After the rebellion, Allen and Arcadia fled the camp overnight, hiding in the dense forest.
Until the mercenaries sent by Hessen to search for them retreated.
At dawn, the mercenaries left the camp and forced Dr. Morgan to lead the way, searching for the ancient naga tomb.
Five days later.
Alan and Arcadia followed the mercenaries into a vast canyon submerged in the jungle.
The naga ancestral tomb, carved into the deepest part of the canyon, spiraled downward.
A cross-section of the tomb's passage resembled a coiled serpent.
Pale skeletons lay scattered along the path.
There were human remains, birds, and beasts, all the remains of those who had been buried alive with the dead.
The evil naga spirits used human sacrifice as a way to show off the tomb owner's wealth and power.
Arcadia was quite critical of this.
In her time, human sacrifice was widely considered an inhumane act, practically extinct in the civilized world.
Allen, on the other hand, was not surprised.
In today's sorcerer world, human sacrifice is widespread.
When a sorcerer master from a prominent family dies, it's common for him to bury a group of slaves of lowly descent alive.
In life, they are masters; in death, they remain masters.
Born a slave, and in death, they must serve as servants in the underworld.
—This is how most sorcerers believe it.
Allen and Arcadia met in the Meditation World.
In fact, Allen lived more than a thousand years later than Arcadia.
With the passage of time, the sorcerer world's level of civilization and morality has not improved, but has actually declined significantly!
The aristocratic caste system, where bloodline reigns supreme, is truly barbaric and cruel.
…
Continuing along the serpentine tomb passage, the sounds of fighting could be heard faintly ahead.
Alan and Arcadia simultaneously detected danger signals.
Alan detected a strong venom reaction.
Arcadia detected the presence of the undead.
Her Level 0 magic, "Detect Undead," was similar to Allen's "Detect Virus." When activated, it could sense negative energy fluctuations within a 30-meter radius.
Negative energy is pure death magic.
Areas rich in negative energy are often inhabited by the undead.
Alan and Arcadia exchanged a glance, both wary.
Intense negative energy and level 3 snake venom were simultaneously concentrated on a single target.
This was interesting...
Filled with nervousness and curiosity, the two men stepped lightly and searched forward. In the dim tomb, two mercenaries engaged in a fierce battle.
The mercenaries' opponents were their former comrades, now transformed into zombies.
Four zombies surrounded the two wounded mercenaries.
When Allen and Arcadia arrived, the battle was over.
The two mercenaries lay in a pool of blood.
One of them had been gnawed by zombies until his bones were exposed.
"Disgusting!"
Arcadia gritted her teeth and swung her sword, releasing a silver ray.
A flash of sword energy!
A zombie was severed in half.
Its upper body, its intestines dragging, still crawling.
"The wounded soldier over there isn't dead yet. Treat him."
Allen instructed Arcadia and leaped into the tomb.
In his leopard form, Allen's running speed nearly doubled.
The sluggish zombies barely had time to react before being knocked down by punches and kicks imbued with "Bone-Breaking Explosion."
"Aman!"
Arcadia chanted the spell symbolizing "protection."
Raising his hand, he pointed, and the wounded soldier sitting against the wall was enveloped in a golden shield.
Under the protection of the first-level "Sanctuary" spell, as long as he didn't proactively attack, he would generally be immune to monster attacks.
Undead creatures, in particular, feared the sacred aura emanating from the "Sanctuary" spell and avoided it as much as possible.
After dispatching the four zombies with ease, Allen reached the dying soldier.
He inquired about what had happened in the mausoleum and why his companion had become a zombie.
The wounded soldier spoke a few halting words before dying.
Arcadia had already cast a "healing spell" on him.
Unfortunately, his internal organs were severely damaged, and he couldn't be saved.
"The curse of the Naga Mistress..." Allen sighed, "It has finally come true."
Before dying, the wounded soldier revealed that they had followed Captain Hesse and Dr. Morgan into this underground mausoleum.
The doctor had repeatedly warned Hesse not to break the magical seal on the mausoleum's gate.
However, the mercenary captain, blinded by greed, ignored the warnings and broke in anyway.
Soon after, the mercenary team was attacked by undead creatures.
After the death of the spirit naga, the skeleton naga they transformed into was even more terrifying than in life!
The most powerful of all undead monsters was a transformation of the Naga Mistress.
This mad temptress transformed herself and her closest associates into undead, thus fulfilling her ambition of "immortality."
After a skirmish, the mercenary group was defeated and scattered.
The wounded soldier and his teammates planned to escape the Naga Ancestral Tomb along the same route.
