Godhorn Tech:Volume3 Chapter7

Status: Incomplete

3/5 parts completed

   

Chapter 7, Section 1

The humans prided themselves in their ability to feel regret

But they showed no sign of mending their ways

“Whoa, what is this!?”

“I-it’s chilly. There’s an actual livable world out here!!”

Eliza Silverstorm’s life in a snowy kingdom had left her entirely unprepared for the desert heat, especially in armor, so she just about collapsed forward in relief.

When Miyabi Blackgarden and the others passed through the giant gate to enter the desert nation, they found the city within to be unexpectedly cool.

That may have been thanks to the water flowing through stone canals.

“Koo,” cried Alma, the living stuffed animal walking by Miyabi’s feet.

The slipper-sized juvenile Wicked God had a flower blossoming on its head. This form was apparently a plant creature known as a dryad – a rare example of the wood element instead of the earth element. …But Miyabi was not as familiar with those magical particulars as Helen Clockgear or Celina Bodenburg, so he was not entirely sure what elements that would be strong and weak against.

They were surrounded by massive ruins with small houses clustered together in the gaps between. A large square pyramid temple sat at the very center and the foot traffic included enough priests and priestesses to surmise this was a religious nation.

Alicia Blueforest’s pointy elf ears stuck out through her long blonde hair to twitch curiously as she stared into the distance.

“So that’s one of the famous pyramids. I’ve never actually seen one before.”

The passersby were full of life.

A lot of them were dressed skimpily, perhaps to fight the heat, but there was a noticeable difference from Kananka Fulpen’s remote island kingdom. The clothing here used a lot of thin silks with clasps and decorations made from gold, silver, or other precious metals.

And there were an awful lot of cats.

Just a quick glance around showed some lazily crossing the street and others curled up atop walls.

“This desert nation is where kitty cats come from,” explained Celina, her jewel-studded black dress fluttering. “A lot of cat lovers who want a thoroughbred will cross the desert to find this place.”

There were a lot of non-feline animals as well. Someone had a hawk perched on their shoulder and another was slowly guiding an enormous cow by waving a small bundle of hay in front of it. But instead of just pets or livestock, they all seemed to have some religious meaning here.

“We should probably buy plenty of water now instead of waiting until we run out and are desperate,” said Helen, viewing a pump-equipped well instead of the canals that kept the flower beds and fruit trees alive. The bored-looking merchant standing next to it suggested there was a fee.

Water could get heavy fast, but with the Compress Cargo magic that divided a material into invisibly small Palette Dice and wound them like ribbons, they could fit 100 times as much in a small bag and carry it around with ease.

Then White Seidr Chosen Knight Eliza gave her silver ponytail a swish and clung weakly to Miyabi for once.

She was not used to flirting for something, so it came off as more innocent.

“M-Miyabi, I beg you…please do this one thing for me. There is something I must have.”

“I can tell the heat’s gotten to you, but start buying cold drinks and frozen treats and you’ll never be able to stop.”

“No, I want that.”

Eliza recovered somewhat after entering the cool shade of a building and managed to point at what she wanted, which made Helen Clockgear bristle.

“Um, a swimsuit!? Did the heat tilt the strait-laced but naughty knight’s internal scales too far in the one direction, giving her a thing for exhibitionism!?”

But Eliza seemed to be serious.

“I’m thinking of the future!!” explained the sweaty knight. “W-we’re going to be staying in this desert nation for a while, right? We’re bound to be walking back and forth across that deadly desert that saps your stamina with every step, so I need to have some defense against the heat.”

Celina Bodenburg shrugged.

“Why not let her have her way? When someone is desperate, telling them no is a good way to trigger a tantrum.”

“Well, when you put it that way…” murmured Miyabi, taking a look at the street stall.

The equipment was surprisingly cheap for its rarity. According to the dark-skinned female shopkeeper: “It looks fancy, but swimsuits doesn’t require any special weaving like with silk lace, so we can keep the price down.”

“Wait, wait, wait. Aren’t you just admitting it’s just some cheap pieces of thick cloth with strings connecting them?”

There was a reason the known cheapskate and only daughter of the Bodenburg Company had been willing to shrug off this unnecessary expense. Class Rep Helen was still confused, but since Eliza wanted this, there was no stopping it.

“Yes!! The North Wind and the Sun effect has finally given us a regular swimsuit wearer!!” exclaimed the crystal radio hanging from Alicia’s neck. “Miyabi, you keep her headed in this direction. Whittle away her shame and get her used to skimpier and skimpier outfits until she’s only wearing a set of three small stickers or a lewd V-shaped swimsuit! I’ve already seen this sword and sorcery world has bandages of the standard and adhesive varieties, so either one’s a real possibility! Ohhh, at long last I get to witness a real fantasy with no obtrusive beams of light obscuring the best parts!!!!!”

The large street was lined with a wide variety of shops, not just the swimsuit one.

Some were stone buildings and others were carpets laid out on the roadside.

An item shop’s discount shopkeeper was yelling something about even the smallest items here containing ancient wisdom since this was the world’s oldest civilization, but a wise old man who heard it had something else to say:

“He makes it sound nicer than it is. Most of it is lost technology. We can maintain the ruins so they last longer, but we don’t know how to create new ones. Not that he would care since he’s just yanking out parts and selling them.”

They also heard a few people talking about the sacrifices. Something was going on at the temple and you would be paid if you helped. But no one mentioned any specifics and there were too many rumors.

“Nhh,” groaned Onelife Shiftup. “There are some weird tents lined up over there.”

There were an unusual number of independent fortunetellers for a religious nation. Miyabi considered taking a look, but Helen grabbed his sleeve to stop him.

“No, Miyabi. I-if they’re real, they would know you own a Godhorn Tech!”

“Ehh? Do we really have to be that cautious?”

“Um, it would be safe if they were a fraud, but then why would you want to pay them your hard-earned money?”

The overly diligent government worker seemed unaware that you could still enjoy the experience knowing it was fake.

An innocent boy told them where the water came from.

“They say a god lives in the ruins. Or I think they said the god ‘resides’ in them? Only the priests and priestesses can maintain the ruins, so we have them to thank for the water we drink and food we eat.”

Miyabi’s party was searching for the Godhorn Tech user.

One of the priests or priestesses that represented the nation seemed like their best bet.

Their first idea was to check the biggest ruins in the center of the city.

