Mystery: I Married the Queen of Mystery

The exploration team consisted of eight people. Leading the way were "Iceberg Admiral" Edwina and Audis, followed by Daniels, the sailor from the "Golden Dream."

This boatswain was not yet thirty, sporting a large belly and short legs, resembling a moving bucket from a distance.

The remaining five were pirates, all Beyonders due to the rescue mission.

The group cautiously made their way to the lowest level, which also featured a corridor, albeit a short one, ending in two massive stone doors not far ahead.

Audis noticed a gap between the two stone doors, surmising that the "Golden Dream's" first mate and the others must have entered there.

Audis asked, "Do they know the structure of the church?"

"Yes," Edwina replied, finding it odd. "I explained all of this knowledge to them before we landed."

Audis didn't immediately enter but said, "They clearly knew there might be danger below, yet they still went down..."

Edwina and the others stopped in their tracks, acknowledging the illogical nature of the situation.

Audis peered through the crack in the door, vaguely seeing what appeared to be some coffins inside.

Having studied relevant literature, he knew this level was generally quite large, serving as the city's public cemetery.

After death, ordinary believers' coffins would be neatly arranged deep within the burial hall, while only important religious figures were placed near the entrance, in the center of the entire burial hall.

As Audis pondered this information, his spirituality suddenly sensed someone rapidly approaching the doorway from within.

However, the stone door obstructed his view, preventing him from seeing who was coming.

He reached into his leather bag with one hand, took a step back, and adopted a defensive stance.

Suddenly, a pair of terrified eyes appeared in the crack of the door, followed by a face without skin, only muscle.

The teeth of this face were also exposed, making it look extremely hideous and terrifying.

Even with some mental preparation, Audis was still startled.

Audis quickly retreated further, simply giving way at the doorway.

The hideous monster burst out, and Audis realized that it had no skin at all, its muscles completely exposed.

This reminded Audis of a commission he received when he played the role of a wizard.

However, the situation in that commission was different from the present one, because this skinless person was bleeding as it walked, not just having "invisible" skin, but truly lacking it.

Upon seeing Edwina, it opened its mouth and let out several miserable cries, as if trying to speak but unable to.

By now, Edwina and the others had guessed that this should be one of the crew members, but they didn't know what had happened to turn him into this.

Audis said, "I'll handle it."

He tore off two pieces of cloth, wrapped them around his hands, then stepped forward, held the person's head, and twisted it sharply, ending their suffering.

The atmosphere was heavy for a few seconds before Edwina said, "Remember to take his body out when we return."

At this point, they didn't even know who had just died.

Audis crouched down to examine the body, and after a moment, he asked, "Do any of you know how to skin someone?"

Boatswain Daniels swallowed hard, "Who knows how to do that?"

"Neither do I," Audis said. "But look, his muscles have hardly suffered any damage. It's as if someone just peeled the skin off."

Edwina speculated, "There may be a monster with special abilities inside."

Audis nodded in agreement. "We can follow the bloody footprints, perhaps find the other crew members, but we must be careful during this process."

Immediately, two pirates pushed the door crack wider, with Edwina and Audis still leading the way.

The group entered, and a vast space came into view, with rows of coffins neatly arranged as far as the eye could see.

A path ran between these coffins, leading into the dark depths of the hall, seemingly endless, as if this path led to the final resting place of all the dead: the Underworld.

Inside the door was a circular hall paved with stone slabs, with several layers of coffins arranged in a radial pattern. Many of the coffin lids were open, as if the people "living" inside had "gone out" for something.

The bloody footprints didn't come from the hall, but from the right side of the hall.

In that direction, several coffins were still burning with flames, appearing as if someone had just used Beyonder abilities here.

"Yoderson and the others must have fought here," Edwina judged.

Because Yoderson was a "Fire Thief," capable of not only temporarily "stealing" the target's Beyonder abilities but also "stealing" flames and releasing them when needed.

After searching around, without finding other clues, Audis and the others continued forward following the footprints.

The further they went, the stranger the smell became, like spoiled meat, but not yet rotten.

In theory, cremation wasn't popular in the Third Epoch, so this kind of underground hall must have a good ventilation system, otherwise the stench of corpses would be enough to create poisonous gas.

However, after being buried underground, those vents must have been buried as well. Fortunately, no new corpses had been sent here for over a thousand years.

Not only could they smell the strange odor, but the surrounding atmosphere also felt extremely cold.

Although Audis and the others were all people who were used to seeing bizarre events, they had a strange feeling, as if the surrounding coffins would be pushed open in the next second, and the people lying inside would sit up and greet them warmly.

