The cloaked figure seemed in a hurry to leave. Not only did they not bother to check if Nawa was dead, but they also didn't bother to take any of the artifacts the Assassin Team members possessed—each a premium or rare item.
But upon closer examination, the actions of an A-rank assassin made sense. What they possessed was the Shamur Staff, a legendary artifact, priceless. This caliber wasn't just coveted by players; every power within The Oneness desired it.
It wasn't surprising, then, that someone other than the Assassin Team was hunting this cloaked figure.
Shortly after the A-rank assassin departed, a strange phenomenon occurred in the sky: a violent storm, dark storm clouds swirling in a circle.
In the center of the darkness in the sky, a figure clad in a black cloak appeared, radiating an intense aura of death. Calling it a person might not be entirely accurate, as the figure was devoid of flesh, a skeletal structure as white as pearls, with eyes pitch black like the depths of hell.
The center of what would normally be a human eye was completely dark. A faint golden light gleamed on the skull, which bore a golden crown adorned with blood-red gems.
Throughout the world of The Oneness, none was as mysterious and terrifying as the Undead. Born from death, they possessed no minds or feelings, only a ravenous hunger for the flesh and blood of living beings. They continuously created death and multiplied, making the Undead a natural disaster and a common enemy to all living creatures.
Eliminating them was incredibly difficult. The Undead possessed incredibly durable bodies; even decapitation or heart removal could not stop them from fighting.
Their only weakness was sunlight; exposure to it weakened them drastically or even caused them to disintegrate. Without it, more than half of The Oneness's territory might have already become the land of the Undead.
This Skeleton King seemed different from the other Undead. It appeared to have a soul and feelings, gazing down at the ground below, deep in thought, as it slowly descended.
The moment the Skeleton King's feet touched the earth... The grass and vegetation within a radius of several hundred meters withered as if losing their life force.
The ground shook violently, and the once calm river water became turbulent, like the waves of a stormy ocean.
Amidst these disasters, the Skeleton King gazed at the four corpses with a calm expression, like a human observing the remains of an insect he had stumbled upon.
"Much lowly creatures dare to aspire to possess the weapons of the gods. This sin cannot be erased even by death… Awaken…"
As the Skeleton King finished speaking, a dark mist rose from the ground like a swarm of malevolent spirits from the depths of hell, enveloping the four corpses. The mist then vanished into the bodies of the Assassins, through the wounds inflicted by the Shamur Staff.
Soon afterward, the severed necks reattached to the torsos, and the fatal wounds healed as if they had never existed. Most incredibly, the four corpses began to move as if alive.
While this seemed similar to the resurrection magic of priests, it was fundamentally different. The four individuals had not returned to life. They were merely moving corpses, more akin to the undead created by necromancers.
Even so, the resurrected bodies of the four members of the Assassin Team differed from typical undead. Normally, undead bodies cannot maintain their lifelike form; they either wither like zombies or become walking skeletons.
But these four assassins were almost indistinguishable from living beings. Aside from their stopped hearts, the only changes were their vacant eyes and the intense aura of death emanating from them. More importantly, these four assassins seemed even more powerful than when they were alive.
The ability to create undead of this level was beyond imagination. Not only necromancers, but even Liz, the Emperor-level monster at the pinnacle of the undead race, might not be able to achieve this.
It seemed this Skeleton King was on par with, or even higher than, an Emperor-level monster.
Now, the four former assassins knelt before him. The Skeleton King, with utmost reverence and awe, their eyes blazing red like flames.
"Finally, the day has come, the day I, the Immortal King Nodaine, will transform this world into a land of death. I will not see anything stand in the way of my millennia-old plan. Your duty, Immortal Knights, is to kill anyone who dares to possess the Staff of Sharmu."
The Immortal King Nodaine spoke in a voice as soft as a whisper, yet it resonated and wielded a power that threatened to shake the entire world.
"We obey your command, Lord," the four Immortal Knights said in unison. Their words were firm and filled with loyalty, yet devoid of any physical presence.
The next moment, the four immortal knights marched in the direction the cloaked figure had gone, leaving behind only the Immortal King Nodaine, who gazed blankly at the sky, his eyes profound beyond description. After a while, the dark clouds in the sky dissipated, revealing the figure of the Immortal King Nodaine.
It seems the events Nawa has become involved in are far more significant than he initially imagined. It's not just about the three giant guilds or the future of the country; it appears to be connected to the future of The Oneness and the entire world.
Nawa opened his eyes as sunlight streamed down his face. He found himself swept between two large rocks by a torrent of water. He blamed himself for underestimating The Oneness's environment. He hadn't anticipated such a sudden flash flood. Fortunately, the login was canceled, and he had survived.
"Ouch…" Nawa groaned softly as he tried to sit up. Despite the pain throughout his body, Nawa found he could still move and even shift positions, even though he had been severely injured and near death just moments before.
"When did my body gain this much regenerative power?" Nawa muttered to himself.
He felt that although he was much weaker compared to five years ago, his regenerative power was far superior. After some thought, Nawa concluded it was likely a result of his fusion with White Snake.
This was incredibly useful. Not only did it significantly increase his chances of survival in The Oneness, but it also saved Nawa a lot of money on potions. For example, his previous injuries would have required a considerable expense with potions; he might not even have had enough money from his previous hunts.
A faint smile appeared on Nawa's lips as he thought this.
"No, this isn't the time to be happy. I need to hurry back to the city and find a safe place to log out and return to the real world," Nawa said to himself, his expression turning serious.
As he walked along the river, Nawa tried to remember who the Rank A killer he saw last night was. Although he didn't want to get involved, knowing their identity would allow him to plan more carefully. Another reason was that the Rank A killer's incredible healing skills might lead to a cure for his father's injury.
Nawa remembered well; the cloaked figure was severely injured and incapacitated, but in an instant, they recovered completely and even became more powerful than before. Nawa thought it might be related to... That legendary artifact...
Especially knowing that it's a secret treasure of the priests, renowned for their sacred skills and miraculous healing abilities—the ability to even bring the dead back to life—it's possible that the Shamur Staff might possess the power to heal his father's illness.
If that's true, even knowing he's unworthy, Nava is willing to risk his life and enter the arena to claim that legendary artifact.