Chapter 25:19. Sorrow of the Soul
Translator: 549690339bender
Looking at the Soul-binding Stone Tomb control panel again, Noland Lee had only one thought in his mind.
And that was to get the hell out of there!
Otherwise, his life would be in serious danger.
An instant ‘Death Pulse’ was no joke.
Perhaps it was because Corporal Mars had heard his cry for help, or maybe because Mars had finished scouting.
Either way, one moment Noland was worried for his situation, and the next, he heard Mars calling out to him.
“Jarvis! Jarvis! Hurry back!”
Without hesitation, Noland turned around and fled.
His movement seemed to have provoked a violent reaction, much like cold water splashing into boiling oil.
A wailing cold wind swept through the tomb, stirring up the poisonous fog, causing it to roil violently.
Noland was staggered by the gusty wind coming from behind him and he nearly lost his balance and fell to the ground.
Just as he was steadying himself, he immediately felt a profound sense of sorrow emanating from the cold wind.
Faint sounds of agony echoed in his ears, piercing his shell and pricking his heart, triggering his heartbreaking past experiences and painful memories.
A hatred towards the bitterly cruel fate and the injustices of the world quickly filled his heart.
The ‘Capture Soul’ skill of the Soul-binding Stone Tomb had activated!
This eerie death-related structure was trying to snatch Noland’s soul!
Countless memory fragments flashed in front of Noland like a carousel, making him dizzy and absent-minded.
If the original master was here, he would surely be overwhelmed by these vivid memories and become incapacitated, eventually having his soul absorbed by the Soul-binding Stone Tomb.
But Noland was not the original master.
He was a traveler who was naturally detached from the original master’s past experiences.
The original master’s sadness or happiness were nothing more than idle reading material for Noland rather than his own feelings.
Therefore, it only took him two seconds to recover from the trance.
“Heh! Trying to shake my soul by using the original master’s memories. Your actions are as ridiculous as using a sword from the previous dynasty to behead an official of this dynasty!”
Noland ridiculed in his heart, harboring a few more fears towards the unpredictable death-related spells.
Without stopping, he raced towards the Metal Gate.
Suddenly, there was a bright ‘flash’.
While being astounded, Noland looked back over his shoulder.
He saw numerous semi-transparent human figures staring blankly at him with blood -thirsty and menacing looks, full of malicious intent to tear him apart.
The ‘light’ that illuminated Tomb Level Two, was coming from these semi-transparent figures and was emitted by the sad, aggrieved souls within them.
Noland narrowed his eyes, catching on to the situation.
Using his abundant game experience, he identified the origin of these semi-transparent figures.
They should be the wronged souls bound by the Soul-binding Stone Tomb.
In some games, they were known as Vengeful Spirits, in others as Demon Spirits, and also as Ghost Warriors.
Regardless of their names, they referred to a type of Undead Creature that moved quickly, had strong physical defenses, and fought with cold ruthless attacks.
Perhaps, the Undead Creatures of this world could even fly. After all, their bodies were purely composed of Death Energy and lost souls, bearing little weight.
Noland Lee stepped over the doorframe and joined the soldiers to close the door.
While pushing the door, Corporal Mars said with a somber tone:
“Mates, the situation is very tricky.”
“Underground Level Two, there are Stone Tomb Bound Spirits! This is a very rare type of Undead Troops. They are Ethereal Beings, impervious to various physical harm. Only pure energy beams and a few other methods can effectively kill them. ”
“What’s worse, I saw a majestic Soul-binding Stone Tomb deep in the Grand Hall of Underground Level Two, it would take at least half a ton of explosives to completely destroy it.”
Corporal Mars put some effort in, then continued:
“We need to close this door fast, then go report to Sergeant Major Alvin Stafford… huh… luckily, the cavity inside this metal sluice gate contained an anti-spiritual entity panel, or else we would all be finished in this ghost place.”
“Chief Officer, Chief Officer!” Private Second Class Corbin pointed at the soul-binding creature inside the door, and yelled:
“These undead are moving! They are drifting towards us! I.. I.. I see Jack, he’s over there!”
Second Private Corbin, who lacked combat experience, was inevitably going into a panic.
Jack was a soldier who died in the last staircase area.
Corbin saw him melted into scraps by the black lightning, but now he saw him again in Underground Layer 2…
This scene was quite uncanny.
Even experienced Sergeant Mike Adams was sweating heavily and filled with uncertainty at this moment, as this seemed to be his first time encountering a soul- binding event.
Noland Lee glanced back at the door and saw this soldier’s soul.
It was like a balloon, slowly, swaying left and right towards the metal gate, the eyes were a mere blood red, like death-seeking demons, the green light on the face made it even more ghastly.
“Stay calm, soldiers, stay calm.”
Corporal Mars glanced at his team members, and said steadily:
“Jack was killed with honor. What you are seeing now is a false image created by the Undead Cult with evil magic.”
“The soul that resembles Jack is just imitation. This is the despicable tactic of the Undead Cult. They used Jack’s image to attempt to interfere with our judgment and execution.”
“Do not let this fictitious image affect you!”
Corporal Mars closed the metal gate, forcefully pulled down the latch and locked the gate, afterwards signaled towards the floor above:
“Let’s move, soldiers. Follow me upstairs to report the situation. Sergeant Major Alvin Stafford needs our recon report.”
Mars led the soldiers towards the staircase.
Noland played his part, tailing behind the team, covering their retreat.
His gaze locked on Mars’s back, and he gave a heavy sigh in his heart.
All this talk about false illusions, about imitations of Jack… these were all lies.
The ghost that the soldiers saw, that was Jack’s soul, just controlled by the Soul-binding Stone Tomb.
Soul-binding, wasn’t that all about binding souls…
If these inexperienced soldiers knew that after dying here, they won’t actually get to rest but would instead become creatures of the Undead Cult…
These young soldiers would probably collapse on the spot.
Because, to them, they believed that dying in battle would mean they could rest in peace with the Empire’s glory, rather than becoming undead and fighting against their teammates in life…
Or even being controlled by the Undead Cult to use their weapons against their loved ones.
They fought on the same front in life, but they become enemies after their death, that’s such a cruel situation..