The yellow sand surged.
Hundreds of mummies reached out their hands, rising from the yellow sand like a terrifying forest springing up from the ground.
Their skin was dry and yellow, resembling wrinkled tree bark, with deeply sunken eye sockets that looked like two black holes.
The white bandages wrapped around their withered bodies fluttered, making them appear sinister and horrifying.
Whoosh!
A dried-up mummy, wrapped in white bandages, darted out of the soft yellow sand like a ghostly serpent. Its hands, resembling iron clamps, swiftly lunged toward Owen and his group.
Benedict and the other seasoned Wolf Guard veterans sensed the mummy the moment it charged. They formed a protective circle around Owen, mana surging from their bodies.
"Flame Slash!"
"Earth's Protection!"
"Thorn Spike!"
Brilliant and colorful magical attacks bombarded the approaching mummy.
This mummy was not of a high level. Under the barrage of dense attacks, its bandages tore apart inch by inch.
Soon, its skin and flesh were engulfed by the turbulent mana, turning to dust that scattered to the ground.
However, there was no trace of relief on the faces of Benedict and the Wolf Guard.
They knew that even if these zombies were shattered and pulverized, they would rise again from the yellow sand, virtually immortal!
Sure enough, under their watchful eyes, the mummy that had just been reduced to sand extended a withered yellow hand from the sand once more!
As this mummy reappeared, a dense wave of mummies behind it rushed toward them.
Each mummy was grotesque and terrifying, exuding a decaying stench. As they surged forward, they lifted the yellow sand, blotting out the sky and bringing a suffocating sense of death.
Some mages among the Wolf Guard were already pale with fear, their legs trembling uncontrollably.
The number of mummies was overwhelming, stretching endlessly into the distance.
The crucial point was that they were utterly unkillable!
Once engulfed by their encirclement, even a gold-tier mage like Benedict would be exhausted, depleting all his mana and ultimately dying there, buried by the yellow sand!
"Master Owen, you must go quickly! These cursed bandage zombies have found us; we must retreat now!"
Benedict hurriedly looked at Owen, instructing some of the Wolf Guard to escort him away while they stayed behind to cover the retreat.
As Benedict spoke, the mummies charged.
Benedict and the other mages, already prepared, unleashed various magical skills, pushing back or scattering the approaching mummies.
However, no matter how fiercely they attacked, the number of mummies did not decrease. Instead, it kept growing!
"Fall back."
Seeing them trying to annihilate the mummies with sheer firepower, Owen shook his head.
He now understood why they had been so tense since approaching this area.
Clearly, Benedict and the locals had no understanding of mummies and, naturally, didn't know how to deal with them.
As Owen spoke, Benedict and the others were taken aback.
Even with the Wolf Guard working together, they could barely hold their ground against the mummies that attacked like ferocious wolves.
For Owen to want to handle this alone seemed like a fool's dream.
Before they could try to persuade him otherwise, Owen gazed at the withered mummies and threw a punch.
Clear water elements gathered on his fist, forming what appeared to be a gauntlet of flowing water, and then he struck the mummy square in the chest.
With a "bang," water splashed everywhere!
The mummy's seemingly resilient skin absorbed the water and suddenly shattered, cracks rapidly spreading until they covered every inch of its body.
Then, like dry wood, it exploded and scattered, the fragments embedding deep into the yellow sand before disintegrating into points of light.
"??"
Benedict and the others were dumbfounded, their faces filled with confusion.
The cursed bandage zombie was killed?!
They rubbed their eyes hard, unable to believe what they were seeing.
After all, these cursed bandage zombies had been terrifying, causing many mages to fall, and no attacks had previously been able to completely annihilate them.
But now, one had been defeated by Owen's punch!
Owen retracted his fist and stood still, ignoring the stunned gazes of Benedict and the others, his expression slightly frowning, showing some dissatisfaction.
This mummy was at bronze-tier level 3, its dry body connected to the yellow sand, making it difficult to completely annihilate.
While using pure water elements could easily destroy it, killing it only yielded nine experience points.
To level up from bronze-tier level 9 to silver-tier level 1 required a whopping ten thousand experience points.
The experience from one mummy was just a drop in the bucket.
To reach silver-tier, Owen would need to kill over a thousand mummies.
Fortunately, there were plenty of mummies here, and inside the Pharaoh's Tower, many more ghosts awaited to be defeated.
Seeing Owen frown, Benedict and the others were puzzled.
From their perspective, Owen had discovered a way to defeat these cursed zombies. This dungeon had remained unconquered by mages for countless years, yet here was Owen, on his first visit, seeming to find the key to overcoming it.
He was nothing short of an unprecedented genius. It was no wonder that even the proud Academy City ranked him as the number one genius.
But shouldn't he be ecstatic about uncovering the strategy right now?
"Step back. The experience points from a single mummy... or cursed bandage zombie, are too few. Leave the rest to me."
Owen adjusted his language to use their term for the creatures, not wanting to explain too much.
"Too few experience points?"
Upon hearing this, Benedict and the others finally understood the source of Owen's frown.
Smiling, they said, "Master Owen, you've already found their weakness. With your strength and our support, you should be able to reach silver-tier level 1 after training here for about three days."
"Three days?"
Owen shook his head. He had chosen the Pharaoh's Tower specifically because it was populated with many small monsters, allowing him to gain experience quickly with Starlit's help. Three days were simply too long.
"Master Owen, three days is already very fast. Other mages don't even know how to deal with these cursed zombies. It wouldn't matter if it took three days or thirty years; they wouldn't make any progress at all," Benedict spoke earnestly.
He worried that Owen might act too hastily and unintentionally cause a disaster. Although these mummies were just minor threats with bronze-tier strength, their overwhelming numbers posed a serious risk.
They felt no pain and knew no fear. If caught in their midst, even a gold-tier mage could become exhausted and eventually surrounded and killed.
Thus, the safest approach was to lure the zombies to a suitable location, eliminate them, and repeat the process.
Owen understood Benedict's point. If he were an ordinary mage, following this method would indeed be the safest way to train and break through, with no risk involved. But he was not an ordinary mage.
"Wait here," Owen said calmly as the Godslayer Staff appeared in his grasp. His cold gaze swept over the mummies in the distance.
Seeing Owen's serious and composed demeanor, Benedict and the others breathed a slight sigh of relief. They feared that Owen might act as recklessly as he had when challenging other mages.
Although those mages were strong and sought the Godslayer Staff in his hand, they had no intent to kill him. But these zombies were different. They had no intelligence and only knew how to kill. If Owen got surrounded, they wouldn't know how to protect him while also dealing with the zombies.
"Master Owen may seem arrogant, but when faced with real danger, he listens to reason..." Benedict sighed in relief.
As he finished speaking, he suddenly felt the mana around Owen surge violently.
"Is Master Owen casting a spell?"
Some of the Wolf Guard furrowed their brows slightly. There was still some distance to the Pharaoh's Tower; casting spells now indicated that Owen might be preparing a large-scale attack to deal with the zombies.
"It seems Master Owen plans to use a safe, long-range attack method. That's good; even if something unexpected happens, he can retreat quickly," speculated a Wolf Guard who specialized in long-range magic.
As they finished speaking, they saw a longsword made of light elements forming above Owen's head. These light swords were about the length of an arm, with pure water elements swirling around the blades, emitting a sharp, ghostly blue aura.