The suffocating silence in the burial room was completely torn apart by the terrifying aura coming from the bottom of the stairs.

Mark clutched the cross necklace tightly, and the cold throbbing was like an alarm bell ringing wildly in the depths of his soul.

"At the end of the stairs, something has awakened... something that resonates with the cross necklace, perhaps something that can summon a mysterious being."

Mark's voice was low, his eyes fixed on the huge staircase that extended downward into the thick darkness.

On both sides of the stairs, the blurred and distorted reliefs seemed to come alive under the faint blue phosphorescence, silently mocking the insignificance of the intruder.

Although it was not stated explicitly, everyone in the team knew that Mark was referring to the pseudo-god-like existence of the Lord of Gan Shi whom they met in Maple Leaf Town.

"The orcs' footprints point downwards, and their target is that direction."

Monica's wine-red pupils swept over the fresh orc footprints and the dark green slime on the ground. Her fingertips unconsciously slid across the poisoned dagger. "No matter what's down there, we must get there before them. At the very least, we can't let them get to it!"

"Fuck! No matter if he's a skeleton or a green bastard! Smash everything that's blocking the way!" Enzo growled, the black light on the rune forging hammer flickered, and the muscles under the mithril breastplate bulged.

His short and strong body burst out with amazing strength and he was the first to step onto the stairs leading deeper into the mausoleum.

The team followed closely behind, each step echoing hollowly on the slippery, cold stone steps.

The stairs are long and steep, as if leading to the center of the earth.

The concentration of negative energy in the air rose sharply, becoming bone-chillingly cold, carrying the heavy pressure accumulated by the corrupt royal power for thousands of years, almost freezing people's souls.

The reliefs on both sides became increasingly hideous, depicting twisted images of pain and eternal slavery.

Anna gripped her longbow tightly, her emerald green pupils as sharp as an eagle in the darkness, capturing any movement.

Deep in Monica's wine-red eyes, the identification array was running at high speed, scanning for energy traps and potential ambush points.

Finally, the stairs came to an end.

The view in front of me suddenly opened up, but was then swallowed by deeper darkness.

A breathtakingly huge bronze gate stands at the end of the stairs, like a boundary marker separating life and death.

The surface of the giant gate is covered with a thick patina that exudes a metallic smell, but the huge relief in the center is still clear enough to make people's heart frightened.

A huge throne made up of countless twisted human figures, each of which looked down with empty eye sockets.

Above the throne, there was a phantom of a "pale skull crown" made of fluorescent magical material. Seven dim points of colorful light slowly flowed around the crown of the phantom, emitting a cold and seductive aura.

Even though it was just a relief, one could tell that the crown was a supreme sacred object with the attribute of holy light.

The bronze door fits tightly together, with no keyhole or handle to be found.

Only the center of the throne pattern had a concave outline, the shape of which was exactly the same as the black box that Mark and his friends had found in the alcove in the corridor. It was neither gold nor stone, and was engraved with Lumi runes.

Two skeletal guard statues, larger than those at the entrance of the corridor and relatively well-preserved, stand on both sides of the giant gate like ancient sentinels.

They were clad in dark stone armor covered with cracks, and held huge axes tightly in their hands, crossing them to block the door, with a faint light flowing on the axe blades.

In the empty eye sockets, two balls of dark green soul fire, as deep as ink and almost condensed into substance, were beating, silently emitting a soul-shaking warning.

Just getting close to it, the heavy pressure of death is enough to suffocate ordinary mid-level professionals.

Even with the Holy Light Shield, members of Mark's team couldn't help but feel shortness of breath when approaching here.

Fortunately, the two statues did not seem to have any intention of coming forward to execute the team that broke into the royal tomb. They just stood there quietly without any unnecessary movements.

"This is it, the entrance to the 'Hall of Darkness'." Monica lowered her voice, the light of the identification array flickering in her eyes. "The dent on the door... and that box."

Mark took a deep breath, and the cold air mixed with the strong smell of metal rust and the breath of the undead poured into his lungs, trying to suppress the wild beating of his heart.

He took out the cold black box from the gap in the starlight.

After the box was in hand, the force field that isolated energy still existed, faintly echoing the aura emitted by Ju Men.

Under Enzo's vigilant gaze, Anna's sharp eyes and Xiao Mu's uneasy "Mmm", Mark walked forward cautiously.

He avoided the "gaze" of the dark green soul fire of the skeleton guard statue, aimed the black box at the depression in the center of the skull throne pattern, and slowly pressed it in.

“Click…buzz——!”

The Lumi rune on the box instantly lit up with a deep blue light, like flowing liquid ice, spreading rapidly, perfectly matching the intricate patterns on the giant bronze door!

A low, resonant sound rang out at the end of the empty staircase, like the first groan of a giant beast that had been sleeping for a thousand years before waking up.

“Boom boom boom—!”

The unimaginably heavy friction sound tore through the silence!

Driven by the faint blue light, the huge bronze door slowly opened inwards, accompanied by countless copper-green fragments falling.

What shone through the crack in the door was no longer the faint blue phosphorescence of the burial chamber, but an absolute darkness that seemed to absorb all light, and a biting chill that was a hundred times stronger than that on the stairs, carrying the will of the corrupt royal power!

The door opens to a width that is only wide enough for one person to pass through sideways.

Just as Mark's tense nerves were slightly broken by the opening of the huge door, and Enzo couldn't wait to peek out to see what was behind the door -

“Swish, swish, swish—!”

"Alas!"

The crisis of death erupted from the darkness inside the door without any warning!

Several blowpipes as thin as cow hair, flashing with a cold green light, were silent but as fast as lightning, tearing through the sticky air, aiming directly at Mark's throat and heart, who was the first to be hit!

Following closely behind, two heavy axes, burning with pale green flames and making a shrill sound of breaking through the air, spun and chopped towards Mark's head and Enzo's short and strong chest!

The trajectory of the thrown axe was tricky and fierce, completely blocking the space for the two people to dodge!

At the same time, a hoarse and harsh orc spell full of primitive savage power, like the hissing of a poisonous snake, suddenly sounded from the shadow on the right side of the door!

"Voka! Turag-sa! Tie them up!"

"Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!"

Several thick totem poles wrapped with black thorns and white bones appeared out of thin air in the middle of the stairs the team had just stepped on!

These totem poles emit chaotic fluctuations that interfere with spiritual power, and the thorns wrapped around their surfaces grow and spread wildly like living things.

In an instant, it intertwined into a huge vine net covered with sharp thorns, completely cutting off the team's connection with the stairs!

The retreat route was blocked in an instant!