Its size was impressive enough, but as they approached, it became clear the building was made by stacking up square stones. Miyabi could not imagine how much effort had gone into that since he couldn’t carry even one of the stones. It was such an unusual sight that he was worried the whole thing might collapse in an earthquake. He did not know how it was built, but he did not see any pillars or other supports a log cabin used.

“This is the desert nation’s temple?”

“The pyramid, yes,” confirmed Alicia.

It was made of thick stone and had no windows, yet the inside was cool and remained strangely bright without any candles or lamps.

Onelife crossed his arms inside what felt like a bright cave.

“Hm, not quite the same as an underwater cave. Those caves have a bluish shine from reflected sunlight.”

“You’re full of useless trivia, aren’t you?”

“Gah hah hah! All pirates love underwater caves!! …If only an enclosed cave didn’t keep a sailing ship from catching the wind.”

Maybe mirrors were directing the sunlight inside and maybe it was some form of magic. There were occasional brighter spots of light that caused a light burning pain in the skin.

Miyabi grew nervous as they walked deeper inside.

“W-we sure got in here easily. Isn’t this like a central castle in a kingdom? And I still have my control sword.”

“Heh heh. Miyabi, I am glad to hear you have learned how to act like a proper gentleman. Gone are the days when you barged right into my king’s castle while still armed.”

“Does anyone have a mirror I could borrow? I’ll use this unnatural – magical? – light to melt this snowy knight.”

“Hyah!?”

The sunburn-like pain made Eliza tremble like a newborn fawn. She fell to her knees and tearfully clung to Miyabi’s hip as if to beg for her life. Heat had a way of making her honest, but reacting so strongly to light made her seem more like a vampire.

Alicia sighed.

“Do they not use fire inside the pyramid because they’re afraid of it being too airtight? With all this stone stacked up without the slightest gap between, consuming the air with flames would get you asphyxiated pretty quick.”

The interior was also gorgeous.

Everything from the carpet below their feet to the candlesticks by the walls were polished to a shine.

12-year-old King Kanaka Fulpen raised an eyebrow.

“I sense spirit pressure…coming from the building itself? But who’s contacting it? It almost feels like an abandoned ship adrift at sea.”

“…”

Sensing something, butler automaton Number 8 frowned slightly.

Just then, an old man in a splendid robe walked out to them. His robe was mostly white, but the excessive gold thread and gemstones made it look very heavy. It had a different look to Celina’s dress. Hers was all about increasing the value of the clothing itself, while the old man’s was about spending money to make oneself look important.

He had to be one of the desert nation’s priests.

“The ancient gods will grant their wisdom to any who seek it, so their temple must be open to all.”

“Who are you?” asked Miyabi.

The priest shook his head.

“Wouldn’t this be easier if we remained anonymous? As long as you are speaking with the ancient gods and seeking their wisdom, we choose not to trouble ourselves with differences in nationality and affiliation.”

Alicia and Helen stepped closer to Miyabi.

“(So what now?)”

“(Don’t we need to pass on our message in some form or another?)”

Then Celina whispered in his ear as well.

“(It did seem like that devil swordsman was after Godhorn Tech users.)”

That gave Miyabi a basic plan, so he faced the priest again.

“Th-then, let’s say there’s an issue we would like some divine wisdom on.”

“Then you must first purify yourselves.”

The priest smiled and showed the newcomers how it was done.

“Please grab a pinch of salt and sprinkle it over your head.”

They did so and he nodded, satisfied.

Miyabi was unfamiliar with their teachings, so he could not even imagine what meaning this held. And he was honestly a little scared. What if this was their final sterilization before they were cooked whole?

“Thank you.”

“Then let me tell you why we’re here.”

Miyabi slowly began to explain.

Eventually, the old priest cut him off with a sigh.

“I see,” he said. “In that case, you would be better off speaking with someone else.”

“!”

Helen’s shoulders shook.

Kananka also went on alert, his brown skin tensing.

“Passing us over to the military? Or just taking us into custody?”

“Not at all. If this is about the horn, you should speak with the horn’s owners.” The priest slowly shook his head. “You should speak with the twin priestesses who were chosen by the Executive Ground – our Godhorn Tech.”

Miyabi parroted back a word he could not afford to overlook.

“Twins?”

He recalled what Moebius had told him when they met.

“Including my Lucifer Horn, there are currently 10 Godhorn Techs in existence.”

“But a certain rumor has been going around among us.”

“There’s an 11th somewhere out there.”

If this was true…

“Your Godhorn Tech has more than one user!?”

“Is that a problem?”

Yes, it meant the number of Godhorn Techs did not match the number of users.

But the priest did not see the issue.

“Oh, perfect timing. They have just returned, so I can introduce you.”

They heard two sets of footsteps approaching behind them.

The boy spun around to see them.

They were both brown girls. They had an unshakable lack of expression and black hair cut at shoulder length. Maybe it was the desert style and maybe it was meant to help with the heat, but their clothing did not leave much of their flat chests and bright thighs to the imagination. Instead of a slitted skirt, it looked more like they had a piece of cloth hanging down the front of their hips and another on the back. The jangling sound seemed to be from the thick chains hanging from the back of their hips like a tail. Those may have had some kind of sacred meaning to the locals. Same with what looked like dog and cat ears on their heads.

Yes, the different types of ears were the only difference between them.

They were otherwise identical.

They both held a control axe taller than they were. Their slow movement made it feel like time flowed differently for them as they crossed their axes together and viewed Miyabi’s party with blank eyes. The priest introduced them.

“This is Acacia Flightheart and Ixea Flightheart, the elites of our temple and the high priestesses given the honor of the Godhorn Tech.”

Chapter 7, Section 2

The two girls left the desert nation’s giant temple with composed expression and the thick chains swaying from the back of their hips like tails.

Miyabi’s party quickly followed after them.

The instant they left the pyramid and reentered the heat of the sun, Eliza Silverstorm’s head lolled back like she had been physically struck. Then she slowly retreated to the shade of the palm trees. The noble knight’s soul was growing more and more sluglike.

“Ugwah…it’s way too hot out here.”

“She’s as bad as any A/C addict. And didn’t she say the city felt chilly earlier?”

The radio hanging at Alicia Blueforest’s chest gave an exasperated comment, but now was not the time.

The square stone buildings lining the street must not have been enough because a lot of merchants were hawking their wares from tents or simple cloths. That showed just how many people there were here. It would not be hard to lose sight of the twins.

