Chapter 171: The Death Monarch

"This is..."

"This is the Gate to the Afterlife."

In the dimly lit space, the flickering lights illuminated the stone gate before them.

The stone gate was exceptionally massive, giving the impression of a portal to another world.

It bore a '回' shaped pattern and was inscribed with religious scriptures.

Dr. Nick, holding a magnifying glass, scanned the scriptures and exclaimed excitedly, "There's no mistake."

"This is a Gate to the Afterlife. According to ancient Egyptian legends, passing through this gate leads one to the afterlife."

Survival expert Charlie chuckled, "So if we walk through it now, can we go to the future?"

"The Gate to the Afterlife is not the Gate to the Future."

Amy corrected him, "The ancient Egyptians believed that after death, one must pass through the Gate to the Afterlife to be reincarnated as a human."

"Not to travel to the future."

Computer expert Kelly marveled, "Dr. Nick's intuition was spot on this time. We didn't even need to investigate to find this place."

Dr. Nick looked slightly embarrassed and coughed twice, "I was just lucky."

He didn't mention that it was Azu's reminder.

He trusted the judgment of the Patriot, which led him to find the hidden entrance beneath a cliff and discover this 'Gate to the Afterlife.'

Captain Hank touched the stone gate and said, "This is extremely hard granite. Should we blow it open?"

Dr. Nick was startled, "No, no, no, that's not necessary."

He explained, "This is a tomb door. There should be a mechanism to open it. Let me look for it..."

Azu had no interest in waiting for the doctor to slowly explore. While everyone's attention was focused on the 'Gate to the Afterlife,' he phased through the rock and entered the world beyond the gate.

Behind the gate was a staircase leading underground, also made of granite. Despite the passage of time, it showed no significant signs of erosion.

It largely retained its original appearance, descending deep into the earth as if leading to hell.

Azu strode downward, taking out the 'Darkhold' and flipping to the page on 'Necromancy.'

He placed his hand on the page filled with mysterious symbols and patterns. Immediately, the page began to emit a pale green flame.

These flames surged out of the page, swirling around Azu and quickly forming complex symbols.

The symbols connected to form patterns, which in turn created intricate designs.

These designs linked together to form a vast, glowing green magical array.

This enormous array, radiating a pale green light, illuminated the underground world in an eerie green hue.

Azu stood at the center of this array, his face illuminated to a ghostly pallor, resembling a demon freshly emerged from hell.

Then, with a hum, the array shattered, and each symbol and pattern burst into pale green flames.

Billions of flames scattered into the darkness.

Moments later.

A grayish-white head emerged from the stone steps before Azu.

Then the head rose, and a figure climbed out from the steps.

It was a mummy, but its body was ethereal, lacking substance.

The edges of its body emitted wisps of gray smoke, dissipating into the air.

This was a wraith.

Subsequently, similar wraiths continuously emerged around Azu.

Many were mummies, but among them were also locals wearing strange attire.

There were thin-cheeked women, emaciated men whose ribs were visible, and hunched elderly people.

Azu's 'Necromancy' had awakened the dead of this region, summoning them forth and placing them under his control through magic.

Azu sensed it.

What these wraiths could see, hear, and feel.

He could share in all of it.

With so many wraiths here, the amount of shared information was naturally overwhelming.

Fortunately, Azu had a 'Quantum Split Brain,' which could handle this information.

Otherwise, just sharing the wraiths' information would have overwhelmed his mind.

Azu didn't need to speak; with a single thought, the wraiths scattered.

They became his eyes and ears, scouting the underground for him.

Soon, Azu discovered that the stone steps led to a vast, open space at the bottom.

Not a complex cave system, but a flat, clearly man-made space.

At the far end of this space stood a pyramid.

Unlike the one discovered in central Jordan.

This pyramid was not just its top above ground.

The entire structure was located on the flat ground of the underground space.

At the base of the pyramid was a heavy double-door stone gate, flanked by columns supporting the lintel.

Above the gate was a statue of a pharaoh, though Azu didn't know which one.

Moments later.

Azu arrived at the heavy stone gate, where wraiths continuously entered and exited. Some stood nearby, heads bowed but fingers pointing at the gate, as if guiding Azu.

Azu phased through the gate effortlessly, not wasting time or energy to push it open.

Though it would have taken him only a moment.

Inside the gate was a deep, dark space. Azu's eyes glowed with light.

Immediately, he could see the scene within.

Behind the gate was a passage, neither wide nor narrow, leading to a high-backed chair.

It was placed on a raised platform.

There stood a statue of a dog-headed figure holding a sickle, the Egyptian god of death: Anubis.

Behind the statue and the chair was a towering double-door gate, adorned with intricate patterns and ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.

Azu materialized and walked toward the end of the passage.

Suddenly, he noticed the statue in the high-backed chair tremble slightly.

