It was like a sudden clap of thunder on flat ground—the deafening roar chilled everyone to the bone.

“The demon lord’s minion has found us! Prepare for battle!”

“Roar!” Another furious bellow shook the great hall even more violently. Amid the red mist, a massive black shadow slowly emerged. There was no need to ask; this was the demon lord’s minion. It stood five meters tall, its eyes blazing with fire, its face twisted and ferocious, fangs bared. It moved on all fours, with a pair of huge, scorpion-like black pincers in front, and a row of sharp bone spikes running down its back all the way to its thick tail.

Everyone was on high alert, as if facing a mortal enemy. Several women’s faces turned pale; against such a foe, their combat strength would likely be halved.

John Carter also drew in a sharp breath. Although he often raided high-level dungeons in online games, he had never experienced such a vivid and shocking scene. For a moment, he even wondered if what he saw was completely real, rather than a simulation created by the AI.

“Die, all of you!” The demon lord’s minion spoke in human language. At the same time, it pulled a bloody bone spike from its back. With a flick of its hand, the bone spike transformed into a menacing bone spear.

It actually pulled out its own bone to use as a weapon. John Carter felt his scalp tingle.

“Baldy, go!” The one with the broken military knife gave the order, and a bald warrior, nearly 1.9 meters tall, charged forward with a tower shield.

The demon lord’s minion roared, slamming the bone spear down with all its might. “Clang!”

Baldy’s legs buckled, crushing the rocks behind him. He clenched his teeth, veins bulging and twisting across his bald head like earthworms.

“Warlocks!”

The five warlocks in the team immediately sprang into action, casting Guardian Light and Healing on Baldy.

Seeing this, John Carter didn’t linger any longer. He activated Stealth and dashed straight into the demon hall’s blazing red mist.

The deeper he went, the lower the visibility. Even without fighting, John Carter’s health was slowly draining away, a result of the intense heat.

He had no idea where the altar was and could only follow the sound of his heartbeat forward.

He didn’t know how far he had gone when John Carter encountered the first monster in the demon hall. It was nearly as tall as the final boss, also moving on all fours, with a pair of stubby wings on its back and wielding a machete over three meters long.

Just by looking at its size, one could roughly estimate its combat power. Even with fifteen people attacking together, it would take quite a while to bring it down.

After seeing the first monster, more and more began to appear. Each was massive and terrifying. John Carter knew he was getting close to the altar.

His heartbeat grew more intense. John Carter could even feel his chest resonating with it, his organs churning, his heart seeming as if it would leap out of his mouth. The sensation was suffocating.

The monsters became more and more densely packed. In the end, John Carter had to turn sideways to squeeze through the gaps between them. As he passed by, he could clearly see the sharp bone spikes and fangs on their bodies, the chilling aura and mottled bloodstains making his heart race.

John Carter didn’t dare breathe. If he accidentally revealed himself here, he would be crushed into a pulp—probably even the world’s number one, the terrifying Ivan, wouldn’t last five seconds in this place.

The altar, where is the altar...

Chapter 006: Sudden Change

After struggling forward for twenty meters, John Carter suddenly felt the temperature soar. The blast of hot air nearly made him jump.

He watched his health drop rapidly, powerless to stop it. He was in Stealth; if he drank a health potion, he would be revealed, and the consequences were obvious.

Right in front of John Carter was a vast lake of lava, the waves of heat coming from it.

Above the lava lake floated a high, black stone altar. Atop the altar, the demon lord’s heart throbbed continuously, as large as a human head and blood-red in appearance.

John Carter took a deep breath and pulled out Pandora’s Seal. Skill—Telekinesis.

Telekinesis was a non-combat skill and could be used while stealthed. The small seal left John Carter’s body and floated toward the lava lake. Fortunately, there were few monsters near the lake, and with the red mist swirling and John Carter carefully guiding the seal close to the lava, no monsters noticed the tiny object.

The heart was about thirty meters from the shore. John Carter stared intently at Pandora’s Seal—twenty meters, ten meters, five meters...

The distance was so great that John Carter’s mental strength was nearly exhausted. Beads of sweat formed densely on his forehead as he gritted his teeth and pressed on—three meters, two meters, one meter...

At the final moment, John Carter’s heart leapt into his throat.

“Pop!”

With a barely audible sound, Pandora’s Seal gently sank into the demon lord’s heart...

Then, the heart’s beating suddenly stopped.

Silence—deathly silence.

The monsters by the lake were startled. They all stopped and turned to look at the altar...

Was it really that easy?

No danger at all?