How To Live As A Third Son Of A Failure [EN]: Chapter 75

Living as the Third Son of a Wasted Masterpiece – Chapter 75

Chapter 23. Aslahina’s Tomb

“Where is this?”

Lordain gaped. My face probably looked the same.

Yeah. There’s no way not to be surprised.

Looking up at the sky, I could see a lake. I could also see fish swimming in groups inside the lake. It felt like being in an aquarium with the ceiling made of a giant fish tank.

Even if that wasn’t enough, the moon in the night sky looked gigantic, perhaps because of its position right in the center of the lake.

A landscape where the sky is a lake, and the moon is in the middle of it.

I was overwhelmed by the dreamlike scenery.

In reality, the moon wouldn’t be visible so clearly underwater. It must be due to some kind of magic.

In any case, if I had to pick the most beautiful place to embrace the moon, I would choose this place without hesitation.

‘She’s a woman who exceeds imagination.’

I moved towards the barrier that separated the lake and the space. Soon, when I reached out my hand, it passed through the barrier smoothly, as if dipping it into water.

I felt the cold lake water on my hand.

When I pulled my hand back, I could feel the water flowing down the back of my hand. This is real. There’s no question of it being an illusion.

And what about the mana around here?

Even the Elven Forest was the best place on the continent in terms of the abundance of mana.

But this place was on a different level.

If the Elven Forest was a pond, this place was an ocean. Even just breathing filled my body with high-purity mana.

“Hey.”

“Yes.”

“Do you feel it too?”

“Are you talking about mana?”

“Yeah. That too, but take a look at that as well.”

Lordain gestured with his chin.

Where Lordain pointed, there was a huge citadel.

Yeah. It was a citadel. Not just any citadel, but a massive one.

I couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of it. How could they build something like this under a lake?

As if by agreement, Lordain and I moved towards the entrance of the citadel.

Passing through the entrance, which was unguarded, I saw a lone stone building standing forlornly on a vast site.

The sight of a single building standing tall on this huge expanse was truly the height of wastefulness.

‘This is Aslahina’s tomb.’

I heard that Aslahina was a very close friend of Kerwyn. There’s even a story that Kerwyn mourned her death for days without eating or drinking.

‘With that much devotion, it’s no wonder she built a place like this.’

Aslahina, who sleeps in a strategic location connecting the Great Forest and the continent, under the conviction of monitoring other races even in death.

The thought of glimpsing her traces filled me with a small excitement.

“The thoughts of my wife must be inside there.”

“Most likely, yes.”

Lordain nodded firmly at my answer.

Although our desires differed, our goal was the same, and soon we walked shoulder to shoulder towards the stone building.

“Do you think there will be traps?”

“If you’re scared, you can step back.”

Lordain smiled and raised his hand.

As if he hadn’t used up all his mana, blue energy was flowing from his hand.

Well, this place is so rich in mana that it’s almost scary.

I could feel that a considerable amount of mana had accumulated in my mana heart.

‘To maintain this space, it must require a lot of mana, but where is it drawing it from? Did they even create a device that generates it naturally? Or did they even embed a dragon heart? I can’t figure it out.’

Thinking about how amazing Kerwyn was, I watched Lordain open the door.

Creak-

When Lordain opened the door of the stone building, it opened smoothly, as if it had been recently oiled. It was hard to believe that it had been there for hundreds of years.

Afterward, Lordain went in first, and I followed after a slight pause.

Then, I was faced with Lordain’s back, who had stopped. I was about to ask why, but I soon realized the reason.

“…….”

The interior was magnificent.

It was similar to Kerwyn’s residence. Countless stained-glass windows decorated to commemorate the human victor of the race war greeted us.

But it was quiet.

It was as if it showed the emptiness left after a fiery history had passed. The air was cold, and all that could be heard was silence.

“Where is this?”

“It’s a tomb.”

“A tomb?”

“Yes.”

“Whose.”

“Aslahina’s.”

Lordain’s face was filled with displeasure.

“Why is that woman’s tomb here out of the blue?”

“To put it simply, it’s a magic sword that collects her dark thoughts. It was used during a war that determined the fate of humanity back then, but Kerwyn must have sealed it separately because it’s a bloodthirsty object in times of peace.”

“My wife’s thoughts are trapped in that sword, and it’s here?”

“It’s a sword that has been missing for hundreds of years. If it exists, where else would it be?”

“So, it was buried with its owner. That’s a plausible story. It’s hard to believe that my wife’s thoughts are trapped in that sword, but that will be revealed soon.”

Lordain sent a look that said, ‘It better be,’ and stepped forward.

‘If not, what else can I do but die.’

Of course, I didn’t think it was wrong. All the circumstances were falling into place.

We passed through the long corridor and opened the last door leading to the interior.

“It seems to be here.”

As Lordain said, a huge hall and a stone coffin in the center came into view.

There was no fancy decoration.

The only decorations were the knight statues that seemed to be guarding the coffin.

‘One, two, three… there are so many.’

Maybe a little over a hundred.

Five knight statues were placed around the stone coffin like closest aides, and the rest were standing around the outer perimeter, looking at the center.

It was a crude sight, but not bad.

Since it was the place where Aslahina was buried, the crudeness seemed to represent the nobility of a warrior.

After a moment of sightseeing, Lordain looked at me.

“Then find it now. Where is that sword?”

“Well, wouldn’t it usually be sleeping with its owner?”

I pointed to the stone coffin with a nod, and Lordain slowly nodded.

“I guess I’ll have to open it.”

“You should be careful.”

