164: Second floor

Chapter 162 The Second Floor

The kitchen door slowly creaked open, and a figure in servant's attire entered from outside.

But anyone who glanced at it could tell that this fellow was already a corpse.

It looked like a dried zombie, but its body was covered in countless tiny, crimson tentacles, writhing restlessly.

The Pixie, terrified, darted behind Arthur.

Arthur, however, spoke unhurriedly: “Hey, the banquet is about to begin.

“Hurry up and serve the meal, the gentlemen must be getting impatient!”

The zombie opened its mouth, first emitting a prolonged moan, then mumbling incoherently: “Rats, must kill the rats.

“The gentlemen will not eat food gnawed by rats.”

“Yes, yes, kill the rats. You are the rats, kill——.”

“Hey, buddy, calm down.”

Arthur moved aside to let the other party see the human-faced rats on the ground.

“I’ve already taken care of the rats for you, now go serve the meal.”

“Rats—the rats are dead.” the zombie said in a hoarse voice, “I must serve the meal, pre-dinner drinks.”

“Yes, yes.” Arthur replied perfunctorily, while taking a shield from the storeroom and grabbing the firewood axe from beside the stove.

Arthur had learned how to use an axe in the mandatory swordsmanship classes for Amn nobles.

However, this weapon was always considered a crude plaything for commoners, and nobles disdained to touch it.

Swords were the standard for nobles, besides which were lances.

Arthur’s swordsmanship grades could only be described as a complete mess.

But the advantage of an axe was that anyone with a bit of strength could use it.

The door at the other end of the kitchen led to the dining room, and the zombie servant walked in, carrying a bottle of wine.

As soon as it entered, all the candles in the dining room lit up simultaneously.

Those candles flickered with an eerie red glow.

“Gentlemen…” Before the zombie could finish its sentence, the tapestry on the opposite wall lunged at it.

At the same time, Arthur also sprang into action.

He held up his shield, protecting his face and body as much as possible.

The knives and forks on the table flew towards him like arrows, but thanks to the shield, most of them hit it.

Occasionally, some pierced his body, but did not hit vital points.

Arthur charged forward, aiming directly for the skeleton seated at the head of the table.

“Four, five, six——” He muttered to himself, and when he counted to eight, he suddenly swung the axe to the side.

The axe cleaved into the only empty chair, which bounced up and down like an enraged bull, and blood flowed from where it was struck by the axe.

The next second, Arthur used his shield to knock the chair aside, jumped onto the table, and swung the axe with all his might at the skeleton.

With a 'crack', the axe split into the top of the skeleton’s head, cleaving its skull in two.

Black smoke wafted from the skull, and a miserable shriek pierced Arthur’s eardrums.

The dining room candles instantly extinguished, plunging the entire room into darkness.

Arthur snapped his fingers, murmured a spell, and a ball of light appeared on his shield.

“Xiao Lingdang,” he called out.

“I know, I know, light the candles, right?”

The Pixie flew in from outside, resuming her old job.

As the candles were lit, the full view of the dining room was revealed.

Arthur pulled out a fork from his thigh while looking around.

Like the outside, the walls of the dining room were adorned with decorative wood panels.

The most striking feature here was the intricately carved mahogany long table beneath Arthur’s feet.

Eight cushioned, carved high-backed chairs surrounded the table, and seven of them held a corpse.

These corpses wore armor and carried weapons.

The silver knives and forks on the table had all fallen to the floor by now.

However, the crystal tableware remained intact on the table.

Arthur estimated these items could be worth a lot of money.

Of course, there were also the oil paintings hanging over the fireplace and the blanket that had wrapped the zombie.

Provided, of course, that he could become the true owner of this house.

The Pixie saw his injuries and anxiously exclaimed: “Oh, by the Queen, you’re hurt.

“Blood, you’re bleeding! I… I don’t know healing spells, I haven’t learned them—”

“Calm down, little one.” Arthur pulled a dinner knife from his left shoulder, “I’m a priest, remember?

“A priest is least afraid of getting hurt.”

With that, he chanted a spell and cast a Healing Word on himself.

The wounds, varying in depth, quickly healed.

“Ah~ how amazing.” Xiao Lingdang breathed a sigh of relief.

Arthur walked towards the skeleton at the head of the table and took a ruby ring from its hand.

“That’s…” Xiao Lingdang leaned in to examine it, “I think I’ve seen this ring somewhere.”

“The portrait in the foyer.” Arthur responded, “The white-haired old lady. Do you smell that scent?”

The Pixie sniffed around and nodded, “Poison, the same kind of poison you just used has this scent too.”

“Exactly, I think this was a murder. These people—” Arthur pointed at the other corpses on the chairs, “These people are clearly not from the Duerst Family; they must be outsiders who stumbled in.”

“This… this is too terrifying.”

Arthur put on the ruby ring and examined the wood panels embedded in the wall.

They were carved with various animals in the forest, and a group of mounted nobles with hounds chasing them.

But upon closer inspection, it was not difficult to find twisted human faces carved into the tree trunks.

And in the forest, lurking were the same deformed monsters as in the portraits outside. If Arthur was not mistaken, these inlays should be depicting events that occurred in the Duerst Family.

Was it the lure of a demon? Or the whisper of a devil?

Arthur speculated in his mind.

Although the intelligence provided a way to clear the house, it did not mention what happened to this family.

And whether it was a demon or a devil, once a deal was made with them, there was no escaping it forever.

Arthur composed himself, making himself concentrate. Whatever it was, he had to defeat that monster to avoid being trapped here forever.

“Alright, let’s leave here and go to the second floor.” Arthur said.

Xiao Lingdang couldn't help but ask: “What exactly are we doing?

“I don’t understand any of this, you’re like—”

Arthur explained as he walked out: “There’s a monster hidden beneath this house.

“We must defeat it to leave here.

“And, of course, rescue your princess.

“Before that, I must find a way to open the passage to the basement.

“That’s what we’re doing now.”

“But how did you—”

“As I said, I am a priest of Mother Earth.

“As a priest, receiving revelations from the Goddess should be a perfectly normal thing, shouldn’t it?”

“I—I—. Alright.”

The two ascended the spiral staircase and arrived at the second-floor hall.

Compared to the spacious first-floor hall, the second-floor hall was smaller but more elegant and refined.

After the oil lamps on the walls were lit, Arthur got a clear view of the place.

There was a wooden door on both the east and west sides of the hall, with suits of armor standing on either side of each door.

Each suit of armor held a spear, and their visors were cast into eerie shapes.

Arthur’s attention was entirely focused on the suits of armor.

“Is it my imagination, or do the helmets of these armors look a lot like the monsters in the paintings?” the Pixie asked.

“You’re not mistaken.” Arthur replied.

No sooner had he spoken than the two saw the armors begin to move.