Capítulo 82: Chapter 82: The Cemetery of Rot, the Skeleton Emperor, Trapped in Desperation!

While the crowd outside continued to buzz with discussions, Luca had already recovered his stamina.

Taking a deep breath as he stared at the glowing portal in front of him, he tightened his grip on the Mithril Mage Spear and stepped forward without hesitation.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Luca entered the 20th floor of the Trial Tower.

The familiar light flashed before his eyes once more!

Before Luca even opened his eyes, a putrid stench assaulted his senses.

It seemed like the foul odor of decaying corpses.

Then, a dilapidated and eerie cemetery unfolded before him.

The night sky was as dark as ink, with a bright full moon hanging high, casting a cold, pale light that illuminated the decrepit cemetery gates and overgrown graves.

Blue ghostly flames floated aimlessly, and broken tombstones and coffins were scattered haphazardly across the ground.

Crows cawed with mournful, wailing cries, their shadowy figures faintly visible through the darkness.

At the deepest part of the cemetery stood a pitch-black structure, which, from afar, resembled a church—a chilling, sinister presence.

"Well, this is rather intriguing." Luca's lips curved into a smirk as he eyed the ominous church.

Having fought countless demons and monsters in his two lifetimes, he had slain nearly a thousand, if not more. Today, he was curious to see what kind of creature resided in this place!

The Mithril Mage Spear in his hand glowed with crimson patterns as he strode into the cemetery without a second thought.

The moment he stepped into the cemetery, a cold gust of wind blew in, and the rusty gates clanged shut with a resounding bang. The screeching sound echoed far into the stillness of the night.

The noise seemed to act as a signal. The once-silent cemetery was suddenly filled with rustling sounds that grew louder and more frequent by the second.

There was the scratching of nails against wood, the sound of something being dragged, and the creaking of bones grinding against each other.

Then, the soil beneath Luca's feet began to shift and bulge.

Moments later, several withered and decayed hands reached out from the ground, clawing at his ankles.

However, Luca remained unfazed, not even bothering to look down.

A wave of frost spread rapidly from his feet.

Before those grotesque hands could touch the hem of his trousers, they were frozen solid in place, like statues—completely immobile!

By now, the commotion within the cemetery had reached its peak. One by one, humanoid creatures with rotting bodies broke through coffins and burial mounds, crawling out from underground.

Their clothes were tattered, and their entire bodies reeked of decay. Some were so decomposed that their pale bones were exposed.

Their hollow eye sockets burned with blue flames as they lunged at Luca—at least several hundred of them!

Luca's steps didn't falter in the slightest.

Behind him, countless ice arrows swiftly formed and shot out in all directions.

The decaying corpses had no chance to evade.

A series of sharp, explosive sounds echoed through the air, and in the blink of an eye, more than half of the dark, overwhelming tide of corpses had been annihilated.

[Ding! You have slain a level 36 Decaying Corpse (Normal). You gained 49,000 experience points!]

[Ding! You have slain a level 38 Skeleton Warrior (Normal). You gained 57,000 experience points!]

[Ding! You have slain a level 40 Undead Ghoul (Normal). You gained 63,000 experience points!]

…

A series of kill notifications appeared, and his experience points soared rapidly.

Luca glanced at his progress and estimated that by the time he cleared the 20th floor, he would probably be close to reaching level 30.

At that point, his strength would undergo a significant breakthrough.

He continued swiftly towards the black structure.

These monsters couldn't impede his progress at all.

Even when rare-grade monsters emerged, Luca easily eliminated them in one blow.

After using his fixed magic runes, his strength was far beyond what these ordinary monsters could withstand.

It didn't take long for Luca to break through the encirclement of monsters and reach the front of the black structure.

To his surprise, it wasn't a church as he had initially thought, but a palace.

It looked ancient, and the carvings on the walls were already blurred, but he could still make out its once majestic and imposing aura.

Luca gave it a quick once-over before looking away. The Eternal World had existed for tens of thousands of years at the very least, with countless dynasties buried within its depths.

Ancient palaces like this one might not be everywhere, but they were still fairly common—nothing particularly special.

He walked up to the front of the palace and pushed against the heavy stone door.

He didn't exert much force, yet the door groaned and creaked open.

Dust fell as the door slowly swung inward.

It felt more like the door was opening of its own accord rather than being pushed by him.

Luca was unsurprised. He waited for the dust to settle before stepping inside.

What greeted his eyes was a dilapidated great hall.

The hall was in complete disrepair, with green ghostly flames flickering around. Dust and rubble were scattered everywhere, yet traces of its former grandeur could still be seen in the carvings on the floor tiles and the beams of the walls.

Luca looked up and noticed at the very top of the hall, there was a throne. Seated on it was a skeleton, clad in armor and wearing a crown.

At this moment, the hollow sockets of the skeleton's eyes were staring directly at him, creating an eerie and unsettling atmosphere.

Without hesitation, a crimson flame flickered in Luca's hand as he activated a blazing magic rune.

The skeleton was clearly suspicious—better to strike first!

The spectators outside couldn't help but twitch at the corners of their mouths when they saw this.

"This kid…" Orf muttered, half exasperated and half amused.

This youngster truly didn't play by the rules. Without saying a word, he attacked right off the bat!

