Before a snow-capped mountain that soars into the clouds, there stands an extremely simple tomb.
The tomb consists of only two thick, ancient, upright stone slabs and a horizontal stone slab that gives the same impression.
But it was this very tomb that made Odis feel an immense sense of oppression.
First of all, this snow mountain gives people a feeling of being difficult to overcome, as if it were "death" itself, and wanting to cross that snow mountain is as difficult as crossing "death".
Secondly, although the tomb looks very simple, it exudes an unsettling power, a power that seems capable of withering and killing any living thing.
Even though he was close enough, and even though the tomb's structure was very simple, Odis could not see what was inside.
Odis simply didn't bother to look closely, because the scene there must have been dangerous, and it was better not to see it.
The spirit world cannot be sensed in this space, so spiritual warnings are almost completely ineffective; one can only rely on being careful and cautious.
The final wonder is a crevice on the snow-capped mountain behind the tomb, seemingly large enough for one or two people to pass through.
Odis interpreted this as the power and symbol of "Death," for although "Death" is an insurmountable snow mountain, "Death" has a way to "cross the snow mountain."
After thoroughly examining the tomb, Odis went to inspect the magic circle. As he walked, he carefully looked around the corpse, deliberately walking around it to prevent any accidents.
Just as they were about to pass the corpse, it suddenly sat up straight: "Praise be to the goddess! You must be the one sent by the goddess to replace me."
Odis wasn't particularly alarmed. With such a dense aura of the dead around them, it would be strange if the corpses didn't turn into zombies or form evil spirits.
However, one cannot casually accept being "assigned by the goddess," so Odis said, "I'm sorry to disappoint you, I'm not here to replace you, but to repair the magic array."
Odis first clarified that he was not sent to replace the corpse to avoid any misunderstanding. He added that he was "sent" there to build rapport and gather information.
"That's you," the corpse said. "The goddess just gave me a divine message: the person who comes to repair the magic array is the one who will replace me."
Odis twitched his lips: "Holy crap, that's really..."
He reluctantly gave a thumbs up: "...The goddess's arrangement is truly amazing!"
Odis thought angrily to himself: This "eight-legged wolf" is really shameless! He came to repair the magic circle only because he was a fellow villager and was doing voluntary work. Does he expect him to stay here and guard it?
Fearing the corpse might escape, he quickly said, "We need to hand over the duties, and you need to continue guarding this place until I've repaired the magic array."
The corpse said, "I can't leave until then, otherwise the magic array will be completely destroyed."
"Furthermore, the goddess also said in the oracle that I should listen to you regarding matters concerning magic arrays."
Odis breathed a slight sigh of relief: "How long have you been guarding here?"
"More than two hundred years ago."
Odis forced a smile and said, "You are a devout believer."
He then said, "I just took a look, and this magic array seems to be incomplete. When was this magic array set up?"
He said "missing" was being very polite; in his opinion, the person who designed this magic circle wasn't very skilled in this area, far inferior to the magic circle in the Berenstreet Chamber.
Of course, this evaluation is also because Odis has high standards. In his view, the so-called "mastery of magic arrays" should at least be at his level.
The corpse did not suspect Odis, who knew nothing, because it required him to hand over the body to Odis.
"This is a magic array set up at the end of the Fourth Era. Initially, it could completely seal the power of death within the tomb," the corpse explained.
"But in recent centuries, the power within the tomb has gradually awakened, and more and more power can seep out from the magic array, so it is necessary to send a demigod to guard this place."
"Recently, that resurrection power has become even stronger, and the demigods are barely able to hold on to it."
"Originally, the goddess planned to send an angel to replace me, but a while ago she suddenly told me that the problem could be completely solved and asked me to wait here for the person who repaired the magic circle."
Odis said "Oh," confirming his guess. It must be that the goddess discovered his talent in magic arrays, which is why she asked him to repair the magic array.
As he continued to examine the magic array before him, he asked, "Is this the tomb of the 'Ancient God of Death,' or an arrangement for the resurrection of the 'Emperor of the Underworld'?"
