Having dealt with the undead, Luke breathed a sigh of relief.
But it also made him more vigilant; the commotion just now was so loud that it likely woke up other undead in the Barrow-downs.
He had to act quickly.
He immediately followed the information Tom provided and continued forward, constantly paying attention to the tombstones he passed.
The inscriptions on the tombstones had been corroded to the point of being illegible, and Luke's purpose for this trip was to find the tomb of a prince.
That was the last prince of the Kingdom of Cardolan, who unfortunately died in the defensive battle against the Witch-king of Angmar and was finally buried in the Barrow-downs. Tom said that his tomb contained the sharp blade Luke was looking for.
However, before Luke could find the prince's tomb, the Hogwarts Sign-in System reacted first.
"Hogwarts Sign-in System: Locating Barrow-downs. Sign in?"
"Sign in!"
"Sign-in successful! Congratulations on obtaining the Dark Arts book, 'Curses and Counter-Curses'!"
A book with a cover depicting a twisted, pained human face appeared out of thin air.
Dark Arts book? Luke was also surprised; he hadn't expected to get this from the sign-in.
However, he couldn't spare the time to flip through the Dark Arts book now, as the surrounding mist suddenly became very dense, accompanied by the sound of something breaking out of the ground.
Clearly, undead had emerged, and more than one.
Uneasy, Luke cast over a dozen more protective spells on himself, then gripped his wand tightly, ready to defend against any undead that might rush out of the mist. At the same time, the corpse creature ancient sword floated beside him, ready to shoot out and pierce an enemy at any moment.
The next moment, the mist surged, and a strong wind swept through as a undead attacked first.
As expected, it was bounced back by the magic barrier and, before it could land, was struck by Luke's Petrificus Totalus.
Before Luke could cast another spell, three more undead rushed out of the mist, each holding a great sword imbued with curses and ill omens.
The undead were incredibly fast, reaching Luke in the blink of an eye, cleaving through one layer of the magic barrier with a single sword strike, and attempting to continue their attack.
"Petrificus Totalus! Petrificus Totalus! Petrificus Totalus!" Luke reacted swiftly, unleashing several spells in quick succession.
But these undead had clearly become smarter; except for one that was struck and petrified, the other two knew to dodge, quickly avoiding the spells.
However, before the two undead could gloat, the corpse creature ancient sword controlled by Luke turned into an afterimage, instantly piercing through the body of one undead.
The undead's body stiffened, and the next second it was struck by Luke's spell, its great sword disarmed.
The remaining undead couldn't escape; the disarmed great swords became Luke's most potent weapons, surrounding it from three sides with flying swords, instantly impaling it like a skewer. It, too, met the same end as the other undead.
After dealing with the last undead, Luke quickly cast several more Petrificus Totalus spells on it and the other undead to prevent them from breaking free again.
Then, just like with the first undead, he used their own swords against them, continuously hacking away at the undead' health bars with the corpse creature ancient sword. Finally, with several plumes of black mist shooting skyward, the undead fell lifelessly, quickly turning into piles of white bones.
Luke collected the corpse creature ancient swords. He had intended to speed up the process, but upon seeing some jewelry and accessories among the undead' burial goods, he paused and wrapped all the jewelry in old clothes.
He didn't touch them with his hands at any point, as these jewels, like the great swords, were cursed.
After securing the jewelry, Luke continued his journey without delay until he finally stopped before a tall tomb constructed of white marble.
"This must be it!" Luke looked at the map Tom had given him; the marked location was a white marble tomb.
The inscriptions on the tombstone had been corroded by time and were illegible, but the grand scale of the tomb still indicated the noble status of its occupant.
The entrance to the tomb was broken and blocked by many loose stones. Luke spent some effort to move these stones, revealing a dark and deep cave entrance.
"Sigh, I never thought I'd have a day where I become a tomb raider!" Luke sighed, then resolutely entered the tomb passage.
The tomb passage was spacious, wide enough for one person to walk upright. Luke waved his wand, and a ball of light flew from the tip, hovering in front of Luke and illuminating the entire passage.
Around Luke, four corpse creature ancient swords circled, ready to strike any undead that might rush out.
The tomb passage was long and winding. Luke walked for quite a while before finally arriving at the burial chamber.
The burial chamber was very spacious; apart from a stone coffin placed in the very center, there was nothing else.
What surprised Luke was that since entering the tomb, he hadn't encountered any attacks from undead.
This unusual situation didn't make Luke relax; instead, he became more vigilant.
He looked at the stone coffin.
Since there were no undead in the burial chamber, the only possible hiding place was this stone coffin.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
The stone coffin lid slowly moved. Without giving whatever was inside a chance to jump out, Luke immediately cast several Petrificus Totalus spells into the gap of the stone coffin. Only after confirming that the contents inside couldn't move did he completely remove the stone coffin lid.
Illuminated by the Lumos spell, the undead lying in the coffin revealed its face: hideous and ugly, with dry, decaying skin tightly clinging to its skull, and a pair of cold, bloodthirsty black eyes flickering with eerie, faint light.
Had it not been for Luke's Petrificus Totalus, it probably would have rushed out of the stone coffin to harm him the moment the lid was opened.
Moreover, this undead's attire was different from the previous undead he had seen; it wore a silver, gem-encrusted crown on its head, was adorned with many precious jewels and accessories, and a chilling great sword was placed on its chest.
"Alas, to find no peace even after death, what a pitiful fellow!" Luke felt sympathy for this undead in the coffin.
As far as he knew, this undead should be the last prince of the Kingdom of Cardolan, who was killed in the defensive battle against the Witch-king of Angmar, and whose corpse was then turned into a undead by the Witch-king of Angmar—truly tragic!
"Never mind, since I'm such a good person, I'll help you find release!" Luke said, then first disarmed him of his great sword, and then, controlling the five corpse creature ancient swords, gave him the 'myriad swords piercing the heart' service.
But just as Luke was about to finish off the undead, a burst of dark power erupted from its body, instantly breaking free from the spell's restraint.
The undead's eyes turned blood red, burning like hellfire, emitting an evil, negative power that could induce fear, despair, unconsciousness, and even death.
The undead's angry eyes stared fixedly at Luke, and a dry, hoarse, chilling voice emanated from its throat: "Who are you? How dare you strike down the servant of the great Witch-king!"
Enveloped by the dark power, Luke felt a suffocating sensation, and a strong wave of negative emotions surged within him. He was involuntarily surrounded by fear and despair, and the several corpse creature ancient swords he controlled swayed precariously.
Luke bit his tongue hard, the intense pain temporarily freeing him from these negative emotions. He then waved his wand with the rhythm of conducting music, and golden musical notes popped out from the wand tip, as cheerful music echoed through the burial chamber.
The joyful emotions brought by the music magic instantly suppressed the negative power emanating from the undead.
Taking advantage of the undead's momentary Stunned, Luke once again unleashed his full power, "Petrificus Totalus!" A dazzling white light struck the undead, petrifying it once more.
Then, without giving the opponent time to break free, the five corpse creature ancient swords delivered the final blow, directly piercing through the undead's head.
Unwillingness flickered in the undead's red eyes, then completely extinguished, leaving only a chilling voice echoing in the burial chamber: "I'll remember you, Wizard…"
The black mist within the undead dissipated, and its corpse instantly decayed into a pile of white bones.