Chapter 162: The Traitor's Homeland

"Such a wonderful place as the Skeleton Secret Realm, and you didn't even call me?!" Pang Ding grabbed Luo Yong by the collar, glaring at him with a fiercely accusing posture.

"I asked, and you were the one who said you wouldn't go," Luo Yong replied indifferently.

"...Then, why didn't you tell me about the Necronomicon earlier?"

"You didn't ask..." Luo Yong spread his hands and retorted, "Blame me? Should we resurrect Belinda right now?"

"Uh... I-I-I... there's no rush for that. We should steady ourselves and take it slow. You just resurrected a rabbit and you want to experiment on a person already? Too soon, far too soon. Let's... wait and see! I'm not in a hurry at all." Pang Ding shook his head repeatedly, expressing his firm refusal.

"Are you scared too? Heh, I really couldn't imagine there was anything in this world that could frighten you," Luo Yong sighed.

"If it were you, you'd be scared too! Giving me hope time and time again, only to shatter it again and again..." Pang Ding let out a long sigh, his expression suddenly turning desolate.

It was strange. Clearly, they were getting closer and closer to their goal, yet the closer they got, the more anxious and uneasy they felt, almost losing control of their own emotions.

"Let's focus on the present first!"

Luo Yong waved the staff in his hand, summoning a few skeleton soldiers that swaggered out, using necromantic magic without the slightest fear of being seen.

In fact, this desolate ancient path was rarely traveled, especially during such special times when various squads exercised immense restraint, waiting for the top factions to make a move so they could follow their lead.

Therefore, there was basically no one around outside.

Moreover, monsters in the wild either appeared in huge numbers or possessed overwhelming individual strength, and a small group might not even be able to defeat them.

Luo Yong and Pang Ding traveled a short distance together before encountering a level 10 coyote.

The skeleton soldiers surrounded it and directly chopped it into several pieces.

Standing beside the coyote, Luo Yong raised his staff and chanted the incantation for Resurrection once again.

At this moment, he was level 18. Originally, he shouldn't have been able to use Resurrection, as the skill hadn't even been unlocked yet. However, he felt bursting with vitality, showing signs of overflowing energy, with explosive stamina as if he would never feel tired.

Not only had his combat power broken through the limit of his level, but other aspects had as well, beginning to spiral into disorder and chaos.

Although he could forcefully cast Resurrection ahead of schedule, he still needed to chant the incantation for assistance.

Pang Ding stood nearby, his body trembling continuously, shedding goosebumps all over the ground.

For some reason, just hearing this incantation gave him a creeping sense of horror.

Swish!

Mysterious runes emerged, arcane magic circles rotated, and dark forces surged.

When Luo Yong finished the incantation, the magic circle burst into a dazzling radiance.

"Roar!"

The coyote came back to life, its body returning to its original state as if it had never been injured at all.

The surrounding skeleton soldiers completely ignored it, treating it as one of their own, or perhaps unable to sense its presence.

"Is this damn thing dead or alive?" Pang Ding drew his long sword and poked the coyote a few times, but his force was too light and didn't pierce it.

Then, he applied some force—

Thud!

The coyote that had just been brought back to life was poked to death by him all over again.

"Poke, poke, poke! Poking again, poking when there's trouble, poking when there's none!" Luo Yong chanted expressionlessly. Taking advantage of the magic circle's light not yet fully dissipating and the dark power still surging, he waved his staff once more.

Swish!

The light of the magic circle flared, and the newly slain coyote was resurrected yet again, following right beside Luo Yong as they marched forward.

Whenever they encountered monsters, it would take the initiative to pounce and kill them.

Soon, as they journeyed on, Luo Yong encountered various kinds of monsters, and every single one of them lay flat before him without exception.

Then came back to life...

Upon reaching a teleportation array, Luo Yong made some preparations, first teleporting these resurrected monsters across, and then opening a portal of his own.

"Wah!!!"

Just as he emerged from the portal, Pang Ding let out a miserable scream, plunging downward from high altitude.

Despite being level 20, falling like this would definitely make him cough up some blood.

"Eh?"

During his descent, Luo Yong was also somewhat surprised. The location he had marked had apparently been blasted into ruins.

The secret chamber, the stone walls, everything was gone, as if an entire mountain had vanished into thin air!

"That's not right... What on earth happened here?"

Luo Yong remembered that when he last tracked the astrologer Hera here, this place was completely intact. Although it looked mysterious, it was heavily guarded by magic circles everywhere. How could the entire place have vanished?

He floated over to Pang Ding and cast Anti-Gravity, making both of their bodies light and slowing their descent, finally stopping just before hitting the ground so they didn't crash hard.

"Looks like I need to get myself a flying item!" Pang Ding said solemnly after landing.

"Why don't you just learn the Levitation spell!" Luo Yong suggested.