"Both," said the upright-sitting corpse. "Before becoming the 'Grim Reaper,' Salinger buried the remains of the 'Ancient Grim Reaper' here."
"According to some of the church's research, this was initially Salinger's arrangement to prevent the resurrection of the 'Ancient Death God'."
"Later, after Salinger became the Grim Reaper, he replaced the ancient Grim Reaper's arrangements and made it his backup plan for resurrection."
"After Salinger's fall, the goddess hid this tomb to prevent Salinger from being resurrected."
Odis nodded. This was roughly what he had guessed earlier. The "Goddess of Night" had sent him and Bernadette in in order to reseal the "Emperor of the Underworld," who was seeking resurrection.
After all, for a deity with the power of "death," "death" is very difficult to seal away. Unless there is no death in the world, the "Goddess of Night" can let it go.
Odis guessed that the "Goddess of Night" probably wanted him to modify the magic circle here, since placing an angel here would be a waste of resources.
It would be best if the "Emperor of the Underworld" could be completely sealed.
After observing for a while, Odis had made a basic assessment of the magic circle: it seemed that by the Fourth Epoch, knowledge of magic circles had become severely lacking, and the magic circle in the secret chamber of Terensus was just an exception.
He made this judgment because the magic array was too complicated, with most of it being useless.
The designer of this magic circle must have seen the magic circle in the Chamber of Terensus and made a clumsy imitation here.
Moreover, the person who designed this magic circle made a mistake. To seal something at the level of a god, you need something divine as a source of power, such as a sealing object at the level of a demigod or something with extraordinary characteristics. Otherwise, you would have to use a demigod to fill the gap, as you are doing now.
There aren't even enough demigods to plug the hole now.
If it were just spiritual power, it would be a miracle if it could temporarily seal off this level of power. The fact that this magic array only started to have problems hundreds of years ago is simply a miracle.
So Odis, standing behind the corpse, asked, "Who designed this magic circle? It's simply..."
"It is said to be a magic circle designed by the goddess herself," the corpse said devoutly. "Moreover, this magic circle has been blessed by the goddess."
"…It's absolutely perfect." Odis was glad she had paused there, otherwise she would have "spoken her mind."
No wonder it has been able to sustain itself for hundreds of years on spirituality alone; it turns out it has the blessing of the gods.
Then Odis thought to himself: The goddess's skill with magic arrays is really not that great!
He then realized that extraordinary individuals who follow the "Sleepless" path are not very good at things like "ritual magic," which is why they train "diviners" and "secret seekers" to make up for their shortcomings.
It seems that even if this path leads to the level of a deity, and even a deity who has survived from the Second Era to the present day, their level is still just so-so.
After muttering a few complaints about this "fellow countryman," Odis pondered for a moment and then asked, "Are you dead?"
"Obviously," the corpse said. "However, the environment here has turned my body into a living corpse, and under the protection of the goddess, my soul has remained sensible."
"That's right, if this magic array had a demigod-level extraordinary characteristic, there would be no need to send someone to guard it," Odis said to the other party. "So, could I borrow your extraordinary characteristic for a moment?"
"No," the other party replied. "The power of this tomb has already leaked out significantly. I can only keep it surrounded by it at all times. If my special ability moves even slightly from its current position, the magic array will immediately collapse."
At this moment, Odis finally understood why the goddess had sent Celt in.
Odis then asked, "Could you help me hunt down a demigod in a little while?"
"My power is limited, and I can't disperse it at all." The corpse paused and then said, "However, I can release a little bit of the aura of death."
"That aura of death is at least at the level of a demigod!"
"Let me think about it." Odis pondered for a moment before saying, "A demigod will come over in a while. As long as I cough, I can use that power of death to launch a sneak attack on that male demigod."
The corpse nodded: "Okay."
Odis waved his hand, but then suddenly remembered that the corpse was invisible, so he said, "See you in a bit."
After saying that, he quickly left.
Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!
On the way back, Odis saw Celt and Corremond watching from a distance, but they were clearly wary of Bernadette and kept a great distance from her.
Meanwhile, they were indifferently observing Odis's return.
Back beside Bernadette, the oppressive feeling of death lessened considerably, allowing Odis to breathe a long sigh of relief.