Number 8 pointed ahead without a bead of sweat or any concern on his face.

“Over there, Miyabi.”

They ran down the row of palm trees, passed by a street stand selling dates – something like giant raisins – crossed a waterway using a bridge, and finally managed to catch up to the twins at a circular plaza filled with strange creatures called camels.

Miyabi Blackgarden raised his voice so they would not get away.

“Hey, wait, hold on!”

“We heard what you had to say, but we have business of our own to attend to. Don’t we, sister?”

“We do, sister. We had only returned for a progress report. We must get back.”

Acacia and Ixea.

When they were lined up next to each other, it was easy to get them confused.

And their cold rejection was not enough for Miyabi to give up.

Because…

“I can’t abandon them when they use axes. They could have used any kind of weapon for their control device, but they chose an axe! That’s how you know they’re good people!!”

“I know you grew up in a lumberjack village, Miyabi, but that is not how most people view the world!!” said Helen. “Would you try to make friends when an axe murderer shows up at the campsite!?”

The users of the Godhorn Tech that protected the nation had to be fairly well-known, but none of the passersby paid them any heed. Maybe the ordinary people assumed those famous twins wouldn’t just be out in the city like this.

“What kind of underwear are they wearing?”

Miyabi spoke an entirely unrelated question out loud and a low kick from young Kananka Fulpen did nothing to discourage him.

He was curious.

How could he not be?

Those twins’ outfits could not be explained away by the heat of the desert nation.

Acacia and Ixea’s clothing glittered with golden stitching and was very different from what the ordinary people wore. It probably had some important meaning for their role as priestesses but Miyabi knew nothing about that and he could only focus on two things: their flat chests were only covered by suspenders and a single horizontal piece of cloth, and their lower body was only covered by a fluttering piece of cloth hanging down the front and another down the back, not quite qualifying as a skirt. The sides left their sides, ribs, skinny bellies, and hip bones all exposed.

They did have a piece of cloth wrapped around their hips, but it was as high up as their navels.

There was nothing at the height you would normally expect for the side strap of underwear. Nothing at all!

So what was going on under there!?

The philosopher’s stone had its own opinion on the matter.

“Heh. I get the reflexive temptation to say they aren’t wearing any, but as a true panty connoisseur (a position that leads me to rate your adventure quite highly overall) I cannot judge this one so simply. This looks more like a cleverly-laid trap to me. Even Tutankhamun wore something like a loincloth. I expect they are only giving the illusion of a delicious treat while actually remaining fully guarded by a tall T-shaped affair. …But mysteries are meant to be solved. And if you want to solve this one, look to the terrain. Use the pyramid, Miyabi. Those steep stairs might as well be designed for looking up skirts. Fetishes are often a twisted form of people seeking after what has been hidden from them, so now is the time to open your eyes to who you truly are, Miyabi Blackgardeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen!!!!!!”

“What is wrong with you two?” groaned Alicia. With the crystal radio hanging from her neck, there was no way for those two to have a private conversation.

It was clear that pursuing those girls’ secrets over the mysteries of the world was going to get them killed, so now was not the time for a ridiculous side quest.

As frightening as this was, Miyabi had to face it head on.

He could not afford to lose sight of those twins, so he gathered his strength and shouted everything he could say at the moment.

“A-anyway, that guy – the one with the magic sword – really is dangerous! He will hunt you down if you have a Godhorn Tech. And once he finds you, he’ll tear your Godhorn Tech apart from within!!”

The brown twins both tilted their heads.

A butterfly fluttered over their heads, perhaps drawn by the flower beds supported by the canals.

Maybe that was the natural reaction for someone who had not experienced that fear themselves. Miyabi himself might have reacted the same in their shoes. Bisecting a Godhorn Tech with a single sword slash beggared belief.

“God, this is taking forever,” said the impatient radio. “People won’t listen to you just because you’re right. You’ve gotta draw their interest!”

“Nhh, then lure them in with something. We need to buy enough time for them to listen!”

That advice seemed to hold further implications coming from a wanted criminal like the pirate. He sounded more like a professional kidnapper.

Unfortunately, they did not know what the twins were interested in or enjoyed to eat. They only had so long to find something to stop them, so Miyabi ran around seeing what the street stands had to offer. They lived here, so Miyabi figured they had to like something here. He tried offering them a thin and cheap meat snack he bought at a nearby stand.

Acacia Flightheart was unmoved by the fried food.

Maybe he should not have brought her something he could only describe as a mystery meat.

“Hmph.”

“H-how aloof can she be?” muttered Alicia.

“Umm, might she be more friendly with someone who didn’t start talking about her underwear one minute after meeting her?” speculated Helen.

“Don’t worry. This is just the initial phase of a tsundere. Keep at it!” urged the radio.

The fried treat had failed, so Miyabi fed it to ever-hungry Alma.

Next, he set his sights on Ixea.

As hot as the desert was, there was apparently a market for more than just cold things. While Alicia and the others bought time by bringing up the weather and waving around a desert plant like a cat toy (they dubbed it a “priestess toy”), Miyabi bought a skewer of hot meat. He had a feeling they had told him what kind of meat it was, but he had been too preoccupied to pay attention.

Miyabi and Alma were the hungry types who always chose pork cutlets or meatballs for a snack when on a trip, so he kept offering meat products to the delicate girls. Lady Celina, who chose cake and tea even when hiking outdoors, clearly wanted to criticize that decision, but…

“…”

Ixea Flightheart actually seemed interested. Overall, she backed away, but her head stretched forward with small nose sniffing. She was cautious of Miyabi himself, but she could not fight her curiosity in the food.

“Sniff sniff.”

“Oh, she’s smelling it. I think she’s interested.”

“Wait, this isn’t the kind of tsundere I had in mind.”

Ixea snatched the skewer from him.

The philosopher’s stone was confused, but it looked like they had had this figured out.

“So could we win her over all at once with some colorful sweets recommended by a fancy 5-star pâtissier?” asked Celina.

“No, Miyabi. Don’t listen to the rich girl who doesn’t know how much anything is worth. We only have so much travel funds, so go for something cheap that children would like. Don’t worry! Children will believe anything is a shortcake if it has a strawberry on top!!”

Acacia gave her identical twin a critical look, but there was also a hint of jealousy in her eyes. The fact that neither brown twin left suggested they were both interested. Miyabi followed the rich girl and young woman’s advice by focusing on the sweet foods. He approached again and again with new items.