Then it shook, dislodging dust.

Next, the statue, which had sat in darkness for countless centuries, began to move.

Simultaneously, information appeared on Azu's retina.

[You have actively triggered an encounter event.]

[Event Name: Ancient Secrets. Necromancer.]

[Description: This is the tomb of Tutanbekhen, a elder of the 'Undying Empire,' a powerful sorcerer skilled in necromancy. He used his magic to bind his long-dead servants to serve him eternally. Now, you have disturbed his tomb guardians!]

[Event Requirement: Use magic to raze this tomb.]

[Event Start!]

Azu was momentarily stunned.

"Use magic to raze this tomb?"

He then smiled.

"This is interesting."

Meanwhile.

At the top level of the tomb, in the main chamber, a golden coffin began to shake.

Then the lid cracked open, and from the dark gap, a black, viscous liquid oozed out.

At the same time, a skeletal hand emerged from the liquid.

*

*

*

Before the Gate to the Afterlife.

Click.

A soft sound.

In the center of the '回' shaped stone gate, a block of granite slid back, revealing a gap wide enough for one person to pass through.

"Success."

Assistant Vic exclaimed excitedly.

The others also cheered.

Computer expert Kelly wiped her sweat. On her computer was a 3D model of the 'Gate to the Afterlife.'

From the model, it was clear that the gate had a complex mechanism, which was discovered using sonar equipment and then replicated by Kelly in a 3D model on her computer.

This made it easier for Dr. Nick to decipher the true method to open the tomb door.

"Well done."

"Now we can enter."

"I can't wait to see what's inside."

An archaeology team member was visibly excited and eager.

As the team leader, Hank was not impulsive: "Wait, let's see what's inside first."

He took out a metal ball resembling a grenade, activated some functions, and then threw the ball inside.

The metal ball quickly rolled into the darkness.

The captain then looked at the tactical computer on his wrist, which displayed some data.

"Good, no toxins in the air."

"Oxygen levels are sufficient. It seems there's either a vast space inside or a ventilation system."

After checking some parameters, Hank said, "Tiger and I will go in first, followed by the doctor and the archaeology team."

"Tank, Robin, you guys bring up the rear."

"Kama, you go with the doctor and Mr. John."

After assigning roles, Hank was about to enter the gate when Kama exclaimed, "Mr. John is gone."

"What!"

Hank turned sharply, shining his flashlight toward the archaeology team.

One by one, he scanned them, and indeed, the blond man was nowhere to be seen.

Dr. Nick's assistant, Vic, whispered, "Didn't the guide say that those who enter Devil's Valley never return?"

"Could it be that they just disappear like this?"

Amy glared at him, "Shut your jinxing mouth."

Then she added, "Mr. John will be fine."

Dr. Nick coughed and said, "Let's go. Don't worry about John; he can take care of himself."

"What we should worry about is ourselves."

The old doctor recalled the bloody experience in the last pyramid.

Now that the Patriot wasn't with them.

They were indeed the ones who should be worried.

Hank looked at the old man, "Are you sure?"

Dr. Nick nodded, "Absolutely."

Hank shrugged, "Alright then."

"Let's proceed as I said."

He and Tiger entered the gate first, followed by Dr. Nick, Amy, Kama, and the others.

Bald Tank and sniper Robin brought up the rear.

The team passed through the 'Gate to the Afterlife' and arrived at the stone steps beyond.

Hank attached his flashlight to his rifle, then held the rifle in a ready-to-shoot position.

He descended step by step.

"Everyone, be careful."

"If there's any danger, we retreat immediately."

As he spoke, Hank suddenly saw.

In the light, a figure appeared a dozen steps below.

It was a woman.

Standing beside the steps.

Her head was bowed, and she raised her hand, making a 'stop' gesture.

Then she flickered.

And disappeared from the steps.

Seeing this.

Even hardened mercenaries like Hank felt a chill down their spines.

Let alone the others.

"What was that?"

"A ghost?"

"Should we turn back?"

The archaeology team members began to have second thoughts.

*

*

*

Inside the pyramid.

Azu saw the frightened faces of Hank and the others flash before his eyes, and he smiled.

He had sent a wraith to warn the team.

To keep them from descending.

Whether they heeded the warning was up to them; he had warned them out of goodwill, considering their pleasant interactions over the past few days.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have bothered.

Now, he saw wraiths continuously entering the 'Anubis.'

It wasn't actually 'Anubis,' but a mummy wearing a dog-headed mask.

Likely the work of that Tutanbekhen.

A corpse reanimated by magic.

Now, the wraiths Azu had awakened entered the mummy and controlled it, using its own sickle to cut off the dog head.

The dog head rolled to Azu's feet.

Azu stepped on it, then saw the mummy's body collapse.

A scarab crawled out from within.

Normal scarabs are black, but this one was white.

