Novel Full Chapter 675: The Treasure Left by the First Emperor
Chapter 675: Chapter 675: The Treasure Left by the First Emperor
When Charles found Zara, she was already in a very dangerous situation.
The Sandworm, twisted by the power of the curse, had its sharp fangs clamped tightly around her.
Zara could only struggle with all her strength to avoid being bitten to death on the spot.
Seeing this, Charles immediately charged forward and attacked the Sandworm at full speed.
He gripped his Black Gold Long Knife and dashed straight toward the creature.
Before the Sandworm could even react, Charles swung the blade right at its eye.
Caught off guard, the Sandworm was severely injured in an instant.
In agony, it flung Zara away.
Then, turning its last eye toward Charles, it glared at him with pure hatred.
“You damned beast! I was planning to let you live, but it seems you really don’t value your life! Fine—then die!”
Charles roared at the Sandworm.
The two charged at each other at the same time.
Charles’s Black Gold Long Knife clashed hard against the Sandworm’s fangs.
The Black Gold Long Knife was incredibly tough—
even during the fight with Harbor, the weapon had never suffered a single scratch.
So when it collided with the Sandworm’s fangs, the result was obvious.
The fangs shattered instantly under the blade’s strike.
The Sandworm howled in pain, letting out a furious roar that echoed through the tunnels.
Charles stared coldly at the writhing creature, waiting for it to attack first.
Only then could he be sure he would kill this curse-twisted monster completely.
If he struck first, the Sandworm would definitely try to escape—
and as a creature of the underground, it knew the tunnels far too well.
Chasing it down in such a maze would be almost impossible.
But then, something unexpected happened.
Instead of continuing the fight, the Sandworm gave one last look toward Zara’s direction—
and then burrowed into the tunnel to flee.
“Coward! You actually ran away!”
Charles shouted, a little disappointed.
Still, the Sandworm’s retreat had one good side:
it meant Charles could immediately turn back to check on Zara’s condition.
“How’s your body? Are you alright?”
Charles asked with concern as he hurried to her side.
Zara’s brows were tightly knit, her face twisted in pain.
Two wounds on her body were still bleeding, though they didn’t seem too deep.
“I’m fine… luckily you got here in time. If you’d come any later, that Sandworm might’ve swallowed me whole,” Zara said weakly.
“Did I mess up your mission? I was trying to help you.”
Besides the pain in her body, Zara was also suffering mentally.
She felt she had only slowed Charles down.
Charles smiled and shook his head.
“I was already planning to head back to the surface. Even if you hadn’t been attacked, I’d have passed through here anyway. So don’t burden yourself with that thought.”
His words seemed to ease her mind a little.
Zara’s expression softened.
“Let’s get you back to the surface,” Charles said. “You’re not in mortal danger, but you still need treatment fast.”
With that, he helped Zara make her way up.
When the two finally appeared before High Priest Kent, the man’s face filled with shock.
“Did you run into something dangerous down there? Why is Zara hurt?”
Charles quickly recounted everything that had happened.
Kent’s expression eased a little after hearing the story.
“There are indeed Sandworms in the underground region,” Kent said thoughtfully.
“But under normal circumstances, they shouldn’t appear near the depths of the underdark river. Their nests are usually even deeper beneath it.”
Charles raised a brow.
“You’re saying there’s an even more complex tunnel network beneath the river area?”
“Of course. Isn’t that common knowledge?” Kent asked, surprised.
“I’m not a Serpent! What you people call ’common knowledge’ isn’t something I’d automatically know!” Charles snapped. “You should’ve told me that earlier!”
If he had known there was another labyrinth of tunnels below the river, he wouldn’t have wasted so much time searching near its banks.
That cursed lake he found down there must be connected to that deeper network.
He needed to return underground as soon as possible.
After venting his frustration at Kent, Charles turned on his heel and left.
High Priest Kent wanted to stop Charles, but before he could, Zara held him back.
“Don’t try to stop him,” she said gently. “Charles must be right. Without him, the Stellar Empire would’ve wiped us out long ago. We have to keep trusting him now.”
Kent sighed, looking helpless.
“You’re right. At this point, trusting Charles is all we can do.”
After leaving the Great Pyramid, Charles moved as fast as he could toward the underground river.
Before long, he reached the spot where he had fought the Sandworm. There, he found a tunnel the creature had left behind.
“Mousie, go in first and scout it out. Make sure it’s safe before I head in,” Charles ordered at the tunnel’s entrance.
He wasn’t foolish enough to just walk in himself—what if that same Sandworm was waiting inside?
The tunnel was narrow, and in such tight space, he wouldn’t be able to fight at full strength.
If something powerful attacked him there, he’d have no chance of surviving.
Without hesitation, Mousie darted into the tunnel.
A few minutes later, it came back to the entrance.
“No danger inside, huh? Alright, you lead the way then.”
Charles followed Mousie into the dark.
Moving through the cramped passage made him feel extremely uncomfortable.
The deeper he went, the tighter the tunnel became.
In some places, he even had to use his weapon to clear away chunks of stone just to keep going.
After about half an hour, Charles finally noticed a faint light ahead.
“Seems like the underground ecosystem here is more complex than I thought,” he murmured.
“There’s actual light… Sandworms can’t produce light, so it must be coming from some other creature.
Maybe there’s something down here that even preys on Sandworms. Guess I underestimated how rich the life forms in the Atacama Desert really are.”
He had traveled to many strange places before, some with equally complex ecosystems,
so it didn’t take him long to realize the glow ahead likely came from a living thing.
Crawling out of the tunnel, Charles found himself in a wide open area.
The first thing he heard was the sound of flowing water.
That meant there was another underground river here—
and chances were, this one connected with other rivers deeper below.
Following the sound, he soon saw it: a broad underground river stretching into the dark distance.
The entire underground river glowed faintly under the light of some unknown creature, making it stand out clearly in the dark.
On both sides of the river, strange plants grew—warped and alien in shape.
In the shadows and along the water’s edge, Charles also noticed small insects creeping about.
But they were nothing special—neither Mythical Creatures nor familiars with any elemental powers.
Charles didn’t bother with them and kept his focus ahead, following the direction of the river’s flow.
At the far end of his vision, he caught a glimpse of something—
a statue shining with a golden glow.
“A statue? Down here?” Charles muttered in disbelief.
“Could it be… the treasure left behind by the first emperor of the Serpent Empire?”
The thought struck him instantly, and he rushed forward at full speed along the underground river.
As he advanced, the golden light ahead grew brighter and brighter.
When he was less than a kilometer away, the entire statue finally came into view.
It was a sculpture of a male Serpent, carved entirely out of pure gold.
And at the top of the statue’s head, a dull gray gem pulsed faintly—
spreading waves of curse energy into the air.
The moment Charles saw it, a single name flashed in his mind:
[Dark Gem]
According to legend, the Dark Gem was formed entirely from condensed dark energy.
It had the power to twist any living being into a monster.
At the same time, its immense darkness could radiate a powerful curse—
one that was almost impossible to dispel by any means.
The only way to break such a curse
was to absorb every trace of dark energy back into the Dark Gem itself.
“So this is the treasure left behind by the first emperor…”
Charles murmured to himself.
“Aldany must’ve used the Dark Gem to curse the Serpent Empress.
But if he really found this place, why didn’t he take it?
Maybe… he just wasn’t strong enough back then.”