Elias didn't understand anything that was happening.

In fact, he was so confused that he stopped in the catacomb corridors just to think it all over for a moment. Everything had gone perfectly. Ankhet had been revived, and they were about to kill every human and elf in the tutorial, or at least hunt them all down. Then, an explosion rocked the chambers nearby, and Ankhet grew curious and ventured deeper. They found a beautiful red flower blooming, and from that moment on, Ankhet had just kept grinning, saying something about wanting to kill that human first.

Elias hadn't fully understood what Ankhet meant. Later, it became obvious. A man had been inside that flower the entire time. The petals must have had some powerful concealment effect, letting no mana leak through or something similar, because even Elias, with his enhanced soul senses, saw nothing but a flower. Truly impressive. It must have been even stronger than the plant Elaria had cultivated after killing all her siblings, with great help from her patron, of course.

That all the powerful vampires were now gone was just an added bonus for him. There was still Lucius, but Elias liked that vampire. He'd been helpful, and they had both supported each other in growing stronger. During the war against the elves, Lucius hadn't held back or left the liches to take all the damage. He fought seriously, even risking his life multiple times. They had all been excited to hunt the living… until they ended up in front of that flower, waiting for whatever was inside to be done.

From there, everything had grown more annoying.

The human who emerged from the flower was not only able to fight back, he managed to kill several vampires. Then, to their frustration, he even escaped from Ankhet. Before giving chase, Ankhet told Elias to build a proper base on the surface, then vanished in a puff of mist to hunt the human. Elias had just stood there, a hundred question marks in his head.

What counted as a "proper" base for someone like Ankhet? How many credits would he need to spend to meet that standard? Was Ankhet secretly planning to kill him and just looking for a reason?

Thankfully, the system shop hadn't opened yet, and Elias desperately hoped Ankhet would return before it did, so he could at least clear up a few things. But to his disappointment, that didn't happen.

Elias had no choice but to enter the system shop and spend every last credit he'd gathered over weeks on the biggest base he could afford. He ended up spending far more than any undead should have at this point in the tutorial, but at least he believed he was safe now.

Then came the next problem.

Ankhet was taking his sweet time returning to the surface. Eventually, Elias started to think Ankhet had betrayed them and gone straight to his palace, which according to legend, should have risen from the sand. They still had no idea where it was located.

For now, their situation was relatively clear: The humans were hiding in the stolen black fortress, evacuating most of their weaker warriors back to their big city using the portals on their skyships. The elves were just behind them, preparing to take off with their own ships and horses. Elias suspected that the only reason any elves were still around was because that big elf, the really angry one, was forcing them to stay. He'd been furious when he saw that Elias had taken the body of the elven prince.

The prince's soul was still trapped inside, a prisoner in his own body. Without that, Elias wouldn't have been able to use the elf's bloodline. Luckily for Elias, the prince had no strength left to resist. He was constantly in pain, and that pain slowly eroded his mind, leaving him a mumbling, broken mess.

The real problem among the elves was the female. Elias guessed her bloodline was even stronger than the prince's.

Thankfully, she didn't seem to care about him at all.

So the undead had waited in Elias's new base for Ankhet, who never came.

They sent scouts down the tunnel, but the only thing that came back was that crimson Eidolon. It had surprised Elias and even managed to cut off his arm. Fortunately, he didn't feel pain, one of the great advantages of being a lich. Sure, there were a few who chose to retain the ability to feel pain, but Elias never understood those weaklings.

Anyway, that crimson Eidolon was powerful and the fact that it had sliced off the arm wearing his spatial ring absolutely enraged Elias.

That's when he realized it wasn't even a real creature, but a skill being controlled from a distance. At first, he thought he could just send a few vampires to take out the caster and be done with it, but that hadn't worked. The caster was highly skilled in blood magic and maneuvered the Eidolon with precision. He used the terrain like walls, floors, and ceilings to avoid Elias's attacks over and over, until Elias finally decided to handle it himself.

Now, Elias stood in the corridor, wondering what Ankhet had really been doing, because the crimson Eidolon had come from the same direction the human had escaped to. Was this Eidolon one of Ankhet's skills? Was he just playing with them, enjoying the chaos?

Elias couldn't rule anything out. When it came to Ankhet, there was nothing he believed the evil bastard wasn't capable of.

Even thinking about Ankhet's aura gave Elias the chills.

No… it likely wasn't Ankhet. It had to be someone else.

The Eidolon's aura felt somewhat similar to the human's, but that couldn't be it, right? That would mean the human had defeated Ankhet.

