Ascension To Divine Throne - Chapter 64

Chapter 64: Azrael’s Tomb of Death

In the heart of the forest, Jason and his team had set up tents on the grass, even unusually lighting a bonfire to prepare dinner, leisurely as if they were on a picnic.

However, a closer observation would reveal that they never took off their equipment to relax, and their weapons were placed beside them, ready to enter combat at any moment.

William had set up several layers of warning magic around the camp, preparing for danger at any moment.

The team appeared relaxed, but in reality, they were tight on the inside, luring any potential enemies into making a move.

Even during the night, they ensured at least two people were on guard.

But soon, William and the others realized that all their precautions were in vain.

This was the second day, and still, there was no sign of anything amiss, as if the forest truly was a peaceful haven, devoid of any dangers.

“What exactly is going on?”

Jason, too, was feeling helpless, looking up at the sun that was about to reach its zenith.

They had entered the forest almost a day ago and had stayed in the center for a night, yet nothing had happened.

Despite being prepared for danger, the lack of any hazardous incidents left Jason feeling like he was punching air.

Unlike Jason and Elena, William and Nichole were feeling restless.

William felt an oppressive discomfort in his chest, the pressure he felt upon entering the forest had been mounting over time, giving him a sense of impending doom.

Nichole’s complexion was still normal, but her tightly gripped sword showed she was on high alert.

Jason noticed William’s somewhat pale face and asked with concern, “William, what’s wrong? You’ve looked off since yesterday. Did something happen?”

William hesitated but decided to share his baseless feelings with his teammates.

“I—”

Just as William was about to speak, Lumbro and Jason, who were sitting nearby on guard, suddenly disappeared without a trace.

William thought of a possibility and shouted to Nichole and Elena beside him, “Be careful.”

Before he could finish, his figure also vanished from the spot.

Accompanied by dizziness, when William opened his eyes, he found himself in a completely unfamiliar place.

With no source of light around, it took a moment for William’s eyes to adjust to the darkness before he could make out the surroundings vaguely.

Instead of the lush forest, a dark passage lay before him, its stone walls covered in dust, and the air, stagnant for a long time, was filled with the foul stench of decay.

William shook his head, fully recovering from the disorientation of spatial teleportation, and carefully surveyed his surroundings.

He refrained from using any spells for illumination, knowing any potential dangers nearby would make him an easy target. His past adventures had taught him to be prepared. Carefully taking out a carved glowstone from his storage ring, he used its faint light to examine his surroundings, pondering over what had just happened.

Was that spatial teleportation?

But Jason and Nichole weren’t with him, so was it random teleportation? What triggered it?

And am I underground now?

The heavy scent of decay in the air undoubtedly indicated this wasn’t a safe place. Waiting for rescue was unrealistic, so William took the glowstone and examined the stone walls, hoping to find some useful information.

Under the faint glow of the glowstone, William meticulously examined his surroundings.

He found himself in a square stone chamber, the walls of which bore clear signs of construction and polishing, with slightly weathered edges indicating the passage of many years.

Suddenly, on the right wall, William felt a mark different from the surroundings. He brought the glowstone closer to get a better look.

It was a symbol carved directly into the wall: a one-eyed raven perched atop a horizontally placed bone staff.

William’s eyes widened at the sight of this eerie symbol, all too familiar to him.

Wasn’t this the unique insignia of the dungeon, Azrael’s Tomb of Death?

William stowed the glowstone back into his ring and sat against the wall, his mind racing as he considered his situation.

With Azrael’s insignia here, he was undoubtedly within the Tomb of Death.

Fortunately, he seemed to have been transported to a safe area of the tomb, which was far better than being dumped directly among a host of monsters.

So, was the forest he had been in before the dungeon, Necromancers Forest Realm?

In the past life within the game God’s Apocalypse, players could enter dungeons in two ways: either through a dungeon crystal obtained by the player or by using a player’s weekly limited entries directly from a system-exclusive entrance.

As a Bronze-level dungeon, Necromancers Forest Realm was widely explored and conquered by many players.

This dungeon was essentially an ordinary forest, but the monsters that appeared were necromancers.

These LV30~40 necromantic creatures, somewhat resembling elven tree guardians but suffused with necromantic essence, could wield necromantic energy for attacks, resulting from trees mutated by necromantic energy.

The boss of the dungeon was a LV45 Necromancer Giant, located at the forest’s center. Defeating it allowed players to clear the Necromancers Forest Realm dungeon.

However, what puzzled players was that no matter how they defeated the Necromancer Giant or cleared all necromancers from the forest, the completion rate of Necromancers Forest Realm was always 99%.

The final 1% eluded players for a long time, even after some went to the lengths of cutting down every tree in the forest, to no avail.

It wasn’t until much later in the game, when most players had reached Silver-level, that the secret of Necromancers Forest Realm was accidentally discovered by a group celebrating their victory over the Necromancer Giant with a party in the forest’s center, staying for an entire day in-game.

Just as they were about to log off, they were suddenly teleported to a new hidden dungeon.

The mystery of the last 1% was dramatically solved.

Who would have thought that Necromancers Forest Realm was connected to another dungeon, accessed by staying in the realm for a full day, specifically at the forest’s center?

This unique design was criticized by players as a quirky whim of the game developers.

And this new dungeon?

Its name was Azrael’s Tomb of Death!