I Became The Wife Of The Cursed Grand Duke Chapter 112

“Oh, my God.”

 

Evelyn gulped at what the door swung open to reveal.

 

Compared to the second floor of the basement, which had been somewhat spooky but not particularly frightening, the first floor was an overwhelming horror.

 

Evelyn’s mind went white at the sight of the blood-colored tree trunks blocking the way, the vines pulsing like the blood of a giant.

 

“What do we do?”

 

At a loss for words, Evelyn looked back at Leon.

 

Leon wasn’t exactly a pointy-headed guy, but he was all she could count on right now.

 

“I don’t know what to do, we’ll just have to get through it.”

 

“You’re not without a plan, Leon.”

 

“Scouring the dungeons for the substance or potion that causes the gate, the end will follow the means, right?”

 

“That’s a comforting thought.”

 

The two of them looked at each other and laughed for a moment, finding the situation so hilarious.

 

When the laughter died down, Leon squeezed her shoulder reassuringly.

 

“When I entered the dungeon, the first floor was empty, and of course there was no bizarre tree blocking the door.”

 

At his words, Evelyn went still and thought.

 

It was a simple matter, really.

 

As he said, the two of them would work together to destroy the tree trunk, accomplish their goal, and reach the dungeon entrance.

 

The problem was, they didn’t know what lurked beyond the door.

 

Evelyn was already exhausted from the banquet hall and the battle earlier.

 

Plus, the current Bellatra Dungeon didn’t open in the normal way.

 

This meant that there might be a field boss on the first floor of the dungeon that they would never see.

 

‘I’ve never even seen this terrain before.’

 

The familiarity of the field would have made her feel less uneasy, but the interior, glimpsed through the thick tree trunks, was unfamiliar.

 

‘What can I do…’

 

Now that the intangible force had dragged her into the dungeon, she had no choice but to attack it.

 

Evelyn exhaled heavily.

 

“Leon, back up a bit.”

 

Leon, who was staring at the swaying tree trunk in disgust, took a step back.

 

Paat─!

 

At the same time, a beam of light extended from Evelyn’s two hands and enveloped the tree in an instant.

 

She wonders how much time has passed.

 

Passt─!

 

Stepping over the charred rubble, the two finally entered the first floor of the dungeon.

 

“Wow…”

 

It was dark and musty.

 

Surrounded by bars on all sides, the space was littered with the remains of a collapsed dungeon.

 

And soon enough.

 

[Kweh!]

 

Unarmed mummies began to emerge here and there from the cloudy dust.

 

“Leon, look out!”

 

“Evelyn, your back!”

 

The only good thing was that the entrance was narrow.

 

Otherwise, they would have been crushed by the rush, and it was a horrifying sight to behold.

 

‘No way! Do we have to kill them all?’

 

‘Damn it, this is too much!’

 

Evelyn cursed under her breath as she quickly cast an attack spell.

 

“Leon, we need to find a way to make our attacks work better!”

 

“I’ll hold the demon back, you go find a hiding place and hide!”

 

Leon shouted as he bound the feet of the increasingly encircling mummy.

 

It was at this point that the blood that had been gushing from her ankles since the banquet began to trickle down.

 

“We’re going to drown at this rate.”

 

Clenching her jaw and looking around, Evelyn slammed the mummy’s head against the table as it grabbed her wrist.

 

“It’s too late to run, we need to find something to reflect the light!”

 

At first, Evelyn thought about using the power of the orb, but that would require concentration.

 

There was no way she’d have time to pray with a demon imprisoning her.

 

Luckily, Leon was quick on his feet.

 

Realizing the situation, he spotted a mirror on a shelf and offered it to her.

 

Evelyn took it, and he explained to her that it was a Holy Reflection, a powerful shield.

 

“Okay, I’m going to shatter this in thin air, and when the shards scatter everywhere, I need you to buy me a few moments of time, can you do it?”

 

“Sure, I’ll try.”

 

Leon nodded, his face grim.

 

And without the slightest hesitation, Evelyn unleashed her attack magic at the mirror in the air.

 

Boom!

 

The moment the shards of the shattered mirror surrounded her, time froze with uncanny timing.

 

“Please!”

 

The holy bolt that escaped her grasp then reflected off the mirror, causing it to roar.

 

Boom!

 

Thunk!

 

Magic does not attack the caster.

 

Even knowing that, Evelyn was horrified and instinctively covered her head.

 

Zap!

 

As if a divine lightning bolt had been summoned, there was a flash in front of her eyes, and light-attribute magic from all directions began to shoot towards the mummy’s head.

