Everything just went exactly as they discussed. In no time, with the help of Aqua Knight, all of them got into the temple through the secret entrance successfully.
From there, Sungjun took the front, leading them upstairs. All the Hunters wore mana-suppressing crystals around their necks to mask their aura so as not to get caught by the werewolves on the way. Their task is to silently go to the Main Altar and just kill the main boss.
As this was an instant dungeon, as long as the dungeon boss was killed, the dungeon would collapse on its own, and the remaining werewolves would be forced to return to where they had come from.
However, strangely, on the way, across the several corridors and stairs, not even one werewolf was encountered. Everyone only assumed that the werewolves didn't need to know about the underground secret tunnel, and might have focused more on the obvious entrances.
Their journey to the Altar was completely smooth without a single skirmish. But it was there that they were met with a surprise. There were no guards, no minions, or anything. It was just one human, rather a monster in human form, who was seen meditating at the altar in silence. Not far away from him, there was a rusty broadsword embedded in the ground.
"It's him," said Cyro as soon as he saw the tall individual, with light brown hair parted to one side and yellow eyes, "Based on the mana he was exuding, he is indeed the Werewolf Lord."
The man in black and golden attire abruptly opened his eyes and looked at the bunch of heroes standing before him. "It's been a while since any human dared to intrude into my temple…" His smile widened a bit as he glanced at others. "But I guess you could no longer hold it anymore now that it has become imminent for us to take over your world."
"Hmpf, wishful thinking." Jaden Wong let out a snort of contempt as he took out a broadsword from the pouch hanging at his waist. The runes inscribed on the blade lit up as soon as he took away his mana suppressant crystal. Lightning sparks started dancing over the edges of the blade.
The others followed along, summoning their powers and spreading apart from each other in a formation.
Sun Xiao summoned her flame whips, each in her hand.
Xing Lin/Aurora stretched her arms wide. Mana surged within her palms as she shouted. "Friend of the Gods." A wave of energy erupted from her hands and struck everyone, including Sungjun, too. At once, everyone felt their bone strength increase.
Wang Xia/Aqua Seraph summoned a Trident. The mana gushed out from her body and took the shape of water as it enveloped the trident.
Nakamura Kai/Echo activated his custom-made gauntlets, ready to hit the boss with sound waves.
Olivia Williams/Serepentia, as her codename suggests, unleashed her morphing ability and turned into a giant Cobra. As she hissed, a breath of flames escaped her mouth.
Lucas Davis/Steel Guardian, on the other hand, just stood there without doing anything.
And the leader of the team, Jin Chen/Cyro, crouched to the floor and slammed his palms to the floor, "Ice Knight." As almost one-third of his mana was consumed, a giant Knight seemed to be made of Ice materialized before the others, carrying a giant Ax and a shield in its hand. He jumped high and landed on its shoulder, and looked down at Werewolf Lord, who calmly gazed at them. "Everyone, we proceed as we discussed."
*Ssss*
Serpentia was the first to make the move. In her serpent form, she stretched forward and opened her mouth, showing her sharp fangs.
"Humans, you really overestimate your own strength," commented the lord of the werewolves, letting out a snigger. In the next second, the floor of the entire chamber glowed in dark energy before their legs started sinking in, while energy chains erupted and captured the hunters.
"What the hell is going on?" "My mana? I can't use my mana…" "F**k. It's a trap…"
"Hahahaha…" The Werewolf Lord started laughing like a maniac as he finally stood on his feet. "You humans might have put so much effort into planning and all to reach me here, but unfortunately for you, your so-called mission was created by me with the help of our kin named Qin Sheng. Surely, one of you must know…"
He stared at the eight of them for a while until his eyes fell on Sungjun, whose eyes widened in shock. "Pale face, blue eyes, and black hair. You must be a protege of Qin Sheng. I promised him that I would take you under my shelter. Just stop resisting like others and accept your death. After this ritual is finished, I will resurrect you as a werewolf so that you can serve me just like your master…"
Sungjun's face frozen in shock. Jaden Wong/Stryker, who was sinking down with his powers sealed, glanced behind him and growled. "Traitorous bast*rd… I should have killed you when I had the chance… Dammit…"
At that moment, every single of them, whether it was ever disciplined captain, Cyro, his roommate who secretly cares about him, Sun Xiao, or the recent friend he made, Xing Lin, every one of them hated Sungjun. They wished to turn back time so that they could kill him. Now, they were falling to their deaths, while this rookie will resurrect as a werewolf?
"You…" Sungjun gritted his teeth in rage, but he felt very helpless because his connection to mana was also cut off.
Soon, everyone had their bodies trapped in another dimension with only their heads sticking out. It was done so that the werewolf lord wanted them to witness the breakage of the seal.
Amidst all the cusses and threats from the heroes, the Werewolf Lord proceeded to cut his chest with a dagger and let the blood pour onto the sword.
"Per vires antiquae, destinatus sumus, Unus animus, una fata, aeternus hic, Coniuncti ad omne aevum, in vinculo nati, Fatum nostrum obsignamus."
"Come." A powerful roar echoed in the chamber.
All the life force started seeping away from the bodies of the heroes at a terrifying pace, transferring to the rustic sword embedded in the ground. Cracks started appearing on the rustic sword.
"Hahaha… Yes… just a bit more… C'mon, don't resist… Give your lives, humans…"
"C'mon… please work… please work…" Sungjun desperately roared in his head, trying to activate his ocular abilities.
*Ting!
With a loud sound, the rustic sword shattered at last as everyone but Sun Xiao and Cyro died, and a tiny glowing orb erupted from the destroyed blade.
"Yes… finally…" The Werewolf Lord laughed aloud. Not even bothering to think about the remaining survivors who were almost completely buried, he charged forward to grab the glowing orb. "Come and let's unite…"
However, just as he was about to grab it, the glowing orb moved to the side and dodged his hand and instead flew toward the hunters.
"Wha…"
Before the Werewolf Lord came out of his shock, the glowing orb reached Sungjun and entered his forehead. "Wha…"
Sungjun felt like something sharp struck his head, and he blacked out, losing his consciousness entirely.
"No…" The Werewolf lord roared in panic and rage, transforming into a giant werewolf and charging toward Sungjun in fury. "How dare you…"
Just as he almost reached him, energy surged from Sungjun's body and expanded at an impossible speed. Before the Werewolf Lord even react, he was struck. Sun Xiao and Cyro had disappeared and appeared unconscious right outside the dungeon entrance while the entire dungeon collapsed on its own.