Chapter Ninety-Nine: The Tomb of the Evil Light Sea (Part 2)

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At Zhao Tianhe’s summons, a black figure materialized.

Artoria Alter was clad in black armor adorned with red blood-like patterns, the hem flowing into a long black skirt, wielding a black greatsword with both hands.

Her hair, usually dark, was now white, styled up at the back of her head just like her original form. Her skin was even paler, almost devoid of any color, and her pupils had shifted to a faint amber hue. At this moment, her eyes were covered by a metallic faceguard of the same material as her armor, shaped like an inverted sword hilt.

It was clear she no longer perceived the outside world through ordinary sight but through magical sensing—an ability not listed among her skills, likely a default hidden trait.

"Miss Artoria...?" Li Mei looked at the black-clad figure before her, sensing something amiss.

Artoria Alter glanced briefly at Li Mei, then ignored her, turning instead to Zhao Tianhe to ask about their next move.

Her aloof demeanor and the overwhelming aura of pressure she exuded made Li Mei hesitant to speak, though Zhao Tianhe seemed quite pleased by it.

"Clear out all the sinister spectral ghosts in this direction," Zhao Tianhe said, casting wind-acceleration spells on himself and Artoria Alter.

Artoria Alter nodded, then said to Li Mei, "Stay close."

Without hesitation, she grabbed Zhao Tianhe and charged toward the indicated direction.

Her attributes matched those of Artoria’s original Saber class, but her skills had subtle differences: notably, the Wind King Barrier was gone, replaced by—

Master of the Holy Sword Alter Lv2

Holy Sword: Master of the Sword in the Lake, resonating with this divine armament born from the source of the stars, wielding its power while enhancing herself.

All attributes +2

Attacks deal additional dark damage equal to (skill level × spirit).

The Holy Sword can slash and negate spell damage but consumes mana.

The Wind King Barrier had been abandoned, and her elemental damage shifted to dark.

"Want something to eat?" Zhao Tianhe offered a bag of snacks.

Artoria Alter glanced at it, the glow from the Sword in the Lake slowly dissipating as she took the snacks, tilting her head back to swallow with a few chews.

"Not enough," she remarked, summoning her Holy Sword once more and leaping to slay a just-born sinister spectral ghost with a single strike.

Rank-B common monsters still couldn’t withstand the Holy Sword’s might.

Upon hearing her assessment, Zhao Tianhe handed over another backpack of snacks.

Although Artoria Alter did not exhibit the extended summoning duration after eating—unlike her original self—Zhao Tianhe wanted to give it a try.

Roughly lifting Zhao Tianhe onto her shoulders, she had him wrap his arms around her neck and then began consuming the snacks rapidly with both hands from the bag.

Her eating speed far exceeded that of her original form; it was more like swallowing than eating.

She casually chewed a few times before swallowing—a wild beauty in motion.

"Not bad. Keep it up next time," Artoria Alter nodded, discarding the empty backpack.

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In about two minutes, several pounds of snacks were devoured completely.

At that moment, the system notification chimed.

"Artoria’s favorability +1, this alter summoning duration +10 seconds, permanent alter summoning duration +1 second."

‘Looks like food is effective, but the difference is that Artoria Alter needs quantity rather than the quality that the original Artoria requires!’ Zhao Tianhe felt a little disappointed. ‘If that’s the case, then my efforts to improve cooking skills are pointless?’

"Miss Artoria! Watch out!" Li Mei’s warning came as she cast a flying spell to keep up behind them.

A towering humanoid figure nearly five meters tall, with arms over three meters long, appeared before them, raising its right arm to strike.

"Hmph." Artoria Alter sneered disdainfully, a slight burst of magical energy surged through her body, dramatically increasing her speed. She dodged the attack and, wielding her sword with both hands, sliced off one of the creature’s legs.

The sinister spectral ghosts possessed dual attributes of ‘life’ and ‘undead,’ making them rare living undead. Their resistances were unusual—low to both light and dark elements but very high against other types.

On the pale green severed limb, black rays spread like veins, beginning to corrode and erode.

The spectral ghost, usually with strong regenerative abilities, tried to reattach the severed limb but was disrupted by the intense attribute damage. Instead of rejoining, it stumbled and fell.

Seizing the opportunity, Artoria leapt and thrust her sword deep into the giant ghost’s chest.

Soon, the giant’s form began to fracture, revealing numerous hands, feet, and body outlines before exploding into over a dozen ordinary spectral ghosts.

This giant was not yet an elite monster but a simple aggregation that hadn’t fully fused.

Li Mei and Artoria wiped out these common monsters in less than thirty seconds.

"They run fast," Artoria Alter said with slight annoyance, watching the fleeing spectral ghosts. "But luckily, there are enough fools."

