After another round of bombardment, the passageway into the main tomb appeared before the eyes of the Machinery Hivemind members.
There was debris everywhere on the ground, and another diamond-shaped Beyonder characteristic that reflected a human face lay quietly at the bottom of the right wall, reflecting the other two glowing items.
The entire passageway, including the walls on both sides and the stone slabs at the top, was filled with potholes. However, there was one thing that remained intact.
It was a picture frame hanging seven or eight meters in front of them. It was brownish-yellow in color, and the wood grain was obvious. For the time being, only its side was revealed.
There was no need for anyone to remind them. All the Beyonders present could tell that it was strange.
At this moment, the archbishop of the Church of Steam and Machinery, Horamick Haydn, who hadn't made any major movements, took a step forward and said in a gentle voice, "It should be the Ghost Portrait Frame that belongs to the Amon family.
"It should be the 'Ghost Portrait Frame' that belongs to the Amon family according to the records. As long as one walks into its range and is illuminated by it, their spirit body will instantly leave their flesh and blood and become a portrait, forever sealed in it. In such a state, even if the portrait is replaced, without the corresponding method, there's no way to save them.
"If it's been sealed for too long, the body will already be dead. Even if one grasps the correct method to remove the seal, the spirit will quickly dissipate."
As he spoke, Horamick walked forward step by step, approaching the strange picture frame.
Klein subconsciously felt a little worried, not daring to watch the demigod fight against the Sealed Artifact. However, he quickly came to a realization. He was only looking at the holographic image provided by the magic mirror, Arrodes. What was there to be afraid of?
It's very normal. It's just like watching horror movies or playing dark games in real time … Klein consoled himself as he quickened his pace to catch up with Horamick Haydn.
The demigod archbishop quickly walked to the mystical item that needed to be sealed. His figure, dressed in a white priest robe and a clergyman's bonnet, was slowly reflected into the glass on the surface of the picture frame.
Glass … Glass existed in the Fourth Epoch? That seems to be the case. At least in the history of the Fifth Epoch, there's always been glass, and there's no mention of who invented it … Klein waited with interest for the demigod's "battle" with the strange Sealed Artifact.
Horamick's upper body was completely revealed in the Ghost Portrait Frame, but his eyes didn't lose their luster!
He walked towards the picture frame, facing each other.
The figure in the frame began to fluctuate, as if it was trying to shrink inwards, but was unable to do so.
Horamick stopped and took out a large piece of black cloth that he had long prepared. It was almost opaque and covered the Ghost Picture Frame.
The painting frame trembled a few times before it was finally completely covered by the black cloth and returned to normal.
Horamick didn't seem to be affected at all. He easily removed the Specter Portrait Frame, wrapped it in black cloth, and tied a knot on the back.
This … This isn't mysticism … Wasn't it said that the spirit body would be sucked into the painting and turned into a portrait? Why is the archbishop completely fine? Is this a special characteristic of demigods, or is there another reason? Klein was puzzled. He scrutinized Horamick Haydn from head to toe, but found nothing out of the ordinary.
His eyes are spirited, his expression benevolent, and his flesh and blood are plentiful … It's a pity that I'm not there. Otherwise, I could activate my Spirit Vision to study him … Klein retracted his gaze and waited for Ikanser and the other members of the Machinery Hivemind to arrive.
Horamick handed the Ghost Portrait Frame to a team member and walked forward to the entrance of the main tomb at the end of the passageway.
There was a black stone door filled with patterns that looked like they had been carved by knives and axes. In the middle was a grayish-white disk.
The surface of the disk was divided into twelve squares, and there was a black pointer, just like a clock in the outside world.
However, the squares weren't evenly distributed on the disk. They were of varying sizes and were extremely uncoordinated. Furthermore, half of each square was smeared with shadows.
"It's the coat of arms of the Amon family." Archbishop Horamick gave a brief introduction.
He didn't explain the symbolism of the coat of arms in detail, because only the deacon, Ikanser Bernard, was qualified to know.
Klein relied on his knowledge of mysticism and attempted to interpret it.
The combination of the disk, twelve squares, and pointer clearly represents time. It matches the Worm of Time left behind after the death of Amon's avatar. The twelve squares that should have been evenly distributed on the disk are of different sizes and are shrouded in a certain shadow. Does this mean that the Amon family is the dark side of time? Where does their title of Blasphemer come from?
As Klein's thoughts raced, Archbishop Horamick pushed open the stone door without any protection.
The heavy stone door opened, revealing an extremely spacious tomb.
There was a high platform in the middle of the tomb, and on it was a dark black coffin.
There were iron-colored lamp racks on the surrounding walls, holding white candles that were still burning quietly.
None of the candlelight flickered. It was so quiet that it seemed like a frozen scene. It didn't show any signs of having experienced the erosion of one or two thousand years of time.
In a straight line from the stone gate to the coffin, there were many corpses lying on the ground. They were either wearing black woolen coats and silk half top hats, or were dressed like ordinary workers with a peaked cap. It was obvious that they had come here only a few years ago.