Just then, the bloody footprints disappeared.

They disappeared suddenly, as if the pirate had suddenly lost his skin and stumbled out from here.

Then, Audis and the others discovered that several coffins not far away had been overturned. They searched and found that the corpses inside were still there, so it wasn't the "residents" inside who had opened them themselves.

If a corpse was missing, Audis and the others couldn't help but wonder if the one who had just gone out was someone who had once been lying in a coffin.

Audis counted, a total of seven coffins had been opened, so he asked Edwina: "How many crew members came down earlier?"

Unsurprisingly, Edwina said, "Seven."

She also realized that the number of crew members who came down earlier was equal to the number of these coffins.

Then a terrifying thought appeared in their minds: could those seven crew members have turned into the corpses in the coffins?

Audis first smiled and shook his head. The one who ran out earlier had some eager reaction after seeing Edwina, so that was likely a pirate.

In that case, the numbers wouldn't match up.

Audis then carefully observed those coffins again, and finally stopped in front of one coffin: "Come and take a look, this coffin was completely opened by force."

The lids of the other coffins were all beside the coffins, only the lid of this coffin was a few meters away, and it also smashed two other coffins.

Clearly, this coffin was opened by a huge force.

Audis guessed: "Could things be like this? Those seven crew members hid in the coffins because they encountered danger.

"One of the crew members was discovered, the coffin lid was opened, and that crew member was caught out."

Then he was skinned and stumbled out, just in time to meet Audis and the others who came down to check.

So that means the other six people used the coffins to escape the pursuit of a certain monster.

But the question is, why didn't they run outside after there was no danger?

Then they began to look for traces around, wanting to find clues about the attacker.

But Audis suddenly said: "It would be very dangerous for us to continue exploring like this. We must discuss it before we can move forward."

Then he asked: "Is the first mate of the 'Golden Dream' also a Sequence 6?"

Edwina nodded: "Yes."

"A Sequence 6, plus six crew members, even if they encounter an enemy at the Sequence 5 level, there's no need to hide like this, right?" Audis analyzed. "But if the enemy is a demigod, our spirituality should have warned us long ago.

"So, is our enemy something slightly higher than a Sequence 5 level, but hasn't reached the demigod level?"

Daniels couldn't help but ask upon hearing this, "Are there such enemies?"

"Yes," Edwina said. "For example, a creature with a main ingredient for a potion that can be promoted to a demigod."

She looked at Audis deeply, marveling at the "captain's" strong analytical skills.

Such chaotic clues were easily pieced together into a reasonable guess.

Audis then said: "Then the next step is reverse deduction. What pathway's extraordinary creature might have the ability to skin people?"

Everyone fell into thought, but suddenly found that it was difficult to have an accurate answer to this question, because they didn't know exactly which extraordinary creatures could be promoted to demigods? And they didn't know what their specific abilities were?

However, Edwina immediately followed Audis's train of thought: "I did think of a pathway."

She paused and said: "Flesh magic."

Audis smiled: "I also thought of the 'Mystic Prayer' pathway."

Then he couldn't laugh anymore, because the skin on that pirate might not have been peeled off, but the skin was like it had a life of its own, leaving that body.

But that could explain why the bloody footprints appeared suddenly.

Finally, Audis said: "Let's try to reunite with the first mate as soon as possible. Such an enemy is difficult for the two of us to deal with."

Upon reaching the level of Extraordinary creatures corresponding to Sequence 4, they already possess a trace of divinity.

Sequence 4 represents another qualitative change. If it's a complete demigod, this qualitative leap is quite significant. The difference between Sequence 4 and Sequence 5 is roughly equivalent to the difference between Sequence 6 and Sequence 8.

If it were just an Extraordinary creature possessing one of the advancement main materials, it wouldn't be so obvious. However, Odyss still believed that he and Edwina would find it somewhat difficult to deal with.

Edwina pondered for a moment and said to Daniels, "Take the other crew members back."

The chubby Daniels was somewhat unwilling: "Captain..."

Edwina raised her hand: "If you're here, I might have to spare energy to protect you. In that case, we might all die."

Odyss nodded, also supporting Edwina's decision.

Only then did Daniels reluctantly lead the other five crew members away.

After Daniels left with the others, Odyss said, "I am the 'Scroll Professor,' skilled in using various scrolls and possessing in-depth research in mysticism."

Because the upcoming battle obviously required cooperation, Odyss introduced himself.