Odis first winked at Bernadette before saying, "The way out is there, but the tomb of the 'Ancient Death God' blocks the exit. We have to reseal that tomb."
"Although I am proficient in magic arrays, that magic array has been corrupted too much by the 'aura of death'. It will be difficult for the two of us to reseal it."
As he spoke, his gaze occasionally drifted towards Selt and Corremond.
Bernadette noticed Odis's signal and subtly agreed, "Then what should we do?"
"Two demigods need to go and temporarily use that broken magic circle to complete the seal," Odis said. "Then I will repair the magic circle, and then we can find an exit and escape from here."
Bernadette glanced at Celt and his group, seemingly unintentionally: "They might overhear our conversation."
"I was just saying that to them." Odis waved to Celt and the others generously: "Let's cooperate, otherwise none of us will get out."
"How do we cooperate?" Although Selt was far away from them, Selt's voice seemed to be right next to their ears.
"You two demigods, go and stop the power that 'the Underworld Emperor' is leaking out," Odis said. "Then I will complete the magic array as soon as possible."
"You should have heard that I possess a magic array that can block the descent of evil gods. As long as that array is used, the power of the 'Emperor of the Underworld' can be completely sealed."
"In that case, we can get out of here by passing through the tomb ahead."
Selt didn't answer immediately, but pondered for a moment and said, "What if you use that magic circle to attack us with the power of the tomb?"
He's definitely a seasoned veteran.
Odis thought to himself: He guessed what I was thinking right away.
However, he was prepared, and with an almost perfect reason: "If it only takes one demigod to reseal the tomb, we have already begun preparations for the reseal."
This reason immediately made Celt lower his guard. If Odis and the others could act on their own, there was no need to waste time arguing with them here; they could simply go out on their own.
At that time, because the "Mysterious Queen" had a level 0 sealed artifact, Celt did not dare to easily step forward to stop her.
At this moment, Odis said again, "If you don't trust us, I can take you hostage and accompany you to the magic circle first, so you can see it and I can explain it to you in detail before we cooperate."
He shrugged and said, "Now I'm not an ordinary Sequence 7 anymore, because I'm the only one here who understands that sealing array. The 'Mysterious Queen' won't give up on me easily, and you won't kill me easily either."
"I am the best candidate to be a hostage."
After a dozen seconds, Celt said, "Okay, then come over here first, and we'll go to that magic circle together."
Since Odis had made such a thoughtful suggestion, he certainly wouldn't refuse.
"Wait a minute," Bernadette suddenly said, "Shouldn't you also show some sincerity?"
Extraordinary individuals at this level are all shrewd and astute. Bernadette certainly knew the principle of "doing the show properly," and it would be suspicious if she didn't make a move at this moment.
Just as Bernadette had expected, Selt lowered his guard somewhat upon hearing this.
He said, "I can bring my men to you."
Bernadette scoffed, "He can draw magic circles too?"
Selt then asked, "How do you want me to express my sincerity?"
"You seem to have two sealed artifacts on you," Bernadette said. "Keep them to me for now. After the magic circle is drawn and Odis is released, I will give them to you."
Selt thought for a moment before saying, "Okay."
He had Corraymond hold the two sealed artifacts and was about to come over when Odis said, "Wait a moment, let me check if I have enough spiritual materials."
As he spoke, he opened the cloth bag, carefully examined the items, and then took out a notebook, as if he were calculating something.
Just as he finished his work and was about to head towards Celt, the stars suddenly dimmed.
Selt and Corraymond noticed this as well, and without even saying a word, the two immediately hid at a distance. Clearly, they had suffered when the power of the seal weakened earlier.
Bernadette smiled slightly; she could tell, of course, that Odis had been stalling for time.
She also took Odis away, and before the river appeared, pea plants sprouted and surrounded them as they ascended into the air.
At this point, Bernadette said, "Alright, I've created a space where we can talk without worry."
"Here's what happened…" Odis told the truth, and then revealed his plan.
Bernadette said, "This plan is indeed good; we can give it a try."
Odis exclaimed, "It's also thanks to your excellent teamwork."