The eye on the around was still glancing around curiously.
Angele observed the eye for a while and removed the broken pieces of magic stones.
However, the eye was still there.
‘What creature is this and where does it come from?’ Angele was confused. He stood up and pointed at the circle. A large metal piece was released from his hand and covered the eye.
He returned to the skeleton soldier. After thinking for a while, he pressed on its skull.
*Crack*
The skull broke into pieces, and the whole skeleton soldier fell apart.
The black and rusty ax dropped to the floor as well since there was no longer any skeleton holding it.
Angele picked the ax up and quickly checked it.
The ax had a wide blade, and a sentence was engraved on its handle: "To Chita".
The sentence was written in the universal ancient language and was a bit blurry due to the decomposition.
Angele swung the ax several times in the air.
‘About 25 kilograms…’ He had weighed the ax using Zero.
His long hair started to shorten, shrinking in size, and returned to its normal length seconds later.
Angele walked over to the coffin in the center of the hall with the ax in hand.
The stone coffin lied there quietly, and the rubies around its edges looked like hundreds of eyes.
He placed his hands on the coffin and pushed it slightly; however, the coffin remained tightly sealed.
Glancing to the sides, he saw that the lid had been completely fused to the coffin.
Angele thought for a while and decided not to open the coffin.
He turned around and started checking the books one at a time.
The books were all about the achievements the one in the coffin had obtained, but the authors of each book were completely different. He walked to the altar as he did not find anything valuable from the books.
He walked up the stairs and stood in front of a burning flame.
The intense heat waves were coming from the flame, but he noticed that it was burning without fuel.
There was nothing inside the bronze container, and the strong flame was floating in the air.
The bronze container was surrounded by dried, black flowers, and there was a silver short sword with a complicated pattern on its handle lying off to the right.
The patterns on the handle looked like two snakes with their mouths open—seemingly as if they were poised and ready to strike.
Angele looked all around, but that was all he found here.
He grabbed the short sword and slashed forward.
*CHI*
A ray of silver light was released from the tip of the sword, sinking into the stone wall on the opposite side.
A slim mark was left on the wall. The mark was dark, and it should be at least several meters deep.
This was very surprising.
‘I don’t remember applying any energy to the sword…’ He held the cold handle of the sword tightly. The handle was a bit wet and the whole sword weighed as if it was made of wood.
He raised the sword and slashed forward again.
*CHI*
Another silver ray left the tip of the sword and another slim mark appeared on the wall.
Angele checked the sword multiple times, but he did not find anything out of the ordinary, even with Zero’s help. It was a simple sword, but it felt like the blade was infused with something, like energy particles.
He tested the sword against random objects in the tomb, but nothing stood a chance in the face of the silver ray.
Angele carefully wrapped the sword with silver metal, creating a make-shift scabbard, and tied it to his belt.
Before leaving, he collected all the books in the tomb and tied them up with metal strings.
The magic circle was just left on the ground. Angele was certain that the eye would disappear after all the energy in the magic stones was consumed.
*Crack*
Angele pushed the wooden door open.
Right as he was about to take a step forward.
*WOO*
Chilling wind brushed the back of his neck.
Angele turned his head around and noticed the light had already disappeared from the tomb. The chilling wind had come from the depths of the dark.
His expression changed. He left the tunnel quickly and returned to the root of the large tree.
It was still night and the mist still lingered in the air. Blue lights penetrated the clouds and illuminated Angele’s body.
Angele checked the surroundings and started heading back to the mansion.
However, he noticed that something wasn’t right several steps later. He turned around and what he saw scared him.
The large tree was moving and struggling like a live human being.
"AH!" The tree screamed in a high-pitched voice and it was shaking its trunk, like a man in his death throes struggling to survive.
The tree’s trunk, skin, and branches started melting, turning into a pile of black sticky liquid within ten seconds, and disappeared into the ground.
The only thing left was a patch of green grass, and it almost looked like the tree was never there.
Angele checked the books and the short sword. Those didn’t disappear with the tree; however, the eyes of the snakes were covered with a black glow.
‘I need to leave the area now…’ Angele was filled with a sense of foreboding. He, filled with caution, drew the short sword and decided to leave the area.
*CHI*
A large crack appeared on the grass and a large eye appeared on the ground. The eye was looking around curiously.
The eye was about ten meters long, giving the illusion that there was an enormous beast underground looking upward.
Angele paled, recognizing the eye immediately—it was the same one from the magic circle. Even the details were identical, but its size had increased greatly.
He took two steps back and started running towards the mansion. He kept checking around him as he ran, but there were no traces of anything following after him.
Angele felt a bit relieved. There were just too many strange things in the Nightmare Realm, and although he was a knowledgeable wizard, he had no idea what was going on.
Turning around, he was surprised, instantly stopping and standing still.
A trail of tiny footprints stopped right in front of the barrier created by the metal force field, and they were disappearing into the ground quickly.
The footprints stopped moving when he stopped running.
Something invisible slowly turned around and it felt like the thing was staring at Angele. He could feel the chill climbing up his back.
Angele raised the short sword and slashed forward without hesitation.
*CHI*
Silver light flashed in the air.
*PA*
It sounded like a bubble burst. The silver ray disappeared after hitting the invisible thing.
Angele took several steps back and he noticed that the invisible thing was no longer moving.
He turned back around and started running again. Although he was still constantly checking the surroundings, he saw that there were no more footprints following after him.
‘That thing probably followed me out of the mansion and I thought it left before I entered the cave,’ Angele guessed.
The thing was nearly impossible to detect. It doesn’t release any form of waves, whether it be energy, mentality, or soul waves. The only trace was the footprints on the ground.
Angele returned to the mansion quickly after he increased his speed.
After seeing the energy barrier and the vines, he felt much better and calmed down.
Suddenly, his expression turned cold.
Countless tiny footprints surrounded the energy barrier, but their sizes varied and they were all standing, facing the mansion.
Suddenly, as if they noticed Angele’s presence…
*PA PA*
All the invisible creatures turned to Angele at the same time. Angele could not see anything, but he felt as if he was being stared at by a large group of people.
The forest grew deadly silent.
Angele’s expression turned serious, he raised the silver sword again.
*CHI CHI CHI*
Several silver rays were released into the air and landed on the grass.
*PA PA*
Half of the footprints on the ground were erased by the silver rays.
Angele took two steps back and ran to the other side of the barrier.
Immediate after sheathing the short sword, he created a dark red lava ball.
He threw the lava ball into the air without looking.
*BOOM*
Intense light from the lava drops brightened up the whole forest and drove some of the mist away.
Angele could feel that the lava drops were destroying the invisible creatures.
He suddenly stopped and looked around.
Trees were damaged by the lava drops, and branches were on fire. Some golden lava drops were still dripping down on the tree trunks.
The footprints disappeared from the ground completely and the heat waves were spreading in all directions.
Satisfied with the result, he stepped into the burning flames without any hesitation and headed back to the mansion.
The high fire resistance from the Molten Core River helped him against all the incoming lava drops, and as a result, the fire didn’t damage him at all.
The fire from the burning wood warmed up the area and the strange feeling was no longer bothering him.
Angele passed through the barrier and the black vines started moving again.
Taking a deep breath, he walked past the fences.
‘Many things happened during my exploration. I wonder how Frey is doing now? He said he just wanted to check the cities around the area, but anything could happen on his way…’ Angele sighed and grabbed the books that were still tied up by the metal strings.