In fact, he hoped to emphasize the phrase "I also have in-depth research in mysticism." Saying this at this time wouldn't be abrupt, but it could provide preconditions for communication with 'Iceberg Zhongjiang' after this incident ends.

Edwina paused slightly before saying, "I am the 'Arcane Tutor,' skilled in various 'arcane arts' and simulating some Extraordinary abilities I've seen."

While surveying the surroundings, Odyss said, "That monster should have 'lived' here for a long time, but it hasn't come out to attack us yet. Either it's still hiding in the shadows waiting for an opportunity, or it's searching for your subordinates."

"I estimate the latter is more likely. My idea is, we create some commotion to attract it."

Edwina revealed a hint of a smile: "That's a good idea."

She had just thought of this point and was about to discuss it with Odyss.

Third Mate Yoderson and the others could only keep running when encountering a monster of this level. But if Odyss and Edwina cooperate, they can at least fight that monster for a while.

If handled properly, it's not impossible to kill the opponent.

If they continue searching like this, it's very likely that when they find them, they'll only see the corpses of Third Mate and his crew.

But if they attract the monster over, Third Mate Yoderson and the others can also be attracted, so they might be able to reunite. Then, whether to fight or retreat will depend on the situation.

Edwina didn't expect that 'Jia Er' had already thought of her plan before she even said it.

In fact, 'Iceberg Zhongjiang' sometimes feels quite lonely on the 'Golden Dream'. Although her crew members respect her very much and obey her orders,

most of the crew members treat the study of mysticism as a chore, even avoiding exams in various ways.

Of course, for a 'teacher,' this is not a problem. She has ways to outsmart her crew members.

But the problem is that Edwina's way of thinking is different from her crew members, which causes them to solve problems differently.

This cooperation with Odyss made Edwina feel very comfortable, even changing her usual seriousness.

Odyss drew out a scroll: "How about I create an explosion?"

Edwina thought of the previous explosion in the forest and quickly said, "Let me do it."

As she spoke, the two of them first skillfully found places to hide. Then, Edwina put her hands together and rubbed them, and a ball of light appeared in her palms. This ball of light quickly floated into the air, emitting a sharp whistle.

This whistle wasn't very harsh, but it could be heard very far away.

At the same time, this ball of light also emitted light, illuminating a large area around it.

It can be said that as long as the monster has sight or hearing, it can be attracted.

This at least lets it know that people have entered this hall again, and it will most likely come to investigate.

Next, Edwina and Odyss hid in the hiding places they had just found.

The place Odyss chose was where two walls intersected, with a small section of one wall protruding, just enough to hide.

No mistakes, one first one hair one inside one content one at one look!

After hiding, Odyss put on two magical items and immediately used an 'Invisibility Scroll,' disappearing into the darkness.

He looked around him but unexpectedly discovered that there were several ancient symbols on the wall next to him, which made him realize that there was actually a secret door here.

But now is not a good time to explore, so he can only wait until the battle is over.

Edwina also hid and used 'Arcane Arts' to conceal her tracks, quietly waiting for the monster's arrival.

After waiting for nearly a minute, the brightness of the ball of light began to dim, but the monster still didn't appear.

Just as Odyss thought that this plan might fail, he suddenly saw that in Edwina's direction, the light in the corner seemed to suddenly dim.

Originally, the light from the ball of light had already dimmed, so this slight dimming seemed very natural.

Odyss only noticed the subtle change because he had the 'Eye of Secrets.' Then, he instantly understood that the monster might have already arrived and had discovered Edwina, and was slowly approaching her.

And Edwina obviously hadn't noticed this yet. Although the potion of the 'Reader' pathway also strengthens 'Spiritual Vision,' that strengthening is different from the strengthening of the 'Eye of Secrets.'

The strengthening of the 'Reader' is more inclined towards the essence of what is seen, while the strengthening of the 'Eye of Secrets' is a strengthening in the 'mystery' direction, which allows him to see more information about the Extraordinary.

It was too late to remind her now. After pondering for a moment, Odyss immediately had an idea. He suddenly threw a 'Scorching Sun Scroll' in that direction. As the scroll exploded, the entire tomb hall seemed to be illuminated.

But no matter how strong the sunlight was, there was always a faint shadow that couldn't be dispelled in the corner not far from Edwina.

Edwina immediately realized that the monster had approached. Her light blue eyes immediately turned into bright pure white, and then a beam of light descended, directly hitting the dark shadow.

Seeing that it had been discovered, the shadow suddenly lunged towards Edwina's shadow, while also dodging the attack of the beam of light.

