A Strange Turn of Events

In the blink of an eye, Valed was fully prepared for battle. Despite having spent several years in leisure at the Dekkenhof Castle, his agility—so graceful it seemed almost unnatural—was a testament to the fact that although he had once served as a Senior Non-Commissioned Officer in the former Galactic Federation, his skill had not dulled with time. In fact, it had only improved, which was a cause for celebration.

But it was entirely useless.

In less than three seconds of vigilance, once Valed regained his normal sight and surveyed the grand hall, he realized he had been wasting his efforts. There was nothing here that could pose a threat to him. Or more precisely—there had once been a sufficient threat.

No, to be more exact, there had been enough to utterly crush this reckless, ill-prepared young man from head to toe—before, that is. A glance at the grand hall revealed the more than twenty enormous statues on either side.

These statues—more accurately, these golems—were sculpted in the image of the ancient, classic stone gargoyles. They possessed humanoid, hunched frames, powerful lower limbs, and unusually long forelimbs with sharp claws.

Crafted from pure, radiant stone, the golems were made from a material that resonated with magical winds, incredibly durable and smooth. Whether for sculpting statues or as building material, it was an excellent choice. Of course, if such material fell into the hands of one skilled in alchemy, it could be enhanced by embedding magical crystals, transforming these statues into perfect golems.

These golems possessed immense strength, more formidable than steel. Due to the nature of their composition, their attacks were magical in nature, rendering them impervious to all forms of conventional defense. Likewise, their defensive capabilities were magical, enabling them to guard against any form of attack.

If one were to point out a flaw, it would be their somewhat slow speed and lack of agility. However, in the narrow confines of this hall, arranged in a surrounding layout, those shortcomings were more than compensated for.

This was a perfect killing formation. With these twenty golems in place, even an army of a thousand would find it nearly impossible to breach the defense. The only way into this hall was a narrow door, creating a bottleneck that made it seem like a single man could defend against an entire army. Such a defense was incredibly formidable, relying purely on strength rather than trickery. This was a direct and unambiguous strategy—pure force, without any deceptions.

Yet, there was no use in such thoughts now.

For, despite their imposing and indestructible appearance, the golems were utterly ruined. Though their outer shells seemed unscathed, Valed could see clearly through his magical vision that the tiny, yet crucial, magical crystals inside had been damaged. Part of them had been consumed, and the rest had turned back into magical winds, dissipating into the air. This was why Valed had sensed the thick magical winds within the room.

As for why these golems were damaged, Valed could mostly guess. A quick look up revealed an obvious crack at the ceiling. This crack, extending through the rock, offered a clear view of the sky. Looking down, he saw a similar crack on the floor. The angle between these two cracks precisely matched the force of the attack Valed had previously unleashed against the barrier.

It was this attack that not only drained the surrounding magical winds but also caused the collapse of the magical crystal structures inside the hall, turning these once-imposing golems into mere piles of rubble.

Upon realizing the truth, Valed couldn't help but reflect on the inevitability of fate. If a legitimate Grand Mage had been summoned, they would have likely had a far more efficient method to breach the outer barrier. However, that would have likely meant their demise at the claws of the golems once they entered the hall.

Yet, in his ignorance, Valed, though recklessly damaging the tomb itself, had inadvertently solved the second layer of defense for him. Such an outcome was worth marveling at.

At the same time, Valed felt a surge of excitement. This trip had not been in vain. Not to mention the other burial items and sacrificial offerings, these twenty finely crafted golems alone were worth their weight in gold. By extracting them and using alchemical techniques to dissolve some small crystals into them, he could alter their magical circuits and reforge them into usable golems. Each golem would possess the combat prowess of a high-ranking undead, an enormous treasure trove.

Thinking of this, Valed's spirits lifted—despite having no knowledge of alchemy as of yet.

"Yet, if even the defenses of this tomb are so formidable, what could the true burial offerings be?" Valed mused, inspecting the state of the golems. After confirming that no fatal damage had occurred, he nodded in satisfaction and posed this question, growing more and more curious.

With that, he resolved to move forward. But before doing so, he needed to confirm the direction. There were tunnels leading in all directions in the hall—behind him was the entrance he had used. As for the other three…

"The tunnel in front of me most likely leads to the tomb's inner chamber, and its defenses will surely be even more formidable. My current state isn't optimal, so I'll begin by exploring the side tunnels," Valed calculated. "The right side will likely contain items second only to the main tomb, so I'll start with the simpler path. The tomb won't escape; there's no need to rush."

Once he made the decision, Valed moved leftward. He quickly gauged the time—an old skill he had learned during his days in the Federal Army. He could accurately estimate the time between events with a margin of error no greater than three minutes. Though seemingly trivial, it proved unexpectedly useful.

"Two and a half hours, give or take. That means there's still quite some time until dawn," Valed reassured himself. The tomb's designer seemed to have been thoughtful, as the left tunnel didn't seem to have any particularly dangerous traps. No massive stone balls rolling toward him, no treacherous ropes crossing over pits filled with poisonous snakes, nor any moats teeming with piranhas. Such hazards were conspicuously absent.

A few minor mechanisms, reminiscent of puzzles, were easily bypassed. Perhaps they were challenging for people of this era, but for Valed, someone from the future, it was a trivial matter.

Three-variable quadratic equations were nothing.

At last, after considerable effort, Valed reached the end of the tunnel, finding a tomb sealed with a slab of bluish stone. After examining the surroundings, he found a device resembling a rotating cipher wheel. A few turns, and the floor beneath him vanished.

Fortunately, Valed had prepared in advance and cast a levitation spell on himself, so he didn't fall.

He steadied himself, then resumed turning the wheel. The first time clockwise, the second time counterclockwise… Hoping no more traps would emerge.

This time, luck was on his side. As the wheel rotated counterclockwise, the floor below him retracted, and the stone slab slowly began to open. Valed breathed a sigh of relief and entered, drawing a knife to knock away the poison darts aimed at him. After pausing briefly to ensure no further threats were present, he continued onward.

The tomb was eerily silent, with another stone slab ahead, possibly leading to another passage—or perhaps another trap. In the center of the tomb stood a pedestal with a single book.