This black figure dressed in a dark golden robe was actually a skeleton. He had a weird skeleton staff in his hand and a silver crown on his head. The most conspicuous was the 2 blue lights in the skull like a burning ghost fire. It made one shudder.
Race: Corpse Necromancer King.
Comprehensive Strength Assessment: S.
Physique: A-, power: A-, spirit: S+, speed: A.
[Analysis]: (clone).
Among undead magic, the most common low level one was the magic of skull transformation which could transform skeletons into manipulable skeleton warriors, but there was also a higher level and more dangerous transformation magic that could transform the caster himself through secret medicines and rituals into the immortal undead magician which was the corpse necromancer.
It was not the first time that Chen Rui had seen the corpse necromancer. His servant, Guradam, was a corpse necromancer. The undead legion led by him had played a very crucial role in several wars, but this was the first time he had seen the higher-level “Corpse Necromancer King”.
Chen Rui knew that the corpse necromancer did not have a real body. The body in front of him was just a storage body. Therefore, there would be a label of “clone” on [Analytical Eyes]’s [Analysis]. Guradam once used projection to fool those treasure hunters in Paglio’s treasure vault.
The current situation was extremely precarious. The sea of resentful souls had surrounded Chen Rui and others. If they fought by force, their chances of winning were slim.
“Greetings to you, Your Highness Corpse Necromancer King.” Chen Rui thought swiftly and bowed to salute, “Your Highness’ welcome ceremony is really impressive.
A shrilling voice sounded, “You should add great, supreme and unique in front of ‘Your Highness’!”
It was not Corpse Necromancer King who spoke, but a green resentful soul beside him. The Comprehensive Strength Assessment of this resentful soul was A+. He was staring at Chen Rui fiercely as if this “guest” said the most unforgivable words in the world.
“Prinz.” The grim voice of King Corpse Necromancer King sounded. The green resentful soul, Prinz, shut up immediately. His fierce expression instantly turned into incomparable sincerity and humility. The rapid change of facial expression made Chen Rui secretly stunned.
Corpse Necromancer King slowly floated forward. After looking at Chen Rui a few times, his gaze turned to the treasure map with pale golden light in his hands. He said ghastly, “I like eyes with good eyesight. That will be the best material for specimens. Maybe I can consider turning your skeleton into a work of art that will give you a ‘deeper’ impression. I can assure you that you will enjoy the whole process very much.”
Chen Rui noticed the Corpse Necromancer King’s gaze and ignored this threat. He just raised the treasure map calmly, “We were guided by the Sir Dark Dragon Emperor and came here with great hardships. We passed the test of the Red Pipit and Sir Lotman along the way. I think we should be eligible to enjoy the treatment of real guests.”
“Lowly fellow, don’t compare the great Royal Highness with those 2 incompetent creatures!” Prinz screamed again.
Chen Rui understood that this Prinz was a character who reinforced the majesty of the villain, just like the old nationalistic movie, the pseudo-soldier who gave a thumbs up to the Japanese, and even added emotionally, “Great, truly great!” (A flattery compliment)
“It seems that you forgot to add ‘Supreme’ and ‘Unique’.” Chen Rui smiled slightly, but he calmed down. The Corpse Necromancer King made such a big show. If he wants to start fighting, he can directly dispatch the resentful souls to besiege. He would not take so much effort.
Prinz was speechless for a while. Just as he was about to get mad, the 2 blue ghost fires in the eye sockets of King Corpse Necromancer King flickered more vigorously, “Although you are an ant, you are an interesting ant… Since you have the complete treasure map of Sir Dark Dragon Emperor, you are also considered qualified to enter the Tower of Destruction. Come with me.”
After speaking, he turned around and drifted backward slowly. Prinz hurriedly followed. The whole sea of resentful souls separated to the sides to show the way.
It turns out that the white tower is called the Tower of Destruction. Chen Rui and the Dark Elemental King looked at each other and saw the surprise in each other’s eyes. I expected a fierce battle, but I didn’t expect to pass so easily?
Although it was unexpected, it seemed to be the best result. If they really fought, apart from Chen Rui and the Dark Elemental King who might have special life-saving methods, the rest, including Strena and Helor, would hardly survive.
