"Grave Shift!"

Although Thoren was caught off guard by the sudden appearance of the sinkhole, his reaction remained incredibly fast.

Through repeated battles and countless brushes with death, he had gradually become far more proficient with the Grave Shift skill.

Whoosh!

His figure vanished instantly from the collapsing ground while simultaneously commanding the nearby undead servants to retreat immediately.

Crash!

Boom!

The ground caved inward violently with terrifying force.

Everything within the surrounding area was dragged downward mercilessly as the sinkhole expanded rapidly like a monstrous maw attempting to devour everything alive.

Stone shattered continuously.

Dust exploded upward violently.

The terrifying suction force swallowed several ordinary undead servants before crushing them beneath the collapsing earth.

Fortunately, Thoren himself had already escaped successfully.

He reappeared several meters behind the Dust Naga while gasping heavily for fresh air.

His sharp eyes burned intensely with determination mixed together with traces of madness.

The closer he approached death, the more strangely excited he became.

The sensation felt intoxicating.

Dangerous.

Addictive.

The surging adrenaline and violent impulses rushing through his veins were feelings he had never experienced before entering this ruin.

"Am I some kind of crazy masochist or something else?" he wondered inwardly.

A slow grin gradually crept across his face.

Bang!

The gigantic sinkhole finally collapsed shut completely while the ground returned rapidly toward its previous appearance.

Looking at the restored floor, nobody would have imagined that a horrifying death trap existed there only moments earlier.

Hissss!

Watching its prey escape once again, the Dust Naga released a furious hiss filled with rage and pain.

That desperate sinkhole attack had clearly been its final attempt to drag Thoren down together with itself.

Unfortunately for the serpent monster, the plan had failed completely.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The undead servants intensified their assault immediately afterward.

The Dust Naga thrashed violently throughout the sanctum while attempting desperately to throw away the attacking undead forces using its gigantic tail.

At the same time, it continuously released compressed sand attacks in every direction.

However, the undead shield soldiers remained positioned directly before the creature.

Every sand attack crashed heavily against the Peak Bronze grade shields before dispersing uselessly.

The Dust Naga's offensive abilities had become severely restricted.

Shrieeek!

Finally, a painful shriek erupted from the Dust Naga's maw as countless attacks landed upon its battered body simultaneously.

Slash!

Boom!

Crack!

Its shattered scales exploded apart continuously beneath the relentless barrage.

The undead Storm Tyrant smashed its gigantic hammer directly into the Dust Naga's neck while the undead Royalty Stonewall carved another massive wound deep across its body.

Spears pierced into exposed flesh repeatedly.

Axes hacked brutally into damaged scales.

The undead Sanguine Vulture Spawn descended from above like crimson shadows while tearing apart the remaining defenses protecting the serpent's head.

The Dust Naga's gigantic body trembled violently one final time.

Then it collapsed.

Thud!

Its enormous corpse crashed heavily against the sanctum floor while powerful tremors spread throughout the chamber.

The entire battlefield fell eerily silent afterward.

Fragments of shattered scales covered the ground completely.

Broken flesh littered every corner of the sanctum.

Dark blood flowed continuously across the stone floor like streams winding through a battlefield graveyard.

Looking at the gigantic corpse lying motionless before him, Thoren inhaled sharply while excitement flashed across his face uncontrollably.

Then the familiar notifications appeared before his eyes.

[Experience Gained +1000]

[Summoned Entities Experience Gained +500]

[Grave Shift Level Up --> Level 2]

Seeing the notifications, Thoren froze briefly before blinking twice in disbelief.

Among all the rewards, the one that shocked him the most was the level increase of the Grave Shift skill itself.

Instantly, a stream of new knowledge surged directly into his mind.

He immediately discovered that the effective range of Grave Shift had increased dramatically from one hundred meters to two hundred meters.

"Hahaha!"

A loud laugh filled with satisfaction escaped directly from his lips.

He genuinely never expected one of his personal skills to level up this quickly.

Previously, he believed Grave Whispers would evolve first instead.

Clearly, he had underestimated the terrifying pressure created during life and death battles.

Under such intense circumstances, Grave Shift had been forced to evolve rapidly.

The increased range completely transformed the value of the skill.

With a two-hundred-meter transfer distance, his survival ability had increased tremendously.

As long as he did not die instantly from a single overwhelming attack, he would always possess a chance to escape successfully.

And that changed everything.

Taking several deep breaths, Thoren gradually calmed the excitement surging throughout his chest.

Afterward, he lowered his gaze once more toward the gigantic Dust Naga corpse.

"I cannot imagine ordinary awakeners fighting against this monster," he muttered quietly beneath his breath.

Even with his undead army assisting him constantly and Grave Shift substituting his position repeatedly, he nearly died several times during the battle.

Without those advantages, survival would have been impossible.

Thinking carefully about this, Thoren suddenly understood something important.

The Jackal Beastman Chief likely knew exactly how dangerous the underground ruins truly were.

That explained why the ancient map had been handed over so readily without resistance.

The Jackal Beastman Chief never expected him to survive this place.

It had all been a trap from the beginning.

The realization caused a dangerous glint to flash across Thoren's eyes immediately.

"That bastard intended to sacrifice me from the very start," he thought coldly.

Instantly, the Jackal Beastman Chief earned a permanent place upon Thoren's mental kill list.

However, Thoren quickly suppressed his murderous thoughts afterward.

There would be time for revenge later.

Right now, something far more important waited before him.

The corpse of the Level Thirty Mini Floor Boss.

Without hesitation, Thoren activated his necromantic abilities immediately.

[Undead Summoning.]

[Bone Manipulation.]

Boom!

A powerful wave of undead energy surged violently into the Dust Naga's corpse.

Dark energy spread rapidly throughout the massive body like black veins crawling beneath flesh.

For several moments, the gigantic corpse remained motionless.

Then suddenly, it trembled violently.

The Dust Naga slowly rose upward from the blood-soaked ground once more.

Its massive undead body towered terrifyingly above the entire sanctum.

Seeing the newly revived creature standing before him, Thoren immediately received feedback from the undead bond.

"Hm?"

He creased his brow slightly while examining the information carefully.

To his surprise, the undead Dust Naga had inherited both the Sandstorm ability and the Abyssal Sinkhole skill from its original body.

The discovery caused a bright smile to spread rapidly across his face.

With those two terrifying abilities combined together, his undead army had once again gained another deadly trump card.

The sandstorm attack alone already possessed horrifying destructive capabilities capable of suppressing large groups of enemies simultaneously.

And when combined together with his overwhelming undead army, the resulting battlefield pressure would become devastating.

Just imagining such a scene caused Thoren's heart to race rapidly with anticipation.

More importantly, the Dust Naga originated from the Bleeding Desert itself.

That made it the perfect undead creature for future battles within desert environments.

Without wasting time, Thoren immediately commanded the undead Dust Naga to move throughout the sanctum.

Obeying his orders instantly, the undead serpent slithered across the chamber while shaking the ground heavily beneath its enormous body.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The sight alone appeared overwhelmingly oppressive.

"Hahahaha!"

Watching the gigantic undead creature move according to his will, Thoren burst into loud laughter filled with excitement and pride.

"I truly cannot wait to see the Jackal Beastman Chief's expression once he sees this," he thought smugly.

"How could a mere beast possibly stop me?"

An arrogant smile spread openly across his face.

For several moments, he indulged fully within his victorious emotions.

Eventually, however, Thoren managed to calm himself once more.

The excitement faded gradually from his expression before returning once again toward his usual cold indifference.

Without further delay, he withdrew all his undead servants back into the undead space silently.