Now,
Carlos had ten Purple Thornblade Skeleton Guards at his beck and call—double what he'd started with a month ago. His power had absolutely gone through the roof!
His personal strength had also improved big time, with both Strength and Constitution officially hitting the double digits.
[Name: Carlos Valois]
[Path: Death Herald Path]
[Spirituality: 6 (Spiritual Essence: 2325/6000)]
[Health: 525 (Constitution x50)]
[Psionic Energy: 105 (Spirituality x10 + Mental x10)]
[Attributes: Strength 10.5/Speed 4.5/Constitution 10.5/Mental 4.5]
[Skills: Child of Nature (Max Level), Skeleton Revival (6+4) Level, Sun Emperor's Court Swordsmanship Level 3]
[Remaining Skill Points: 0; Remaining Attribute Points: 0]
10 points of Strength was like having a nuclear advantage over anything below 10—it was a completely different ballgame.
Constitution worked the same way. Every time you crossed that 10-point line, your defense and recovery were in a totally different league.
That's exactly why, during the last throwdown with the Infernal Beetle, even though the three Purple Thornblade Skeleton Guards had 9 Strength points—higher than the beetle's 8—they still had to gang up on it for ages.
The Infernal Beetle was packing a whopping 20 Constitution points, giving it insane health, defense, and recovery.
Under the skeleton guards' relentless beatdown, it hung in there for three straight hours.
If that Infernal Beetle had known some defensive moves, Carlos would've had one hell of a time putting it down—might've even gotten his ass handed to him!
...
After getting their marching orders, the Purple Thornblade Skeleton Guards hustled back.
Before long,
Ten Purple Thornblade Skeleton Guards stood in perfect formation on the big boulder!
Terrifying killing intent rolled off them in waves, purple patterns on their bones glowing with an eerie light, and their razor-sharp greatswords still had black, wet bloodstains.
Each one was a bone-chilling killing machine that would make anyone's blood turn to ice!
Especially #1 Purple Thornblade Skeleton Guard—it had been created first, and now its soul fire was blazing like a bonfire in its eye sockets again.
Its rock-solid bone frame was noticeably bigger than the other Purple Thornblade Skeleton Guards.
"#1 has hit the second sublimation threshold."
Carlos wasn't shocked—after all those days of non-stop slaughter, it was about damn time.
The soul fires in the other Purple Thornblade Skeleton Guards' eye sockets, especially the veterans, weren't far from maxing out either.
"When we're clearing nodes, I should send the Purple Thornblade Skeleton Guards with weaker soul fires in first.
The ones that have reached the sublimation threshold can stick close and watch my back."
This way, the lagging Purple Thornblade Skeleton Guards would hit the sublimation threshold faster.
"Let's chill out first, get back to 100%, then head to the new node."
Carlos crawled into his tent, with Purple Thornblade Skeleton Guards keeping watch all around.
He settled in for some peaceful shut-eye, recovering from a month of mind-numbing grind...
...
After a good night's sleep, Carlos and his ten Purple Thornblade Skeleton Guards were back at full strength.
"Head south!"
Two Purple Thornblade Skeleton Guards took point,
Two in the middle hauled the Iron Palanquin forward, two flanked them for backup, and four covered the rear.
This formation had twice the firepower and intimidation factor of before.
"Full speed ahead!"
This time, Carlos didn't bother dodging the bigger monster packs.
Simple reason—he was strong enough now. No need to sweat them!
"Waste them!"
Along the way, whenever they bumped into monster groups—whether hundreds or just a handful—
The Purple Thornblade Skeleton Guards would mow them all down in no time, barely putting a dent in their advance.
"In the Withered Lands, there's no monster that can go toe-to-toe with ten Purple Thornblade Skeleton Guards!"
Carlos watched with satisfaction as his Purple Thornblade Skeleton Guards effortlessly steamrolled another small monster group.
...
After about three days of traveling, the group pulled up at the edge of a massive ravine.
Compared to other cracked, bone-dry areas, this ravine was insanely wide—you could barely make out the whole thing even if you squinted hard.
The weirdest part was how perfectly smooth the ravine walls were, like someone had taken a giant knife and sliced them clean off.
In the center of the ravine sat a huge black dome, radiating an ominous, gut-churning vibe.
From above, the whole ravine looked like a cold, black eye that could suck out your soul.
"We've reached the Agony Beetle node."
After a quick breather,
Carlos sent eight Purple Thornblade Skeleton Guards along the ravine's edge, moving forward until they reached their assigned spots.
"Stop! Right there—start digging!"
At his command, the eight Purple Thornblade Skeleton Guards used their bone claws to tear into the ground.
Their razor-sharp bone claws sliced right through the dried soil, tossing dirt aside as they dug at a solid pace.
After digging down about eighteen inches, each Purple Thornblade Skeleton Guard found a stone disc in their hole.
The stone discs were perfectly flush with the earth, like they'd grown there.
Around the edge of each disc were sixteen different squares, with a bronze pointer in the center that could spin.
"Eight-Layer Arcane Array of Earth Sealing!"
This node was locked down by an arcane array.
From his past life memories, Carlos knew the officials had never spilled the beans on which era had created this seal.
"Who knows how many ages have passed—someone was bound to stumble across a dark mist node eventually."
For whatever reason—whether they didn't have the juice or had other plans—
Whoever discovered the Agony Bug node way back when chose to seal it instead of nuking it.
The Eight-Layer Arcane Array of Earth Sealing was crazy powerful. In theory, as long as it could tap into the earth's power, it would last forever.
Cracking the seal was a piece of cake for anyone who knew the "cheat code."
You just had to spin the pointers on all eight stone discs to the right spots.
For anyone who didn't know the "cheat code," breaking it was basically mission impossible.
The arcane array gave you exactly 3 shots to screw up. Make a mistake, and all eight stone discs would vanish in a heartbeat, teleporting to God knows where.
"#3, spin your pointer to the '&' section!
#4, spin yours to the '^' section!
....
#10, spin yours to the '-' section!"
"Click click click!"
The Purple Thornblade Skeleton Guards all spun their pointers at pretty much the same time.
Once all eight stone disc pointers were locked in, the discs instantly disappeared!
A few seconds later, the ground started shaking like an earthquake, and massive rumbling sounds echoed from deep in the ravine.
A ruined castle slowly rose from within the ravine until it was level with the surrounding ground, with a "stone bridge" connecting the ravine's edge to this structure.
The castle had a really bizarre design—the top was covered by a black dome, and the main structure below was half-trashed, showing off the wrecked furniture inside.
"Castle of Agony!"
Carlos remembered this scene from his memories, but it was nothing compared to seeing it with his own eyes.
"#9 and #10, you two scout ahead."
With his Purple Thornblade Skeleton Guards covering him, Carlos stepped onto the stone bridge and walked toward the Castle of Agony.