The batch of Beyonders who had previously recruited helpers? How did they pass through the area ahead? The Human-skinned Shadow and the other monsters are clearly still alive … Klein's mind was filled with questions as he stared at the corpses.
When he saw them, he was immediately shocked.
The corpses all had sparse white hair, dry, wrinkled skin, and obvious spots. They looked like eighty or ninety-year-old elders.
There were no obvious wounds on their bodies, as if they had died of old age. Furthermore, it hadn't been long since they died, so their bodies hadn't had the time to rot.
Clearly, there wouldn't be so many old Beyonders exploring the tomb. Even if they discovered that the people here were old, they would try their best to choose the young and strong when recruiting helpers … There's something strange here! Klein frowned slightly and looked around again.
He quickly thought of the Worm of Time left behind by Amon's avatar and the Amon family's coat of arms on the stone door that had the meaning of time.
Making people age quickly is one of the Beyonder powers of the Amon family? The dark side of time … A loophole in time … Could it be that while making others age quickly, the members of the Amon family will regain their youth and obtain a longer lifespan? Wait a minute, these Beyonders easily barged in here. Perhaps the owner of the tomb is deliberately indulging them. He wants to plunder the time of others to maintain his own existence … Klein looked at the black coffin on the platform with some guesses.
At this moment, Horamick Haydn, the demigod powerhouse, raised his left hand and pressed it down.
"All of you stop here."
"Yes, Your Grace," Ikanser and the others answered without hesitation.
As members of official organizations, they had all read a large number of Beyonder incident dossiers. They knew that in such situations, they had to absolutely obey the will of a High-Sequence Beyonder. They absolutely couldn't make their own decisions or force themselves to do things. Otherwise, they wouldn't even know how they died.
Horamick looked forward and his gaze stopped on an upside-down picture frame at the bottom of the platform.
Without a change in expression, he strode forward at an unhurried pace.
He didn't make any preparations at all? The characteristic of a demigod is "recklessness"? Klein was rather astonished when he saw this.
He could almost imagine Horamick losing all his teeth, withering white hair, dry and wrinkled skin, and rapidly aging.
One step, two steps, three steps. The originally normal Horamick suddenly trembled, and a sharp grinding sound came from his body.
His pace began to slow down, and his movements were a little stiff. His skin was clearly drying up.
This isn't right … This isn't the aging of a normal human … What was that grinding sound just now? Klein muttered inwardly.
Four steps, five steps, six steps. A tearing sound came from Horamick's body as something fell to the ground with a clang.
Klein subconsciously looked over and saw a gear.
A gear covered in rust!
Horamick continued forward, and from time to time, things would fall from his body. There were rusty screws, melted wax, yellowed bones, and loose springs … His figure became thinner and thinner as he swayed, as though he could disintegrate at any moment.
This is like a robot … Uh, in the terminology of this era, it's like a living puppet … Klein suddenly came to a realization.
He remembered that before Old Neil died, he had said that a Sequence 4 of the Church of Earth Mother was good at Life Alchemy, and the corresponding Sequences of the Savant pathway could barely do it.
And Horamick was a High-Sequence Beyonder of the Savant pathway!
The Horamick in front of me isn't the real him. He's just a refined puppet. The reason why the Specter Portrait Frame was ineffective was because the puppet didn't have a Spirit Body! The real Horamick should still be hanging far away … As expected of a demigod … Just as Klein was enlightened, the archbishop walked to the front of the platform, bent his knees, bent his back, and flipped the upside-down portrait frame over.
Normally speaking, when exploring a tomb with Beyonder elements, one had to avoid bringing such items to the front, but this time, Horamick had made the opposite choice.
As the portrait frame flipped, a gust of wind suddenly blew in the sealed tomb, blowing away the invisible shackles and silence.
The candles on the iron-colored lampstand rapidly burned, becoming abnormally bright, but they quickly reached the end of their lives and melted away.
The old corpses on the ground rapidly rotted, emitting a foul stench.
In just a few seconds, the main tomb chamber turned dark, leaving only the lanterns carried by the Machinery Hivemind members to barely illuminate the area ahead.
Horamick picked up the portrait frame on the ground and swayed up the stairs to the platform.
He arrived in front of the black coffin, stretched out his right palm, and pushed hard.
Creak! Amidst the sound of friction, the heavy lid of the coffin cracked open, as if it had not been nailed shut at all.
Horamick looked down and said without a change in his voice,
"There's no corpse."
As the image zoomed in, Klein saw that the inside of the coffin was empty. There was only a light golden cushion at the bottom, and the cushion was embroidered with a worm with twelve rings.
At this moment, Horamick turned around, and the frame in his hand was reflected in the eyes of Ikanser and the others.
With just a glance, Klein's gaze suddenly froze.
It was a portrait of a smiling young man.
He has dark eyes and wavy black hair.
He had a broad forehead and a thin face.
He wore a crystal monocle.
He wore a black pointy hat.
Amon!
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