Flesh was stripped away, and the stench of blood filled the air.
As the putrid pus and rot seeped into the ground, a row of Skeleton Soldiers removed their ribs to use as swords and entered the mine tunnels, following the commands of their master.
"Go, find the Naturalist Mage who killed you..."
About a dozen Skeleton Soldiers, whose speed was not particularly fast, slower than a regular person’s walk, would have finished searching the complex mine tunnels long after Wayne had grabbed the slab and fled.
Sebastian understood this principle and muttered magic incantations under his breath, wielding the Walking Stick in front of him.
The Walking Stick, like a sharp sword tearing through space, drew back a curtain of darkness, and one by one, ghostly white Skeleton Soldiers emerged, with white lights flickering in their eye sockets, more vigorous than the previous dozen unlucky ones, obviously a higher grade of soldier.
Yet these were not Sebastian’s strongest soldiers. His most prized creations were three Cavalrymen. He had once seen a Death Knight in the Underworld Great Tomb in Paris, and the grand image lingered in his mind, indelible; using the Death Knight as a template, he expended a great deal of effort to create three such Cavalrymen.
These three Cavalrymen possessed mature intelligence and were steeped in the thick Death Essence. Each powerful enough to stand on their own, they could pluck the head of a Silver Mage from an army of thousands as easily as picking an object from a bag.
The mine’s layout was unsuitable for summoning Cavalrymen, so he refrained from revealing his finest work.
The two groups of Skeleton Soldiers converged, and with the Death Essence dispersing from his Walking Stick, their eye sockets glowing white, they moved agilely and charged into the deeper tunnels of the mine.
Through those deathly eyes, Sebastian’s senses were amplified, allowing him to see every detail within the mine.
"Great Death Knight, I will complete your mission, retrieve the slab, and deliver it to Paris..."
In the depths of the mine.
Wayne followed Mona cautiously; the vines could only scout ahead and couldn’t guarantee safety, so just in case, he resorted to his old tactic.
When in doubt, protect your teammate upfront.
A sound strategy, but it revealed his behavioral habits. His distinct personal style convinced Mona more and more that their master was just behind them.
The two continued another three hundred meters forward, where the mine narrowed to the point only one person could pass, the air thick with potentially poisonous gases that made their breathing gradually labor.
Wayne shook his head; to continue forward was irrational. Too narrow, claustrophobia would set in.
Mona persisted. Other areas had already been explored; only this untouched region remained.
Besides, Wayne had mentioned that the traps left behind had been triggered one by one. The Death Church was right behind them; to back out now would be to abandon all their prior efforts.
After several more steps, the two were almost squeezing through a crevice, with Mona shining the flashlight ahead, spotting a swath of darkness at the narrow passage’s end.
Different from the surrounding dimness, this darkness was deeper; their light could not reach its end, hinting at a vast space within.
Mona, stepping on the collapsed rubble, squeezed forward against the rock wall, struggling through the barrier. The light landed on the ground, revealing neatly arranged stone slabs.
Behind her, Wayne momentarily merged with The Book of Greed, his pliant, boneless body sliding through the crevice, maintaining a safe distance of two meters behind Mona, stepping into a pitch-black underground space.
The flashlight’s beam was limited. Mona shone it all around, but could see nothing.
Wayne squinted slightly, infusing magic power into his eyes, enhancing his Super Vision. A dim, three-dimensional silhouette came into view.
It seemed to be an abandoned underground relic, reminiscent of the Thousand-Eyed Demon’s lair, but unlike the city conjured by the Devil, the architectural styles were entirely different.
The city before him had only one distinguishing feature—immensity!
Towering walls, massively exaggerated columns standing a hundred meters tall, and at the city’s center an Obelisk piercing the peak of Elemental Mountain; it was unmistakably a city designed for Giants.
Were there Giants on the God-chosen Continent?
No, aside from in novels, Wayne never found any real evidence of Giants in the historical records.
It came from another world!!