He brought them cookies, crepes, and cake.

It was possible Acacia and Ixea were unaccustomed to luxury items.

“Phew,” sighed Ixea.

Acacia held her sister’s shoulders and finally spoke.

“That old man was probably the Lord of Ruin. His skill with a sword is said to be extraordinary.”

“Hm?”

When Miyabi showed interested, Ixea continued for her sister.

“If you would like to continue this conversation, follow us. Now, let’s go, sister.”

“Yes, sister. We can’t stay here any longer. We need to return to the western ruins.”

“Hey!”

The twins climbed onto two of the camels tied up in the plaza and vanished into the city. Miyabi had been careless. He had assumed camels were as slow as they looked, but they actually moved as quickly as horses.

“So they left after all. Did I do all that for nothing?”

Miyabi’s complaints were understandable.

“You have little experience with women,” rationally judged Number 8.

“Gah hah hah!” guffawed Onelife Shiftup. “You probably should’ve held their interest longer than that!”

But…

“No, this was not the boy’s fault.”

Someone else was burning with rage.

Their cheeks were puffed out and their long elfin ears were standing tall.

“How can they ignore someone’s kindness like that!? Maybe they deserve to be cut in two by that magic sword!!”

“Koo!? Koo…”

“Hey, um, the crowd is keeping their distance,” warned the radio.

“This is curious,” said Helen Clockgear. “With those twins controlling one of the 10 Godhorn Techs, we officially have an 11th.”

“Could either Acacia or Ixea secretly have another one?” asked Eliza.

“Any country with two would have extraordinary power,” said Celina. “Wicked God horns can’t be produced on demand. Even my company could only create the Schwarz Schütze.”

“My Empire only officially owned the Divine Doll. We did have spares for all its parts, an extra horn, and several magical automatons capable of controlling it, but it was all kept separated to facilitate repairs. The emperor feared the possibility of a mass-produced model being stolen and the Empire being torn apart from within by a clash between Godhorn Techs, so he never even tried to protect our lengthy borders with more than one. He said the ability to make a retaliatory strike was enough of a threat to prevent an invasion by another country.”

“…” Miyabi thought for a bit and then threw in the towel. “So maybe it’s the Lord of Ruin and maybe it’s the twins. This is so confusing.”

“Ha ha! No use worrying over it. Just figure it out one step at a time!” Onelife’s simple thought process came in handy at times. “What is it we know? Gwohhh, we know those twins are headed to the western ruins! So that’s where we’ll go. We’re bound to learn something new there!”

“Agreed.”

Miyabi smiled a little.

The twins had said they were headed west, so Miyabi also left the city, returning to the desert.

Young Kananka was wiping sweat from his brow before long.

“Pant, gasp. I-I thought I was used to the sand, but it’s so much worse without the crashing waves nearby.”

“Speaking of, you’re handling this oddly well, Onelife.”

“Oh, me? Bearing with the glaring sun and rationing your drinking water isn’t that much different from life on a ship. Hah hah!”

Heading out into the vast desert with a goal no more specific than “search the west” sounded like suicide, but they fortunately found a sort of road. The feet of many people had packed down the soft sand, giving them a path to follow.

“Ah ha ha!”

They heard someone laughing.

They had their hands boldly on their hips below the scorching sun.

“Ha ha ha ha ha!! Who’s laughing now!? Bet you all wish you had bought swimsuits too!!”

“Seriously, an actual bikini knight!? That naughty knight is a blot on her kingdom’s reputation. Or wait. Did the small taste of exhibitionism she got on the island nation get her addicted!?”

Helen (who dressed up in lewd costumes more than anyone) could not believe her eyes, but there was no stopping the heat-addled knight.

Miyabi returned to his old question.

“It still just looks like underwear to me.”

“Miyabi, it’s about the texture. Note how it glistens when wet with sweat or water and you’ll see the difference. Underwear becomes see through when it absorbs water, while a swimsuit repels the water, causing it to bead up. Both are enjoyable in their own way.”

The radio was getting philosophical.

Helen changed the subject while doing her best not to look at the bikini knight.

“There really is nothing but sand, sand, and more scorching sand out here.” She looked out across the rolling dunes reminiscent of a stormy sea. “It’s truly incredible. This has to be a major risk when it comes to preserving order as well.”

“?”

“Think about it, Miyabi. Countries and villages can easily exile someone if they are rumored to hold some nonexistent treasure. What if they did that to someone out in this harsh desert so devoid of landmarks? And they could always feign ignorance if it failed.”

“Ah ha ha. Did you see a play about an inheritance conflict, Helen? That kind of thing doesn’t happen in the real worl-”

They heard a scraping sound.

They saw someone pulling up a stone buried under the sand, digging below that with a shovel, and hiding a black bag there.

Miyabi could only scream.

“Gyaaaaaaaaaahh, for real!? Did we really run across someone hiding their bloody knife or glove in broad daylight because they couldn’t wait until nightfall!!!???”

“Huh?” The shoveler was a brown-skinned boy with curly blond hair. “Ooh, you weren’t supposed to see this. I need to find a different dig spot.”

“Wait, wait, wait, wait!! Don’t hide criminal evidence right in front of us. I might not be an official of this nation’s government, but I can’t just overlook this, you know!?”

“Criminal? No, you misunderstand.” The shoveler spoke in a gloomy way, poking the large bag with the tool of his trade(?). He breathed a heavy sigh before continuing. “This is a job from a merchant in the desert nation. These are the documents detailing a purchase plan. See, he’s terrified of the outsiders in the Bodenburg Company controlling the market for everyone’s daily necessities, so he plans to bring together a bunch of small local shops to create a solid local production base. But he doesn’t want his rivals sniffing out his plans beforehand.”

“My, my. So you work for the competition.”

Celina gave a bewitching smile with a hand on her soft cheek.

The look on her face said some light competition could actually help energize the market.

“My job is to hide people’s secrets and the (figurative) skeletons in their closet.”

He did not sound proud of his work.

He may have seen it as no more glamorous than selling vegetables or fish at the market.

“The desert is a big place and it’s littered with old, weathered ruins no one knows about. Bury a secret out here and there’s almost no chance of anyone else digging it up. This is so much safer than hiding it in a safe that practically announces there’s something valuable there. I’m the only one who knows where it’s buried and, with so much desert to work with, I never run out of space to bury more. Thanks to that, I get plenty of work as a guardian…or I used to.”

