The blazing white sun hung low near the horizon, painting layer upon layer of magnificent flames—a breathtaking sight.
Yet in the scorching, arid camp of the sphinxes, Lucian felt a cool breeze pass through him.
His heart churned with hesitation as he turned, but before he could speak, the sphinx who had earlier given him orders caught himself and barked in fury: "Lowborn scorpion-folk! Is your brain lodged beneath your bloody tail? You see a 'Priest' and your eyes glue shut, rendering you incapable of thought? Go bathe in the 'Sun Water' at once! Want to become an undead creature?"
The desert was barren, and the nobles of the Gusta Empire had little interest in expanding southward. Ever since the fall of the ancient Meshket Empire, the scorpion-folk had been the sphinxes' age-old enemies, and most of their insults revolved around them.
Sun Water? Lucian suddenly recalled that during his earlier observations, the sphinx named Fel would always dawdle inside a small stone chamber where the midday sun shone straight down, before heading off to the tomb with several other sphinxes.
He had originally assumed this was simply where Fel met up with familiar companions. When he extracted memories through hypnosis, he had neglected to ask about it. Now, after being scolded by what appeared to be a commanding officer, he hurried toward the tomb in what he believed was a suitably deferential manner—only to discover his approach had backfired.
"I'm sorry, I was wrong. I'll go right away." Lucian departed in a display of "terror," his mind finally relaxing. He no longer needed to deliberate over whether Suggestion, Charm Monster, or Animate Undead would be more effective at slipping past a ninth-rank God-blessed Priest. The creature couldn't possibly monitor the entire camp or detect the faintest magical fluctuations, but now that night was falling and the tomb guards were beginning their shift change, this sphinx "officer" would likely need to report to the senior priests before long.
Inside the small stone chamber, a pool whose carved rim resembled rays of sunlight brimmed with a layer of shimmering golden liquid.
Beside the pool, a powerfully built, fierce-looking female sphinx scooped the strange liquid up with an enormous golden ladle and poured it over the sphinx "Tomb Keepers" lined up in queue.
Watching one brutish, savage male sphinx after another stand meekly before this "maiden," their gazes and expressions radiating unmistakable adoration, Lucian couldn't help but mutter inwardly: In the eyes of male sphinxes, is she some sort of supreme beauty?
Though using "some sort of" to describe a "beauty" struck him as odd, that was precisely what he truly thought. This was nothing more than a standing lioness—coarse-featured, covered in golden, fluffy fur. Even though she bore a vaguely humanoid shape, she was one of those creatures whose evolution simply hadn't gone far enough for anyone to find a trace of beauty in her.
"The aesthetic gap is staggering…" Lucian bared his teeth in a grin and walked up to the sphinx "maiden," allowing her to douse him with the golden liquid. It was warm, like basking in sunlight on a winter's day, and left not a single wet mark on his body.
"Fel, you're acting strange today." The female sphinx, Sana, looked down at Lucian and spoke in a low voice. "Have you lost your courage? You don't even dare look me in the eye?"
Lucian nearly jumped in fright again. There was nothing more annoying when putting on an act than someone calling you strange! Was he supposed to admit directly that he was afraid of contaminating his own eyes?
"Yes, I've lost my courage." Lucian readily played along with the self-important female sphinx.
Sana let out a rough, hearty laugh. "I'm curious—what could possibly have made reckless old Fel lose his courage? You don't even have the urge to pursue a mate anymore."
Was he supposed to stage a classic play where retreating was really advancing, feigning indifference to pique the "beauty's" curiosity? But this kind of "beauty"… Lucian felt deeply exasperated. Fortunately, his great supporting actor did not disappoint.
From further back in the line, a sphinx half a head taller than Fel called out loudly: "Fel! Stop wasting everyone's time! Don't try to get Sana's attention with your little stunts! Hmph—last night you were still sneaking peeks at Sana!"
