A week later!
"Respected Magner! This is the resting place of the gods, you cannot go in! Even someone as powerful as you may encounter disaster if you enter!"
Na stood at the entrance of the passage and said to Mark, her emotions agitated. She seemed to have foreseen something terrible, so she stopped Mark from entering.
Early this morning, Mark suddenly announced that he wanted to enter this cave to investigate. Upon hearing this news, Na had been acting strangely all the way here, and then she suddenly burst out here.
Mark felt the faint magical fluctuations on her body, knowing that she must have been bewitched by that succubus again last night, so he said to her:
"The Child of the Forest you mentioned! I also met her in my dream last night. It was she who told me that she was in danger! So, what I have to do now is to 'save' her!"
After Na heard Mark's words, she stood still, stunned. She felt that Mark was deceiving her, but after all, Mark was also the object of her allegiance. She had already made a vow in her heart, so in the end, she could only choose to trust Mark.
Seeing that she didn't continue to stop him, Mark immediately began to arrange personnel. This time, they formed an expedition team of more than 100 people, and Lauren Hawk-eye and Wolf Fang were left here by Mark. Because he was afraid that these barbarians would treat Mark as a slave trader, Mark arranged in advance to send the old, weak, and infirm to Griffin Fortress. The two of them had to stay behind to organize the transportation of personnel.
However, when Mark brought up this issue, some of the wildlings still fled. But as batches of food and clothing arrived, many wildlings who yearned for "freedom" gave up the restlessness in their hearts.
Mark's actions during this period gradually made the wildlings believe in him. Many believed Mark's words, convinced that he was different from those slave traders. If Mark truly intended to deceive the wildlings and sell them, he wouldn't have wasted so much food and effort.
After removing the wooden fence and stones at the entrance of the cave, Mark and his people began exploring this mysterious area. The Yuliang Wood above the cave was swaying in the wind, and a strange face was dripping with crimson tree sap, looking as if it were weeping blood!
Mark's Brute Soldiers held torches and led the way. The depths of the cave seemed to have a wind blowing outwards, and the torches in the soldiers' hands were flickering in the wind, but they could still be used. Moreover, a benefit of using torches was that they could test the oxygen concentration!
For this cave exploration, Mark had specially prepared Whale Oil Glass Lamps and enchanted Obsidian. Obsidian Candles were special magical items from the Valyrian era. With the help of the system's magic, Mark deduced a part of the Obsidian Candle's creation method. However, so far, he could only make glass candles for illumination, and he couldn't reach the legendary level!
The further down he went, the more Mark could feel that cold and strange magic fluctuation. It seemed that this underground cave was filled with the aura of that female demon. The water dripping from the stalactites fell like raindrops, causing the torches to sizzle and crackle!
After walking for a while, Mark suddenly felt a magic fluctuation coming from a certain area. Strange calls and roars suddenly appeared around everyone. About three minutes later, Ghouls with blue eyes appeared in several passages in front of Mark and his people.
"Defend! Form ranks! Obsidian!"
Sas Ting's shout caused the Brute Soldiers in the circular formation to brace themselves, firmly holding their Tower Shields. With a violent impact, the first wave of Ghouls crashed against the shields. The Brute Soldiers in the front row began to struggle against the Ghouls, grappling with the creatures amidst the impacts and pulls.
"Spears ready, thrust! Kill!"
The Brute Soldiers thrust the two-meter-long Obsidian spears from the gaps in their Tower Shields. The spear array, composed of Obsidian spears, resembled a solid wall, preventing the Ghouls from getting close. The magical energy radiating from the Obsidian made them instinctively wary.
This shield formation was designed by Mark, mimicking the Macedonian Phalanx from his previous life. He designed it specifically to deal with these Ghouls and maximize the killing power of the Obsidian spears. In this confined space, the formation's power was well-displayed.