He glared over at them.

The fact remained that they were not meant to have seen this.

The shovel boy breathed a heavy sigh.

“I really don’t want to believe it’s time to call it quits.”

“Hm?”

“This isn’t the first trouble I’ve run into. I’ve earned the ire of several groups and some strange assassin – I think called Shadow Crack – has supposedly been sent after me. I wish I could hide myself right now, but unfortunately, I can’t bury myself in the sand.”

Miyabi crossed his arms and thought for a moment.

“What if you could hide somewhere other than the desert?”

“Without anyone knowing, you mean?”

“It’s called Horn Fortress. It’s surrounded by a weird barrier and by the cracks in the world, so you can’t reach it by ordinary means.”

“I see. That sounds promising.”

The blond-haired brown-skinned boy grinned and held out his right hand.

What did a handshake with him signify?

“I’m Ginger Sandstrike. If you’ve got any secrets or skeletons in your closet you need hidden away, just come to me.”

The Lucifer Horn flew by overhead.

They discovered more than just human life.

“Hmm, are these grassroots? Never thought I’d find them here.”

Onelife tilted his head while moving his feet out of the way.

Miyabi had thought the desert was nothing but sand, but there was so much more to find there. For example, palm trees, cacti, and other plants that could survive in the heat.

“Wow, what is that weird tree!? It’s so big!”

“It must be a baobab,” said Alicia. “They look strange, but from what I’ve heard, they evolved that way because it’s the best shape for them.”

“Are you sure they didn’t evolve the wrong way? They look like giant, ugly carrots.”

“Which allows some of them to live for more than 5000 years. Survival logic is not judged by human aesthetics. Nature truly is powerful.”

There were animals as well. Unfortunately, that included hideous local Beast Novae like a scorpion bigger than they were or an antlion that created its own quicksand.

Miyabi started to think they should have asked that Ginger guy to be their guide.

“I’ve never seen creatures like these,” he said, carefully walking around a giant bowl-shaped patch of quicksand resembling a crater. “Do you think those fried and skewered meats were made from these local ingredients?”

“Th-think too much about it and you won’t have much of an appetite, Miyabi.”

Also, the white bikini knight had been restlessly rubbing her legs together for a while now.

She also hooked her finger and messed with the butt of her swimsuit.

“What are you doing?” asked Alicia. “Is the bikini riding up back there?”

“More than I thought. And when the wind blows, the sand gets in-”

“Okay, we get it. Don’t you dare destroy any more of our manly dreams, you failure of a knight.”

The radio gave a deep rumble of a warning for once.

Eventually, the ruins came into view.

Several pillars stood on a stone-paved ground, with a foundation and L-shaped remnants of stone walls hinting that a square building had once stood there. It was a lot smaller than the pyramid temple in the desert nation, but it was larger than the oases they had seen here and there. Did it serve some kind of special purpose?

“Are these the ruins we want?” asked Miyabi.

“I do sense people here,” confirmed the magical automaton. “And I sense a pressure bearing down on me.”

“I sense a powerful spirit pressure too,” said Kananka. “This place must be even more consecrated than the temple in the middle of that city.”

At any rate, Miyabi took a look around and spoke half in prayer below the scorching sun.

“Where are those twin priestesses – Acacia and Ixea? If they’re not here, then the trail’s gone cold. We’ll have to search at random.”

They heard voices coming from the stone arch at the crumbling entrance to the ruins.

A few commoners were arguing with the priest-in-training who appeared to be their guide.

“Don’t push, please don’t push. All sacrifices should come this way. Please stay in line. The end of the line starts here.”

“Wait, wait, wait, wait!!” yelled the radio. “How flippant can you be!?”

“Y-yeah, I’m not sure what to make of this one!” said Alicia.

“Hold on. Something isn’t right,” said Helen (who had clear sweat building up in her large cleavage).

They took a closer look.

“Yes, it’s finally my turn.”

“Hurry it up, will you!?”

“This is my chance to be a sacrifice. I might even get recruited as a priestess!”

The people gathered at the far end of the stone plaza had bright excitement in their eyes.

Celina was taken aback by this.

“This does not feel as…tragic as I was expecting.”

“What are they even talking about? A chance to be a sacrifice? Recruited as a priestess? They make it sound like this isn’t the end for them.”

Eliza remained cautious, but the muscle man did not.

“Enough. If you want to know what’s going on, you march on up and ask them!”

When the muscular man (and wanted criminal) approached, everyone paled, so Miyabi quickly intervened.

“Oh, are you here to be sacrifices?” asked the priest-in-training. “Please wait a moment.”

“No, that’s not what-”

“Hey, no cutting in line, bikini girl! We were here first!!”

The smiling girl, who wanted to be a priestess, gave Miyabi’s party a cheerful warning. Her excitement about what was to come shined through even as she rebuked them.

Then they heard a deafening explosion. And felt a powerful tremor. But the shaking was variable, like a living thing was crawling around.

Cracks ran through the parched stone ruins.

“Whoa!?”

“Koo!?”

When Miyabi and Alma left the crumbling wall, a stir was spreading through the people around them. A few of the stone pillars started to collapse unpredictably.

“Contract Owner: Under Lilith, grant me the power to move the Palette Dice!!”

The original size of the stones and the original seams between them meant nothing. Several cubes of stone were extracted and rearranged vertically to forcibly prop up the heavy pillars.

But he could not cover the entire ruin himself. He had reflexively moved to protect the powerless ordinary people, so his own party had briefly entered a blind spot.

Stones larger than people’s heads collapsed. Celina Bodenburg started, but the flintlock rifle she normally used to protect herself (with a powerful offense) was of little use.

Something tackled the girl out of the way to protect her.

It was a tame Beast Nova that looked like a scantily-clad girl with falcon wings for arms.

That messenger harpy was in fact…

“M-Millovannes!!!???”

“Wow. With the way she was always slashing at her owner with those talons, I assumed she hated the girl, but apparently she’s just an extreme tsundere,” groaned the radio behind the rising cloud of sand.

Celina crawled forward while down on all fours from being knocked to the ground. She clutched the sand that had flowed into the scorching ruins and squeezed it in trembling hands for one second, two seconds, three seconds.

“I will never forget you… But I must move on, Millovannes. Damn this desert nation’s Godhorn Tech! It’s time for some delightful revenge!!”

