Chapter 295 295: A Thin Bloody Line
Slowly, Thoren's finger grazed against the edge of the ancient page.
Nothing happened.
The terrifying soul attack from earlier did not appear again.
Seeing this, a deep sigh of relief escaped slowly from his lips.
A bead of sweat rolled quietly down his cheek.
That single detail alone revealed how tense and nervous he truly was inside.
Although his expression remained calm outwardly, his nerves had already tightened to the extreme.
Now that he confirmed the hidden attack was no longer active, his movements became faster and far more confident.
Carefully, he gripped the edge of the strange black page before turning it slowly.
Swish.
The page felt unusually heavy beneath his fingers.
However, the weight remained manageable.
As the page turned gradually, Thoren finally saw the contents hidden within the ancient book clearly.
Under the eerie green glow emitted from the Illusory Floating Lantern, strange symbols and ancient characters revealed themselves slowly across the dark surface.
The writing appeared incredibly complex.
Every symbol seemed twisted unnaturally while radiating faint traces of mysterious energy.
The instant Thoren stared directly toward the strange language, dizziness assaulted his mind violently.
His vision blurred instantly.
A strange pressure invaded his consciousness as though the symbols themselves contained incomprehensible knowledge beyond human understanding.
Thoren quickly averted his gaze instinctively.
"So strange…" he muttered softly while shaking his head slightly.
After resting briefly, he gradually recovered from the strange mental pressure.
Then cautiously, he focused upon the ancient text once more.
This time however, he remained mentally prepared beforehand.
The dizziness returned immediately.
However, unlike before, Thoren resisted the strange effect forcefully while stabilizing his thoughts carefully.
Little by little, the pressure assaulting his consciousness weakened gradually.
Within several seconds, the dizziness disappeared completely.
Now, Thoren could finally stare directly at the strange ancient language without suffering any noticeable mental disturbance.
Still, despite being able to observe the symbols safely now, he could not understand a single thing written upon the page.
The language looked entirely foreign.
No matter how carefully he observed the symbols, none of them resembled any known writing system.
It was completely incomprehensible.
Shaking his head helplessly, Thoren abandoned the attempt temporarily.
"Once I leave this ruin, I should be able to find someone capable of reading this," he muttered thoughtfully.
Now that he successfully opened the hidden page, curiosity naturally pushed him toward searching for additional pages.
However, after inspecting the ancient tome carefully, his expression changed slightly.
This single page was the only one remaining inside the entire thick book.
Every other page had already been torn away long ago.
The realization disappointed him greatly.
Clearly, whatever knowledge this ancient book originally contained had already been removed intentionally.
As for where those missing pages could possibly be now, Thoren possessed absolutely no clue.
Without hesitation, he stored the ancient tome carefully inside his inventory.
At the very least, the remaining page itself still held tremendous value.
Perhaps it even contained clues regarding the civilization hidden beneath the desert.
Afterward, Thoren slowly glanced around the chamber one final time.
Unfortunately, apart from the mysterious throne and ancient skeleton, he found nothing else of significance.
Since there was nothing left worth investigating, he turned around immediately before leaving the small chamber quietly.
Soon, he returned once more toward the ruined sanctum outside.
The sanctum looked exactly as before.
Cracked walls stretched throughout the chamber while shattered bricks and destruction covered nearly every corner.
The previous fierce battle against the Dust Naga had transformed the once mysterious sanctum into a devastated battlefield.
Looking at the massive destruction surrounding him, Thoren could not help inhaling sharply.
The battle earlier truly pushed him dangerously close toward death several times.
Slowly, his gaze shifted toward the gigantic undead Dust Naga nearby.
A satisfied expression appeared faintly upon his face immediately afterward.
The undead mini boss remained one of his greatest gains from this expedition.
Whoosh.
Without wasting time, Thoren withdrew the undead Dust Naga back into his undead space.
Afterward, he left behind only two elite undead servants together with two undead Echo Scarabs for protection against any hidden danger.
Once everything was prepared properly, Thoren finally began climbing the ancient stairs upward quietly.
Ten minutes later, he finally emerged outside near the bone finger bridge once more.
Slowly, he raised his head while staring toward the three moons hanging within the dark sky overhead.
A contemplative expression appeared gradually across his face.
The strange vision inside the sanctum earlier had changed many of his thoughts completely.
This world clearly had not always resembled an endless desert wasteland.
Something catastrophic must have happened long ago.
Some horrifying disaster likely transformed the once powerful civilization into the ruined world existing today.
Shaking his head lightly, Thoren pushed away those thoughts eventually.
There was no point dwelling endlessly upon ancient history.
His current priority remained survival.
Soon afterward, he made his way back toward the inner regions of the ruins carefully.
Eventually, he arrived once more within the territory formerly occupied by the Echo Scarabs.
The smooth silk like ground stretched endlessly beneath his feet while the eerie atmosphere remained unchanged.
Then suddenly, Thoren halted abruptly.
His eyes narrowed sharply.
The two undead Echo Scarabs beside him suddenly began vibrating violently while releasing intense sound waves repeatedly.
Hum! Hum! Hum!
Instantly, feedback surged through the mental connection linking them together.
He was no longer alone.
Visitors had arrived.
The realization caused a cold familiar smile to spread slowly across Thoren's face.
"So that bastard finally made his move," he thought coldly.
"He truly could not wait any longer."
The Jackal Beastman Chief clearly sent his subordinates searching for him already.
Ever since uncovering the truth behind the ancient map, Thoren already added the Jackal Beastman Chief firmly onto his kill list.
And now, the other side apparently shared similar intentions.
Neither side planned to allow the other to live peacefully anymore.
Whoosh.
Three undead Sanguine Vulture Spawn appeared silently beside Thoren instantly.
Their blood colored bodies radiated cold killing intent beneath the moonlight.
"For assassination, none surpass you," Thoren muttered quietly.
Without hesitation, he commanded them mentally.
"Begin the slaughter."
Whoosh!
The three undead Sanguine Vulture Spawn vanished immediately like bloody phantoms disappearing into the distance.
Not far away, three Jackal Beastmen searched carelessly through the remains of a partially collapsed building.
Their actions lacked the caution normally required during ruin exploration.
They kicked rubble aside roughly while speaking loudly in their native language.
Occasionally, curses escaped from their mouths impatiently.
Clearly, they did not expect danger nearby.
Just as the three prepared leaving the ruined structure behind, a faint whistling sound suddenly flashed past them.
Hmm?
Instantly, all three Jackal Beastmen froze completely.
Their beastlike instincts screamed warnings of imminent danger.
Immediately, they raised their crude weapons defensively while scanning the surroundings nervously.
Unfortunately, they reacted far too slowly.
Thud.
One of the Jackal Beastmen suddenly collapsed directly onto the ground.
A thin bloody line appeared slowly across his neck.
"What?"
The remaining two Jackal Beastmen widened their eyes in confusion while staring toward their fallen companion.
Neither understood what happened.
Their expressions filled rapidly with bewilderment and fear.
Then slowly, dark blood began flowing outward from the thin cut across the dead Jackal Beastman's throat.
The horrifying sight caused both survivors to stiffen immediately.
Swish.
A bloody crimson blur flashed briefly through the corner of their vision before disappearing instantly once more.
Thud.
Another Jackal Beastman collapsed lifelessly onto the ground. Just like the first corpse, a thin cut stretched across his neck.
Even in death, his face remained frozen with the same bewildered expression.