As Abium stepped into the dark path, he got slightly startled and noticed that they were moving slightly downward.
The surrounding walls looked more like mining cave walls, which made everyone guard up a little. Except for the path to the cave's depth, all other areas were filled with pointy rocks.
'It feels like I'm exploring a dungeon.' Abium thought to himself.
As they walked further, everyone began to sweat a lot due to abnormal heat from within and grew more curious about what was hidden at the other end.
After a few minutes of walking, the group took a slight turn and finally saw something red. As they moved closer, everyone's eyes widened in surprise.
What they saw at the end of this cave was not some molten lava but a freaking red mansion!
It appeared like the whole building was carved from molten lava and looked dazzling. The surrounding walls of the cave were also filled with strange one-cubic meter-sized iron lockers and seemed to hold many treasures inside.
'These lockers look more like treasure chests. But what's with this large number of treasure chests all over the walls of the rocky cavern?'
Abium also saw unique numbers engraved on each locker and became more interested.
In the meantime, Rilos looked at the red mansion for a while and quietly walked ahead. At the same time, Grazius and other red-robed second-tier necromancers also nodded at each other and followed after Rilos as if they had already reached their destination.
On the other hand, the first-tier necromancers still stood there with dumb-stricken expressions and moved only after a few seconds.
They all got deeply astounded at that moment and wondered what was hiding in those secret lockers. A random official-tier necromancer even proposed a bold idea to try opening a locker but went silent after he met with sharp glares from others.
Abium, on the other hand, silently studied the cave structure and soon looked up at the ceiling.
"What the heck are those?" He couldn't help but mutter out loud in shock.
At that moment, he saw multiple red-colored stalactites hanging from the cave's roof and emitting strange red light.
'This must be the red mansion I saw in the puzzle.' Abium thought of that strange puzzle he saw inside that Creeper's forest.
As he contemplated deeply, he felt a firm grip on his shoulder and soon noticed it was Ulzez.
Furrowing his brows, he followed Ulzez's gaze and soon saw Rilos and other second-tier necromancers looking at the entrance of the Red Mansion in a daze.
Abium got puzzled at first but soon noticed some red transparent forcefield-like structure was covering the whole red mansion!
Before Abium could even think, all six second-tier necromancers got into a hexagonal position and started chanting in a nether language.
"The Lord who has no birth and death,
The Lord who reigns behind the curtain of death,
The Lord who rules the underworld,
The Lord who controls the domain of death,
...
...
...
The end of all living things,
Your devoted believers pray for your help to unseal the gate."
It was the longest chant Abium had heard in his life. It took almost 30 minutes for them to finish that strange chant. Once they did the ritualist chant, a furious nether elemental energy came out of their bodies and started to clash with the invisible fire elemental force field.
The battle between the two elements started to take place inside the underground cavern and almost lasted for another twenty minutes.
When the second-tier necromancers were about to exhaust their energy, the red-colored entrance door trembled and started to crack.
The cracking sound began to echo louder and louder, and finally, the door and the forcefield broke into multiple pieces, like broken glasses.
Everyone soon saw a deep bluish-black void at the mansion's entrance and got confused. This time, even Rilos started showing a confused look on his face and looked at others. Grazius clicked his tongue upon seeing his action and asked with a frown.
"Didn't Lord Shade tell you anything about this mansion?"
"Lord Shade did mention that the Red mansion will appear at the end of the path. But he didn't mention anything about what was inside this mansion. He just told me to chant the seal incantation and follow the path. But I have some guesses." Rilos said solemnly.
Before Grazius could open his mouth, the always silent-looking second-tier Necromancer Ubrauqir suddenly stepped forward and leaped into the void.
"Doesn't he fear anything?" Rilos said in annoyance and followed after him.
Abium and other necromancers also jumped into the void after a slight hesitation and disappeared from there.
But before Abium jumped into the void, he took out the green amulet from his pocket and stored it in his spatial ring.
'It's best for Ubius not to involve in this mess.'
Although he was a second-tier mage, Abium knew that Ubius's strength was not enough to protect himself from the dangers up ahead.
Soon, he felt a slight dizziness sensation.
A second later, he noticed that the bluish-black void began to break like a bubble and was replaced with a large underground cavern.
But the next instant, Abium felt a suffocating feeling.
At that moment, an enormous pressure appeared from ahead and started to suppress his soul, inducing fear in his heart. He felt his body and soul burning in the fire!
'What a powerful pressure!'
Abium silently gritted his teeth and slowly glanced around. Soon, he saw a large underground cavern similar to what he had seen in the vision and the two-meter tall rectangular black stone filled with countless rune characters.
He also noticed that each rune character held some mystic power and felt a feeling of dreadfulness.
As he tried to comprehend a single rune character, a sharp pain appeared in his head and caused him to almost fall.
Without hesitation, he retracted his gaze from that black stone and shifted his gaze toward the right side.
Only then did he notice that a five-meter tall crimson feathered bird, similar to a phoenix, stood on its one leg and appeared dozing.
A unique thing about the Redbird was it had three long scarlet tails!
Each appeared to be around three-meter long and covered in sharp blade-like scarlet feathers. Its two deep crimson wings shone in blood-red color and gave off a fearsome aura to the surroundings. Even the Redbird's beak, forehead, legs, and body feathers were dyed in crimson color, causing everyone to hold their breath.
Not only were the red-robed second-tier necromancers showing shocking expressions, but even Ulzez showed a stunned expression, which startled both Abium and Aliza a bit. From Azolla's warning, Abium knew this guy was likely from the Abyss and thought he must be as powerful as Alius. But to leave this guy stunned means one shouldn't underestimate this Redbird!