The burial chamber of the Pharaoh was filled with ancient treasures.
Seeing them filled Danny's heart with excitement. He was feeling utterly exhausted after tirelessly fighting to conquer the Primedival Pyramid for months with little to no breaks, but he was also happy.
The raid would end soon, providing him with enough resources to complete the reconstruction of his Summoning Gate and provide the resources needed to expand his territory all over the hidden region of the Sacred Desert.
How could he not feel happy?
But he was having a nagging feeling that something was off.
Thus, Daniel Fang moved slowly through the burial chamber, vigilant of traps and Guardian Statues that may awaken and appear suddenly. However, there was nothing.
By the time he reached the Pharaoh's sarcophagus, Danny calmed down a little. Everything had gone according to his plan. He had done it!
However, just as his flat hand pressed against the lid of the sarcophagus, the Lamia Queen behind him shouted out loudly.
"Master! Behind you!!!"
Her voice rang through the burial chamber, allowing Danny to react immediately. He turned around instinctively and manifested his sword artifact, unsure what awaited him.
Daniel saw two of the Awakened working under him charging at him. This momentarily stunned him but then another thought calmed Danny. The Adventurers were probably trying to come to his aid because they had noticed that something was off. The Lamia Queen's warning pushed the Adventurers into action – or so Danny thought.
But reality was cruel, and the greed of humans was endless. Daniel realized this once again as he saw that the Lamia Queen and his other Summons had been attacked.
Six of his trusted Adventurer comrades had circled the Lamia Queen and Daniel's Summons attacking them viciously. They did not give them time to react and quickly impaled them with several spears, and cut them with their swords, inflicting deep sword gashes that spread across their entire upper bodies.
Blood gushed out of their wounds like overflowing streams and they collapsed on the ground lifelessly.
Seeing that, Danny's eyes widened in shock. The cogs in his brain took a second to process what he had just witnessed and understanding dawned upon him.
The human Adventurers, who had been working under him for the last few years, had betrayed him… all of them…
A total of eight human Adventurers were left working under him. Six of them attacked the Lamia Queen and Danny's Summons from behind when everyone's guard was lowered, while two of the strongest Adventurers charged straight at him.
The Lamia Queen and his Summons were not yet dead, but the strength in their bodies dispersed rapidly. The once peaceful situation had turned into a bloody massacre.
Only Danny was left unscathed, facing the two strongest human Adventurers, who had worked under him until now.
Reinforced Sword Qi coated his sword artifact, and several Qi Swords manifested all around him at once.
Yet, just as Danny wanted to unleash the Qi Swords, something changed. The atmosphere in the burial chamber grew tense, and the Qi Swords shattered. Even the Reinforced Sword Qi shrouding Danny's sword artifact dispersed in all directions, leaving Danny shocked.
His head flicked to the two Adventurers, and he found one of them holding a translucent orb in his hands. The translucent orb was clear, giving him a view of what had been stored inside it. It was a golden eye.
As he peered at it intently, he noticed that the large golden eye was moving around, following every single movement made by him.
The golden eye seemed to be made out of metal, but its movements were not mechanical which made him feel as if it was a lifeform as well. Danny was actually not sure what it was. The only thing he could tell was that the glowing golden eye was why he lost control of his Soultrait. It was locked onto him, and sealed his Reinforced Sword Qi.
However, his attention didn't remain on his sealed Soultrait. Instead, his full attention shifted to the Adventurers who had betrayed him.
They backstabbed the Lamia Queen and his other powerful Summons, just to charge at him with the golden eye orb locked onto him. It was obvious that their betrayal had been planned beforehand – probably a long time ago.
At that moment, something snapped inside Danny. He despised the traitors. The realization that he had been betrayed planted a seed of rage inside Danny, feeding off the fiery spark of fury and hatred that blossomed inside him. He hated betrayals. He hated those damn bastards.
Danny's teeth clamped as his fists clenched tightly around the sword artifact's handle. His vision turned red as the two Adventurers appeared in front of him.
A stream of strength spread through his entire body, and he began to move.
The instant he kicked his feet off the ground, Danny turned into a flash. He appeared next to the closest Adventurer, his sword artifact drawing the blood of his enemy.