“You got over that awfully quick for someone you claim to be family. At least look sad for more than three seconds! You humans scare me more all the time!!”

The entire scene had left the elf in tears.

Fortunately, the capable harpy was skilled enough to survive on her own. Since she crawled out of the rubble and flew off into the sky, she must have avoided being crushed to death. Maybe it was this treatment that kept her from ever getting closer to Celina.

Meanwhile, the brown-skinned people in the area did not just sit around waiting to be crushed.

“Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no.”

“We weren’t enough! Run away!”

The line scattered.

A commotion spread as they fled for their lives.

“Hey, wait! Come back, sacrifices!”

The priest-in-training ran out into the scorching desert to pursue the fleeing people, but it still did not feel very tragic. Miyabi had the feeling no one was going to die there.

“Wh-what is going on here?” asked the elf, her long ears wiggling.

“The tremor is unstable but somehow orderly,” analyzed Number 8 with his eyes shut.

A second and third tremor reached their feet. The sand on the ground began to flow disconcertingly in some places. Dunes collapsed and quicksand formed.

“That priest said something curious,” said Helen.

“What part!? It all sounded crazy to me!!” shouted back Miyabi.

“ ‘The end of the line starts here.’ ”

“Hm, he did say that, didn’t he?” agreed Number 8.

“Hold on,” said Kananka, something about this bothering him.

“Does that mean the people who fled weren’t the only ones in the ruins? Th-there were more further in!?”

It seemed wrong for Eliza to be so strait-laced while equipped with a bikini. Miyabi looked back over at the stone ruins on the verge of collapse, but they were too large for him to make any quick judgments.

The chosen knight said what needed to be said at times like this.

Even if she was hooking a finger to fix the butt of her swimsuit while she did so.

“These tremors must be from the Godhorn Tech. But what are those twins hoping to accomplish by bringing it to these ruins? Are they hunting something so big it requires a Godhorn Tech?”

The radio asked the fundamental question here.

“But…what kind of opponent would a Godhorn Tech have trouble with?”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“Koo?”

They all fell silent and Alma tilted its flowery head.

Everyone but the juvenile Wicked God had reached the same conclusion.

“Could it be the Lord of Ruin!?” shouted Miyabi, setting them all into motion. “This is bad. They might even speed up their use of sacrifices to fight back. I don’t know how they use them, but they’re necessary for their Godhorn Tech, right? We need to stop both sides of this fight!!”

Either way, they had to check and make sure no one had been buried alive deeper inside the ruins.

Once inside, they found the ruins did not continue on underground. And the ceilings had entirely collapsed. The sun beat down on that roofless indoor space as they traveled through a labyrinth of crumbling stone walls.

“Nwohhh!? I’m being pulled into the sand!!”

“Wait, everyone,” said Helen. “The meathead pirate is caught in some quicksand!!”

“Huh? I thought that was a solid rock wall, but my hand passed right through it.”

“Miyabi, that must be a secret passageway created with a mirage,” said Kananka. “You see this along the coast in my kingdom, but seeing it artificially constructed is unusual.”

“Someone please save the macho man!!” shouted Helen, so the ever-obedient Number 8 fished the man out with his morning star.

The ruins, being ruins, had more traps than Beast Novae. They progressed deeper in while avoiding spears from the walls and swinging guillotines. With the scorching sun shining in through the crumbled ceiling, it at least did not feel dank and gloomy.

“It’s like a mall with the underground floor open to the air,” grumbled the radio. “It’s hard to say what’s underground and what’s aboveground, or what’s indoors and what’s outdoors. Reminds me of a convertible.”

They encountered a variety of people along the way.

The place was dangerous, so the people familiar with it may have viewed it like a secret base. …Although inattention created by that familiarity may have been the most dangerous thing of all.

“Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no, no. I’m afraid not even Priestesses Acacia and Ixea can control it this time. But then what are we supposed to do!?”

A veteran priest worked to calm a girl who was pale faced with terror, but then he murmured to himself.

“They’ve lost control again. Is the Executive Ground just too much for us to handle? Sure, it’s supposed to resonate with the ruins, but we don’t actually know how that works.”

Further in, a calmer priest explained things further:

“We have the ruins to thank for our desert nation, the oases, and all our water, but we didn’t actually build any of them. Is the Godhorn Tech the same? Could the resonance with the ruins be some kind of warning?”

“The priests said they were providing everyone with equal opportunities when they chose those twin sisters despite their social status,” said an old man who looked resigned to his death. “But do we even need that Godhorn Tech? I understand that rulers want power, but what good is a power you can’t control?”

Fortunately, they did not see anything too serious, such as people trapped underground or crushed below a fallen wall or pillar. Miyabi used the Palette Dice to create a sturdy path of stone and then gestured for the remaining people to evacuate while his party continued on in.

“Doesn’t something about this still feel off?” Helen touched the side of her glasses. “The sacrifices still want to do their jobs – there’s no tension there.”

“And based on what they’ve said, this isn’t an enemy attack,” said Kananka.

“True,” agreed Eliza. “I get the feeling their own Godhorn Tech is running wild.”

“Oh,” said Miyabi.

He had spotted Acacia – or was it Ixea? Regardless, he had seen one of the Godhorn Tech users up ahead. But just the one. The brown girl was viewing the vast desert from a hole in the wall.

But what was that out on the desert?

It was swelling up in places, like something was crawling below the sand.

“There one is,” said the radio, but Miyabi tilted his head.

“But which one is she?”

The slender girl must have heard him because she toward him and spoke so stiffly and expressionlessly she sounded like a ventriloquist’s doll.

“Hello. I. Am. Acacia.”

“Okay, this is definitely Ixea. Don’t shove the blame on your sister!”

“Why won’t you leave us alone?”

“Your axes are cool. I ended up with a sword, so I’m honestly jealous.”

Ixea Flightheart’s face had expressed no emotion since they first met, but now it twisted into something hard to read. Miyabi only saw that forestry tool as a taste of home to soothe his homesickness, but he could see Alicia and Helen slapping their foreheads. Maybe Ixea now saw him as a weirdo. Maybe a fair assessment since underwear and axes were pretty much all he had talked about since meeting her.

But anyway.

Miyabi sighed.

“You’re too relaxed for this to be the Lord of Ruin.”

“S-says the boy acting all relaxed with a real Godhorn Tech running wild out there,” pointed out Helen.

