My interracial harem of beautiful queens

Adam and Veronica had successfully finished recording the important details, and the group began to descend the stairs. Surprisingly, they didn't encounter any traps on their way, even though there were as many at the entrance as there were stars in the sky. However, this didn't make them lower their guard, as the absence of traps could mean that things would only get worse. And they weren't far from the truth.

"Is this a magical castle?" Sierra mumbled, standing in front of another colossal door. She tilted her head to the side and looked at the pentagram drawn on the door's surface. Squinting, she tried to decipher the basic components, but it was beyond her. She reported with a sad tone, "Darn, I can't recognize it! I've explored plenty of magical circles and ancient pentagrams in my life, but this one baffles me. It seems to have 'lock' and 'self-restoration,' but beyond that, I can't make heads or tails of it."

"That's normal," Dereris replied, flying closer to the door and inspecting it, flapping her little wings to stay off the ground. She made amused humming sounds, which added a touch of cuteness to her exploration. Veronica joined in since she had been cheerful since they entered this dungeon.

Adam, on the other hand, had no clue about these incantations. He did not know the basic components of magical circles or a deep understanding of magic in general. The only things he excelled in were politics and sarcasm, which he used to the fullest. So, he made the most sensible decision in this situation - standing aside and not getting in the way.

Scratch-scratch. Sc-rr... sc-rr...

"How boring," Adam thought, leaning against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest, watching three women huddled around the door, actively studying the method of unlocking it. He took his eyes off them and put his hands in his inner pocket, only to find that his cigarette case wasn't there. He remembered he had left it in his office and hadn't brought it on this short journey because he was in a hurry. "Oh well..."

Unfortunately, even after all this time, they couldn't find a way to unlock it. Again, they faced a situation similar to when they encountered the Astionas tribe's language – an entirely unfamiliar magical pentagram. It was a bit frustrating, although it piqued the women's interest as new material for research.

Adam shifted his foot and placed it closer to the wall so that the heel of his shoe touched the stone. Suddenly, a clicking sound echoed as if he had pressed a button, and he barely managed to maintain his balance as the wall behind him shifted backward, revealing a secret passage.

"What the actual f**k?" he cursed, shaking off the dust and looking at the newly opened passage leading forward into the unknown. He beckoned Sierra, who was the first to notice his exclamation and pointed to the passage, raising an eyebrow, "Look, mother-in-law. This place appeared when I accidentally pressed some tiles. Can you scan it for traps and such?"

"Wow... this is some luck you have," she muttered, cutely wrinkling her little nose and extending her hand forward as if making a 'stop' gesture. Closing her eyes, she directed energy into her palm, from which thin threads of magical energy began to emanate. They slid through small gaps, analyzing for traps and other dangers, while in between these "worms," magical waves were sent out, sketching the approximate architecture of the entrance.

The man remained silent, only squinting his eyes. He felt an unsettling cold emanating from the entrance as if he had descended into a basement filled with negative magical energy. The air in the hidden passage also felt different, denser. It was like entering a smoking room after a refreshing walk. This indicated that the secret passage hadn't been opened for a very long time.

Moreover...

"I smell rot. Do they store corpses here or something else? It's a disgusting smell," Sierra commented, pinching her nose with her index and middle fingers and looking at Adam. She said in a hushed tone, "We shouldn't go in there for now. Who knows what awaits us? The analysis showed no traps, but the magical waves encountered something covered with antimagic. Perhaps those golems we saw earlier."

"Understood. I think, for safety, we should seal the entrance with a barrier, right? I'll use Amarantha's spell," Adam said, activating his subclass skill - "Borrowing."

As a result, a bright golden light emerged from his palm, covering the entrance and sealing it off from external threats. Sierra whistled and tapped the surface of the barrier - ripples spread across it. She nodded in satisfaction, turning to him with a smile.

"Not bad. It's even better than I imagined. You say it's Amarantha's spell? It looks very much like hers," she commented, giving her assessment of the barrier. She poked her cheek with her index finger and looked at Adam with a puzzled expression, tilting her head to the side, "By the way, how do you do this? I'm sure you didn't have any knowledge of barriers. Did you study hard while I was loafing around... I mean, while I was occupied?"

