Fisher tries to follow after Monk, but every footstep closer to the black bones he takes, the colder his body gets. It is not like the icy cold aura that envelops Lydia. Her ice actually feels full of energy, as Fisher can sense the mana creating it. This aura that seeps into his mind and body as he takes another step feels like the absence of energy itself. Even the demonic energy swirling around this world does not flow into the skeletal structure of this dead monster. The imagery of the demonic beasts he just killed, slamming their soul weapons against the rib cage of this creature and their full-force strike being deflected back, repeats over and over as he tries to step even closer. However, the water-wielding swordsman stops, as his mind feels as though it's becoming dull, and his grasp on the system slightly wavers. The dominance of whatever creature once lived and left these bones behind lingers... and he takes a step backward out of respect, wondering how strong it must have been when it was alive to make him feel inferior even in the presence of its corpse. Both Luna and Lydia feel a very similar emotion, as they have stopped their steps a few meters behind Fisher when their minds and systems dulled. Luna sees countless enormous sandworms erupting from the desert, and every stray wolf and orc turns their heads to the center of this flat terrain. Not only are third- and second-class beasts attracted to the shockwave, but many first-class monsters of a similar stature to the ones killed just now feel the powerful exchange—but know this is not the work of the Kings. To the eroding brains of demonic energy-infected monsters, where there are fights, there must be rewards worth fighting over. From all of the surrounding regions, their strongest warriors begin wandering this way. While for some, it may take a few days to arrive, others can get here in a matter of hours or minutes. Though, with thousands of beasts attracted to a single point in the desert, many more fights are sure to break out along the way. Luna's many eyes widen as she watches all-out war break loose, and the main forces slowly drift toward them in the center of the desert. Fisher and Lydia turn, and their auras begin to glow brightly again. The icy swordswoman pulls her blade from her sheath, and the water wielder's weapon glows blue. "Looks like we have more work to do." "Indeed. We'll hold them off until Monk is done inside." This is exactly what they do. Ava watches a sped-up holographic feed from Fisher, Lydia, and Luna as this massive battle in the desert rages on for days. No feedback is shown from Monk, but Ava's mind is racing with questions. The skeleton looks exactly the same as Seraphel's body structure. The only difference is that this ancient corpse is multiple times larger... Ava speeds through the holograms as she watches the ice- and water-sword wielders take out thousands of demonic beasts. The woman keeps a cool head and uses that dome-like ability three more times when she runs into more strong True Cores. However, the water wielder seems to be a bit more unhinged. He continuously uses his ranked-up buff that he calls the "Thousand Serpent Strike" and obliterates countless armies of demonic monsters that emerge from the regions surrounding this massive desert land. ṟ𝖆ΝóᛒЁS Visuals of Monk walking out from under the wyvern's corpse come back in the last hologram message, followed by the group of four deciding to trek further into the Demonic World, closer to the tower far away. On their way through the rest of the desert, hardly any demonic beasts attack, as all of the strong monsters in this portion of the world have been killed off by the yellow cored commanders. Their soul weapons and armor are brought along as they continue their journey, even though most are frozen, shattered, or badly damaged. [Minute 3][Ava]: Daily updates received. Incredible progress on prospecting... If you have extra time, those wyvern bones—I'm sure Jay would be very interested in a sample. And—nice base tour... Like clockwork, the moment Ava sends this response back, Bri's messages reply in rapid succession. Enjoying the story? Show your Continue reading more chapters on NovelHub for the best experience. [Day 19 Update][Briana]: Additional requested footage—from Day 17—[Hologram Attached] [Day 20 Update][Briana]: [Hologram Attached] Prospecting footage, new region. [Day 21 Update][Briana]: Arie consolidated his yellow core today. Additional Generals' cultivation progress. [Hologram Attached] [Day 22 Update][Briana]: [Hologram Attached] Nothing additional to report. [Day 23 Update][Briana]: [Hologram Attached] Nothing additional to report. The first message back is an old visual of the day Monk walked out from underneath the wyvern. His eyes look as though he's seen something spectacular, yet frightening at the same time. Though, his next actions are even more strange. The orange-robed man lets go of the small slab of originator stone, and his holographic feed reconnects to the system, as whatever the strange artifact he was using suppressed it completely. He turns around and uses the item storage skill borrowed from the Rising Emperor and even pulls a large amount of borrowed stats to increase its size to kilometers wide, attempting to let the skeleton drop inside. However, the black bones do not move, and the portions of the white portal that get close to the old bones disappear. He cannot drop the skeleton into his storage. Monk doesn't try for long, as if he expected this, and nods. "Interesting... Well, I've gathered everything I can from the tomb. We will analyze them further when my master and The Saint can translate everything. My knowledge only goes so far." With not much time before she has to send an update back herself, she skims through it faster and is disturbed by the result of what she sees, considering the amount of power witnessed in Fisher and Lydia's prior battles. The team of four is about to venture out even further into the world, but the blue-haired swordsman who leads the party stops them with a yell before they move any further. "G-Get back! No—Retreat! Stray arrow!" Is all that Ava hears from Fisher's hologram before it flashes with a blinding yellow and white light, then becomes corrupted, forcefully shutting off in a similar fashion to Monk's when he entered the Wyvern's tomb.