On a small hill amidst a patch of jungle in the northwestern suburbs of Tivian, a piercing howl suddenly echoed.
After concluding the transaction, the members of the Netherworld Coffin Society saw off the thief. As their leader, Lareina, was about to use the medium secretly acquired during the transaction to cast a curse on the thief who didn't know her place, something unexpected happened to everyone.
Lareina, who was in the process of casting a curse using the medium, suddenly let out a scream for some unknown reason. Along with the explosion of the cursed puppet in her hand, she herself fell backward, clutching her eyes. This startled her subordinates beside her. After a moment of stunned silence, they quickly rushed to help the fallen Lareina.
"Madam! Madam Lareina! What's wrong with you!?"
Seeing Lareina's condition, Carle, who was closest to her, immediately squatted down and helped her up, urgently inquiring about her situation. Lareina, trembling, lowered the hand covering her eyes. From her wide-open eyes, two lines of bloody tears were flowing. The terrified Lareina said in a trembling voice:
"We were tricked by her... Judgment... Eye of Judgment... How could there be... Eye of Judgment!... That, that thief is being protected by a powerful counter-curse force... She is being... protected by some power from the First Dynasty... I've been backfired... Ahhh..."
Clutching her head, Lareina said this while suppressing her pain. Listening to Lareina's words, Carle's face couldn't help but sink, and then he spoke with a hint of confusion.
"First Dynasty? What is that..."
"I can't explain the details to you! We underestimated that thief. Behind her, there is likely a very large treasure hunting society. Now... the plan against that person is temporarily suspended! Pack up all the goods and load them onto the carriages. We need to return immediately and report the situation to the Society!"
"Ah... Yes, yes, yes..."
After standing up straight, Lareina immediately pushed Carle aside and said sternly. Carle immediately ran to the side, organized the other subordinates, and had them drive their carriages up the hill to load the goods.
Meanwhile, Lareina stood to the side, clutching her head, her expression serious. While suppressing the mental pain, she watched her subordinates busy preparing to load the goods. At this moment, in her mind, the image of the wide-open Golden giant eye still lingered.
At this very moment, in the sky above the hill, a small bird flying by was observing the situation below with sharp eyes. Through its gaze, Dorothy was still effectively monitoring the situation on the hill.
On a small path several kilometers away from the hill, a black ordinary carriage was stopped. At this time, Dorothy was wearing a thick winter cotton dress, a wool hat, and sitting inside her carriage. She was using the Corpse Puppet active in the distance to conduct continuous long-distance reconnaissance on the hill, which was the transaction location, observing the scene there.
"I didn't expect it. That staff from the Neff family can not only defend against curses but also backfire on the caster. That leading figure was actually backfired like that..."
Looking at the distant scene, Dorothy touched her chin and muttered thoughtfully. The scene of Lareina being backfired just now was actually beyond her expectation.
When Dorothy was choosing someone to represent her in the transaction, after much consideration, she decided to ask her Senior Nefelnis for help. The reason was simple: she was interested in the staff from the Neff family that could defend against curses.
Based on the information she had previously obtained, Dorothy judged that dealing with this group of Netherworld Coffin Society members who hunted Wilderness Spirit required attention to two main things: Ghosts and curses. Invisible Ghosts could possess and track others unintentionally, and curses could also affect others from a great distance without them realizing it. These two were both relatively strange abilities that were difficult to defend against head-on, and Nefelnis happened to be able to deal with both.
First, Nefelnis herself is an Extraordinary of "Silence", able to see and perceive Ghosts. Ghosts are not invisible things that are difficult for her to guard against. It is very difficult to possess and track her with Ghosts. Secondly, because of her family's background, Neff has the protection of Extraordinary artifacts from the ancient civilization of North Africa, giving her resistance to curses.
That staff from the Neff family, requiring only a small amount of "enlightenment" to maintain, could resist the curses of powerful ancient undead.
The ancient undead that cursed Boyle's entire family, its curse could travel across the ocean, spanning thousands of kilometers from North Africa to Prit, and could also affect an entire bloodline from one person, lasting for decades without interruption. This level of powerful curse power is not something that ordinary Extraordinaries can resist, and even this level of powerful curse power can still be defended against by that staff, not to mention ordinary mortal Extraordinaries.
Thus, in Dorothy's eyes, Neff had both spiritual body defense and curse defense. For her, no one was more suitable to come here and deal with the Netherworld Coffin Society than Neff. And the facts proved it to be true. The Netherworld Coffin people planned to use a curse to deal with Neff, but they were directly backfired by the staff.
