1 1. Accidental death

Night at the ancient tomb of Haword Kingdom.

Rira Arow, 25 years old, a female ace captain of Black Snake Mercenary of Serpentine Guild.

" Captain! There is trouble at the tomb!" One of the Black Snake members jogs over with a troubling expression. He saw her together with sub-leaders and stopped halfway, waiting for his captain to finish their discussion.

Rira Arow dismissed the short meeting with three sub-leaders of Black Snake Mercenary. She gestured for the man to comes over to them.

" What's wrong?" She asked.

" Captain, another member fell into a trap by accident. He's heavily injured and couldn't move. Other brothers tried to pull him out but failed. Not long after, we lost connection with him." The man explained in a hurried manner. Rira Arow frowned.

A missing people, again.

Since the day they arrived at the ancient tomb, a total of five Black Snake's members went missing or heavily injured one after another. She couldn't help but felt this incident was closely related to the tomb.

" Stop the exploration of the tomb for now. Gather all brothers and sisters at my tent in ten minutes. Now, go!" She ordered, somberly. She couldn't afford to lose any more members of her group. The price was too huge to bear.

" Yes, captain!" The man salute, before went off to gather his brothers.

Less than ten minutes later, Rira Arow stood straight in front of her men. She realized that more or less of her men are injured or sick.

" Derek, report!" She called.

" Yes, captain! The current situation in the tomb was not optimistic. Today, we lost another member in the hidden trap. Before we lost contact with the last man, he said that something pulling him down the trap hole. He also reported on the strange, blue light engulfing him before disappeared from the team tracking radar. That's all for today's information that we managed to get after so many days." Derek is her right-hand man and a deputy captain of Black Snake Mercenary. Rira Arow caught the word 'blue lights' in the report.

" Blue lights? Did he manage to tell us about the characteristics of the lights?" Rira Arow asked. Derek shakes his head.

" Unfortunately, no. Before the disappearance, he told us that there are blue lights suddenly fall out of nowhere and engulfed him. Afterward, he's gone. The connection also cut halfway." Derek frowned, feeling bad by this incident.

" That's fine. We will stop the exploration today. I'll give you all an early rest to-..." Rira Arow's speeches cut halfway with the sudden earthquakes. The shakes were too strong for them to stands still. Soon, the shakes stopped. Rira Arow staggered, feeling dizziness covered her mind.

A round of murmurs started as people getting restless by days.

" Captain! This is bad! This is bad!" One of the guards ran towards them with a pale face. He looked terrified and scared.

" Hey, what's wrong?" Derek stopped him to ask. Rira Arow walks over and saw Derek's face turned red in anger.

" That bastard!" He hissed and run towards the tomb's direction after cursing someone. The guard follows after him. Rira Arow had a bad premonition.

" Team One and Two, follow me. As for the rest, go and check any casualties and report back to me. Now, go!" Rira dropped the commands in a strained tone.

" Yes, captain!" They dispersed almost immediately. Rira Arow, together with Team One and Two ran towards the tomb.

" What happened here!?" Rira Arow asked as soon as she arrived at the tomb's entrance. She saw many of the Black Snake's members injured and dying. The scattered limbs and bodies showing that a bloody fight happened not that long. The bloody sights were too gruesome, resulting in the weak-willed men throws up. An injured guard saw her arrival and stood up to salute.

" Captain! Leader Darius suddenly went crazy by killing many of our guards! As soon as he comes out of the tomb, he started talking weird things about seeing a goddess with six pairs of wings." The guard chokes up with anger and frustration while reporting on the matters.

" I ordered to stop the exploration of the tomb! Why the hell he's ignoring my command?!" Rira explodes with rage. Her face darkened when realized that Derek's little brother, Darius missing out the gathering earlier. She's too occupied with the report and failed to notice this.

Soon after, another earthquake happened. This time, the tremors were stronger than before. Rira Arow and the rest of the group saw a magnificent sight of light beams shot upwards one after another. It's getting out of control.

" Cap-...captain! This is bad! Deputy Derek and Leader Darius are fighting inside!" Another guard ran out of the tomb in flurries. He looked messy with blood and dirt.

" Lead the way! Team One and Two, control the situation here. I'll go take a look inside." Rira Arow ran off with the guard after commanding the other teams. The thing getting out of control and beyond her perception.

Crunch!

As soon as she went inside the tomb, she stepped on something underneath her feet. She looked down and saw a crushed red gem. Before she could investigate the gem, there is a shout from behind. She turned only to saw a bright red spear stabbed through her abdomen.

" Pufft!" The sharp pain shot her mind in no time. Her sight turned black with the loud thump of her fall.

" Captain!!!"

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