"......."
"......."
The most frightening thing was the sudden silence.
Fang Zheng silently stared at the witch in front of him, while Magda looked back at him without saying a word. After a moment, Magda finally let out a cold sneer.
"It turns out to be a little mouse that accidentally got into the wrong hole. Looks like your luck is really bad."
Damn it!
Cursing inwardly and looking around, Fang Zheng realized his situation was dire. His left shoulder burned with pain, his body was covered in wounds, and he was so weak he could barely muster any strength. He was in a spacious hall with no cover in sight, surrounded by dozens of cultists, with a boss glaring at him from behind.
I just came here looking for an artifact, how did it suddenly turn into a boss fight?
The difficulty just jumped to level three!
At this moment, Fang Zheng's expression was uncertain. But before he could think of how to deal with the current trouble, he saw the witch floating in the air suddenly change her expression.
"I sense a peculiar power in you... so it's in your hands, hand it over!"
As she spoke, the witch's voice suddenly grew louder, making Fang Zheng feel as if countless gongs were struck right by his ears. He became dizzy, unable to speak, and the body he had just managed to stand up felt as if it had been forcefully knocked down again, collapsing back to the ground.
"Seize him! Bring me what he is carrying!"
Magda had no intention of wasting words with Fang Zheng. To her, Fang Zheng was just a militiaman. Although curious about how he had appeared in front of her, in the Dark World, such ants were never a concern for Magda. The cultists, upon hearing their master's command, started to stride towards Fang Zheng. To them, a severely injured militiaman who could barely move posed no threat.
"Hah... hah..."
Clutching Frostmourne, Fang Zheng knelt on the ground, breathing heavily. His head buzzed, his vision blurred, and the cultists were just wobbly black shadows in his eyes.
Am I going to die here?
His lungs burned with pain, every breath felt like flames were igniting in his chest. Fang Zheng looked up, seeing the blurry shadows of the cultists approaching. Even though he couldn't make out their attire, he knew that in his current state, he stood no chance against so many cultists.
So, there was only one option left.
With that thought, Fang Zheng gripped his longsword tightly.
Just as the cultists were about to reach Fang Zheng, a howling cold wind arose from nowhere.
———————!!
An icy chill swept through the bodies of the cultists in an instant, but they didn't notice. They remained frozen in their previous actions, as if time had stopped. Soon, a layer of frost appeared on their skin, and the soulfire in their eyes extinguished.
"What is this?!!"
Seeing the sudden scene before her, Magda was taken aback. She quickly raised her hands, and a blood-red magic circle appeared beside her. Soon, a semi-transparent red barrier enveloped her, but even so, the cold wind blew her away, extinguishing the torches on the walls in the fierce storm.
In an instant, the surroundings fell into darkness.
"Cough... cough..."
What power is this?
Wiping the blood from the corner of her mouth, Magda looked ahead uncertainly. She had thought Fang Zheng was just an ordinary militiaman, but now she wasn't sure. She could feel an overwhelming power filled with death and cold descending. How could this be? Was this person also a servant of some other Demon King of Hell? Why didn't Lord Belial tell her!?
Magda swore that if she had known another Demon King was involved, she wouldn't have been so careless!
But now, it was too late!
"Hah!"
The previously extinguished torches reignited, but this time they burned with green soulfire.
"So that's all..."
A deep voice echoed, and the temperature suddenly dropped. Despite the protection of the blood barrier, Magda shivered. She felt an overpowering presence had arrived, and the entire underground hall had transformed. The blood and corpses on the floor were now covered in frost, and ice spikes hung from the ceiling. The hall had become an icy world in the blink of an eye.
A huge figure emerged from the frost, staring at Magda with eyes that glowed blue and devoid of emotion.
"You pathetic worm, how dare you stand in my way?!"
"I—I am a servant of Lord Belial!!"
Magda's face turned livid. She didn't know who the figure was, but their power was clearly on par with her master, the King of Lies, Belial. She no longer intended to reclaim the fragment. She even considered abandoning the mission. While this might incur Belial's wrath, it was better than dying here.
"I don't intend to oppose you, please spare me..."
"Spare you?"
Hearing Magda's plea, the figure looked at her and then raised his longsword.
"Your soul is filled with fear... and it will be food for Frostmourne..."
"No!!"
Magda couldn't take it anymore. Though she didn't know what Frostmourne was, she could tell the figure wasn't going to let her go!
Frantic, she flew backward, waving her hands desperately.
"Guards! Stop him!!"
With Magda's shout, cultists and inferno demons appeared out of nowhere, blocking the path of the Lich King. But the Lich King only sneered.
"Come, taste the power of the Scourge Legion!!"
As he spoke, the cultists and demons watched in horror as the frozen ground cracked, and countless undead creatures with blue flames in their eyes emerged, charging at the enemies with weapons raised.
In an instant, shouts of battle filled the dungeon, turning it into a scene from hell.
"Hah... hah..."
Magda, too, was terrified. She never expected to provoke such a fearsome entity. Desperate and directionless, she screamed, "Lord Belial, save me!!"
Screaming, she flew forward frantically. She had no way out of the dungeon, except for the teleportation array Fang Zheng was at. Abandoning her carefully built lair meant losing her only home. Yet no matter how she pleaded, there was no response from Belial.
"Lord Belial!!"
"Swish!!"
As Magda reached the end of the corridor, an ice wall suddenly appeared, blocking her path. At the same time, heavy footsteps echoed behind her.
"Thud... Thud... Thud..."
"No! I don't want to die! I don't want to die here!! Lord Belial, save me!!"
Hearing the footsteps, Magda nearly broke down. She desperately tried to shatter the ice wall but couldn't even chip it. The footsteps grew closer. She turned to see a dark figure slowly approaching.
"No, stay away! I don't want to die! Please spare me, I can be your most loyal servant! I'll swear it with my soul...!"
Kneeling on the ground, Magda begged as the figure approached with a longsword glimmering with icy light.
"... I'll fight you to the death!!"
Seeing her pleas were useless, Magda finally snapped. She flew up, raising her hands, and red beams and fireballs poured out, aiming at the figure.
"Boom boom boom boom!!"
With a series of explosions, the figure was engulfed in flames. But in the next moment, a cold light flashed!
"Swish—!"
The burning fireball was instantly cut in half. Magda stared, dumbfounded, as the cold light pierced through her flames, stabbing into her and pinning her to the ice wall. The red barrier around her shattered.
"I... I..."
Magda gripped the longsword embedded in her, looking at the young man in front of her. She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, she let out a blood-curdling scream. A humanoid mist was forcibly extracted from her body and absorbed into the glowing blue blade. Her body then slumped lifelessly.
Fang Zheng coldly watched Magda's body. After a moment, he retracted Frostmourne.
"Crash!"
The surroundings shattered completely.