Mr. Death in the Steam World

Moen stepped forward and tried tapping the stone platform with his hand; the platform was made of very solid material.

He closed his eyes, focused his senses of "mouse's skillful hands" on his fingertips, and gently pressed them onto the surface of the stone slab.

"Is there a magical reaction?" Arthur asked.

"No." Moen opened his eyes and withdrew his finger. "At least my methods can't detect it."

He turned to look at Phils, who was standing in front of the mural, comparing the runes on the wall with the symbols on the stone slab, her brow furrowing deeper and deeper.

"Ignis? Any discoveries?"

"These words..." Phils slowly turned around, her expression uncertain. "I think I've seen something similar before."

"Do you know what this is?"

"Not exactly the same," Fils approached the stone platform, squatted down, and gently traced the symbols on the stone slab with her finger.

"But the stroke structure is very similar to a lost language I once studied. That language is called 'Kallian Sisym,' which is said to be a secret script used by a small sect in the late mythological era."

She pointed to a symbol in the upper left corner of the stone slab, "Look at this, the upper part is three wavy lines, and the lower part is a hollow circle."

In the Kalian Siren language, three wavy lines represent "time" or "fate," while a hollow circle represents "container" or "thing that holds."

"Putting these two parts together, if I remember correctly, it should mean 'The Day of Oracles'."

"Ignis," Arthur suddenly spoke, "are you sure you recognize these words?"

"I'm not entirely sure," Fils said with an embarrassed smile.

"An Overview of Ancient Lost Languages ​​was a minor course for me, and my grades weren't great. I only got a passing grade, and I forgot most of it from the professor."

"However, this symbol is indeed very unique, and it left a deep impression on me."

She continued to slowly move her finger along the sequence of symbols on the stone slab.

"This three bars and the open arc shape represent a 'ritual,' and this gear-like symbol represents 'beginning' or 'start.'"

"If we combine these two and arrange them according to the grammatical rules of Kalian-Syrian, they should be read as—"

"Ignis," Arthur hurried around the stone platform, reaching out to stop her, "wait a minute—"

"On the day of the divine decree, the ceremony shall begin."

Phils's voice echoed softly in the stone chamber.

The next second, the words on the stone slab began to glow.

Moen felt the stone platform beneath his feet shake violently, the entire stone chamber trembled, and the murals on the walls began to peel off, with fragments falling down in a flurry.

On the stone slab, the light of the characters quickly changed from pale gold to dark red, lighting up stroke by stroke, as if someone had lit a fire from inside the stone slab.

Immediately afterwards, the entire stone slab suddenly turned into a pool of dark red, viscous liquid, which slid off the stone platform and climbed up Phils's fingers to the back of her hand.

"It's stuck to me!" Phils screamed, trying to shake it off, but the liquid clung to her skin like a living thing, no matter how hard she tried.

In just a few breaths, the liquid had completely seeped into the back of her hand and disappeared.

Instead, a flower mark was added.

It looks just like a bursting flame.

Before I could think any further, a heavy rumble came from the entrance of the stone chamber.

Moen turned his head sharply, and the stone door they had pushed open was slowly closing, closing much faster than it had opened.

He rushed over as fast as he could, but it was too late.

The stone gate slammed shut, and the last crack between it and the outside world vanished without a trace.

"The door is sealed shut!" Moen slammed his fist on the stone door.

The originally smooth and flat pedestal was illuminated by rings of runes, the color changing from dark red to blazing white, the light so intense that it was almost blinding.

At the same time, the stone platform was re-formed under the guidance of some force.

First the feet, then the torso, and finally the head.

A tall stone figure slowly rose from the pedestal. Its body was made up of countless stone slabs, and its joints shimmered with a dark red light like magma.

Its face was just a rough outline, without any features, but two dark red flames burned in the space between its eyes.

The stone figure raised its head and let out a deep, furious roar, which caused fragments of murals on the walls of the stone chamber to fall in a flurry.

"Back off!" Arthur shouted.

The four of them jumped backward at the same time, but the stone statue moved faster than they expected.

It raised its right arm and slammed its fist into the ground.

A dark red shockwave spread outwards from the point of impact, shattering stone slabs and sending debris flying.

Moen dodged a flying stone, but the ground beneath his feet shook violently from the shockwave, causing him to momentarily falter.

"This thing's power is at least at the third tier!" Arthur drew his sword, and a sudden burst of silvery-white holy light shone from its blade.

"Ignis, left wing! Marcus, right wing! Manro, take cover!"

Phils responded, but her reaction was noticeably slower than usual.

The orange flame flickered in her palm, as if it might go out at any moment.

"Miss Ignis—" Moen called out.

"I'm fine!" Phil gritted her teeth and raised her hand, a flaming arrow shooting from her palm straight for the stone man's head.

The flames hit their target precisely, exploding into a burst of orange-yellow fire on the stone man's face.

But when the smoke and dust cleared, the stone figure was completely unharmed, not even a single piece of stone had fallen off.

Moreover, it seemed completely oblivious to Phils's attack.

"It's coming at me!" Emily turned and ran.

Arthur stepped sideways to block the stone man, his longsword slashing upwards, the blade carrying holy light as it struck the stone man's chest.

With a dull clang of metal against metal, a shallow crack appeared in the stone man's chest, but its momentum did not diminish; it simply raised its left arm and swept it horizontally towards Arthur.

Arthur parried with his sword, but the force of the blow sent him sliding back several meters, his boots carving deep furrows into the stone pavement.

"It doesn't respond to fire." Moen fired three shots in quick succession from the right, the bullets hitting the stone man's right knee joint precisely, but leaving only a few white marks on the surface before bouncing off.

"Physical attacks are also ineffective; this thing's defense is too high."

"Then let's try something else." Arthur steadied himself, ran his left hand across the sword, and the silvery-white holy light instantly transformed into a pale gold.

He took a step forward, the tip of his sword drawing a cross in the air, "In the name of the Sanctuary—"

The cross-shaped sword light pierced through the air and struck the stone man squarely in the chest.

The stone man finally stopped walking.

It lowered its head, looked at the wound on its chest, and then slowly raised its arms.

The crystals on the four walls of the cave simultaneously emitted an even more dazzling light.

The ground began to tremble, and countless cracks spread outwards from the stone man's feet, from which dark red magma gushed forth, flowing across the ground like blood vessels.

"It's drawing power from the earth's veins to repair itself!"

Emily's voice came from behind a fallen stone pillar.