novelnext Chapter 201 The Hall of the Dead
Chapter 201 The Hall of the Dead
Chapter 201 The Hall of the Dead
The group abruptly turned into a narrow, downward-sloping side path. Here, the fog turned a more ominous dark gray, the ghostly illusions took on more twisted and painful forms, and the attacks became increasingly intense.
Suddenly, a tall archway made of countless pale skulls rose up from the fog ahead!
Behind the archway, one can vaguely see a relatively open space, and—an even more concentrated, almost liquid-like, wave of death energy!
The fine lines of spiritual imprints point straight ahead beyond the archway!
But at the same time, three figures stood in front of the archway.
It was the skeleton wizard who had just retreated, along with two other gray-robed wizards!
At this moment, however, they were shrouded in a thick layer of gray-black energy that seemed to be drawn from the space behind the archway, their auras were much stronger than before, and the green flames in their eyes burned almost frantically.
Behind them, on either side of the archway, stood four even taller skeletal knights, their bones gleaming with a metallic sheen and their eye sockets burning with deep purple soul fire.
The rusted greatsword and spear in his hands exuded a chilling sharpness and deathly stillness.
The skeleton wizard looked at Roland and his companions as they ventured into the depths of the labyrinth, a grotesque smile twisting his pale, gaunt face. His voice was like the scraping of metal: "Welcome—to the front hall of the Hall of the Dead."
"As sacrifices, you are—very qualified."
The air seemed to freeze as soon as the skeleton wizard finished speaking.
The death energy permeating the archway felt tangible, pressing heavily on everyone's hearts.
The deep purple soul flames in the eye sockets of the eight skeletal knights flickered slowly, and they slightly raised their heavily rusted weapons, locking onto the intruders.
The wailing corridor behind them did not cease; countless pale arms and phantom vengeful spirits continued to surge in the mist, attempting to encircle their retreat.
With a formidable enemy ahead and pursuers behind, the terrain narrow and the space further hampered by the maze, the situation was extremely dire.
Blake slammed the shield heavily on the ground, and dark red flames of battle aura rose from the gaps in the armor. He turned to look at Rolin, his voice low but firm: "We can't retreat! Retreating means certain death."
"We have to break through them and get behind that archway!"
"That might be their core, or it might be their only way out!"
Luo Lin quickly scanned the area ahead.
The three skeleton wizards were clearly not in good condition, as if they had been forcibly infused with some kind of power and enhanced.
Those eight skeleton knights exuded a dangerous aura far exceeding that of the previous skeleton guards.
A direct confrontation is not the best strategy.
"Give me the skeletons." Lehman's voice came from the side and behind, cold yet tinged with suppressed excitement.
"His energy fluctuations are the most unstable, which is a weakness caused by the forced enhancement."
"Ella and I will take care of those two gray-robed men on the left," Liana said, the purifying light on her staff shrinking to its limit, like a volcano about to erupt.
"Skeleton Knights—Brothers of the Forge, hold on!"
Ella didn't speak, but silently nocked three arrows engraved with exorcising runes onto the bowstring, the arrowheads locking onto the two gray-robed wizards and the skeleton wizard respectively.
"Forge Guard!" Blake growled.
"Raise your shields! Advance!"
"Buy time for the spellcaster!"
"Roar!" The four furnace guards responded in unison, their shields pressed together, and their blazing battle aura merged into one, like a moving wall of fire, as they stepped heavily forward towards the archway, one step at a time!
"You're courting death!" The skeletal wizard's eyes blazed with green fire, and he pointed his white bone staff forward with a sudden jerk.
"Guards of the Hall of Souls, crush them!"
The eight skeletal knights moved simultaneously!
Their movements were not stiff at all; on the contrary, they were as swift as the wind. Their heavy footsteps pounded the ground with a dull thud, and their deep purple soul flames left long trails of light as they charged forward!
Four skeletal knights, wielding massive shields and bone swords, faced the shield wall of the furnace guards, while another four skeletal knights, armed with spears, flanked from the flanks, their spear tips aimed directly at Rolin, Liana, and Rayman in the back row.
"Hold the flank!" Blake shouted, but he also slammed his tower shield to the side, forcefully blocking a bone spear that was thrusting towards him. The immense force made his arm tremble, and the ground beneath his feet cracked.
But he didn't retreat an inch, and instead swung his sword at the skeleton knight's head!
clang!
The skeletal knight raised his shield to block, and sparks burst from the bone shield, leaving only a white mark.
