Chapter 66 - 65: Life Protection Box (Please follow!)
Chapter 66: Chapter 65: Life Protection Box (Please follow!)
After “McGwire’s Death Tomb” was discovered by players, it also appeared on the list of secret realms they could choose from, ranking as one of the higher-level realms.
This meant that the challenge level of “McGwire’s Death Tomb” was over one hundred levels, a kind only accessible to those who had broken through to become Gold Level Mages and were thus eligible to team up and venture into its depths.
Of course, there were players who didn’t believe in its difficulty and immediately organized a group of top-tier experts to tackle this secret realm.
As you might expect, it ended in total annihilation, not sparing even the professional players!
According to the information posted on forums by the participating players, “McGwire’s Death Tomb” was actually a maze located deep underground, dark and dreadful, and populated mostly by zombies, ghouls, and skeleton soldiers, with a challenge level between LV110-120. They all fell before even glimpsing the final boss.
Only after reaching Gold Level, and after enduring countless hardships and numerous team wipes, did players finally conquer “McGwire’s Death Tomb.”
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The difficulty of this hidden secret realm was unbelievably high.
The monsters roaming the maze were manageable, though high in challenge level, as they were unintelligent undead creatures generally appearing alone, making them not so difficult to strategize against.
However, the bosses of this secret realm were quite ridiculous, comprising three in total.
These were the LV130 Headless Knight Larenz, the LV150 Vampire Angela, and the LV170 final boss Witch Demon McAulay.
In his lifetime, McAulay was a human mage influenced by dark and undead energies, transformed into an undead with magical abilities after death.
Some witch demons were transformed after their demise, having studied undead magic while alive and, due to their misdeeds and heavy resentments coupled with the effects of their spells, turned into witch demons after passing. Others were living mages who willingly pursued eternal life and thus turned into witch demons.
According to research by enthusiastic players, McAulay was a Gold Mage who had touched the Legendary Domain, and chose to convert himself into a witch demon, a being with eternal life, as his own life was drawing to an end.
This maze was the place McAulay chose to perform his witch demon transformation ritual.
Unfortunately, although McAulay’s transformation into a witch demon seemed successful, it was actually a failure.
His body was successfully converted, but there might have been some issues during the ritual, completely destroying McAulay’s consciousness.
This meant that Witch Demon McAulay, after the transformation, had been in a slumber within this tomb for countless years, never having developed self-awareness.
This maze also gradually filled with various kinds of undead creatures due to the super magic array set up by McAulay which continuously absorbed dark and undead energies. Headless Knight Larenz and Vampire Angela, the two lesser bosses, were born later.
The “Nest of Undead Tree Demon” should be right above “McGwire’s Death Tomb,” buried deep underground.
For some reason, the super magic array operating inside the Death Tomb began to affect the surface above, eventually forming the secret realm “Nest of Undead Tree Demon.”
Therefore, the forest encountered earlier was the still-forming “Nest of Undead Tree Demon,” and since the undead tree demon hadn’t emerged yet, it explained why he hadn’t recognized it initially.
After all, except for the presence of the undead tree demon, it really was just an ordinary forest.
Lis thought somewhat gloomily, gradually unraveling the cause of this anomaly.
The teleportation array in the tomb must have been what transported him and Arsen and the others here, after all, the depths of this tomb underground could only be accessed through the teleportation array.
This is trouble!
If he were still the fully equipped, level 180 Gold Mage of his previous life, he even had the confidence to solo this secret realm.
After all, clearing this dungeon offered a particularly rare and powerful specialty, and in his past life, he had guided various patrons through for a good amount of money.
But now, he was just a pitiful, frail Bronze Mage, with no telling how long it would take to regain his former glory.
Lis had no idea where Arsen and Ya’er had been teleported to within the tomb, which gave him somewhat of a headache.
With their strength, they would survive if they encountered wandering undead monsters, but finding them in this intricate, complex labyrinth was exceedingly difficult.
Apart from the first few players who entered in the past life, players who later directly accessed the secret realm from the system interface were not randomly teleported, so they did not face this annoyance.
In the darkness, Lis silently massaged his temples, knowing he now had to rely on himself alone.
In his past life, there were two ways to conquer this dungeon: First, by defeating the Headless Knight Larenz and Vampire Angela separately, and then, by killing the awakened Witch Demon McGwire to clear the dungeon.
However, Lis clearly lacked the ability to do so now, and he guessed that even with Ya’er, it would be the same. He had to abandon this most direct and brutal method.
That left only the second method, destroying Witch Demon McGwire’s Life Protection Box!
This was another path to victory discovered by a dungeon master from the past, though it was more cumbersome, it was the only method Lis could think of.
However, he was not in a game, and he did not know if he could replicate that kind of operation.
After taking a deep breath to calm his emotions, Lis stood up from the dark corner, took out his Jade Wand, and began casting a series of spells.
Second Circle Magic “Cat’s Grace, Owl’s Wisdom”!
Three-Circle Magic “Invisibility Technique”!
Three-Circle Magic “Breath Concealment”!
Three-Circle Magic “Secret Vision”!
Three-Circle Magic “Sharp Ear Skill”!
Lis did not spend his magic power on Protection Magic, because even the lowest-level monsters within “McGwire’s Death Tomb” had Gold Level strength; he simply couldn’t withstand a single attack.
Fortunately, these undead monsters had very weak perception and no intelligence to speak of; in his past life, people had chosen to conceal their own breaths to avoid fighting with the monsters wandering in the tomb.
“Cat’s Grace, Owl’s Wisdom” enhanced his agility and intelligence attributes.
“Invisibility Technique” and “Breath Concealment” hid his form and breath, lowering the chances of being detected.
“Secret Vision” and “Sharp Ear Skill” enhanced his perception, allowing him to detect wandering monsters in advance.
After making preparations, Lis touched the “Acadia’s Lucky Brooch” still on his chest, feeling somewhat more confident.
Having made thorough preparations, Lis carefully left the stone chamber he was in and entered the labyrinthine passages outside, not knowing where they led.
Unlike the pitch-black stone chamber, the walls of the passage had crystal stones emitting blue light at intervals; relying on the faint light, Lis could see up to twenty or thirty meters away.
The urgent task was to ascertain his location within the tomb, as only then could he proceed with further actions.
Lis carefully moved forward in the passage, trying his best to lighten his steps and not make a sound.
Suddenly, Lis stopped in his tracks and stared intently ahead.
In the shadows, a tall, thin figure was moving in his direction.