"Are you sure this is the place?" Pang Ding fiddled with the map he had obtained from Roger's camp, scrutinized it carefully, and said, "There used to be a cliff here with an altar built on top, but now there's nothing."

"There's no mistake," Luo Yong said.

After all, teleportation scrolls recorded spatial coordinates; they could never be wrong.

"Then leave it to Lord Pang!" Pang Ding took a measured stride, walked around, dropped energy crystals among the rubble, carved runes, and constructed a magic circle.

A moment later, a pillar of energy shot up from the ground, opening a gateway in mid-air that led to another location.

"This is troublesome!" Pang Ding looked up at the gateway and said, "The entire cliff has been relocated, and we can only enter through there. Neither of us can fly, nor do we have any flying items—unless one of those light spheres of yours can contract light wings like your little follower... But speaking of which, where is the little follower? Dead? Or dumped?"

"The party disbanded..." Luo Yong looked up at the portal in mid-air and said indifferently.

"Tsk tsk, ruthless!" Pang Ding chuckled and shook his head.

"Are you ready?"

"For what?"

"Another teleportation. The two of us will fall from a high altitude and pass right through that gateway on the way down. Just step right inside when we do," Luo Yong said expressionlessly.

"???" Pang Ding.

Although he resisted with every fiber of his being, what else could he say at a time like this?

"Sigh!"

Pang Ding let out a helpless sigh and followed Luo Yong into the portal.

Immediately, the moment they appeared, they began to plummet.

Luo Yong had already prepared the Anti-Gravity spell, making himself as light as a feather. Even though Pang Ding's weight exceeded normal human imagination, they still managed to halt right as they approached the gateway.

"Fighting for my life to survive, surviving just to fight for my life—my life is completely ruined!" Pang Ding looked at the gateway, suddenly burst into deep sentiment, and walked in without looking back.

Luo Yong followed closely behind.

Whoosh!

The moment he stepped through the door, Luo Yong sensed an unusual aura.

This was a place heavily eroded by dark forces, with restless magic churning everywhere, making one uneasy.

In the distance lay a fairly large camp, but it was completely deserted and empty inside.

As far as the eye could see, bones littered the ground.

One could only imagine what kind of battle had taken place here to cause such a scene.

However, Luo Yong no longer had the time to ponder that.

Ahead—

In an open space within the camp, a tall wooden stake stood firmly, and a woman with disheveled hair was bound to it. Most of her clothes were torn, revealing fair skin and dried-up bloodstains.

Black Qi had invaded her body and lingered on her surface. It was impossible to tell how much longer she could hold on.

"It's her!"

"The Astrologer Hera!"

Luo Yong and Pang Ding exchanged glances and rushed forward quickly to untie her.

However, before the two of them could even get close, a fierce gale swept through, kicking up billowing yellow sand!

A towering figure blocked their path, cutting off their way.

"A demon?"

Looking at the ferocious face of the opponent, Luo Yong quickly switched classes, transforming his staff into a spear.

Necromancers were not skilled in close combat, especially at such a distance and facing a monster like this.

"Oh ho, so this is the place!" Pang Ding suddenly shouted out, "I know now! This is the legendary abandoned place that betrayed the gods and was said to have fallen into the dark abyss—the Homeland of the Betrayer!"

"Die!"

From the depths of the dark camp came an angry roar, and the surrounding magic grew even more violent.

Behind that demon, five more demons appeared one after another!

Moreover, their levels were all above 20, and their exact combat tiers were difficult to define for the moment.

"Save Hera first, and then we'll blow this place to pieces!" Luo Yong said.

"And what if we can't blow it to pieces?" Pang Ding asked.

"Then we'll sink it!"

"..."

Pang Ding rolled his eyes helplessly, realizing that since Luo Yong's combat power had increased, his arrogance had doubled as well, as if he no longer took anything seriously.

"Roar!!!"

The six demons roared in unison and pounced toward the two of them.

"Kill!"

"Kill!"

With two fierce shouts, two figures charged forward at the same time.

Two against six—a direct head-on clash!

Swish!

The two figures flashed past—

Pang Ding brandished his rapier, cutting down the monsters like chopping vegetables.

Luo Yong was also shaking his spear; ever since mastering the trembling spear technique, he felt a sort of high, and felt uncomfortable if he didn't shake it for a day.

Thud!

All six demons lay flat.

"Just like this?" Luo Yong found it hard to believe. Given the astrologer Hera's strength, there was no reason she couldn't handle monsters of this tier.

Whoosh!

A gale swept through again, whipping up the yellow sand once more as the magic mixed in the air coalesced. Ten monsters manifested, both their size and combat power far surpassing the previous six.

"Now this makes sense!" Luo Yong suddenly understood. This was how Hera had been defeated.

First of all, the environment here was extremely disadvantageous to her, with dark forces eroding her constantly, while these demons were endless and inexhaustible. Every time she cleared a wave, another wave would arrive, growing ever more numerous...