"Hurray!"
"We did it! The Mountain Zombie is dead!"
"The Mountain Zombie is dead!"
Under everyone's hope-filled eyes, Damon successfully destroyed the undead crystal of the Mountain Zombie, delivering the most critical and final blow.
It was exhilarating. His heart pumped faster than ever before as he bathed in blood and glory.
But he didn't let the victory go to his head. Instead, he rushed toward the inner city along with everyone else as elders, civilians, and magicians finally returned within the walls.
Hundreds had died in this brief operation outside the city, yet no one sobbed for the fallen. Instead, they rejoiced—because the sacrifice of the living had been worth it.
With the death of the Mountain Zombie, the undead fell into chaos.
At the Clock Tower, a copper mirror the size of a palm lay on an old table. A group of people surrounded it, staring intently at the image inside.
"It's really them!" Han Ji looked utterly exhausted, yet his joy was impossible to conceal.
They had originally believed there was nothing they could do except wait after Mo Fan and his group jumped into the Dark Abyss. To their surprise, the chief of Hua Village, Xie Sang, had arrived and offered them the copper mirror. It showed Mo Fan, Zhang Xiaohou, Su Xiaoluo, Fang Gu, and Liu Ru surrounding a strange lotus, their expressions filled with worry.
With the death of the Mountain Zombie, one of their greatest concerns was gone. However, the looming awakening of the Undead Emperor still kept everyone on edge.
Damon sat at the back, watching the events unfold through the mirror. He saw Mo Fan take the Eternal Lotus out of the mirror's sight before absorbing it, breaking through and advancing his rank amidst the chaos.
Time passed slowly as everyone waited anxiously. Then, at last, they breathed a sigh of relief when Mo Fan returned, having successfully advanced.
"Finally…" Damon muttered as the group moved on to the next stage.
Nine Bridges of Death and One Bridge of Life!
"What are the Nine Bridges of Death and One Bridge of Life?" the mysterious man asked.
"One can only reach the Blood Emperor Throne by crossing the Nine Bridges of Death and One Bridge of Life. It is likely the eeriest place in the tomb. Even though the Ancient King allows his descendants to enter the tomb, it feels like he is not too keen to receive those who are useless or untalented. Apart from the Dark Abyss that stops outsiders from entering the tomb, there are also different tests prepared for his descendants. The Eternal Lotus is there to filter out the weak, and the bridges are there to pick the worthy candidate," Xie Sang explained.
The path had ended, and death wind surrounded them. They would have been at a loss if the bridges had not appeared. Luckily, the arched bridges were connected to the edge of the platform. For some reason, they had not been able to see the white bridges when they first arrived.
The bridges were not like those built over small rivers, but more like massive flyover bridges. The white bridges extended deep into the darkness like flying dragons.
There were ten dragon bridges in total. They could not see the ends when they stared into the distance. However, the bridges seemed unaffected by the death wind that danced around like sickles.
In other words, the bridges were the only way forward.
"This wind…" Damon stared at the scene through the copper mirror. "Is that… a wind spirit?"
"Killing Monarch-level creatures with its own power…" Damon was astonished. His heart trembled as he recognized its might. "Heaven grade? No…"
"This is divine grade!"
A divine-grade wind spirit—Death Wind. One of a kind, the highest class possible.
Divine-grade spirits had only existed in hypotheses and legends until now. In the present era, they were nothing more than myths.
Yet for the first time, Damon had encountered and recognized a divine spirit.
"I want it."
That single thought echoed endlessly in his mind as he continued watching the group.
It was now time for them to decide whether to travel together or split up to cross the bridges.
"That's easy for you to say. They have already made a huge sacrifice just by being willing to jump into the Dark Abyss, and now they have to choose whether they are going to die alone or together…" Du Xiao said, his voice heavy with emotion.
"But don't they know the burden they are carrying on their shoulders?" Chu Jia said.
"That's because of how useless we are, that we have to place such a huge burden on the shoulders of these young magicians. No matter what they choose, we should respect them. I believe neither determination nor their urge to save the world was what brought them this far. In fact, it's the never-changing friendship between them—facing anything fearlessly as long as they are together. It's difficult to move forward when you're all by yourself," Du Xiao said in a deep voice.
"Mo Fan came to the Ancient Capital because of Zhang Xiaohou. I heard he was in the middle of the nomination battles…" Yao Nan added.
"Su Xiaoluo saved Zhang Xiaohou's life."
"I think that girl jumped into the Dark Abyss because of Mo Fan."
"The burden is too heavy… it's suffocating."
Under Damon's and the others' eyes, the group finally made their decision. Except for Fang Gu, everyone chose to travel together and take a single bridge. The odds were lower, but everyone respected their choice.
Just like in the novel, Mo Fan took the Bridge of Death, becoming trapped in a dark space with a silver exit far in the distance.
The moment they realized their situation, a silver vortex appeared in the sky, and zombies began raining down on the squad inside the tomb.
"What did you say? A silver vortex has dragged away a large number of undead?" the mysterious man asked in confusion at the Clock Tower Magic Association.
"Why would a silver vortex appear all of a sudden?" the group was dumbfounded.
Outside the barrier was either drenched in rain or drowned in an ocean of undead. What was this silver vortex?
"It's a turbulent flow of space—a space tunnel that can drag living forms into it and teleport them somewhere else," Han Ji said slowly.
"Teleport them where?" Chu Jia asked.
His question was answered almost immediately.
In the mirror, the disappeared undead all emerged within the space where Mo Fan and the group stood.
"Oh my god…" everyone gasped as they realized the situation.
Nearly four intermediate mages—Mo Fan himself had not yet mastered advanced spells, so his strength was still limited to the intermediate level—against nearly two thousand undead: servants, warriors, and commander-class creatures.
Could Mo Fan and his group survive this peril?
Without Flame Belle, the only reason Mo Fan had been able to handle the undead…
Could the weakened protagonist of this world endure what was about to come?