"An ordinary Extraordinary casting a curse on the staff's protected target could be backfired like that, yet that undead persistently cursed for decades without stopping, which is also not ordinarily strong.
"And the staff from the Neff family... not only can it defend against curses, but it can also backfire on the curse caster. This thing is a bit more advanced than I expected. As expected of an Extraordinary artifact from the ancient civilization of North Africa? How on earth did Neff's Grandpa dig up such a good thing..."
Dorothy said this with emotion, and at the same time, the impression of Neff's Grandpa in her mind was raised another level. Being able to obtain such a powerful Extraordinary artifact and provoke such a powerful ancient undead, it's impossible for an ordinary Extraordinary to do it no matter how you think about it. This is truly a legendary tomb raider.
'Neff should have already left the dangerous area by now. Thanks to her this time, I'll ask how things are.'
Thinking this in her heart, Dorothy began to extend her spiritual thread, preparing to communicate with Neff.
...
At this moment, on another small road on the other side of the forest, three carriages were moving forward in a line. The latter two of these three carriages were empty cargo vehicles after unloading the goods, while the front one was a regular passenger carriage. At this time, Nefelnis was sitting inside that carriage.
"Hoo..."
Inside the carriage, Nefelnis, wearing a black robe, pulled down her hood, letting her long hair spread out. After taking off the mask on her face, she relaxed and sat on the seat of the carriage, then let out a long sigh of relief.
"It's finally over. Fortunately, everything went smoothly... No accidents happened..."
Breathing calmly, the relaxed Nefelnis eased her nervous emotions. At this time, her mind still had the image of the countless terrifying skeletons and Ghosts on the hill. Recalling those who controlled Ghosts, she still felt some lingering fear in her heart.
'Those just now... were they people from the Netherworld Coffin Society? Controlling so many Ghosts... and also able to control so many skeletal frames, the atmosphere is really a bit scary. According to Miss Dorothy, they seem to be the largest'Silence' Extraordinary society... The leader might even have Chalk level strength. I... I, an Apprentice, actually negotiated with her so directly, and even directly threatened and challenged her... This is incredible...'
Naifnis thought this to herself, recalling the scene of negotiating with the Netherworld Coffin Society on the small hill earlier. Her heart was still pounding slightly; although she knew Dorothy had been assisting her in the dark, nervousness was unavoidable.
Just at this moment, Naifnis suddenly felt a familiar sensation from the mark on her body. This was the alert signal Dorothy sent when she contacted her.
Facing this signal, Naifnis was slightly startled, thinking to herself that she didn't seem to have brought the text for communication. At this moment, the Corpse Puppet coachman of the carriage she was riding suddenly broke free from her control and spoke.
"Senior Nefelnis, how are things on your end? You don't feel anything wrong with your body, do you?"
Hearing the coachman's tone, Naifnis instantly understood who was controlling him. She let out a sigh of relief and replied.
"Phew... It's fine, I don't feel anything unusual, Miss Dorothy. I suppose I completed my mission successfully."
"Yes, this time I owe it to you, Senior Nefelnis. Without you, I wouldn't have had much of a way to deal with this group of guys. As per our previous agreement, I will give you a portion of this reward."
Using the mouth of the Corpse Puppet coachman, Dorothy communicated with Naifnis like this. Naifnis had helped her this time, and she couldn't not give her a reward. According to the previous agreement, Naifnis could take one thousand pound from the six thousand pound in cash. She could also take one of the three secret transmission first to study and extract Spirituality. After finishing it, Dorothy would give her the remaining two books. These three secret transmission were all of the "Silent" type, which would be of great help to her advancement.
"Thank you, Miss Dorothy... You've helped me so many times, it's only right that I repay you today. Honestly, no reward is necessary." Naifnis said gratefully to Dorothy. In Neff's eyes, Dorothy had not only rescued her and her classmates from the poisoning and control of the Eight Point Nest, but also helped her become an Extraordinary, and helped her family fight against the curse of ancient undead. It was only right for her to help out. When Dorothy asked for her help back then, she agreed without much hesitation.
"No, you still have to accept this reward. In this matter, essentially, you took the risk for me. Although I made many contingency preparations, the inherent risk of this matter cannot be ignored. Facing those dangerous guys... it's possible for something unexpected to happen.
"In fact, I was worried earlier that Senior Nefelnis might not be able to handle the pressure and something would go wrong. But thankfully, Senior Nefelnis's performance was better than I imagined, and our plan went very smoothly."