The 2 quickly exchanged glances. Chen Rui bowed and said, “Thank you, Your Highness King Corpse Necromancer.”
“My name is Glorios. Maybe you can call me Lich King.” The corpse necromancer floating in front said without looking back.
Lich King? This title surprised a certain crossover otaku- Are you sure your name is Glorios and not… Arthas?
Okay, this is the Demon Realm. Let’s continue walking all the way to the west… Uh, to the White Tower.
To Chen Rui’s surprise, their speed was obviously much slower than before, but the distance of Tower of Destruction was rapidly getting closer. It was as if they reached in just tens of minutes although the journey would initially take dozens of days to arrive.
Obviously, this was a kind of strange power of “shrinking the ground into an inch”. Perhaps the initial road was only this far away, but Chen Rui and the others were caught in a strange and completely different “rule” because of the power of the territory kingdom. If it weren’t for the appearance of the Lich King, perhaps they would never be able to reach the real white tower.
The appearance of the Tower of Destruction gradually became clear. This was a huge all-white obelisk. When he looked closely, he could see a strange blood-colored texture. The closer he got, the more he could feel the suffocating and suppressing breath as if this obelisk was a tall god whom he needed to worship.
There was only 1 passage in front of the huge obelisk surrounded by numerous statues. Many of these statues were armed with weapons, glowing with dark black metal luster. They looked hideous and lifelike. The statues spread all the way to the entrance of the obelisk like a guard legion.
The largest statue, which seemed to be the leader, was stationed at the gate of the obelisk.
“Dark Iron Mystic Ghost?” The Dark Elemental King frowned as he glanced at these statues.
Chen Rui had heard from Tetenis that the Dark Iron Mystic Ghost had powerful combat power. It was made of secret spells and special materials which gave it the characteristic of greatly reducing the physical and magic damage they receive. Not only that, the Dark Iron Mystic Ghost could also shield the detection of spirit sensing, so it was difficult to sense the strength of its combat power.
Unlike the lamp spirits and crystal beasts, which had a certain subjective consciousness, the Dark Iron Mystic Ghost was a war machine without emotions. It was similar to the gargoyle that Chen Rui encountered at the Mountain Seckred or the goldman made by Zola, but its power was a world’s difference.
There were hundreds of thousands of Dark Iron Mystic Ghost guards. They were all silent like statues. However, once they were activated, the intruder would encounter a terrifying attack.
“As expected of the king of the dark element, you recognized these toys at a glance.” Lich King Glorios obviously could easily see through the identity of the Dark Elemental King. “Everyone, the treasure of Sir Dark Dragon Emperor is inside. You can go in now.”
Just go in like this? Surrounded by the Dark Iron Mystic Ghosts? Almost everyone showed a vigilant expression.
“Your Highness Lich King.” Chen Rui said, “Can I take it as once we enter this passage, we will be violently attacked by the Dark Iron Mystic Ghosts?”
“You said it yourself.” Glorios let out a sinister laugh. The golden robe on his body was moving without wind. “Let me tell you some interesting news first. You should have already encountered the simple-minded octopus and that guy who scared people with mist previously. The souls they obtained have been transported via a certain channel to this place where all the valuable souls in the nearby sea area are gathered here. They are burned by the phantom fire every few days and can’t escape. They can only hate constantly in the endless torture, so this place is called the Land of Hatred!”
No wonder there are no living creatures along the way. All the creatures in the vast sea have been turned into the undead! The undead ship, deep-sea skeleton beasts, resentful souls… Chen Rui felt horrified while Strena couldn’t help grasping the 6 scimitars in her hands.
The Lich King continued nonchalantly, “You currently have 3 choices. First, enter the obelisk directly from the passage surrounded by the Dark Iron Mystic Ghosts. Of course, I can’t guarantee what will happen. Second, stay here and become a member of the Land of Hatred like them. I believe that before you become like them, they will be happy to enjoy the long-awaited blood and flesh. Unfortunately, you have too few people. It’s not enough to fill their stomach…”
Glorios pointed his finger at the sea of resentful souls. Although the sea of resentful souls was filled with boundless resentment and hatred, when they were pointed at by the craggy bone finger, they showed expressions of fear and retreated. There were also many resentful souls who showed salivating expressions when facing Chen Rui and the others.