“Careful? Why?”

“The mana spreading in this space seems to be coming from that stone coffin.”

Lordain, who had been staring at the stone coffin with narrowed eyes at my words, chuckled.

“That’s true. You have great mana sensitivity for your skill level.”

“Is that a compliment or an insult?”

“It’s an insult. How lazy have you been if your skill is only at that level with that sense?”

Lordain, who didn’t know that I had only been handling mana for a few months, but there was no need to correct him.

I moved and approached the stone coffin.

There was nothing particularly suspicious about it. It was just an ordinary stone coffin that could be seen anywhere in a tomb.

But the inside story was different. The shape was an ordinary coffin, but the mana emanating around it was clearly not a small amount.

It meant that the stone coffin contained some kind of power.

‘Is the mana that maintains this space coming from here?’

As I was thinking, I was about to carefully put my hand on the stone coffin.

[Be careful.]

Aphen warned me.

Aphen, who was usually playful, was different now. Well, what time is it to joke around?

‘Why.’

[I feel very complicated emotions. I think it’s better to be careful.]

‘Emotions?’

[Can’t you feel it? I can feel it. Take a closer look.]

I was about to ignore it, thinking what emotions could there be in a stone coffin, but it was what Aphen said.

After taking a light breath, I once again awakened all the senses of my body and carefully scanned the stone coffin.

‘Indeed.’

It was real. When I raised my concentration to the extreme, I felt a subtle but tingling sensation.

The energy contained was so fierce that I got goosebumps all over my body just by tasting it for a moment. It felt like having a high-voltage wire in front of me. My sixth sense screamed and warned me. Don’t touch it.

‘I have a feeling I shouldn’t touch this.’

But there was nothing else here besides the stone coffin. It was obvious that the stone coffin was an important keyword. Moreover, if it was emitting such a suspicious energy, even more so.

“What are you hesitating about so much?”

Lordain, who had already come from behind, urged me.

“This is a bit suspicious.”

“Suspicious?”

“No, I should say it’s more dangerous than suspicious.”

“It’s probably just a magic trap. You said Kerwyn made this place, right?”

“I don’t think it’s something to judge so simply.”

“Is there any other way?”

He was right.

Really, there was nothing but a stone coffin in this empty space.

“Still, it’s not too late to look at it slowly…”

“It’s just a magic trap. Get out of the way.”

Lordain grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back, then stepped forward and grabbed the lid with both hands.

‘Not even a bear with only brute strength…’

I clicked my tongue and stepped back a few steps, and Lordain began to exert his strength.

Creak, creak-

The stone coffin lid, which had been closed for a long time and was half-hardened, slowly began to crack.

“Huuuuh!”

As Lordain put more strength into it, stone dust began to fly, and soon the lid opened completely with a cracking sound.

At the same time, Lordain stepped back and took a defensive stance.

But there was no reaction as expected.

Only the dust raised by the fallen lid was thick.

“What? Nothing happened?”

Lordain shrugged as if it was anticlimactic and looked back at me, but my eyes were looking elsewhere.

‘Magic circle?’

A strange pattern drawn on the inside of the lid that fell to the ground.

It was a magic circle.

The magic circle was overflowing with blue mana, as if it had been exerting its power until just now.

However, the light emitted by the magic circle was gradually fading. Along with it, the mana emitted by the stone coffin was also decreasing.

The problem was not only that.

As the mana emanating from the stone coffin faded, the fierce sensation I felt at the beginning began to intensify.

And it was clear what that meant.

‘Could it be that the stone coffin was suppressing that eerie energy? Until now?’

I realized belatedly.

Until now, I thought that the mana coming from this stone coffin was filling the inside of the chamber, but in reality, it was the opposite. The magic circle of the stone coffin was absorbing the mana maintained inside the chamber.

But now that Lordain has forcibly broken the magic circle, it must have been twisted.

‘I feel like I’ve stirred up a hornet’s nest.’

Leaving the rising anxiety behind for a moment, I carefully approached the stone coffin.

Inside, a woman was sleeping. Was she in her early thirties? Her black hair and very white skin were impressive. She looked a bit like Ilia.

It was obvious who she was. There was nothing unexpected. Who else could it be if not Aslahina?

Her two hands were folded in front of her lower abdomen, and she was holding a long sword.

A red hilt, a black guard, and a straight gray blade came into view. It had a suspicious appearance at first glance, so there was no need to think twice.

This must be that magic sword.

“It was real.”

Lordain, who had been looking inside the stone coffin one step ahead, groaned lowly.

“If what you say is true, this must be that sword.”

The moment Lordain slowly reached out his hand to grab Aslahina’s sword.

The mana that had been encompassing the entire stone coffin finally disappeared, leaving only fierce hostility.

“Kkeueaaaaak-!”

A scream filled with pain erupted from Lordain’s mouth, who had been fine until now.

When I quickly turned my head, I saw Lordain staggering with his left hand on his temple.

“What’s wrong?”

“Voice… voice!”

“Voice?”

I quickly turned my gaze and looked down at the sword in the coffin.

“…….”

The sword in the coffin was shaking.

Moreover, black smoke was seeping out of the sword, as if dry ice had been sprinkled on it.

Creak…

Not only that.

The black energy that flowed out spread in all directions, and soon settled on the five knight statues around the stone coffin that had been standing still until now.

‘Could it be?’

Yeah. That’s how assumptions get you.

What I saw as I grabbed Lordain’s staggering shoulder and quickly stepped back.

It was the five knight statues that had begun to move, revealing ominous glints in their eyes.