During the retreat, some ghosts, having merged with many of their kind and grown stronger, exuded a mysterious confidence and turned back to attack Zhao Tianhe and his group.

Zhao Tianhe diligently cast buff and protective spells on himself and Artoria Alter. Seeing a giant spectral ghost charging, and with more than half of his mana remaining, he attempted his signature twenty-hit dishwashing spell.

A massive flaming skull and a spear crackling with black electricity shot forth from his hands—he had triggered two level-four spells simultaneously.

Li Mei was surprised; instant casting two level-four spells meant Zhao Tianhe was already a level-five mage, the same as herself.

‘Two level-four spells in quick succession, specializing in dark magic? But these two spells don’t synergize well. Wouldn’t it be better to first weaken the enemy’s shadow resistance with a medium-level dark spell and then follow up with an offensive spell?’ she wondered, though this was just overthinking—Zhao Tianhe cast spells purely based on luck.

The giant spectral ghost staggered back under the barrage of dark magic, its body showing signs of collapse.

Artoria Alter charged forward, severing its legs again, causing the ghost to shatter on the spot.

After clearing the common spectral ghosts, two more giants charged.

Amid the retreat, a few giant ghosts continued to absorb and merge with nearby kin, growing larger and more menacing. Yet, as their size increased, surrounding ghosts sensed fear and scattered.

One particularly tall ghost stood still, shrinking rapidly until it matched the size of a newborn spectral ghost. Its color changed to deep blue, and its body no longer appeared translucent and paper-thin but rather smooth and gelatinous.

However, as this smooth ghost floated dazed, a giant spectral ghost suddenly grabbed it and swallowed it whole.

The giant continued forward, hunting down its kin, but suddenly collapsed to its knees and rapidly shrank.

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The smooth ghost emerged from within the rapidly shrinking giant, which had now become a deep blue orb about the size of a human head.

The orb slowly shifted shape until transforming into a blue short sword.

From afar, Gerold observed this with a detection spell. The monster’s location was precisely in the direction of Zhao Tianhe’s party.

“This dungeon’s elites are relatively strong. Keep it up,” Gerold muttered, resting his hands behind his head as he gazed at the faintly glowing cavern ceiling. “I wonder when the equipment enhancement machine will be implemented. I’m really looking forward to it... That one piece of gear, I absolutely cannot lose it...”

Zhao Tianhe and his group cut through enemies relentlessly, even when surrounded by four or five giant spectral ghosts simultaneously.

To be honest, these giant ghosts were not as strong as the nightmare jars from the unknown dungeon, which Zhao Tianhe could single-handedly take on two or three of.

"Be careful," Li Mei warned, noticing the smooth ghost wielding the blue short sword charging forward. "This one’s an elite!"

Fearless, Artoria Alter surged forward, magical energy pulsing around her, likely a minor magical enhancement.

The elite spectral ghost blocked Artoria’s strike with its sword and punched toward her face.

Artoria raised her left arm to parry, but a faint blue membrane instantly formed over her armor.

"Life corrosion, but it shouldn’t be a problem," Zhao Tianhe said, familiar with the nature of this attack.

At the next moment, dark magic surged through Artoria’s body, the blue membrane vanished, and she forcefully pressed her sword against the ghost’s left shoulder, cutting in deeply.

The smooth ghost tried to retreat but was grabbed by the neck by Artoria, who stepped forward and sliced off its right half in one fell swoop.

Releasing her grip, Artoria watched as the ghost’s severed half fell to the ground, struggling desperately but repeatedly cleaved by her sword.

Zhao Tianhe felt uneasy watching this somewhat brutal and straightforward crushing attack but saw Li Mei’s expression filled with admiration.

Though they had been clearing this dungeon for a long time, Li Mei always despised these slimy, ethereal spectral ghosts. During the Saint Veil selection tournament, she might never have participated if not for a fierce inner resolve sparked by the old ghost, wanting to match Artoria’s prowess.

‘Artoria sister is truly impressive!’ Li Mei thought, cheeks flushed as she launched a fireball at the ghost’s severed torso.

This was not out of dislike but because these ghosts could regenerate. Being cut in half slowed their regeneration considerably, and a few spells could finish the job.

The elite spectral ghost slowly dissipated, leaving a silver swordsman chess piece on the ground.

Monsters personally executed by a heroic spirit rarely dropped equipment.

‘No wonder this is a Rank-B elite. Usually, chess pieces come from bosses; it’s rare for elites to drop them.’ Zhao Tianhe happily picked up the piece. This time, collecting chess pieces or materials like Dragon Fang no longer needed to be explained away as a ‘quirk.’

To prepare for the equipment enhancement machine, which might be implemented within six months to two years, heroes had long started stockpiling various materials.

But this also meant a problem—others might be able to use Zhao Tianhe’s materials as well.