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Elias chuckled to himself as he ventured deeper.

What a stupid thought.

There was no way that human could have beaten Ankhet.

Ankhet was too powerful and too skilled. That shockwave of destruction he unleashed after crushing that tortured soul had been so impressive. The human probably hadn't even understood what that spell was. To him, it must have looked like Ankhet simply made a grasping motion and summoned hell itself.

Yeah, there was no way that idiot was still alive.

How dumb did you have to be to upgrade your abilities right before the final clash?

Elias kept chuckling as he moved down the corridor.

Whoever had attacked him with the Crimson Eidolon wouldn't be able to use an escape token to get away. Elias would personally show them what pain really meant. Losing an arm was a setback, and it would take some time to heal, but he was still stronger than whoever this caster was. Probably a mage like Cathrin, great at flashy spells but useless in close combat. This would be easy.

Elias strode down the corridor.

The blood and corpses had already been gathered by the vampire alchemists. They could do incredible things with blood, and the bodies would be used to birth more undead. The living, clearly, had no such advantages which made them obviously inferior.

He continued forward, unbothered, until he picked up the metallic scent of blood.

But it wasn't the usual stench that lingered around vampires.

No, this was aromatic. Almost pleasant, if he had to admit it.

The smell intensified the farther he went, until he saw the source.

At the end of the corridor, where it opened into a chamber, a red flower bloomed from a vine winding across the ground. The vine wasn't alone, it looked like the whole floor was now made of wood, with blood-colored vines snaking everywhere. They almost looked… alive.

It reminded him of the plant the human had upgraded inside earlier.

The moment he stepped closer, the vines grew aggressive, lashing out toward him.

But Elias wasn't slow. With a wave of his remaining hand, he released a powerful shockwave of miasma.

His eyes widened when he saw that only a few vines were destroyed. The others pushed through, barely slowed, aiming directly for his heart.

They were so saturated with power that the shockwave didn't deter them. The miasma had an effect, yes, but not enough. The vines didn't wither. They regenerated quickly.

What's going on here? Elias thought, slightly dazed.

He quickly summoned a miasma sword into his remaining hand and made a wide slash. This skill was much better for cutting and it worked. The vines attacking him were severed in no time, and he dashed backward using a movement skill.

They weren't a real threat.

It would just take some time to cut them all down so he could pass.

He could already see the red line of mist, the same one connected to the Crimson Eidolon. The caster had to be close. These plants were nastier than he'd first thought.

Maybe they had been growing here all along, and someone with strong blood abilities was just using them now, both to fuel their magic and keep intruders away.

Elias flung a few more miasma blades, but the vines just kept coming.

Worse: they devoured the cut vines and grew even faster.

He'd fired five blades already and hadn't made any real progress.

The plants weren't just regenerating. They were evolving, getting stronger. More and more vines joined in.

One vine began glowing red and slashed through the air, sending a crimson arc toward him, just like his own miasma blade. It wasn't as strong, but strong enough that he didn't want to get hit by one.

What kind of jungle was this?

It was definitely a single entity controlling them.

They were coordinated. They followed up on attacks. At this point, Elias was almost convinced the plant was an expert hunter.

When he dodged the red slash, a vine had already launched a blood thorn aimed precisely where he was about to land.

Elias had no choice but to turn into miasma and reform a few meters back.

This plant was nasty and recovering faster than his miasma cloud could destroy it.

That was the problem with plants like this.

They were especially dangerous to undead like him.

He could turn them into undead eventually, but overpowering them instantly was nearly impossible due to their insane life force.

Worse, they didn't have a core or a head he could destroy for an easy win.

No, he'd have to wear it all down. And he didn't have time for that.

The Crimson Eidolon was probably killing vampires by the second.

He wasn't here to fight a plant.

He was here for the caster.

Elias turned into miasma and bypassed the plants entirely, entering the chamber.

The whole room was a forest of crimson-red vines and giant flowers opened like sunroses. And on one of them… sat the caster of the Crimson Eidolon.

He sat there cross-legged, completely calm.

The plant reacted instantly the moment Elias reformed, unleashing hell on him.

Multiple thorns flew his way. Several vines began to glow red and launched slash attacks at him. Elias dodged to the side, avoiding the worst of it and saw the red mist line connecting to the human's chest suddenly fade.

The humans head turned up.

His eyes glowed crimson red, like embers in the night.

And they locked directly onto Elias.

This couldn't be.

How was this possible? Elias stood frozen in shock.

Had that human… really defeated Ankhet?

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