'Iceberg Zhongjiang' immediately drew her saber, which was a sharp, exquisite Western sword. At the moment Edwina injected her spirituality, the light of dawn formed a 'barrier' in front of her.

This is a magical item of 'Iceberg Zhongjiang,' corresponding to the 'Guardian' of the 'Warrior' pathway.

Before becoming a demigod, the 'Reader' pathway has some weaknesses similar to the 'Secret Keeper' pathway, both of which have somewhat weak defenses. Even the 'simulated' abilities have limited improvements to defense.

This magical item is very complementary to Edwina's abilities.

The shadow slammed into the barrier, but was unable to break through for a while.

At this time, Odyss had already raised his left hand with the 'Hand of Judgment': "'Shadow Transformation' is forbidden here!"

The dark shadow suddenly expanded, turning into a pitch-black spider more than one person tall. The inside of its thin, long eight legs were blades, looking like it was propping up eight spears.

Although the shadow was only a small lump just now, this tall spider is its true appearance.

Seeing that it couldn't break through the 'barrier' for a while, the giant black spider turned to attack Odyss.

Odyss was about to use the 'Imprisonment' ability, but his spirituality suddenly sensed danger. He immediately drew out a 'Scale Armor Scroll.' At the moment the scroll opened, the coffin next to Odyss suddenly exploded.

The 'Flesh Bomb' directly blew Odyss away, slamming him hard into the wall. Fortunately, he had the 'Scale Armor Scroll,' otherwise he would have been injured if he had used a 'Defense Scroll.'

Odyss thought to himself: I'm always the one blowing up others, this is the first time I've been blown up by someone else.

Just as he was about to retrieve another scroll, the giant black spider had already rushed close, waving its long legs, as if slashing with a large knife.

While dodging, Odyss grabbed a scroll emitting black light: "Arbitration!"

This is the 'Arbitration Scroll' he researched through the 'Stone of Iron Law.' The next three seconds will be the 'Arbitration Moment.' The target is the arbitrated, and its emotions, confidence, and all abilities will be weakened.

And Odyss is the arbitrator. His spirit body and spiritual body will be greatly improved in these three seconds, creating a very powerful illusion, making the target need to overcome certain psychological obstacles before making the decision to attack him.

If used on Extraordinary below Sequence 7, there is also a certain probability that they will serve Odyss during the 'Arbitration Moment'.

At the moment the scroll exploded, the leg of the giant black spider that was attacking Odyss hesitated. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Odyss waved his right hand with the gauntlet, and a 'Harvest' knocked the giant black spider to the ground.

It's just that at the moment the black spider was hit, its shadow formed a thick layer of armor, so this punch only caused it minor injuries.

At the same time, Edwina, who had chased over, turned her eyes silver-white, and a huge lightning bolt fell, hitting the giant black spider that had fallen on the ground.

With a "sizzle," lightning exploded, causing the massive black spider to shriek and thrash.

Audis quickly rushed forward, delivering another punch, using "Reap" for the second consecutive time. He felt his spirituality pouring into the "Reaping Gauntlets."

Using "Reap" consecutively consumes a large amount of spirituality.

But the effect was also very significant. This spider, which was even higher in level than Sequence 5, was severely injured by Audis's two consecutive punches.

The layer of armor formed by its shadow was also shattered in part.

At this point, it finally realized that it had encountered a powerful enemy, so it once again "shadowized," turning into a stream of darkness to escape.

Previously, Audis's "Prohibition" didn't mean that the target couldn't use the ability of "Shadowization," but rather that when using this ability, it would be weakened, while Audis would become stronger as a result.

So, generally speaking, the target wouldn't actively do things that were "prohibited."

Unless absolutely necessary.

Like now, this giant black spider had to escape for its life, so it couldn't care less.

At the same time, "Arbitration Moment" ended, and Audis's spiritual body and mental body recovered, returning to the level of Sequence 6.

However, some of the benefits brought by the strength of Audis's spiritual body earlier almost offset the spirituality consumed by his second use of "Reap" with the additional state of the scroll.

When Audis researched this scroll, he thought of this combo. Normally, he wouldn't dare to use "Reap" a second time.

Because that would consume nearly half of his spirituality, so it would be better to use "Death."

Unfortunately, if this scroll is used continuously, it will cause trauma to Audis's spiritual body and mental body, so Audis doesn't dare to use it continuously.

On the other side, after Edwina attacked with lightning, the rapier in her hand thrust out again, and the light of dawn descended, coating the rapier with a layer of dawn-like light.

This strike from "Iceberg Admiral" pierced the black shadow, and the shadow immediately spurted out a stream of black blood.