However, their fallen teammates were resurrected by the Naga Mistress's spell, transformed into zombies, and pursued them.
The two fought and fled, ultimately collapsing from their wounds.
"It seems the trouble is greater than we imagined," Arcadia said grimly. "Besides Heisen's gang, I'm afraid the Skeleton Naga won't be polite to us either."
Her concerns were quickly realized.
Swish...
Swish...
A sharp scraping sound came from the opposite side of the tomb.
A bony, snake-like body wriggled through the tomb passage, blocking the exit.
The Skeleton Naga, with its long, withered hair, draped in the wind.
Slowly raising its head, it revealed a skeletal face! Deep within her eye sockets, two pale balls of soul fire flickered.
She glared fiercely at the outsider.
"Evil spirit! May you rest in peace!"
Arcadia uttered a trembling prayer, as if to embolden herself.
Her hands were decisive, as she drew her sword and swung it with a gleam of cold light!
Clang!
The sword energy, like a silver moon, pierced the air and slashed through the skeleton naga, shaving only a fragment of bone.
Arcadia frowned, realizing that the sword energy was ineffective against such a skeleton.
She quickly sheathed her sword and stepped back, chanting a spell.
"Rúnya!"
A pillar of golden fire descended from the sky.
It struck the skeleton naga's head, interrupting her flight.
"Holy Fire" combined fire and light elements, the latter dealing double damage to the undead.
Unfortunately, it was only a 0-level spell.
It was too low-ranked; even if its power was doubled, it would still be far from enough to instantly kill the Skeleton Naga.
Meanwhile, the Skeleton Naga shook its skull, replacing the chanting of incantations with a strange hissing airflow.
His eyes widened, and a cyan glow erupted from his eye sockets.
Arcadia's body trembled, and she froze!
A strong sense of numbness enveloped her, making it impossible to move a finger!
Hound Step!
Alan flashed, blocking Arcadia's path.
Bang!
The Skeleton Naga was kicked back by him, tumbling into the tomb passage, scattering broken bones along the way.
With Allen's physique, a kick imbued with "Bone-Breaking Explosion" landed with a powerful kick...
Even a one-meter-thick concrete pillar would have been shattered instantly!
The Skeleton Naga's skeletal form provided excellent protection against sharp weapons like swords and knives.
Kicks and punches, blunt attacks, could easily break her defenses.
Alan didn't pursue the Skeleton Naga that had fallen back into the tomb passage, for he could hear the rustling of bones rubbing against the stone wall behind him!
Another Skeleton Naga crawled in from the tomb entrance, glaring at Allen, its eye sockets emitting icy blue rays.
Protected by his "iron bones," Allen withstood the "freeze ray" without batting an eyelid.
However, in a moment of resistance, the Skeleton Naga had already entangled Arcadia.
The skeleton's mouth grimaced, its gums oozing with poison as it bit fiercely into the girl's fair, pink neck! Alan decisively bent down and crouched on the ground, transforming into a black panther.
With a clang, he pounced!
The most obvious difference between the three forms of the panther-man is speed.
Human form has no speed bonus.
Panther-man form is twice as fast as human form.
Black panther form is the most exaggerated, almost tripling its speed!
The speed of a panther!
Hound stride!
The combined speed of the two was so fast that even Alan could barely control it!
Like a streak of black lightning, he slammed straight into the skeleton naga.
Bang!
The skeleton naga stumbled, bones flying everywhere!
Coming to his senses, he discovered that the girl in his arms had left, replaced by a black panther.
The Skeleton Naga's brain had long since dried up, its intelligence degenerated. Too lazy to think, it bit down fiercely on the Black Panther's neck.
With a snap, before the poison could be injected...
The entire mouth of her gums shattered into bone fragments.
The 4th-level body-refining secret technique, "Steel Bones," was truly overbearing!
At the same time, Arcadia finally broke free from the "Immobilization Spell."
Not bothering to draw her sword, she struck the Skeleton Naga's spine with her bare hands!
A soft halo emanated from her fingers; it was a 1st-level "Healing Spell"!
"Healing Spell" invokes positive energy, the very opposite of the negative energy that creates the undead!
This spell, used to heal the living, could also be used to kill the dead.
The Skeleton Naga's thick spine crumbled under the touch of the girl's slender, positively charged hand. With a snap, it snapped in half.
Alan stood up, transforming back into his leopard-man form.
He aimed at the Skeleton Naga's head and stomped down hard!
Puff!
The skull shattered with a resounding thud.
Even after eliminating one Skeleton Naga, the danger wasn't over yet.
A chilling rustling sound filled the tomb passage, front and back.
