Chapter 31.2

"There is a group of loyal and simple elves guarding the tomb door for him. No one can easily break in. The undead are the steps, the thorns are the fence, and there is a heavy obelisk engraved with blessings for the living. Without souls to pave the way, the door of the tomb will never be opened."

Sinia interrupted again. "What does it mean that there is no soul to pave the way, and the door of the tomb will never be opened? Then you said... um, how did the emperor get in?"

The little girl who could never remember people's names vaguely skipped the name of Emperor Besseman.

Angel could not laugh or cry and said, "How do I know how Emperor Besseman got in?" He paused for a moment, and then said, "Maybe the soul paved the way."

"How does the soul pave the way?" Sinya asked.

"When you die, you obtain a soul. If enough people die, a road can be paved." Angel replied.

Sinia was still half understanding. "But...but doesn't God want to sleep there? Just like me lying on the bed, how can anyone who wants to come in at the door and die there? How scary! Then isn't it all souls vanishes as soon as the door is opened?"

Angel tilted his head. "Then it just so happens that you don't have to go out, and you should have been sleeping all the time."

Sinia muttered, "What does God think..."

"He doesn't have to think about it, he was already dead when the cemetery was built," Angel said.

Sinia raised her face and thought for a while, but she did not understand it, so she waved her hand and dismissed the question. "What if people don't die? Can you enter without paving the way with souls?"

Angel replied, "Then there is only one way."

"What solution?"

"God will open it himself."

The four-and-a-half-year-old girl's eyes narrowed shrewdly as she stared at the tattered book. "You are making it up!" she said. "This page is obviously full of pictures, but there is only one line of words. You have already said so much, and you have already surpassed what is written on the page!"

Angel smiled. "Of course I am making it up," he said. "The book is incomplete, and I have to fill in the gaps myself."

Sinya nodded thoughtfully. "Then you can continue to make up the story," she said. "I want to hear more."

Angel smiled and nodded. "Of course, Your Highness. I will make up the best story for you."

Angel's ears turned red with embarrassment. He scratched his head and admitted, "Well, I guessed that God would open it himself."

The second half of the winding path was so dark that one could not see their fingers. It was not until the last corner that a faint light could be seen. It was a bug lamp that Kevin had dropped there earlier.

The bug lamp hung from the tip of a thorn branch, unmoving because there was no wind.

The soft yellow light shone on the obelisk on the ground, reflecting the rusty, mottled, and blurred writing on it.

In fact, only half of the obelisk was exposed above the ground. The soil that was originally buried only at the base had become thicker and thicker over the years, gradually covering the lower half.

Kevin's footsteps were unhurried and silent. He walked to the obelisk and squatted down, stretching out his long, thin fingers to scrape away the soil a few times. The loose layer of mud was quickly pushed to the side, revealing the other half of the obelisk.

The other half of the obelisk had been corroded more than the top, as it had been stuck under the damp soil all year round. The characters engraved on the shallower side had been rusted away, leaving only a few extremely deep ravines that wound out from the center, like map lines.

Kevin stared at the winding ravines for a moment, then reached for the dagger at his waist and drew blood on the fingertips of the five fingers on his left hand.

He made deep cuts with each cut, in order to prevent the wounds from healing too quickly. The blood beads almost smashed into the mud in clusters.

The pain in his fingers was much sharper than other places, but he just frowned and looked like an old god again. He placed his entire left hand on the obelisk.

The obelisk suddenly came alive, and the bright red blood seemed to be sucked out, flowing quickly along the ravines, soon covering the entire surface like a spider's web.

The rusty bronze monument suddenly turned scarlet, as if it had just been refined from a forging furnace. Some debris fell off and stuck to the thorn bushes, and it burst into flames in the blink of an eye.

The fire surged extremely high in an instant, and the entire thorn bush was wrapped in golden-red flames, which spread rapidly from the center to the surroundings, and burned into a sea of flames.

In the midst of the crackling sound of the swirling flames, the roars and screams of innumerable beasts and raptors loomed, emerging from far and near as though originating from the depths of hell.

Standing before the flickering inferno, Kevin wore a calm expression, unperturbed by the wild flames which licked precariously close to his face.

His gaze was fixed beyond the searing blaze, and only when the sound of grinding gold and stone echoed from the shadows behind the scarlet did his eyes shift –

For the tomb's door had been opened.

Perhaps due to prolonged neglect, the aperture creaked open. Dust that had been decaying with age sifted out, intermingling with the smoke that wreathed the flames.

With a faint smile tweaking his lips, Kevin took a gulp.

However, when he opened the door of the tomb alone, pandemonium erupted amidst the conflagration which blazed forth from the cavern.

Bewildered cries from the night watchmen jolted Oswald from his slumber. As he opened his eyes, a nameless "thump" sounded within him. Uncertain of its nature, he instinctively cast his gaze towards the spot where Kevin had been lying –

But it was vacant.

Before the thought could take root, his body sprang into action: without uttering a word, he rose to his feet and strode towards the winding path. The Wujin iron cavalry hastened after him, their strides scattered.

His towering stature and lengthy legs made it difficult for others to keep pace as he ran; as he approached the corner, flickering sear blazed into sight.

The flames had taken hold.

Oswald's face twisted, but he rounded the bend nonetheless.

The scene that beheld him at that instant would remain etched into his memory: a monstrous, blazing sea of fire; undead creatures bursting forth from the earth; heat waves surging; a sky stained crimson with blood.

Kevin cast him a fleeting glance from within the twisting, red tongues of fire, then nonchalantly waved his hand and turned his back, vanishing into the depths of the fiery maelstrom…