“What are you even doing out there?” asked bikini Eliza, looking out into the distance. “Tilling the desert?”

More and more tremors ran through the ground. It appeared to be avoiding the ruins, but the sandy ground was crumbling away. Sand billowed out like cumulonimbus clouds.

“I couldn’t do it.” Ixea stared out at it all. “Maybe the ruins just weren’t in a good mood.”

“?”

“Priests and priestesses can be rejected from the ruins for how they live their life. Although you can change that if you can directly read their mood.”

“…”

“…”

Kananka and Number 8 intentionally held their tongues.

Ixea did not seem to notice.

“It was my sister’s turn today, but this does not look promising.”

“Nhh. Are you saying you can’t control your own Godhorn Tech?” groaned Onelife.

“That’s insane.” Celina’s eyes widened. “A berserk Godhorn Tech will only destroy your own country!!”

Eliza groaned and held a hand to the center of her bikini chest. Her ridiculous outfit did nothing to change her strait-lacedness and she was reminded of what had happened in her Arsenal Kingdom.

But there must have been more to it than that because Ixea made a suggestion after noticing Eliza.

“Oh, are you okay? You should probably move into the shade.”

“Wh-why me specifically? I’m the only one with the foresight to change into a swimsuit.”

“Showing too much skin reduces your defenses against the sun’s rays, so you actually take more damage.”

The local girl did not pull her punches.

Without their roof, shade was surprisingly difficult to come by in the stone ruins. Miyabi ended up holding out his hand and rearranging the stone plaza to create a sun-blocking roof. Eliza was feeling dizzy, so she lay down in the newfound shade.

A hint of surprise appeared on Ixea’s expressionless face as she looked alternately between Miyabi and the makeshift roof.

“What did you just do?”

“I don’t know myself. It seems to be some kind of error.”

“An…error, you say?”

It was Miyabi’s turn to look surprised.

He saw something like affinity in Ixea’s expressionless face.

But the bikini girl interrupted before he could ask what it meant.

“Ugh, sorry about that. Please continue.”

“If you insist,” sighed Ixea. The look was already gone from her eyes. “But things could be worse. My sister and I lived in the alleys before we were taken in for our talent. You could say our warm welcome proved we have what it takes.”

“So what’s all this about sacrifices?” earnestly asked Helen.

“Ugh,” groaned the chosen knight.

“You should probably give your knight some water first.”

As one of the temples, there was water here. They scooped up some in a collapsible metal camping cup and handed it to Eliza, who sat up and eagerly drank it. She held it in both hands and gulped it down like a hungry baby with a bottle.

“Gulp, gulp…”

“Oh, dear. I get the feeling she would swallow just about anything right now.”

Ixea gave the radio a look before getting back on topic.

“A pilot must board the Executive Ground to control it, but my sister and I could never keep it stable.”

“So you brought more people onboard?” asked Miyabi.

“I see,” said the automaton. “Like changing from piano four hands to a full orchestra.”

Eliza lay back down, the heat making her hate everything going on around her.

“Ugh…ughhhh!”

“Hm, you should probably find something to fan her with,” calmly suggested Ixea.

Alicia’s mouth formed a small triangle.

“That bikini ponytail has gotten awfully shameless of late, hasn’t she?”

They were not even calling her a knight anymore. Eliza Silverstorm’s identity was in crisis. Remove the bikini now, and she would have nothing left.

Miyabi and the others gathered big palm leaves from the hot sand.

By bundling a few of them together, they could function as a large fan. Miyabi held it in both hands and fanned it in Eliza’s direction.

She only lay there, sweating.

“Sigh. I’m never getting up again…”

“Does she think she’s a queen?”

Even Ixea was sounding exasperated now. People could learn the wrong lesson when they solved a problem in the wrong way.

But the defenseless bikini girl felt too nice to even consider moving from that spot.

Until, that is, a sudden tremor shook the stone below her and she shot to her feet. The rapid motion pushed the bikini straps’ knots to their limit.

Something burst straight up from the desert. Was it a snake or a centipede? It was large enough to rival a small tower in size, but the very tip looked more biological. Three round pieces of armor clacked open and shut like an eye or a maw.

This was the Executive Ground subterranean tank.

It was unclear how exactly it traveled through the ground, but the thick armor itself was rotating in alternating directions. The tooth-like blades, bits, and rollers used to dig through the ground looked like brutal weapons.

Was it a snake, a worm, or a centipede?

It wriggled in a horrifying way that made it look alive, so Celina (who had added a bayonet to her hunting rifle to make it even more deadly) grew pale.

“Ew, ew, ew, ew. Aren’t you the top of your nation? W-why would you make it look like a big, wriggling mess?”

“Your Schwarz Schütze was big, long, and black too,” point out Alicia.

“B-but it wasn’t a snake! Leave it to an elf hick to not understand the beauty of trains!!”

Since they had chosen that form, it must have had some special meaning for their desert nation. Maybe it was a sacred symbol of their nation’s protector, or maybe they had intentionally made it creepy to scare away any enemies.

“The cobra is a royal symbol,” explained Ixea, still watching the distant Godhorn Tech. “Hee hee. Strange, isn’t it? Our religion controls both the sun and the underworld and believes in the rebirth of mummies and our nation chooses its leaders equally from the wealthy and the poor, yet here we are clinging to an old, outdated image of the pharaoh. We claim to put equality first, but maybe people can’t help but throw it all away so some charismatic person can rule them and make them feel safe.”

Ixea’s shoulders shook in expressionless laughter, but Miyabi could not tell what was so funny.

Also, what were mummies?

The Executive Ground towered above them like a castle watchtower, but more of it had to still be hidden below the sand. Miyabi could not even imagine how big it was in all.

“Oh, that is not what I thought you meant by sacrifices.”

“It is modeled after the people sacrificed as grave goods. Theoretically, the more people who accompany a pharaoh in his grave, the greater his power in the next life. But if that control method were a success, it would mean sending a deadly weapon to the front line while stuffed full of living people. The term sacrifice seems appropriate, don’t you think?”

Ixea watched as the colossal device dove back into the sand. It almost seemed to be dissolving into the ground.

“I don’t understand humans.” The elf sounded exasperated. “You create weapons to protect people, but then you put people onboard those weapons to operate them. Why are you so fixated on having the power to fight? And if the Lord of Ruin arrives, he’ll just slice right through that thing.”

“The Lord of Ruin, hm?”