My friend, you are truly a scholar! Lucian feigned the panic of a schemer whose plot had been exposed, gazing at Sana with a mixture of fear and longing.
Sana's eyes widened in sudden understanding. She snorted once and paid "Fel" no more attention.
Lucian left the stone chamber more exhausted than if he had just defeated a high-ranking mage.
……
"Follow me into the tomb and do not disturb the 'King's' slumber." A towering sphinx with bulging muscles and a long war halberd addressed Lucian and the other "Tomb Keepers" in a stern voice.
"At once, Lord Helges." The "Tomb Keepers" answered in unison.
Lucian lowered his head, mouth slightly open, mimicking the motion of speaking. Blending in among the crowd of sphinxes, he was entirely unremarkable. At the same time, he had ascertained the name of the "Tomb Keeper" captain before him. The man appeared to possess the strength of a Great Knight, and among the several dozen "Tomb Keepers," five or six were full knights, while the rest belonged to the same rank as "Fel"—High-level Knight Squires.
Not that the relative proportion of "knight-level" fighters here was small. The reason it seemed so high was that, as the guardians of the tomb, this unit had drawn the strongest warriors from many surrounding sphinx tribes. Beyond the hereditary protectors, being selected as a "Tomb Keeper" was an ordinary sphinx's greatest honor.
Under Helges's lead, Lucian gazed at the enormous stone blocks lining the way, ascended the yellow-brown staircase, and entered the tomb.
The moment he stepped inside, the scorching, arid desert climate gave way to a chilling, deathly cold—as though in a single stride he had crossed from the world of the living into the garden of the dead.
The rectangular gray stone bricks covering the floor and walls bore no sign of erosion whatsoever. Set against the embedded gemstones, pearls, and crystals, they radiated an aura of cold, deathly stillness.
This tomb was far more vast and magnificent than any villa, manor, or mage tower Lucian had ever seen. Both the corridors and the chambers could comfortably accommodate giants.
Influenced by the Meshket Empire, sphinx legend held that they governed the mysteries of life and death. Death was not an end but the true beginning of immortality. The pyramid tomb was a magical construct that allowed mighty sphinxes to ascend to the immortal heavens—which was why it was built on such a grand scale.
At the same time, private legends among many sphinxes told of their greatest king—the king locked in eternal slumber—who would one day be resurrected through the pyramid tomb and lead the sphinx race to become the masters of the world.
And the pyramid that Lucian was about to infiltrate was the tomb of that greatest sphinx king of all: Fenkes.
Spear in hand, Lucian followed Helges on his inspection tour of the tomb. In many of the great halls, he saw hanging corpses in various stages of decay—some were scorpion-folk, some were humans, and others belonged to different races entirely. They had been captured and conscripted as sacrificial offerings for the afterlife.
After ascending several levels, the squad of "Tomb Keepers" soon entered a vast hall covered floor to ceiling with countless bizarre symbols, interspersed with murals depicting sphinxes in heroic, fearsome poses slaughtering beings of other races.
Inside the hall stood rows upon rows of black stone coffins. As Lucian passed them, he keenly sensed a sinister, deathly power contained within.
"Are these sphinxes buried as offerings?" he wondered, pressing onward. "Sphinx 'Netherworld Guardians' preserved in the manner of mummies?"
Since he was infiltrating the tomb, he had temporarily put away the Crown of the Sun for fear it might trigger an accident. His perception of deathly energy was consequently less sharp than usual.
Leaving that somewhat eerie hall behind, Helges led the "Tomb Keepers" onward in their patrol. After turning through numerous corridors, they arrived before a pair of enormous stone doors.
On one door, the sun was carved in relief. On the other, a silver moon was painted—symbols of life and death, respectively.
Even without extending his spiritual field, Lucian could clearly sense the terrifying deathly aura that had solidified behind those stone doors.
It was right here—beyond these doors—that Rhein had secretly set up a mysterious magic circle using the tomb's own layout!