“The last choice is to play a game with me. If you can beat me, you are considered to pass the final test. I can let you pass this passage safely.”
Sure enough, this third obstacle was not so easy to pass.
The Dark Elemental King pondered for a moment. He took the lead to speak up, “Tell me about your game first.”
“It’s very simple.” Lich King’s figure floated to a strange round table near the passage. This round table was large with a black statue holding a scythe in the middle and various strange patterns nearby.
“The magic card game, ‘Fate Showdown’.”
Fate Showdown? It was the first time Chen Rui heard of this game. It is even a magic card game?
“Fate Showdown? Very old game.” Hegel seemed to be familiar with it, “How do you want to play?”
“Awesome. It seems that the Dark Elemental King is also a fan.” The blue lights in Glorios’ eye sockets shone brilliantly, “You are a guest. There are 3 ways to play: Victory Race, Spectacular War, and Death Game. You can choose any of them. How about the best of 3?”
The red light in Hegel’s eyes flashed, “However, I want to figure out how we can guarantee the fairness of this game in your kingdom?”
Glorios seemed to be very interested in this kind of magic card, “We can sign a soul contract based on your soul level, then you shouldn’t have to worry about me cheating with a contract.”
Hegel thought about it for a while, and he slowly nodded, “Okay! Since it’s the best of 3, then let’s play 1 match for each game. If… you can hold on to the third game.”
“Your Highness Hegel is so confident. I’m more and more interested in the following game now.” Glorios let out a ghastly laugh, “However, everything has a price. The bargaining chip of this gambling game is you and all your partners’ lives. I don’t know if the King Royal Highness has this courage?”
“Life and death match? Very good,” Hegel gave a deep smile, “Since you want the life of an Elemental King, then you should also give your life as a bargaining chip.”
“As you wish, if I lose, not only will you enter the Tower of Destruction, but my life is also yours.” Glorios seemed to smile more happily, but the skull face looked terrifying no matter how one looked at it, “As a true fan of magic cards, I can’t wait to look forward to the exciting match that comes.”
“Wait a minute, the dark elementals’ partners will only be the dark elementals.” Hegel pointed at Chen Rui and others arrogantly, “It doesn’t include these guys who just use each other.”
This sentence made Strena’s facial expression change suddenly. She said back in retaliation, “This is also what I want to say. The naga tribe also won’t entrust our lives to people whom we don’t trust. I would rather choose – Aguile.”
The rest of the nagas and water elementals also nodded. Glorios looked at the nagas and water elementals’ focus, Chen Rui with interest. His smile was even more strange. “It seems that there is also an interesting game between both of you. Maybe my fun will last longer later.”
“Provided if your life can last until that moment.” Hegel said coldly.
Glorios smiled and didn’t talk more about this statement. He and Hegel walked to the round table and sat down face to face. “Before signing the contract and the start of the game, I will remind you one last time, the loser will lose his own life and soul. Even if you are an Elemental King, at this table where the Land of Hatred’s Rule power is condensed, you are not exempted from the punishment from failing. Perhaps your soul can override the rule, but your elemental heart will rupture. You can only spend a lot of effort and time to regenerate.”
“If that’s the case, even if you have the power of the kingdom, your soul essence in the life box will disappear too once you fail?”
“Of course!” A strange symbol appeared at Lich King Glorios’ fingertip and flew toward Hegel. Hegel did the same. The 2 symbols combined and interacted in the air. After reaching a mutually satisfactory clause, it turned into a contract with both their names before disappearing immediately.
After the contract was successfully signed, a large number of mists appeared from the round table’s pattern, faintly glowing with pale golden light. The statue in the center seemed to become alive, and its body became hazy. It was wearing a black cloak with a long black scythe in its hand. When the scythe pointed, a stack of strange playing cards appeared on the table.
The material of these cards was very special. The exquisite patterns on the back looked like the sun and the moon. The edges were glowing with pale gold patterns, emanating a majestic and mysterious breath.
TL: A card game? This is really unexpected. Is Hegel playing first to give some guides to Chen Rui? Or am I overthinking?