The dense swarm of Ghouls was quickly eliminated by the Brute Soldiers, leaving only a layer of decaying ash. However, while this problem was solved…
Mark looked at the several tunnel entrances before him, a sense of difficulty rising within him. Each entrance emitted that familiar energy fluctuation, disrupting his senses. In the end, he followed the faint, almost imperceptible guidance in his heart, and entered the second cave on the left.
As Mark and his companions went deeper, an even larger cavern suddenly appeared before them. The first thing that caught their eyes was a massive stone door, seemingly carved with various figures. But the passage of time had taken its toll, and they could only vaguely make out that the carvings depicted people. What the carvings described was impossible to discern.
Looking further ahead, Mark used Soul Link to continuously perceive. He discovered that this was actually the ruins of an ancient city. Everywhere his eyes landed, there were broken walls and remnants. The strange, cold aura permeated the air, indicating that Mark was getting closer and closer to his goal.
At that moment, Mark suddenly felt something, and he frowned slightly, saying to Brinden beside him:
"It seems the master of this city isn't very welcoming! They've sent people to greet us so quickly!"
As soon as Mark finished speaking, everyone heard a series of strange footsteps. The sounds came from all directions, one after another, a bit like the sound of stone scraping against the ground.
Following that, strange creatures made of stone appeared before everyone's eyes. These monsters looked as if they were made entirely of stone, but upon closer inspection, one would find that their joints seemed to be connected by pieces of flesh and blood. Vein-like things covered the surface of these stone people, seemingly providing them with the power to move forward.
Behind these stone people were several giant lizards made of stone, appearing full of power and seemingly very strong. However, these monsters moved slowly, giving Mark and his companions time to prepare.
Seeing the approaching stone people and stone lizards, Mark directly ordered Brinden to attack. The intermediate destructive magic, Thunderbolt, was unleashed from Brinden's hands. Mark needed to test the strength of these creatures first to formulate a corresponding strategy.
A massive bolt of lightning suddenly appeared from the void, slamming heavily into the midst of these stone people. The immense destructive power directly split five stone people into black ash, and the spreading electric arcs also disabled four other stone people.
Mark estimated the damage and found that these stone people actually had the strength of around a Level 2 soldier. He decisively ordered everyone to retreat, intending to use the narrow passage behind them to snipe the enemy.
In the narrow passage, the Brute Soldiers' dense formation of spears successfully fended off the Stone Golems' charge. Taking a chance, Mark opened his spellbook and found the warcry spell, "Fear Howl."
"ROAR!"
A human face composed of crimson energy roared at the Stone Golems. The crimson energy spread outwards like ripples in water. After being struck by this energy, some of the Stone Golems began to tremble violently, and waves of black energy dissipated from their bodies.
Through his necromancer abilities, Mark saw the distorted wraiths in the air. Seeing that the spell had an effect, Mark urgently shouted to Moonshadow:
"Quick! Moonshadow, now!"
Upon hearing Mark's call, Moonshadow immediately began to sing an ancient ballad. The mournful song seemed to stir something within the Stone Golems' bodies, causing them to tremble. Often, they would shatter into a pile of stones even before the Brute Soldiers could attack.
The Brute Soldiers fought with increasing vigor, eliminating all the Stone Golems that surrounded them. The Stone Lizards were even more vulnerable. The black energy on their bodies was consumed the fastest. Just as Mark was about to focus his attack on them, these massive Stone Lizards broke into several pieces.
After eliminating the remaining stone statues, Mark and his group arrived in front of a stone chamber. As the Brute Soldiers pushed open the door, a strong stench of corpses wafted out. Within sight, there were only the small skeletons of humans. These humans had died with immense resentment. Through his necromancer skills, Mark saw the intense death energy on these skeletons and some wraiths hiding in the dark corners.
Mark had initially planned to summon a Hades Banshee, but he abandoned the idea after sensing a certain mission objective.
At this moment, in the center of the stone chamber, stood a crystal over three meters tall. Inside, a humanoid creature seemed to be encased. Through the soul link, Mark saw the figure.
