In just a few moments, the strange man's figure was completely swallowed by the massive phantom outline, vanishing without a trace. Simultaneously, the phantom evolved into a terrifying form condensed from thick black smoke.
“Such a weak body... Is this all that remains in the world today? How utterly pathetic... But no matter, there is still some flesh and blood to be used. It will suffice for now...”
Standing atop the altar, the phantom looked down at its ethereal form and let out a low, raspy murmur.
Though he was dozens of meters away from the four of them, the hoarse whisper sounded as if it had appeared right beside them, sending chills down their spines.
When the phantom's gaze turned toward the group, a terrifying pressure surged like a tide, tightly surrounding them.
It was a pure killing intent—cold, dark, and devoid of any emotion.
Even though they all possessed considerable strength, they found it difficult to breathe under the weight of this aura, as if an invisible giant hand were clutching their throats.
“What the hell is that thing!” Po Kong shouted in a low voice, instinctively tightening his grip on his weapon.
“The Ancient Wicked God of Darkness... Taros... the soul of an ancient god has been resurrected before our eyes.” Moen’s voice trembled slightly as she answered.
Among the long-lived races, records and descriptions of deities were far more detailed than in human society. As a priest of nature, Moen understood the profound weight carried by the word “god.”
Upon hearing the answer, even the fearless Po Kong showed a rare trace of fear on his face.
It would be one thing if the dark shadow before them was merely Saint Rank, but the soul of an ancient god summoned by this altar? How were they supposed to fight that?
However, Starlight held a completely different view. Since it was the soul of a god, it would inevitably be unable to exert its full power without a suitable physical body.
Moreover, his target was the Heavenly Demon Phoenix, who held the title of Godslayer. If he couldn't even face the remnant soul of a newly resurrected god, how could he speak of revenge?
Yet when he snapped back to his senses, he saw that Moen and Po Kong were completely dazed, standing frozen as if utterly suppressed by the phantom's aura.
Just as Starlight was considering how to wake them, a crisp female voice, like the song of an oriole, suddenly rang in everyone's ears. Like a spring of fresh water, it instantly snapped Po Kong and Moen out of their stupor.
“Don't be fooled by his little tricks! Right now, that guy is nothing more than an empty shell! That so-called divine name is just a title without substance!”
The ethereal voice seemed to possess the power to pierce through everything, allowing the two—whose consciousness had been blurring under the terrifying killing intent—to regain their clarity instantly.
“Was... was that an illusion? When was I affected?” Moen lightly clutched her chest, her pale blue eyes regaining their clear luster as they flickered with disbelief.
“The moment that vortex exploded, the scattering dark elements had already begun to influence us unknowingly. Fortunately, my eyes saw through the trick. Though, it seems that guy over there wasn't affected either.” The elder sister glanced at Starlight, her voice tinged with surprise.
“Ha... ha... But the pressure he radiates is definitely not fake. That's not an aura any ordinary living being could produce.” Po Kong gasped for air, finally breaking free from the illusion with a stagger.
“Hmph, it seems you're nothing but a paper tiger. Since you haven't even found your footing yet, let me take the lead!” Looking at the staggering Po Kong, the girl gave a contemptuous smile and drew her longbow, assuming a combat stance.
With no monsters to interfere, countless crimson battle qi arrows poured from her longbow like a meteor shower, aimed straight at the phantom's face in a brilliant and lethal rain of fire.
The phantom tilted its head slightly, its gaze sweeping over the rapidly approaching arrows. It slowly raised its hands, and a black light, shaped like an eggshell, instantly condensed above its head, blocking all the arrows.
At that moment, a bizarre arc split open on the phantom's head, as if a hideous mouth were slowly opening. A contemptuous, raspy voice drifted out.
“Damned ants... I didn't expect you to be able to break my illusion. However, you were wrong about one thing! For a resurrection tens of thousands of years in the making... of course I have prepared a shell!”
As the voice fell, the phantom waved its massive hand, and the crimson runes on the surrounding walls all lit up simultaneously.
As the entire underground space was bathed in a blood-red light, the ground beneath their feet began to vibrate with the intensity of a minor earthquake.
“Not good! He's forcibly activating that giant magic formation!” Starlight quickly realized the phantom's intent and immediately gathered his mana, hurling a powerful strike toward the figure.
However, the tall phantom suddenly vanished from the altar, and Starlight's magic struck only empty air.
“Behind us! On top of the bone pile!”
At the girl's sharp cry, the three of them spun around. The phantom had appeared atop that massive pile of bones at some unknown point.
Upon closer inspection, it was clear that the source of the vibration was the very bone pile beneath its feet.
“Damn it! How is he so fast!? It's too late!”
Starlight wanted to continue his attack on the phantom atop the bone pile, but having maintained high-intensity firepower until now, he hadn't fully recovered. In his haste, he could only throw out a few fist-sized fireballs.
But those fireballs were annihilated by the dark elements surrounding the phantom before they could even get close.
As the giant magic formation covering the entire tomb activated, the dark aura and crimson blood mist in the air began to be continuously funneled into the massive pile of remains.
Even the monsters hiding in the pipes began to emerge, swarming toward the bone pile like moths to a flame.
Under the gaze of the four, the volume of the bone pile began to shrink rapidly. Within seconds, it transformed into a bizarre skeleton that slowly descended before the phantom.
The skeleton was about three to four meters tall. Its shape was similar to a human skeleton, but its limbs were exceptionally thick and its color was as black as ink.
Crimson lines, like blood vessels, covered the entire skeleton, converging at a red sphere hidden beneath the ribs.
“He used the magic formation to compress the flesh and bones in the tomb into a body? But the fusion of body and soul takes time—we still have a chance! Po Kong, let's go! Moen, we're counting on your support!”
Starlight immediately understood the phantom's intent upon seeing the skeleton. He gave a loud shout and charged forward without hesitation.
Just as Moen's sister had said, although the soul of Taros, the Ancient God of Darkness, had been summoned back, he was hundreds of times weaker than in his prime.
Currently, he could only be considered a remnant soul possessing a sacrifice. The reason he was able to affect them earlier was simply because the original level of his soul was high enough to intimidate them with residual divine pressure the moment he was summoned.
In Taros's original plan, the best outcome would have been to control the group and then gradually activate the magic formation fully.
That way, he could have used this long-prepared giant magic formation to sacrifice every living being within a several-kilometer radius on the surface to condense a perfect body for himself.
However, as luck would have it, the soul-based illusion failed to achieve its full effect. Not only did the elf have an extraordinary resistance to illusions, but the other human also seemed completely unaffected.
This left the newly descended Ancient God of Darkness bewildered, but there was no turning back now. Perfect resurrection under the interference of these people was already an almost impossible task.
Faced with this sudden turn of events, he had to quickly adjust his strategy, using his own power to forcibly accelerate the formation's operation, even though the price was a significant reduction in the formation's effective range.
The skeleton before them, pieced together from the flesh and bone collected by the monsters, was far below Taros's expectations. Nevertheless, the sheer quantity of those remains was still staggering.
Not only were there the people abducted as sacrifices, but the remains of warriors buried in District One over hundreds and thousands of years were also utilized.
Although the resulting shell was neither powerful nor aesthetic, he believed it would not be difficult to kill the few ants before him.
Rate on N.U.
