CHAPTER 26: CHAPTER 26: MAUSOLEUM

"Did he manage to avoid being hit directly by the explosion?" they both thought in unison as they assessed the damage caused by the attack.

A few seconds after the explosion, just as the dust cleared, they could see that the upper body of the desert worm had exploded. The monster was apparently dead.

Seeing the creature’s death, Deon rushed toward the corpse, followed by his teammates. Alexia and Amelia were more cautious, even after the worm’s death. While following Deon in his run, they paid more attention to their surroundings.

"Hmmm, they’re not as relaxed as they were at the beginning of the expedition," thought Deon, seeing them on guard, ready for any possibility of a surprise attack.

Once close to the creature’s body, seeing the damage it had suffered, Deon was even more impressed by their combined technique. But that wasn’t all—mutilations could be seen all over the rest of the creature’s body despite the hardness and thickness of its skin. That was Theo’s doing.

Deon could only acknowledge Theo’s strength after seeing those marks. Even he wouldn’t have done better. After all, this monster was at the top of Rank D. The Demonic Alpha or even the Hydra couldn’t stand a chance against this desert worm.

Speaking of Theo, he was lying dozens of meters away from the creature’s body. His body was badly damaged, and he seemed to have passed out. By his side were already Amelia and Alexia, giving him a healing potion as they waited for him to recover.

While they all waited for Theo to wake up, Deon, to keep himself busy, had summoned his status window to check his progress.

"Status window."

[Name:] Deon

[Species:] Human

[Rank:] E

[Experience value:] 748 / 1000

[Strength:] 65

[Agility:] 57

[Mana:] 80

[Endurance:] 100

[State:] Normal

[Intelligence:] 100

[Luck:] 90

[Aura:] 80

[Attributes:] Neutral (None)

[Stat Points:] 0

[Skill Tree: Innate Skill]

1 - [Sense Enhancement (60%):] B

2 - [Sixth Sense]

[Title:] The One Who Overcomes Adversity

[Profession / Class:] Mage

They had grown a lot. But he wondered if he could really reach Rank D and evolve his innate skill to Rank A—at least before the coming-of-age ceremony.

In the meantime, while Deon was thinking about possible solutions to his concerns, Theo had woken up.

"Ugh..."

"Theo, are you okay?" asked Amelia hastily as Theo barely opened his eyes.

"Yes, I’m fine. Is the worm dead? Are you hurt?" Theo asked in a calm voice.

"Yes, we managed to kill it."

Seeing Theo regain consciousness, Deon walked toward him. He wanted to know the reason behind his strange behavior. In other situations, that could have cost them their lives.

"What got into you?"

Once close to them, he asked the question directly. His voice was calm, and his expression unreadable.

Theo glanced at his sword as he stood up, then turned toward Deon.

"The sword I use to fight is an artifact," he began, grabbing his large sword that emitted a sinister feeling. "This sword greatly increases one’s strength and inflicts bleeding debuffs on the enemy after each slash. The only drawback is that it drains the wielder’s mental strength by amplifying their emotions. Losing control can cause many consequences, including the berserk state I entered earlier."

After his explanation, Deon better understood what had happened. However, he was still a little intrigued.

"This artifact is quite interesting. Could we possibly bypass the side effects?" Deon wondered.

"It’s a rather dangerous artifact, isn’t it?"

"Yes, but as long as you control your emotions, you have nothing to fear."

"I managed to do that until today..." he muttered.

"It seems like everyone’s relaxed. Let me remind you that we haven’t closed the portal yet, so let’s get moving."

"I spotted a place further ahead, in that direction. It should be the boss’s lair. If we move quickly, we can reach it in fifteen minutes."

"What does the boss of this portal look like?"

That question sent a chill down everyone’s spine. Deon had no idea what the final boss could look like, but one thing was certain—it would be difficult to face without a solid plan.

After exactly fifteen minutes of walking, Deon finally led them to the place he had identified.

In front of them stood a large mausoleum that looked very old but had a unique architecture. Upon seeing it, they all wondered what such a thing was doing inside a portal. It was very rare to encounter structures like this one inside portals. Usually, within portals, new discoveries were made about the environment, but this time, they were intrigued.

"It looks like it was made by humans?"

"What kind of portal is this?"

Although they hesitated to enter the monument, they knew they had no other choice if they wanted to close the portal.

After spending a few minutes staring at the monument in hesitation, Deon took the first step inside. Seeing him enter, the others had no choice but to follow.

---

Once inside the dungeon, Deon felt a cold aura run down his spine. He could feel it—something very powerful was resting somewhere within this mausoleum.

After carefully scanning his surroundings multiple times, he still couldn’t see his teammates. Realizing something was wrong, he began exploring the labyrinth.

"I hope nothing bad happens to them..." he murmured as he cautiously ventured deeper into the maze.

After what felt like hours of walking, Deon grew increasingly curious about this place.

"This mausoleum looked threatening when I entered, but since then, not a single monster... That’s not normal."

"Am I just being paranoid?"

As he questioned himself, the corridors of the labyrinth began to darken. It seemed as though they were swallowing the light. Soon, all the corridors of the maze were engulfed in darkness.

"Amelia, Dom, Theo... where are you?!"

Alexia’s voice echoed through the corridor where she stood. Beside her, there was no longer Deon, Amelia, or Theo.

"Where are they? Were we separated?"

Alexia knew that being separated was never a good sign. She felt a bit anxious, but as she tried to gather her thoughts, the corridor she was in began to darken.

"Let’s try exploring the area. Maybe they’re not far. Staying alone could be dangerous."

Alexia spoke while looking at her sylph, which made little sounds in response.

"You’re right. All right, let’s go."

"Huh? Uh... where did Deon and Alexia go?" Amelia asked nervously, glancing around.

"They must be together somewhere in this labyrinth. I’m sure we’ll find them before we reach the center of the maze. Come on, let’s go," replied Theo, frowning as he looked around the place where he had landed.