She seemed to be the main body of the demon from the consciousness world; a distorted visage, with haphazardly grown scales and bone spurs. Coupled with her curvaceous figure, she even looked a little "charming." This bizarre style made Mark's eyelids twitch. He couldn't believe he'd thought the demoness looked good in the consciousness world!
Seeing the real deal, Mark decisively ordered his magical troops to attack: Naxius's "Chain Fireball," Brinden's "Thunderbolt," Mark's own "Thunderbolt," and Moonshadow's "Mountain Peaks Disturbance."
After the barrage of magical attacks, the crystal didn't budge, only swaying slightly, as if mocking their ignorance!
Mark's expression stiffened at the sight. He first ordered a Brute Soldier to attack the crystal, and after confirming there was no danger, he had the surrounding Brute Soldiers swarm the crystal, attempting to push it over.
However, over ninety Brute Soldiers struggled for over half an hour without moving the crystal an inch.
"Useless! You foolish mortals! The majesty of the gods is unshakable! Once I recover, I will torture you to death! I will make your souls wail ceaselessly in the Trembling Sea!"
A voice filled with endless resentment suddenly appeared in everyone's minds. Her terrifying voice seemed to have a magical power, causing a hint of fear and retreat to rise in their hearts.
Seeing this, Mark immediately used the "Blessing Ritual." After the appearance of the giant angel's light and shadow, it immediately dispelled the fear in everyone's hearts!
At this moment, the female demon roared, and a huge pressure spread from the vicinity of the crystal, forcing everyone present to take a step back!
"Give up! I am a deity blessed by the Lord of the Stars! You ants cannot harm me!"
The voice of the female demon suddenly appeared in everyone's minds again, full of pride and self-satisfaction!
"Blessed? So, that means it's been enhanced with some magic, right? I wonder if that move will work? Moonshadow! Naxius! 'Magic Purification'!"
Magic Purification (Magic Purification, consumes 10 magic points, dispels positive magic on enemy troops and negative magic on friendly troops. The caster's level will be checked during dispelling, so low-level casters will find it difficult to dispel magic cast by high-level casters.) Original: 40% dispel chance.
Basic: 60% dispel chance.
Advanced: 80% dispel chance.
Expert: 100% dispel chance.
Two transparent beams of energy successively appeared around the crystal. They formed an even more powerful energy pillar, which was slowly devouring the crystal. The crystal was also disappearing bit by bit under the effect of this light.
At this moment, the female demon finally began to fear. She shouted in a voice that betrayed her fear:
"Stop! I command you to stop! I swear I will kill you, I..."
As she continued to rant, her words became incoherent. She knew that Mark's target was her, and she was terrified. She hadn't experienced the feeling of death in many years, and her power hadn't recovered. This female demon could also feel a terrifying power emanating from Mark.
Mark suddenly produced a burning greatsword in his hand. He swung it with all his might, putting all his strength into slamming the sword down onto the crystal.
After a series of cracking sounds, the female demon fell heavily to the ground. Mark, holding "Flame Dragon's Tongue," walked towards her step by step.
"Don't kill me! Don't! Uh..."
The female demon gasped for breath, desperately begging Mark.
But before she could finish speaking, Mark's sword pierced her mouth. The flames attached to "Flame Dragon's Tongue" immediately ignited her head, and the fire grew stronger and stronger, burning her to ashes.
At this moment, Mark, holding the longsword, frowned slightly. He found that there was still no system prompt. Just as he turned his gaze towards the charred corpse, the corpse suddenly transformed into a black energy, expanding significantly. Strange bones were covered with charred flesh, looking very disgusting!
"Roar!"
The monster let out a strange cry and charged towards Mark. Mark raised Flame Dragon's Tongue and slashed at it. After passing by, Mark found that the monster hadn't suffered any damage.
This guy's body seemed to be somewhere between real and illusory. Although Mark's Flame Dragon's Tongue was a magic weapon, it still couldn't harm it!