Ixea’s shoulder-length black hair swayed as she repeated the name.

The bizarre Godhorn Tech was below the sand once more. They could hear the occasional explosion or tremor, but they could not tell where it was or where it was going. It may have been similar to Kananka’s submarine in that way.

At times, a torrent of quicksand would burst from belowground, its face would emerge from the sand, fine sand would shoot out like a glowing blade to tear through a boulder, and a sandstorm would appear to hide its great form while it dove back into the sand.

It had several methods of offense and defense that used every aspect of the harsh desert.

“What do you think?” asked Ixea, half curious and half serious.

“That would depend on how deep it can dive,” mumbled Miyabi.

If it could use the ground itself as a thick shield, the Lucifer Horn’s aerial attacks would have a hard time hitting. He had gouged great trenches into the ground before, but that was the most he could manage. He doubted those beams could actually break into the depths of the earth.

Meanwhile, the Executive Ground could obscure its enemy’s vision with a sandstorm and spew high-speed sand to tear through even boulders. Depending on its range, even the airborne Lucifer Horn could be at risk.

After a while, Miyabi realized the deep rumbling had stopped.

An identical voice spoke from a different direction.

“Sister.”

This one was Acacia Flightheart.

Had she exited the Godhorn Tech because the experiment was over? Miyabi’s party had no idea where that massive sorcery weapon had gone to get the girl back here.

The faintest of frowns appeared on Acacia’s expressionless face.

“What were you talking about? Are they here to mock us for failing to control our Godhorn Tech?”

“The same as before, sister. They wished to discuss our subterranean tank and the Lord of Ruin.”

“Mhh.” Acacia puffed out her cheeks. Still expressionless in every other way, she turned toward Miyabi’s party. “I could have discussed that with you. Stop plotting to contact my sister while I am away.”

“Um…what?”

Acacia approached the confused redhead boy and gave a warning.

“As you can see, my sister is the puppy type, so she is very trusting of strangers. She makes it far too easy, so it takes mere moments before she-”

“Sister.”

“Ahem. Anyway, we should be going, sister.” Acacia paused for a moment and started again on a new topic. “We will handle the Lord of Ruin ourselves. And controlling the Executive Ground is the only way to do that.”

The twins left.

They gave off the pressure of someone who carried the weight of a nation on their shoulders. The village boy had been given a Godhorn Tech, but that was not something he had. He could not keep his eyes off of their departing backs.

After a while, the radio spoke up.

“Hey, aren’t you forgetting something?”

“Koo?”

“Oh, you’re right! I forget to ask them who the Lord of Ruin is! They look like they would know!”

Between the Lines 4

Those sisters could not remember how long they had lived like that.

They had no idea if they had ever had a comfortable home to live in.

Their first memories were of curling up together in the cold alleys. They had watched as so many people walked by without so much as a glance. Abandoned children were far from an unusual sight in their country.

For better or for worse, the extreme environment of the desert forced people to cut the fat and live rationally. The days were blazing hot and the nights freezing cold. They had been forced to do whatever it took to survive there.

They had never known their parents.

They had truly believed they may have been born from one of the buckets or sacks lying around in the alleys.

They had only learned of cooking when they were entirely fed up with the sourness of whatever they could find in the buckets.

They had only learned of clothing when the rags wrapped around them had lost all color.

They had never learned what a bath or a bed were.

It had not been a happy life.

They had assumed that was how their lives would always be.

They had expected to eventually grow weak and die together.

But that had all changed one day.

A kind priest had told them they were special, chosen by the sacred ruins.

The twin sisters were invited to the large temple, where they were given hot food to eat and a hot bath. They were given priestess clothing made of a material they had never before experienced, they were taught to read and write and otherwise educated, and they came to realize how wrong their previous assumptions about the world were.

Their desert nation was reliant on water.

There were no wells or rivers. Dig as deep as you like, you would never find anything.

The water that supported all their lives came from the mysterious ruins scattered across the desert. The nation only really protected the select few who could make a mental connection with the ruins and gather water from them.

And it turned out Acacia Flightheart and Ixea Flightheart had the most suitable wavelength for that.

Thus, they were given the Executive Ground, the desert nation’s prized Godhorn Tech.

So the girls could not abandon the nation that supported their lifestyle, the people who relied on their power, the priests who trusted their talent, or the Godhorn Tech and ruins that gave them such value.

But.

What was it they had really wanted to do, back when they stared up into the night sky from the frigid back alleys?

They had said they would do anything to survive. They had lived day to day by digging through buckets in the back alley. They had no memory of their parents and truly believed they may have been born from one of the buckets or sacks lying around in the alleys.

But no matter how hungry, cold, and weary they were and no matter how much they had resented the invisible presence they could sense in the stone ruins, there was one thing they had never wanted to do.

They had never wanted to wield a tool of killing.

Profiles

Acacia Flightheart

Ixea Flightheart

Age: 13

Sex: Female

Height: 145cm

Twin sisters with the highest position among the priestesses who access the desert religious nation’s ancient ruins to distribute water and other blessings to the people. Acacia is the older twin and Ixea the younger. A priest discovered their talent while they were living on the streets and they were given the privilege of controlling the Executive Ground. Neither sister is very assertive and it can be hard to tell what they are thinking. Their duty is to protect their nation, but are having some unexplained difficulties.

Ginger Sandstrike

Age: 17

Sex: Male

Height: 185cm

A “guardian” in the desert religious nation who takes items related to people’s past and hides them deep in unexplored ruins. He had the legendary assassin Shadow Crack sent after him after a client lost trust in him, but he has dealt with so many sketchy jobs he has no idea which client it might have been. He is trying to escape Shadow Crack while also searching out the person who put the hit out on him.

Godhorn Tech Subterranean Tank: Executive Ground

Pilot: Acacia Flightheart & Ixea Flightheart

Affiliation: Pure Hibis Aclia Oracle Nation

Size: 5m diameter, 75m length

A Godhorn Tech based on the pyramids derived from the mythology worshiped by Acacia and Ixea. Looks like a massive snake and makes the entire desert its ally by traveling freely through the ground to attack its enemies. Just as a pyramid grants greater authority the more grave goods it contains, it increases its power by swallowing more people. Since the “grave goods” were generally buried alive, these people need not be killed as they are eaten. However, the interior environment is poor and there is a risk of asphyxiation during a long-term battle. Design motif: pyramids and mummies.

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