Frontally, the furnace guard's wall of flames collided violently with the skeleton knight's bone shield!
boom!
A dull thud accompanied by an energy shockwave exploded in the narrow space!
Ashes, bone fragments, and sparks flew everywhere!
Both sides took a step back, and surprisingly, they fought to a standstill!
However, there were four Skeleton Knights, while the Forge Guards only had four men plus Blake, and there were also Long Spear Knights holding them back from the flanks, putting them under immense pressure.
Just as the front lines of the two sides collided violently, a magical clash erupted from behind!
Lehman's figure disappeared again. This time, he did not appear in the air, but like a real lightning bolt, he skimmed the ground and swept across the chaotic front line battlefield in an extremely tricky and tortuous trajectory, heading straight for the Bone Wizard!
Before he even arrived, a dozen thin, yet perfectly condensed, blue-white lightning bolts shot out from his sleeves, sealing off all of the skeleton wizard's evasive angles!
The skeleton wizard clearly hadn't expected the opponent's advance to be so fast and so unpredictable!
He let out a fierce roar, and the layer of gray-black energy on his body surged suddenly, transforming into a shield of vengeful spirits covered with painful faces, blocking in front of him. At the same time, he swung his staff sharply, and several black energy tentacles wrapped with death energy shot out from the ground, entangling Lehman.
The electric snake struck the vengeful spirit's shield, sizzling and burning. The shield trembled violently, and the contorted, agonizing face vanished. But the black energy tentacles had already reached Rayman's feet!
Lehman's eyes flashed with a sharp light. Instead of dodging or avoiding, he suddenly unleashed two blinding bursts of lightning from his feet!
"Thunderstorm - Stomp!"
boom!
The lightning erupted, not only shattering the black tentacles that had been coiling around him, but the violent impact also propelled Rayman's speed even further, bringing him to the Wraith Shield almost instantly!
He clenched his right fist, and the lightning on his gauntlet condensed into a continuously compressed ball of lightning that emitted a low hum, which he slammed into the center of the shield.
On the other side, Ella's arrows and Liana's purifying flames were also launched at the same time!
The three arrows of warding off evil were used to kill two gray-robed wizards and one skeleton wizard.
The two grey-robed wizards dared not be careless. One waved his staff to summon two bone shields to form a defensive layer, while the other retreated rapidly, releasing a swirling cloud of corrosive black light in an attempt to contaminate the arrows.
The arrow aimed at the skeleton wizard was blocked by the vengeful spirit shield. The exorcising runes on the arrow clashed fiercely with the vengeful spirit, and both were annihilated.
Liana's attack followed immediately after the arrow.
Instead of unleashing a wide-ranging purifying flame, she concentrated all her power at the tip of her staff, which glowed with an extremely pure golden-white light!
"Purifying Flame - Pierce!"
A beam of golden-white light, only as thick as a thumb and as tangible as a solid object, shot out silently, moving faster than the eye could see!
Its target was not any wizard, but the seemingly empty space in front of the gray-robed wizard on the left who had just stacked two bone shields!
The gray-robed wizard was concentrating on defending against the arrows when he suddenly felt a pang of fear!
Without thinking, he suddenly lunged to the side!
laugh!
A golden-white beam of light grazed his shoulder and struck an inconspicuous, slowly rotating gray rune node in the mist behind him!
That rune node is one of the key secondary energy hubs that maintains the flow of death energy in this area and connects to the Hall of the Dead behind the archway!
The node was struck by a beam of light containing ultimate purification power, and like a hot knife cutting into butter, it instantly collapsed and evaporated!
The gray-black energy infusion enveloping the two gray-robed wizards suddenly weakened!
Both of them turned pale at the same time, and their breathing became unsteady.
Rowling did not participate in the direct attack on the wizard.
His attention remained focused on the eight skeleton knights, especially the four who were locked in a stalemate with the furnace guards and trying to break through the shield wall.
These skeletal knights possessed astonishing defensive capabilities. The Furnace Guardians' attacks, imbued with battle aura, could only leave shallow marks on their bone shields and armor.
Their attacks were powerful and heavy; each slash and thrust caused the furnace guards' shields to tremble violently, and their battle energy was consumed rapidly.
The four lance knights on the flanks posed an even greater threat. Blake was already struggling to hold off two of them alone, while the other two kept looking for opportunities, their lance tips like venomous snakes, attacking Ella and Liana behind the gaps in the shield wall.
This deadlock must be broken, otherwise if the front line collapses, the entire line will collapse.