On the other side, Melissa couldn't help but smile slightly, finding this young man rather interesting.

The raging flames transformed into a giant python over a dozen meters long, opening its gaping maw and lunging fiercely at the skeleton on the throne!

Boom!!!

The fiery python struck the throne head-on without any fancy moves!

The immense explosion reverberated throughout the entire hall, and the entire palace trembled violently under Luca's powerful blow!

The scorching flames spread out, illuminating the entire great hall.

A vivid crimson damage number floated up!

-3865!

The next moment, an earth-shattering roar echoed through the entire cemetery!

Roar!!!

A black aura surged skyward as the flames were suddenly pushed back, violently dispersing!

The skeleton wearing the crown on the throne slowly stood up and let out an enraged roar at Luca.

[Level 40 Skeleton Emperor: Leader!]

Seeing the prompt in front of him, Luca suddenly felt a hint of regret.

As expected, this guy was the boss monster guarding the 20th floor, and it was a Leader type no less!

If he had known earlier, he would have hit it a few more times...

Just as he was thinking this, Luca suddenly noticed the entire palace beginning to shake violently, with tiles and dust falling from the ceiling.

The smile on his face faded, replaced by a frown, and he took a step back.

At the very moment Luca stepped back, the floor of the hall collapsed with a thunderous crash, revealing a dense swarm of skeletal creatures below!

There were at least several hundred of them at a glance, most clad in tattered armor, with some even holding decaying swords and blades.

"My soldiers! Kill this intruder!!" The Skeleton Emperor's raspy voice bellowed, its massive sword pointing at Luca. The skeletons underground seemed to awaken at its command, their hollow eye sockets instantly igniting with eerie blue flames.

They clambered out of their underground graves, charging at Luca like a tidal wave.

"Such a nuisance!" Luca muttered as he took a deep breath, his gaze turning razor-sharp.

A crimson flame suddenly flared up around him, and his entire aura became wildly intense, his power surging to a new level!

This was the effect of the Wanderer Set's equipment skill, "Marauder"! After activation, it increased his attack damage by 20% and attack speed by 20%, lasting for three minutes!

Before the skeletons could even reach him, a silver light flashed beneath Luca's feet, and his figure vanished from his original spot, reappearing right in the midst of a group of skeletal soldiers.

The spear in his hand was enveloped in a layer of frost as he swung it fiercely, smashing more than a dozen skeletal soldiers into powder with its immense force.

Before the monsters could react and try to surround Luca, his figure had already disappeared and reappeared on the other side.

With the combined effects of Wind Walk and Marauder, Luca's movements were as swift as lightning. Every time he swung his spear, it left a swath of destroyed skeleton soldiers in its wake.

High above in the great hall, the Skeleton Emperor realized how troublesome this human was. The eerie blue flames in its eyes flickered violently as it opened its hollow, gaping mouth and let out a piercing roar toward Luca.

Soul Roar!

The terrifying soundwaves materialized into a tangible force, surging straight at him!

Luca initially wanted to summon Jormungandr to block it, but considering that people outside might be watching and it could cause unnecessary trouble, he dismissed the idea and chose to use a magical shield to defend himself instead.

Just as the shield enveloped his body, the Skeleton Emperor's sonic attack struck.

Boom!!

The magical barrier shattered into pieces, and Luca was sent flying backward.

The spectators outside the tower held their breath in suspense.

Fortunately, he wasn't injured. In mid-air, he twisted his body and lightly landed on the shoulder of a skeleton soldier, balancing himself with ease.

Staring at the approaching horde of skeletal soldiers again— S~eaʀᴄh the NôᴠelFirё.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Luca frowned. If this continued, it would take forever to kill them all. Who knew how long it would take to clear them out?

He needed to change his approach.

With a thought, the shadows beneath him suddenly transformed into a dark, murky swamp.

Before the skeletal monsters could react, countless withered hands reached out from the depths, dragging them down one by one.

Luca lifted his mage spear, which began to radiate a divine golden glow, as brilliant as the sun, illuminating the darkness within the great hall!

Radiant Magic Runes!

As the holy light shone upon the skeleton soldiers, wisps of white smoke began to rise from their bodies, as if they were being scorched by fire. They let out agonizing howls.

Within a single breath's time, all the skeletal soldiers were completely dissolved under the power of the holy light. Even the Skeleton Emperor's armor showed dark scorch marks.

Holy light abilities had a natural advantage against undead monsters—running into Luca was just their bad luck.

Now that all its minions were wiped out, the Skeleton Emperor had no choice but to engage personally.

A thick black mist spread out, and its form suddenly vanished, reappearing behind Luca in an instant.

The enormous bronze sword in its hand whipped up a howling gale as it slashed down mercilessly.

Luca sensed the danger immediately, but his Air Step was still on cooldown.

The audience watching outside held their breath once more. If he got struck by that sword, even if he didn't die, he'd be gravely wounded!

Just as Orf was about to step in—

"Didn't think I'd have to resort to this move…" Luca sighed softly.

As his words fell, a silvery rune pattern rapidly spread out from the center of his chest, and the aura around him underwent a sudden, drastic change!

Seeing this, Orf's eyes widened in shock as he exclaimed, "That's…!"