Dorothy continued speaking to Naifnis. Listening to Dorothy's words, Naifnis replied with a smile.
"To be praised by Miss Dorothy, that's a rare thing... I've experienced similar scenes before, so I'm still a bit surprised."
Naifnis responded to Dorothy, saying that back when the Secret Knowledge Society was controlled by Ci Rong, Naifnis, as the only conscious person not controlled by Spirit Sight, had to learn every day how to hide her uniqueness within the abnormal society, disguise herself in front of Ci Rong and the infected classmates, pretending to be like other society members, and even finding opportunities alone to counterattack Ci Rong and save her classmates.
Therefore, Naifnis's inner resilience was actually very strong. Although she was nervous when facing the Netherworld Coffin Society, she didn't show it at all. She was able to follow Dorothy's inner instructions and present the image of a cunning thief in front of the Corpse Coffin members and others. This was indeed her credit.
"Alright... As for the rest, let's talk after we meet in the City. Next, you still need to leave here quickly. Time is almost up, and it wouldn't be good if you were affected."
At this moment, the Corpse Puppet coachman continued speaking to Naifnis. Naifnis paused slightly after hearing it, then nodded.
"I understand. Then I'll see you in the City, Miss Dorothy."
After speaking, the Corpse Puppet coachman stopped talking. Naifnis also felt the return of its control. Then, after glancing at the distant hill from the carriage window, she controlled the carriage to accelerate and drive towards the City.
...
On the hill at this time, Lareina and the others were just beginning the loading work. It took about ten minutes to bring up their freight carriages that were originally parked below the hill. The skeletons and subordinates were now ready to load the goods and leave.
Lareina, who had just suffered a backlash, was currently sitting on a rock resting. Carle was taking care of her. Countless Ghosts wandered the hill and its surroundings, guarding against any potential incoming enemies. Lareina's expression was also tense. At this moment, she was worried that those thieves would take advantage of her weakness after the backlash to launch a surprise attack. She was afraid that her backlash was a planned trap.
Fortunately, some time had passed since Lareina suffered the backlash. The Ghosts patrolling a wide area had not found any signs of anyone approaching for a surprise attack. That thief hadn't returned after leaving. It seemed she didn't know about the issue on their side.
"It seems... my curse backlash wasn't a trap they specifically set..."
Letting out a sigh of relief, Lareina said this. Seeing that no one had launched a surprise attack while she was vulnerable, her originally tense heart relaxed by more than half. Then she turned her head to look at the carriages that had just been brought up the hill, and the large pile of wooden crates stacked together in the distance.
Although they didn't successfully find trouble with those thieves, thankfully all the items were redeemed. With these more than forty boxes of essences back in hand, for Lareina, at least she would have something to report to Dankoto.
"Hurry and load the carriages! We'll leave immediately after loading..."
Lareina commanded. Then her subordinates and the skeletons all together began loading the piled wooden crates onto their own carriages. The repetitive labor began, but no one noticed that among this large pile of stacked wooden crates, something was slowly stirring in the dark, approaching criticality.
In the innermost part of this pile of wooden crates, within the largest wooden crate containing the iron coffin, beneath the iron coffin, there was an extremely finely crafted narrow interlayer.
And within this interlayer unseen by everyone, countless tiny cylinders were densely arranged. These cylinders slowly filled the entire interlayer. Numerous wires connected the cylinders to the center of the interlayer. There, was a mechanical device wrapped in thick cloth for soundproofing. Inside this mechanical device, a built-in clock was slowly running.
Amidst the tiny, imperceptible ticking sound from the outside, the clock's hands gradually approached destruction. The moment the hands overlapped with the red line drawn on the dial, the preset mechanical structure began to operate, the detonating device was triggered, and the explosives filling the entire interlayer were simultaneously detonated.
"Boom!!!!"
At a moment no one had anticipated, a powerful impact and scorching flames rapidly erupted from the interlayer of the wooden crate. The dazzling firelight quickly expanded, engulfing the entire pile of wooden crates and the surrounding skeletons and people. A huge sound erupted from this inconspicuous small hill, spreading rapidly in all directions.
Within a few seconds, the patrolling soldiers on the distant Gale Fortress were startled by this sudden loud noise and all entered a state of alert.
In a corridor somewhere in the fortress, Garrison Captain Edmund was walking and talking with a slightly overweight colleague who had a small mustache. After feeling the noise, they also frowned and immediately looked out the window towards the distant hill where dust was rising.