The sounds of fighting in the tomb were attracting more Skeleton Nagas.
Being trapped in a narrow tomb by so many Skeleton Nagas was no joke!
Alan picked up Arcadia and charged into the tomb passage ahead.
The Skeleton Naga he had kicked earlier stood in the way, shaking its head and tail, casting a spell.
Alan ran at full speed.
"Get out of here!"
Before she could finish her spell, he launched a flying kick.
Bang!
Second goal.
The Skeleton Naga was sent flying again.
This time, her head was shattered, and she couldn't get up.
Arcadia, held in Allen's arms, wasn't idle either. She quickly made a casting gesture and chanted an incantation.
A dark, cold magical barrier enveloped the two of them.
The surrounding Skeleton Naga watched Allen fly by, brushing past without even giving chase.
It was as if he and Arcadia didn't even exist.
Alan sprinted at full speed, quickly leaving the Skeleton Naga behind.
Arriving at a secluded tomb, he confirmed that no undead were roaming around, and finally, with a sigh of relief, released the girl from his arms.
"What spell did you just cast?" Allen asked Arcadia. "It actually made the undead invisible to us."
"Actually, it's called 'Undead Ignorance,'" Arcadia explained in a low voice.
"This first-level spell can increase the concentration of negative energy around us and block out the presence of life."
"Undead creatures rely entirely on detecting life to locate their prey, so they're fooled by this spell and mistaken for fellow undead."
"Of course, this deception doesn't always work."
"If we actively attack the undead, or if their mental power is greater than mine, we'll be exposed."
Alan nodded and asked, "Why didn't you use such a useful spell sooner to save yourself the trouble?"
"Uh..." Arcadia scratched her head and laughed awkwardly. "I was so scared earlier, and just remembered I had this trick."
"Snap!"
Alan tapped the angel's head. "Can't you keep more useful things in your little head?"
Arcadia rubbed her forehead, pouted, and looked aggrieved.
"Actually... dear, you're always on my mind!"
Alan's mouth twitched.
"... just pretend I didn't say anything."
...
In the tomb, a skeleton naga lay coiled.
Around her stood three zombies, all dressed as mercenaries, their bodies still stained with blood.
As soon as Alan and Arcadia entered, they heard the skeleton naga's hissing and roaring. Thinking they'd been discovered, they quickly prepared for battle.
Luckily, their "Ignore the Undead" spell was still in effect.
The skeleton naga glanced at them, its eyes expressionless, as if they were nothing but air.
Without a trace of emotion, it turned and crawled into the tomb passage. Three mercenary zombies, swords in hand, walked slowly.
Following the skeleton naga, they entered the tomb passage one after another.
Alan winked at Arcadia.
The two followed the zombies, passing through one empty stone tomb after another.
Along the way, they often saw traces of blood and discarded swords, but no corpses.
It was obvious that the corpses had been transformed into zombies by the naga mistress's necromancy.
At the end of the tomb passage, a surprisingly large dome-shaped cavern opened up.
From floor to vaulted ceiling, it soared over 20 meters, resembling a cathedral built underground.
This was the sacrificial hall of the naga ancestral tomb, a place dedicated to human sacrifices.
The altar in the center of the hall was cast from gold!
To call it a mountain of gold wouldn't be an exaggeration!
A circle of drainage ditches had been dug around the golden altar.
In ancient times, the Nagas sacrificed people on the altar, and this circle of drainage ditches was specifically used to drain the blood.
Dr. Morgan sat unconscious in the dry canal, his back against the altar, his body stained with blood, his glasses shattered.
Across from the golden altar, the sounds of fierce fighting could be heard.
The altar obscured the view, making it difficult to see who was fighting whom.
"Honey! Be quick! Find a way to distract the skeleton Nagas!" Arcadia whispered in Allen's ear. "I'll transform into an angel and fly directly over the zombies to rescue the doctor!"
"My dad seems to have been poisoned by a snake..." Allen could detect the unique scent of the Nagas' poison from the doctor.
"Don't worry, I have a spell to detoxify!"
Alan nodded and leaned forward, transforming into a black panther.
Under cover of the shadows by the wall, he approached the Skeleton Naga, intending to backstab it.
Before he could move, the Skeleton Naga did.
Swinging its serpentine form, it hurriedly circumvented the altar and crawled towards the source of the fighting.
It seemed anxious to support its companions.
Three zombies also followed the hostess forward.
Since they had retreated voluntarily, there was no need for Alan to alert them.
Follow this undead group and see what happened next.
Meanwhile, Arcadia was making good progress.
Transforming into an angel, he picked up the unconscious Dr. Morgan and flew to the towering altar.