 

Thin wisps of smoke rose from everywhere. The acrid odor made Evelyn freeze, unable to breathe.

 

‘How much time had passed?’

 

“You did it! I knew you could do it, Evelyn!”

 

Evelyn opened her eyes at the sound of Leon’s voice.

 

‘Was it all over…?’

 

The blood up to her knees was gone.

 

Leon’s voice sounded different than it had a moment ago, but she was so exhausted that it didn’t seem strange.

 

Then he said,

 

“Evelyn, look up there on the altar!”

 

Evelyn turned to follow the voice again, and there it was, a stone altar. On it was a small coffer.

 

“Uh, that?”

 

It was similar to the one she’d seen in the temple’s processing room. Evelyn approached the altar in disbelief and opened the coffer.

 

“Oh my…!”

 

There was a red artifact in the shape of a dazzlingly brilliant pyramid, with a small glyph engraved on it.

 

It was a large circle with a cross over it, a familiar, ominous mark.

 

“Could this be the artifact that connects the dungeon to the gate?”

 

If this was true, it was a great find.

 

Artifacts usually have a contractor attached to them.

 

This meant that if she took it out, she might be able to find the person who forced the gate open.

 

“Leon, look at this.”

 

She turned to Leon and smiled, feeling all her troubles wash away.

 

[Giggles, good job, I see you recognize what it is, you deserve to be a vessel after all].

 

Leon was clapping his hands in a gravelly voice.

 

“Le… on?”

 

No, more accurately, something with Leon’s face.

 

Leon’s image dispersed like smoke, and Evelyn smirked as it swirled around her.

 

[What do you think? It looks almost identical to the real thing?]

 

Then something enveloped the artifact, and the dimensional stone in her hand began to disperse into dust.

 

Evelyn fell to her knees in dismay.

 

“What, this is a fake?”

 

[You can’t be so naive, one can’t just give away something so valuable!]

 

The muttered words slowly began to take on a different form.

 

[He just needed bait for his trap.]

 

Evelyn clutched the crumbled remains and quickly organized her thoughts.

 

At least the Leon she’d been with so far couldn’t be fake.

 

‘I think someone put me through this to test my mettle.’

 

She doesn’t know if it was the offensive magic she unleashed, but…

 

It was clear that the hallucination had been triggered after she’d defeated all the mummies in front of her.

 

‘Maybe the creatures in this dungeon were all hallucinations in the first place.’

 

That said,

 

‘At least it means that Leon has escaped the hallucination.’

 

Evelyn steeled herself.

 

‘Once Kalian realizes I’m gone, he’ll use his tracking magic to find me somehow.’

 

‘If he follows the trail, he’ll surely come across Leon, and he’ll help me get out of here.’

 

At that moment, something that had completely erased Leon’s form snapped her fingers.

 

At the same time, a puddle of blood formed at Evelyn’s feet.

 

[Stay there for a moment, it won’t take long].

 

Several hands suddenly shot out from the lava-boiling blood and pulled her down.

 

“Shi, no! No, I hate…!”

 

In the blink of an eye, a mouthful of bitter blood was up to her chin.

 

Evelyn screamed in agony as she sank beneath the violently swirling sea of blood.

 

She could hear a horrible laugh in the distance, but her mind grew increasingly blurry.

 

Then there was complete silence.

 

.

.

.

 

“Heck, my God, why is there a man lying here? Excuse me, open your eyes!”

 

Then she heard someone’s pleading voice.

 

“Is it weird? My heart is beating, but… sister, you shouldn’t sleep here! If you sleep in the cold, your mouth will turn black!”

 

“Please, wake up, Evelyn…!”

 

A child’s voice in her ear overlapped with someone’s voice in her head, slapping her dazed mind.

 

“Huh!”

 

Her eyes finally fluttered open.

 

Evelyn coughed up a mouthful of blood and pushed herself to her feet.

 

Then, a ferocious cold, incomparable to that of a moment ago, shot straight through her body.

 

“Eek!”

 

It was then that her coat was draped over her shoulders.

 

Evelyn shifted her dazed gaze to the small patch of warmth.

 

“Are you…”

 

A small child, who looked about her age, stared back at her, rubbing her withered hands together.

 

“Are you okay, sleeping here dressed like that?”

 

She was maybe seven years old.

 

The girl with the round earplugs was probably the same voice that had woken her up a moment ago.

 

The little girl pushed herself up from her squat, fluffed her skirt as if she’d done her job, and said.

 

“I’ll lend you my clothes, but you’ll have to bring them back to the cave in Irina Gorge later, because I only have one winter coat.”