And its shell bore patterns resembling a human face, quite eerie.

It flapped its wings, flew into the air, and after a moment, disintegrated into white sand, scattering to the ground.

"Some kind of medium?"

Azu looked at the scarab powder on the ground, deep in thought.

He walked to the mummy's corpse, pondered, and then took out the 'Darkhold.'

The black, sinister tome was opened by Azu.

As the pages flipped, black mist naturally rose from the book, sparkling with tiny flames.

Azu flipped to the page on 'Creating Abominations.'

The mysterious symbols on this page continuously emitted illusory dark green mist, which occasionally formed a horrifically twisted face, seemingly hating all living things.

Azu placed his hand on the page, activating the magic.

Instantly, the dark green mist, which had been slowly dispersing, began to boil.

It surged into the air, then roared down, infusing the mummy on the ground.

The mummy convulsed violently, its dried corpse suddenly regenerating flesh, its form rapidly expanding.

Immediately, the bandages either snapped or unraveled, revealing grayish-white, lifeless skin.

At the same time, the head that had fallen nearby also began to tremble.

Suddenly, the Anubis mask cracked, and a swollen man's head emerged from within.

It looked like a middle-aged man with deep nasolabial folds.

One eye bulged from its socket, rolling around.

Teeth protruded from his lips, exposing sharp fangs to the air.

Red tendrils grew from the neck of the head, moving like octopus tentacles.

They dragged the head toward the body.

The mummy's bloated body crawled out, not only obese like a large man.

But also mutated.

Its left arm grew thick and large, with bones piercing through the skin, transforming into an axe-like shape.

Its right arm split into two, one normal, the other shorter.

Both right arms, like the left, had bones protruding, morphing into a bone hammer and a white bone blade.

From the corpse's belly, ribs emerged, interlocking like a closed mouth.

At this moment.

The head had crawled to the neck, the tendrils burrowing into the neck, fusing together.

But the face was turned backward, so the 'Abomination' raised its right arm, using the bone hammer to adjust its head.

Turning it to face forward.

Then it let out a roar, about to charge out of the pyramid, clearly sensing the presence of Dr. Nick and the others.

Fortunately, it was bound by magic, and Azu had absolute control over it.

Azu issued a command, and the Abomination stopped. Its single eye brimmed with malice, its face filled with unwillingness, but it turned around and ran on its thick legs.

Like a tank, it charged into the gate at the end of the passage.

Soon.

The gate echoed with the roars of other monsters.

Azu calmly walked forward.

The wraiths he controlled surged into the gate like a tide, joining the battle to cleanse the tomb.

Azu did not intervene.

First, the event required him to use magic to raze the tomb.

Second, he wanted to see what the wraiths and the Abomination were capable of.

Admittedly.

The elder of the 'Undying Empire' had left many monsters in his tomb, including numerous mummy zombies and animal zombies.

One could imagine.

Without Azu's presence, Dr. Nick and his team would likely have met a gruesome end in this pyramid.

But now, the monsters were being slaughtered.

Originally, Azu thought the wraiths were only useful as scouts, but now he discovered they had other offensive capabilities.

Besides possession.

These wraiths had other abilities.

One was telekinesis; they could move objects with their minds, like ghosts and spirits in movies.

Thus, the mummy zombies or animal zombies would inexplicably fly away, or cold weapons in the tomb would suddenly fly out and pierce the zombies' heads.

Another was cryogenic attacks; they could exhale freezing winds from their mouths.

These winds affected even zombies and animal zombies; when hit by the wraiths' icy breath, their bodies would frost over, slowing their movements.

The wraiths' most violent method was self-destruction.

They would possess a target, then detonate their spectral forms, creating massive destructive force and shockwaves.

A single wraith bomb could reduce zombies and animal zombies to dust.

Compared to the wraiths, the Abomination clearly preferred physical methods.

It would use its immense strength to cleave targets in half or smash them into pulp.

Its mental corruption had no effect on these mummy zombies and animal zombies.

But as it moved, it emitted clouds of pale green mist.

This was 'Corrosive Poison Mist,' which caused the zombies' bodies to rot, turning them into mush within moments.

The Abomination could also actively use this ability; the ribs on its belly would spread apart, splitting the skin, and from within, it would spew a green poison mist.

It would sweep this mist around, creating a wide area of corrosion, but this drained its energy.

After using such an attack, it would grab nearby corpses and throw them into its belly, digesting them to replenish its energy.

To Azu, the Abomination was like a degraded version of Doomsday.

Unless completely destroyed, it would fight endlessly.

And unlike Doomsday, as long as there were corpses on the battlefield, Azu could continuously create Abominations.

Like today.

The corpses along the way were all used by Azu to create Abominations.

Using the wraiths and Abominations to sweep through the tomb, Azu, like a Death Monarch, gradually made his way to the top of the pyramid.

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