The Adventurer stared at him with wide open eyes, shock filling his entire being.
Was Danny immune to pain, and poison? How could he exert that much strength after they had slowly poisoned him over the course of the last three months? Shouldn't he feel weak and tired by now?
Their treachery was not just limited to the sudden attack right now. They had been adding copious amounts of slow-acting poison into the food that was distributed among Danny and his Summons that should have crippled his defenses long ago. And not just that, but an arrow was stuck in Danny's chest.
Before the two Adventurers charged at Danny, they had released a poisoned arrow. It struck Danny as he turned around when the Lamia Queen attempted to warn him. Yet, Danny didn't even seem to notice the small swallowtail arrow stuck in his upper arm. The barbs of the arrow were designed to make sure that the arrow stayed inside Danny as he ran, inflicting maximum damage, and causing him to bleed out sooner or later.
Danny noticed that something was wrong with his body a few days ago. He was often exhausted and felt weak, but thought that it was because he hadn't been resting well in the last few months. Never would he have expected that the few people he trusted unconditionally would betray him.
After years of fighting alongside him, they poisoned him like sly foxes, attacked his Summons when they least expected it, and had prepared thoroughly to restrict his Soultrait to defeat him.
They knew very well that their strength was not enough to kill Danny without all of these factors. Even while poisoned, Danny was still strong enough to kill them with his Soultrait. Yet, after being poisoned and restricted the Adventurers had been certain that Daniel Fang would die a miserable death.
But seeing him appear next to the strongest Adventurer, drawing his blood and killing him with a single strike caused the atmosphere in the burial chambers to change once again.
Daniel began to bleed out of his mouth, nose, and eyes as he circulated a tremendous amount of origin energy through his body. His body felt stronger, yet the lifeforce inside his body was rapidly drained. Daniel Fang had utilized Life Reversal for a moment, hoping that he could kill the traitors and tend to his Summons before it was too late.
He had to use the spurt of strength as long as it was still present. He kicked his feet from the ground and dashed to the Adventurer holding the golden eye orb.
The sword artifact slashed twice through the air, cutting through the orb once before beheading the Adventurer, whom he had once called a good comrade, and a friend.
He grit his teeth in uncontrollable anger, feeling as if the entire world had crashed down on him.
Daniel couldn't forgive himself. He was prepared for the betrayal of the three Lords, but never could he have anticipated a betrayal in his own rows. His bond with the Adventurers had been strong. They had been friends, good friends at that.
In fact, Danny was certain that he could call these Adventurers his family. They had gone through thick and thin while sweating in the Sacred Desert, striving for survival. At last, their combined efforts allowed them to become the ruler of the Sacred Desert's hidden region.
"...Why?" Danny asked, his voice growing weaker. The poison that had accumulated within him over the last three months had been triggered at last. The arrow coated in poison had activated the poison inside him, causing his bodily functions to weaken rapidly.
His sight blurred, and he had problems moving even though Life Reversal granted him immense strength.
"The Sacred Desert doesn't belong to you. It never did, in the first place!" One of the remaining Adventurers muttered without a trace of remorse.
At first, his legs were trembling seeing that the strongest of their batch had been killed, but seeing that Danny's movements were growing increasingly sluggish, he calmed down instantly.
A vibrant smile blossomed on his face as he looked at his former employer with scorn in his eyes.
"Did you really think that we joined you because we saw something great in your cause? All we wanted was to obtain more strength and regain our powers. Funnily enough, you appeared in the Sacred Desert's hidden region, a place that had yet to be discovered by our Master," The Adventurer drawled, not bothering to hide anything. It was only a matter of time before Daniel Fang would die, either way.
"Since the…beginning? You were never on my side?!?" Daniel asked, his legs caving in as the poison reached his legs.
He tried to access his War Rune to retrieve some potions, but another Adventurer charged forward. His hand coated in an eerily familiar silver light shot forward, releasing a crescent-shaped Reinforced Sword Qi blade.
The silver blade cut through Danny's right arm. And blood gushed out of his shoulder like a fountain. It splattered everywhere, hitting the ground, the funerary goods, and the golden sarcophagus.
Danny's eyes widened.
'He used my Soultrait.'
