Chapter 50: Resurrection Stone
The black-robed man's reaction this time was swift. As he retreated, his body quickly turned into a shadow, preparing to transform once again.
But Luna was right behind him, giving him no chance. As he began to shift into shadow form, she opened her mouth and screamed at him.
Before he could move, Luna's scream jolted him out of his shadow state.
At this moment, Gu Xi's crushing staff struck the man's head, splitting it open on impact.
Simultaneously, four or five skeleton soldiers grabbed his limbs, preventing him from turning into a shadow again. The other skeleton soldiers wielding spears and two-handed swords relentlessly hacked at him.
In the blink of an eye, the black-robed man's body was shredded like a ragged doll.
Despite being severely injured, the black-robed man laughed maniacally.
As he was being hacked, his body transformed into a shadow once more, but this time, the shadow had a dark red hue.
Even Gu Xi, who had charged forward, could smell the strong stench of blood emanating from the shadow.
Gu Xi sensed something was wrong.
"Luna, stop him!"
Luna screamed, but it seemed a bit too late.
Under the Banshee Wail, the shadow form of the black-robed man was dispersed. However, the fallen black-robed man smiled, blood continuously flowing from his mouth.
"You're doomed! You're all doomed!"
Not knowing what was wrong, Gu Xi heard Luna's urgent voice.
"His ring is missing."
Gu Xi's heart tightened as he quickly glanced at the man's right hand. The ring, which could summon blood from the small building to quickly restore his life, was still there.
This puzzled Gu Xi, but he noticed that the man's left hand was missing a finger.
Although Gu Xi didn't know what had happened, he understood that he couldn't let the man continue like this.
"Cut off his hand."
Several skeleton soldiers immediately rushed forward, ready to sever the man's arm. Suddenly, the ground shook violently.
The skeleton soldiers hesitated to retreat and protect Gu Xi, but he decisively ordered.
"Cut!"
The skeleton soldiers didn't hesitate and severed the man's arm.
Gu Xi kicked the arm aside, preventing the man from using the ring to restore his life.
Then, the other skeleton soldiers quickly moved forward and killed the black-robed man on the spot.
[You killed a Twisted Mage (elder, level 5), gaining 73 experience points. Contracted undead involved in the battle gained 46 experience points, and all participating summons gained 6 experience points.]
Despite his death, the black-robed man still had a smile on his face.
This was extremely eerie.
As the black-robed man died, the ground's shaking intensified, causing nearby buildings to tremble.
Gu Xi didn't have time to deal with the man's body. He hastily grabbed the severed arm.
[You picked up Resurrection Stone (Fake, Blue) *1]
[Resurrection Stone (Fake, Blue): A mass-produced imitation of the Deathly Hallow Resurrection Stone. It can revive a corpse that has been dead for no more than three hours (revival requires the life of an innocent person, and the revived body will be partially twisted, with this pain being permanent).]
Seeing the ring in his hand, Gu Xi finally understood what had happened. This man was using others' lives to revive himself.
These people were evil mages. No wonder they hid the small building. If discovered by Victoria City, they would be treated like cultists.
While Gu Xi was thinking, a giant antler emerged from the ground, collapsing half of the small building.
Then, a grotesque, massive deer-like creature crawled out from the ground.
This monstrous deer was mostly made of rock, with at least seven antlers of varying lengths, the largest being two meters long, and the smallest one meter.
The antlers were adorned with flesh and organs, dripping blood onto the deer's face, making it look terrifying.
The deer's body was a chaotic mix of various items, including clothes, weapons, and bones.
It was unclear how such a creature was kept underground.
Before Gu Xi could figure out how it appeared, the monster deer charged forward, causing the half-collapsed building to crumble completely.
As the deer charged, Gu Xi's bone spikes, Luna's Banshee Wail, and the remaining skeleton soldiers all attacked.
Unlike the Twisted Mage who could turn into a shadow, the monster deer was impervious to attacks. Bone spikes embedded in its body without affecting it.
The deer ignored Luna's Banshee Wail and charged through the skeleton soldiers, crushing them.
After a few strikes, Gu Xi realized his bone spikes were too weak. He changed tactics and targeted a recently killed skeleton soldier.
"Corpse Explosion!"
The deer stepped on the corpse as it moved forward. The explosion blew off a chunk of the deer's body.
However, to Gu Xi's surprise, the deer didn't care about the damage and continued charging at him.
Gu Xi realized that his attacks were ineffective against the deer. Killing it with explosions seemed impossible.
This was a situation Gu Xi had never encountered before, leaving him uncertain of what to do.
At that moment, the deer became more aggressive, biting a skeleton soldier in half.
Seizing the opportunity, Gu Xi pointed at the deer's mouth, causing the skeleton soldier to explode, spraying blood everywhere.
But the deer seemed unaffected, continuing its relentless attack without any change in behavior.
Gu Xi finally understood that his attacks were too weak to harm the deer. He needed a different approach to defeat this monster.