"...No, not really. It's a bit more complicated, so it's hard for me to explain," he replied vaguely, avoiding the details. Then he changed the subject, "Anyway, how are you doing? We've been here for over an hour."

Sierra sighed and shook her head. From her reaction, Adam could already tell that they still couldn't figure out anything, as the pentagram was indeed unusual. He furrowed his brow, stuffed his hands in his trouser pockets, turned on his heels, and examined the pentagram from all sides but still found no clues. He shrugged and said to Sierra, "The difference between this and other pentagrams I've seen is that it doesn't use classical components in the form of images. It seems like there are some letters in an unknown language."

"By the way it's going, I can infer that the Astionas tribe might be dealing with this thing too, considering its location. Do you have any information about their peculiarities?" he asked.

"Nope. The only one who knows even a little about this tribe is Dereris, but she admits she wasn't particularly interested in them at that time because she was preoccupied with looting," Sierra replied, shrugging.

"Not looting, but wealth gathering, you stupid asshole!"

Adam and Sierra laughed upon hearing Dereris's response.

***

At the same time on the surface, there was a small problem. The group from Avalonia and the group from Elfheim collided right at the entrance, and what could be worse was that they couldn't enter. No spells could remove the barrier, and they were helpless.

"Damn it! Did you, you damn long-eared idiots, set up this bloody barrier?" a man in heavy armor shouted with his hand on the hilt of his sword, which rested in its scabbard on his belt. He had short black hair and deeply set brown eyes, along with several scars along his nose. He looked irritated, and his tone was filled with venom and hostility, which he made no effort to conceal.

From Avalonia's side, there were five people, most likely from the reserve army, or more precisely, cannon fodder. On the elf's side, there were only three elves – two timid ones and a lady we know. Iliantra.

"Shut up, human swine. Do you think we elves are to blame for all the troubles? A miserable semblance of a monkey, it's better if you jump off a cliff and die so the world won't have to see your damned, dirty face, got it?" one of the elves bluntly responded to his insults. He was a long-haired elf dressed in a green robe. His hair was light brown, and his eyes were brown.

"Oh, you!" 

A verbal altercation ensued between them, but neither side decided to attack each other. It seemed that any battle now could reawaken the guardians, and they had to fight all over again. Iliantra had already taken care of the golem on their side, while there were still problems on Avalonia's side.

"..." 

During all this time, the woman said nothing and merely looked at the entrance blocked by the barrier. She took a deep breath and wrinkled her nose when she sensed a hint of a familiar aroma. It was the scent of Adam's magical energy, which made her momentarily happy but then annoyed.

"There's someone else here besides him. And these two sources are extremely powerful. One of them coincides with the magical energy of the barrier. I suspect they might be his companions, and something tells me they're women," Iliantra thought, annoyed, as she stomped on the ground. She crossed her arms over her chest, sighing, feeling a sour taste on the tip of her tongue. "Damn, womanizer. Why do so many women flock to him?"

Despite such thoughts, Iliantra still carefully monitored the actions of the Avalonia side. It seemed like they had come here wanting to enter the dungeon, but this barrier hindered them. Furthermore, they looked as if they were not here of their own free will. Besides...

"They're armed too well for reserve army soldiers. Could someone from the main army be here?" Iliantra thought, narrowing her eyes, and carefully inspecting them.

However, there were no distinctive signs typical of the main army on them. Therefore, she could only guess their purpose for coming here. While she pondered this, a slight sense of vibration suddenly appeared under her feet.

"What?" she asked aloud, looking at the dungeon entrance, which began to crumble. "What the hell?!"

The weak vibration soon turned into a powerful earthquake, prompting Iliantra to immediately grab her subordinates and use teleportation to quickly escape the area. A few minutes later...

"Oh my God..."

She saw that the temple had completely collapsed along with the entrance. It was no longer possible to exit easily, and the realization of this fact made her worry about Adam's life.

To be continued...

===

* I admit it sounds extremely amusing and absurd, but with a significant amount of magical energy, it takes on a material form, so it has its characteristic scent emanating from a mage's attribute. In Adam's case, it smells like black coffee.