous ocean. … Mmh… It seemed like the Gravescape had never been able to serve its purpose, and yet, it had still been passed on somehow. So this place was meant to be Lataniel-proof, huh?

As powerful as he was said to be, I don't think he could have torn through time and space to get to this place. In any case, I looked around the room for anything hidden, but the sixth sense that told me if food was nearby never triggered, however… Mara, that stone next to the shelf. It seems like it can be pressed This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

My eagle-eyed little sister turned out to be correct, as pushing this particular stone caused a hidden mechanism to activate, opening a door and displacing an egregious amount of dust at the same time. Huh… Is the mechanism not made out of steel? I can't sense anything… As I crouched to fit into the small opening, I inspected my surroundings, discovering that the mechanism was made out of something that looked like copper, but clearly wasn't, as my touch didn't cause it to be consumed.

Weird, I'll have to show this to Mari. The hidden passage led to a cramped room with a really low ceiling, and there was only a single thing of interest inside it. A weird crystal whose colour and flow I immediately recognised as it was rather unique. The crystal was small, smaller than the average human's thumb, and it was actually attached to a small black string. A necklace, huh? A necklace decorated with a crystal infused with the Universal System!

I would tell you to consume it, but it seems like it was modified too greatly to bring anything… It looks like it was turned into a compass Nara was able to deduce the purpose of this thing at just a glance. I see. It seemed like the builder of this place had an interest in the Universal System, or might have been a system fundamentalist.

Regardless, this necklace was probably made because the creator of the Gravescape expected it to remain hidden within for a long time, and assumed that he would struggle to find his way back to wherever this points as the world would have changed after his emergence Nara sounded quite intrigued, but her conclusion was rather simple. This probably leads to where the system fundamentalists decided to settle down and call home. From what I can tell, it doesn't point to a place or direction, but rather to an object.

So it probably points to a much larger crystal like itself, and I would assume that those people would want to be near such a place Well, if Leou ever wants me to murder some of those guys, this should come in handy… Mmh? Is something the matter, Big Sis? Can't you feel it? … It is impressively faint. Usually, I am the one to notice such small things Heheheh, you might be more attentive, but when it comes to finding delicacies… No one is more perceptive than I.

I chuckled to myself as I ran my hands against the wall to my left, but I quickly realised that there was no hidden mechanism. It was just a wall, and it seemed like the space behind it was hollow. I took a step back, reeled back my arm, and with a hydraulic-enhanced punch, I shattered the wall into shards and dust. Nara. I think we were wrong to assume that the Gravescape was never put to use, and also… My naming sense is not just on-point, it is prophetic.

If my bear-trap maw allowed for it, I would have a smug smile on my face as the dust cleared, revealing a large pool of ancient skeletal remains, all piled up inside of this same enclosed area. Nara seemed a bit disturbed, however. This doesn't make any sense. This place can only be reached via the two secret passages that only the creator of this place could have known about, so it means that he would be the one to have brought the corpses here and then walled them in… But why?

If it were someone else, they would have surely stolen the pendant. It is way too shiny and hidden away, anyone would have taken it, unless it was the owner of it who passed by My little sister's interrogation made me quite curious as well. I would assume that those people didn't die of natural causes. He must have murdered them for some reason. Which is more than odd since he built a whole freaking alternate space, dimension thingy to preserve a whole bunch of people at once…

As I said this, I dug through the remains, only to find a skull with a hole through it. This was caused by a mana bullet, a swift and precise one. This wasn't cast by the average mage, and probably not in a hurry I found several more skulls and ribcages with the exact same kind of damage upon them. With how consistent the holes left were, it definitely looked like the killer had calmly and coldly killed all of these people, rather than firing blindly. Each shot either went through the brain or through the heart.

This definitely didn't scream self-defence at a glance. Especially when it included not just men and women, but even children. I picked up a skull much smaller than the rest. Yep, unless I am missing something, I doubt this little guy could have been a threat, warranting such force to be dealt with. Most people would have been left horrified or disgusted as they discovered this, but I had done way worse myself. So it was a bit like a master swordsman visiting a knight establishment's young recruits. It was 'cute'.

Since there wasn't anything to uncover by keeping the remains around, I devoured all of the ancient, dust-ridden bones, revealing something carved into the ground. Any ideas what this is, Nara? She stayed silent for a few seconds. … As far as I am aware, this is mostly gibberish, but I think I get what whoever carved this was trying to do.

The man who built this place probably lost his mind or something, only someone deranged would try to do this, and only someone without all of their head would mess it up so thoroughly… He tried to summon a devil using the corpses as sacrifices, but more than half of the symbols needed for it to work are wrong, and the polygram doesn't have the right amount of points as well… Even if he had not messed it up, he was clearly shaking uncontrollably whilst doing it. The lines are too wavy.

It wouldn't have worked anyway … So we have a devil-summoning array in the Gravescape? A poorly made one, and also the worst kind. This isn't a summoning ritual. This is just trying to open a gate. He was trying to allow a devil into this plane free of charge I guess he got really desperate about trying to deal with Lataniel. Nara stayed quiet for a few moments, as if preparing to speak. … No, this is supposed to summon a succubus…