Attacks from the "Warrior" pathway can pierce all extraordinary defenses and injure the target's main body.

However, the giant black spider knew that it had to escape as soon as possible, so it didn't resist at all.

Audis quickly stepped forward, taking over "Iceberg Admiral's" attack: "Death!"

The black spider realized the power of this attack and immediately stopped, manipulating Audis's shadow to entangle Audis's legs.

But Audis suddenly jumped up and punched the shadow. A low-probability event occurred: this strike directly killed the black spider!

The shadow expanded again, turning into the giant spider. Its eight legs slashed and smashed randomly around, and Audis was also hit once. Illusory black scales appeared, and he was not injured.

However, the surrounding coffins suffered, being cut and smashed quite a bit.

After struggling for more than ten seconds, the black spider finally fell to the ground, motionless.

Audis and Edwina smiled at each other. Audis was thinking: Fortunately, this monster only has abilities like "Flesh Magic" and "Shadowization." If it could "Shepherd," it definitely wouldn't be so easy to deal with.

Edwina was thinking: "Gale" has two Sealed Artifacts comparable to Sequence 5, as well as some scrolls with special abilities. He already has the strength of a "Pirate Admiral." The reason why he is not a recognized "Pirate Admiral" now may just be because he didn't have the opportunity to show his strength before.

At the same time, she was a little strange, wondering why "Dawnbreaker" suddenly wanted to cultivate such a "Great Pirate." In her opinion, a Sequence 6 holding two Sequence 5-level Sealed Artifacts must be from the organization's help.

What made Edwina even more curious was why "Dawnbreaker" suddenly put such a powerful member on the sea.

Because "Dawnbreaker's" strength on the sea is already very strong, and it seems unnecessary to strengthen it further.

And a member like "Gale," no matter where he is placed, would be the leader of an area, or letting him develop on his own would be more reasonable than putting him on the sea.

Audis and Edwina didn't speak, but quietly watched the characteristics of the giant black spider, concentrated on a piece of hard bone on its forehead.

Audis suggested: "Should we carry it out first...?"

Before he could finish speaking, a few figures swayed in the distance.

Audis was about to throw out another "Sun Scroll," but Edwina waved her hand at him: "Those are my crew members."

Audis said "Oh," first took off the gauntlets, and then went to take off the gloves.

Soon, the other party also saw Edwina, and then quickly came towards this side: "Captain."

Walking in the front was a good-looking young man with light golden hair.

This is the third mate of the "Golden Dream," "Flower Bowtie" Jordeson.

Originally, he was quite excited to see Edwina, but after seeing Audis, he immediately became vigilant.

Edwina then said: "This is Captain Gale. I invited him to rescue you. Thanks to him, we were able to solve this monster relatively easily."

Jordeson was initially a little suspicious of this, because according to their analysis, this "Captain Gale" should be a Sequence 6.

Jordeson was very clear about the strength of the monster just now, and a Sequence 6 would hardly be able to play a big role.

However, he quickly chose to believe the captain and politely said to Audis: "Thank you for your help."

"You're welcome," Audis said with a smile: "This is not a place to talk. I suggest we carry the monster's body to the hall above first, and then continue our conversation."

With Jordeson and others, Audis didn't have to do it himself.

They carried the body to the door and reunited with Daniels and others before returning to the church above.

At this time, Jordeson talked about their encounter. After the passage was closed, they tried to find other exits everywhere on the lower level.

At this time, someone was calling their names below. They thought that the captain had found another passage and was picking them up on the lower level.

When they entered the lowest level, they found something wrong. Jordeson set a fire and lit a few coffins, seeing a shadow hanging on the top of the hall not far away.

Jordeson quickly threw out a "Death" pathway charm he had obtained before, throwing it to the central position of the hall, where the corpses opened the coffins themselves, temporarily entangling the shadow.

Only then did Jordeson and others have the opportunity to hide in the coffins.

The subsequent events were similar to Audis's guess. One of the members was discovered and pulled out of the coffin.

They did not choose to rescue their companion, because they were very clear that with their strength, they could not rescue him at all, and instead they would all die there.

So, while the monster was dealing with that companion as if playing with prey, they escaped again and hid again.

Soon after, they heard a scream, and then came over to check.

After seeing the tragic state of their companion's body, Jordeson was also a little self-blaming, but Edwina did not blame him, because his choice was correct, otherwise the rescuers would only find seven corpses.

After Jordeson finished talking about his encounter, Edwina said to Audis: "Let's talk about dividing the spoils."

Thanks to [Vk 即为 信仰] for the re-reward.