Chapter 1953: Chapter 1953: Horrors
The demonic concubine was still feeling a lingering fear; she had almost died just now, which meant this mission was considered a failure, and she had lost the qualification of being the first heir.
It wasn’t her fault though, because with Li Yao’s presence, the journey, although thrilling, didn’t feel particularly tense or dangerous.
Without the sense of impending doom and with the leisurely pace they maintained, it’s inevitable for people to let their guard down.
Even Li Yao was a bit careless, not expecting these creatures to actually be undead, and so cunning to play dead, launching an overwhelming surprise attack the moment they entered.
If it weren’t for the Mechanical Avatar holding them off for a moment, the consequences would have been unpredictable.
“I was careless, trusted my divine eye too much; it’s safer to be cautious.”
Li Yao said as he relied not just on his eyes but also on the Sonic Arrow he hadn’t used for a long time; the divine eye and the sonar wave finally detected the situation on this floor clearly.
“The scale of this first level of the Underground Palace is somewhat large; it looks like prayer rooms for high-ranking clergy, quite widely distributed, and there are many guards at the staircases leading to the next level,” Li Yao explained.
“So, we can’t just barge through, huh?” The demonic concubine frowned.
“I’m afraid not. You just saw it, these creatures, although undead, seem to be still adhering to their duties and guarding this place. Besides, their intelligence is very high, and with the relatively simple structure of this level, alerting the guards inside could result in a group attack. It won’t be like the outer guards,” Li Yao explained.
The demonic concubine looked at the rough sketch Li Yao drew on the ground and after a moment said, “These individual prayer rooms are not many; the terrain can be utilized. However, most of them are enclosed, and no one knows the true situation inside, entering under such conditions could lead to unpredictable events. This stone door isn’t bad; it withstood so many attacks and only had shallow marks. Can we use this door to lure the monsters out and kill them? Your arrows can penetrate obstacles, which we can utilize.”
“It should work, but we still need a double-layered plan. If we can’t hold them off, once we exit, you should quickly go up the church on this path, while I draw them away on the ground; don’t worry about me then,” Li Yao indicated a route.
“Alright, agreed.” The demonic concubine wasn’t being fussy; she knew how fragile she seemed at level nine, practically a burden, and ensuring her safety made it easier for Li Yao to escape.
“Then get ready, be prepared to seal the door at any moment.”
Li Yao said as he silently stepped into the doorway, delving deeper inside, confirming once more that those Undead Guardians weren’t alerted and remained as if in a dormant state.
Only then did he reach a position where he could attack them, bending his bow and nocking his arrows, continuously launching them.
Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud…
Knowing that the opponents were Undead Creatures, their only fatal weakness was the undead flame in their heads.
One deadly arrow after another pierced through the heads of the undead, then exploded, not only destroying the head but also causing the undead flame to shatter into countless soul-like light points, which continuously gathered into Li Yao’s lantern.
Woohoo!
With a shrill soul cry, a large number of desolate guards poured out from all directions.
Li Yao retreated while attacking, one Undead Guardian after another shattered and collapsed, yet it didn’t affect the other guards at all.
The number of guards wasn’t small; nine-level fervent experts, if in the corridor, even Li Yao would be torn apart by a round of attack, with no room to evade.
Li Yao finally exited the corridor, and those long-range attacking undead priests were nearly able to attack him.
“Close the door.”
Bam!
The demonic concubine didn’t hesitate to close the doorway, then took out a chain, continuously wrapping it around the door ring, shutting the door tightly.
“Seal!”
The demonic concubine took out a crystal glowing faintly, quickly inscribing a six-pointed star array on the doorway.
The crystal shattered into powder absorbed by the array, forming a simple sealing array temporarily sealing the doorway.
Rumble…
Sounds of various attacks and skills bombarding the stone door resonated; clearly, the guards didn’t want to give up.
Yet Li Yao’s attack rhythm didn’t cease, arrows continuously shooting swiftly.
Those arrows were too swift; those without enough spiritual power could hardly catch any trajectory of the arrows, the arrows disappearing upon reaching the door.
After five minutes, the array’s glow had dimmed considerably.
Li Yao stopped the attack, saying, “I didn’t expect there to be so many guards I hadn’t detected earlier; luckily this terrain could be used, else we would be doomed.”
Disperse!
The demonic concubine flicked her finger to completely shatter the array, and the chain broke as well, the door opening wide, revealing a hallway in chaos, piled with numerous corpses, a foul stench spreading, causing the two to instinctively step back.
“We should be more grateful that today coincided with the sacrifice, otherwise, we would be almost immobile in this city; these guys are too terrifying,” the demonic concubine said with lingering fear.
This place was indeed too dangerous; if most people hadn’t gone to the sacrifice, even looting an ordinary residence would have led to endless pursuit by guards.
Looting the bishop’s manor would have been impossible, let alone this most important venue, the cathedral.
Of course, personal strength was crucial too; if it weren’t for Li Yao being exceptionally strong, with sufficiently robust spiritual power, they would likely have ended up mounted on a stone column like other unlucky souls.
Numerous soul light points merged into their lanterns.
Once the odor lessened slightly, they stepped on the corpses to the actual first level.
“Some of the prayer room doors are open; no wonder I didn’t sense several hundred guards, turns out they were in the sealed prayer rooms.”
Li Yao walked into an opened prayer room, then was stunned by the scene.
The prayer room held a golden statue about thirty centimeters high, undoubtedly Amon, but the other arrangements were a bit terrifying.
All four walls were carved with caves each not allowing more than one person to lie down, like beds on the walls.
The prayer room was sizable, with at least dozens of such beds, each with a body wrapped like a mummy lying on it.
More terrifyingly, the prayer room also had dozens of coffins, some sealed, and a few were open, evidently just crawled out from the coffins.
What made it more horrendous was that one layer had a labyrinth-like structure, with countless such prayer rooms.
“Damn it, what kind of place is this.” Even Li Yao had his hair standing on end.
Each prayer room had at least over a hundred bodies, how many prayer rooms were there, if they all awoke and turned into the undead.
“Clearly a church, yet the underground seems to be a massive grave.” The demonic concubine was utterly baffled.
Moreover, who could guarantee they wouldn’t wake up at any time, sending chills down one’s spine…