The inside of the cave was as barren as you’d expect from a place stripped of all its resources centuries ago.
The only thing that could even be considered useful would be the old, broken mining machinery that was scattered along the main path.
A mix of drills, steam constructs, and even runic tools.
And occasionally, even a few bones, either human or animal, you couldn’t really tell how old and decrepit they were.
But it was clear the cave had history.
History that was barely even scratched.
"What are we looking for?"
Evelina asked, continuing ahead, still avoiding eye contact due to the previous interaction.
She travelled without even an inch of concern.
As far as she knew, this cave had no threat whatsoever.
"We’re close, just another right."
"Here?"
Evelina stopped, arriving at our destination.
She narrowed her eyes, trying to discern anything strange or unusual about the dead-end, her eyes piercing through the dark using demonic magic.
The two of us didn’t need any source of light due to our attunement with dark magic, and pairing that with chaos magic as well? It was as clear as day.
"Here, let me show you."
I walked past her, placing a palm on the stone wall, feeling a faint click.
It wasn’t audible; only the faint vibration that travelled through my arm was the only sign that this was the right place.
And now, I only needed to say the correct phrase, something given to Julius by a very old hermit he helped during the rogue student arc of the novel.
"Elrech Fien Jura."
My pronunciation wasn’t the best, and I can’t really fix that since it’s from a language I wasn’t familiar with and was local only to this world’s history.
But as long as I had the phrase, it didn’t matter that I butchered an ancient language.
DING!
A soft hum of magic emerged from where my palm was placed, a visible wave of blue travelling from the centre to the edges of the wall in a constant loop.
Each wave grew faster and stronger than the last, to the point that it even managed to slightly shake the ground beneath us.
CRUMBLE!
"What language was that?"
"I have no idea."
And after a few more seconds, the wall finally crumbled into dust from the constant vibrations from the waves, as if it never even existed.
"All I know is that it led to power."
I looked behind me, smiling and grabbing her hand, leading her to enter the long-forgotten tomb from a long-forgotten civilisation.
And even better? This was a place where Julius and Lillian’s relationship deepened when they visited it together.
Surely the same could be said for both of us.
This was... a love-themed dungeon after all.
I wasn’t dumb enough to pick any secret tomb from dozens across the novel for a date.
Gotta stay on theme, after all.
"It’s... very romantic..."
Evelina leaned on a railing, looking below and seeing the vast cavern filled with architecture and art that resembled Greek and Roman tradition.
From the vast pillars that kept the stone ceiling from collapsing, to the statues that embodied the pinnacle of the human body.
And of course, the most eye-catching part.
A statue of the goddess Nyx, cradling a stone coffin at the end of the entire cavern.
The one person this entire location was built around.
Emperor Jura El Ebonheart.
"Just entering here makes me feel like I have awakened some ancient curse."
"I feel the same."
And I meant it... the statue was for Nyx after all, my old patron before the Beelzebub business happened.
But, I shouldn’t get punished... at least, if Beelzebub had a say in it.
And with him being the strongest being in hell at this point, he sure as hell should have enough power to protect someone who held one of his greatest artifacts.
[Profaned Prince (Active)]
[??? (Active)]
[Counteracting divine punishment from {Nyx}]
Well... look at that.
I was right.
I’m guessing the unknown effect is from Beelzebub itself.
"You’ve outdone yourself this time..."
Evelina looked at me, a hunger for history, for power, for adventure visibly swirling in her eyes.
For such a huge tomb to be left undetected for so long... it meant that it had dozens of anti-magic precautions placed to ensure nobody would be able to discover it with detection spells.
A location that she couldn’t have possibly discovered and entered on her own.
But she’s here.
A place that wasn’t even written in history books.
That was enough to completely wash away all her previous embarrassment into excitement.
But... this was a rare form of excitement even for her.
Not the usual excitement from obtaining power, but excitement that long since disappeared from a girl who had experienced most of life’s luxuries.
"Where should we start!?"
"Let’s go for there."
"Got it!"
She grabbed my hand with incredible force, dragging me to all sorts of interesting valuables and structures scattered around.
If I had to describe and compare her current emotions to something more familiar...
This was basically Evelina’s version of a shopping mall.