Chapter 272: The Corpse
Although he wanted to retreat, a serious problem stood before Zhou Ning—the portal he had used to enter this tomb was one-way. How was he supposed to get out?
Based on his knowledge of the arcane, this place seemed to belong neither to reality, nor to the spirit realm, nor the elemental planes. Instead, it was a small independent world created by the ancient elves. One could glimpse the truth from the pitch-black, starless night sky visible through the windows.
This was also why Zhou Ning wanted to fully explore the tomb. In Apocalypse, many dungeons only revealed their exits after the boss was defeated, but nearly all of them had an emergency escape portal. The problem was that this particular boss was clearly far beyond his current abilities, so his only hope was that an escape portal would be hidden somewhere in the final passageway.
If not, he would be forced to use his trump card—could Pirate King Zhou Ning really sweep through this place in just fifteen minutes?
For now, though, there was no need to worry. He still had plenty of food and water stored in his spatial ring. He had time to search patiently for a way out.
Zhou Ning tugged at his collar, forcing himself to calm down, then headed deeper into the final corridor.
The passage wasn't very long. Both sides were still covered with murals depicting the life of the Elf King Alfred. Zhou Ning carefully avoided the pressure-triggered traps on the floor as he slowly advanced.
Just then, he heard a shrill scraping sound, as if carried from a distance.
He froze at once, focusing his gaze ahead.
From the depths of the passage slowly emerged a massive creature, over six meters tall. Its entire body was jet-black, inscribed with countless magical runes. It had bat-like wings, the horns of a goat, and sharp fangs, crafted with exquisite workmanship.
In its hand it carried a long spear identical to the mithril constructs he had seen before. The tip dragged across the ground, throwing sparks with each scrape—that must have been the sound he heard.
This was… a gargoyle. And not just any gargoyle, but an obsidian gargoyle.
Gargoyles were fairly common guardian constructs in ancient ruins; there were even two rows of them standing at the inner gates of Vick University.
But compared to those, this one was much larger, and its material was the rare obsidian. The ancient Elven Kingdom truly was obscenely wealthy!
Obsidian was a transcendent material with an unmatched balance of hardness and magical conductivity. Which meant this gargoyle might not only have formidable combat strength but possibly spellcasting abilities as well. He absolutely couldn't take it lightly.
Wait… what was that?
With his Observation Haki, Zhou Ning noticed a detail: a hole pierced through the gargoyle's wing, its once-dark edges now faded into a dull gray.
Could it have fought a battle before?
His thoughts raced. He drew a slow breath, ebony in one hand and ivory in the other. With blinding speed, he pulled the triggers. A supernatural bullet blazing with fire streaked across dozens of meters, striking the gargoyle's head dead-on.
As expected, the gargoyle's head jerked back violently, then it roared and charged.
That shot had been boosted with [Rapid Pursuit] and [Armament Haki], and by luck had triggered a critical hit right on the weak point. It inflicted a whopping 1,500 damage—his highest output so far.
Yet the gargoyle's health barely moved. One glance at his interface confirmed it: this was indeed a boss—Obsidian Gargoyle, level 68, with numerous construct-type specialties and a staggering 42,000 HP. His powerful shot had been little more than a scratch, though it did pierce its defenses.
Zhou Ning glided backward almost leisurely, ebony and ivory spitting bullets nonstop. Though its melee strength was terrifying, he wasn't about to rush in. With his Observation Haki, he had perfect awareness of the terrain and could focus on attacking without even looking back.
After some time, the gargoyle finally closed within twenty meters.
Suddenly, the air twisted into violent currents. A deafening roar filled his ears as a tornado spewed from the gargoyle's mouth, sweeping up dust and stones and hurling them straight toward him.
But Zhou Ning had already foreseen danger through his Observation Haki. He activated his Traveler's Ring, flashing twenty meters away in an instant, and kept firing.
The whirlwind soon dissipated. The obsidian gargoyle bellowed in rage, pressing forward again—only for Zhou Ning to slip aside with a glide, widening the gap once more, and casually trigger the wooden eyeball's charm.
"Wall of Thorns!"
Spikes burst from the ground, forming a barrier between him and the gargoyle. Zhou Ning kept shooting and sliding, playing with the monster as if it were a toy.
Three minutes later, the gargoyle's head finally exploded, its massive body crashing into the dust.
[You have slain Obsidian Gargoyle (Lv.68). You gained 72,000 EXP.]
[Progress: Kill or defeat 10 level-60+ boss-class creatures: 8/10]
Expressionless, Zhou Ning walked up to the fallen gargoyle. If not for conserving stamina for later battles, he could have ended this fight in under a minute with his full firepower.
He crouched and retrieved a black obsidian core, etched with intricate alchemical arrays. There was a standing high-priced bounty for these at the Darkland Adventurers' Guild—he wouldn't waste it.
After stowing the core, he studied the wound on its wing more closely. Yes, it was an arrow puncture. On the other side of the wing, he even spotted residue of medicinal powder—this looked like the work of an alchemist.
So… had an adventuring party already been here?
Zhou Ning rubbed the button on his sleeve, deep in thought, then pressed forward again. After about 120 steps, he stopped. The corridor had reached its end—a chamber resembling a display hall.
Just as he guessed, the left and right corridors were perfectly symmetrical. The left chamber displayed a collection of precious transcendent items, while the right one was filled with rare alchemical products and materials. Inside a case, Zhou Ning even spotted a rideable alchemical battle armor—basically a "Gundam." He remembered seeing its blueprint for sale in the Temple of Earth, with finished models costing no less than several hundred thousand Vecktas.
Unfortunately, just like in the other corridor, all of these treasures were sealed in separate dimensional spaces. Without the spatial coordinates, they would forever remain nothing more than exhibits.
"The alchemy of the Elven Kingdom is far more advanced than I imagined. No wonder the histories call that era two thousand years ago the Elven Age," Molly whispered.
Zhou Ning was about to reply when his pupils shrank. Not far ahead, on the ground, lay a human skeleton dressed in weathered robes. He hurried over.
The corpse wore an ancient alchemist's robe, its face shriveled to nothing, collapsed on the ground. Its finger bones were thick, and in its hand it still clutched a small pouch used to hold medicinal powders.