“I never expected our Boss to grant us new Soultraits. To think that he had so many spare Soultraits to use. Duplication is exceptional, don’t you think so, Danny?” The Adventurer asked in a mocking voice while manifesting a few Qi Swords after using his newly obtained Soultrait.

Now that he had gained Duplication, his combat prowess skyrocketed. He wouldn’t be underestimated anymore, and he was confident to be a much better Lord than he had been in the past. He was ready to regain his power as a Lord – even if that meant he had to kill Daniel.

Danny groaned in pain. His limbs felt numb and so did his arms. He could barely feel the loss of his right arm at this point.

The Adventurers cackled like hyenas while seeing Danny’s miserable state. He was covered in blood, his eyes were slowly growing heavy, and his expression was shrouded in anger, desperation and unwillingness.

He didn’t want to die. There was so much left for him to do.

He had yet to rescue his subordinates. Their wounds had to be tended to before it was too late.

But that was not everything.

Daniel Fang had yet to explore space. He had yet to meet other races outside the Origin Expanse. He had yet to find his parents and ask them why they abandoned them. He had yet to find out where Hesta was, and what happened to her after she disappeared. He had yet to find out more about the curse of the Fang bloodline. There were too many tasks waiting to be completed.

However, death seemed imminent. The Grim Reaper was slowly creeping closer, trying to take away the last strands of life and hope from within Daniel. But Danny was not willing to let go of his life. And suddenly his little brother’s face flashed in front of his eyes.

Michael!!

He recalled that he hadn’t given enough time to take care of his brother. Even when they were young, Danny had mostly focused on his training and his desire to find their parents and sister. He wanted to find out why they left them, leaving a young 9-year-old and a 13-year-old teenager on their own.

They hadn’t been ready to become independent, but their parents’ disappearance had forced them to mature quickly.

Since their parents’ disappearance, Michael had never demanded anything. He never bothered his brother with anything and kept to himself. When Danny was young, he always thought about how the world was unfair to him, and that he deserved something better. He worked hard to obtain what ought to be granted but somehow forgot that Michael was abandoned at a much younger age.

Michael had been forced to get his act together when he was supposed to play with his friends and live carefree with his loving family. Growing up, Danny began to increasingly feel guilty that he hadn’t been a good and dependable brother. He could have done a lot more but had failed miserably.

‘I cannot die yet. I have yet to make up…for being a bad brother…’ Danny could only think, gritting his teeth and clenching his numb hand into a tight fist.

The next moment something unexpected happened. The six Adventurers were just about to step toward Danny and end his miserable life when the burial chambers began to tremble.

All surrounding origin energy was suctioned in the same direction, creating a strong pulling force that affected everyone in the burial chamber. The funeral goods were pulled toward the center of the burial chamber, just like Danny. His body was pulled toward the golden sarcophagus, where his blood had already been sprinkled in alarming quantities.

Danny’s blood began to glow on the golden sarcophagus’ surface. It warmed and seeped inside the sarcophagus that began to tremor wildly.

One moment the sarcophagus was sealed, and the next moment the seal broke.

A heavy presence weighed down on the living within the burial chamber, weakening Danny and his dying Summons, while the Adventurers were forced down on their knees.

The golden sarcophagus opened slowly with a loud creak that rang through the ears of everyone in the periphery. Eyes full of shock and disbelief were glued to the sarcophagus as a bony, bandaged hand grasped the sarcophagus’ edge from the inside.

Time seemed to slow down as a mummified figure began to move within the sarcophagus. It got up, azure flames flickering brightly in its eye sockets.

The mummified being was adorned with ornate, regal attire reminiscent of ancient pharaohs. It wore a headpiece featuring an ankh symbol, which symbolized power and life. The headpiece resembled the pharaoh’s crown of the Second Epoch, adorned with hieroglyphs and intricate patterns.

The being’s skeletal body was adorned with jewelry, amulets, and sacred relics, a sign of its eternal connection to its empire. The azure flames in its eye socket glowed otherworldly radiance, casting a gloomy and eerie atmosphere all over the sacred burial chamber.

The being lifted its right arm, causing a golden serpentine staff to manifest out of nowhere. Once the serpentine staff appeared, the heavy pressure weighing down on everyone intensified even further as an ancient authority and a sense of enigmatic power channeled into it, blending with the appearance of the regal majesty and eerie resurrection of a being that should have died a long time ago.

The being was none other than the strongest Pharaoh of the Second Epoch, and he had just been resurrected from his eternal slumber!

The Undead Pharaoh had been awakened.

Its gaze roamed through the burial chamber and looked down at the sarcophagus where it saw Danny’s miserable figure. The Pharaoh’s staff moved downward, weakly pressing against Danny’s forehead. The next moment a stream of knowledge entered the Pharaoh’s mind.

“Interesting. Thousands of years have passed, yet nothing has changed. Everyone is still weak, and relies heavily on cunning methods and betrayals to gain power,” The Pharaoh said slowly in an awkward mishmash of words from both the currently used origin language and the language used in the Second Epoch.

He was learning the current language using the wisps of knowledge he had taken from the miserable figure beneath him.

“Child of the Cursed. Your blood allowed me to awaken. As a generous Pharaoh, I shall allow you to witness the traitor’s death,” The Pharaoh waved his wand lightly through the air, causing dozens of weapons to manifest out of nowhere.

The weapons pointed toward the Adventurers, who were still kneeling on the ground, forced by the ancient pressure that weighed down heavily on them.

The next moment, the Pharaoh lifted Danny’s head, forcing his unfocused eyes to watch as the razor-sharp weapons cut through the air, piercing the Adventurer’s chests, necks, and heads.

In the blink of an eye, all the traitors had been killed.

However, Danny couldn’t feel happy about that. Because he was forced to watch the death of the traitors, he could also see the Lamia Queen and all other Summons in the burial chambers. Their bodies were unmoving.

They were dead.

“You will soon join them,” The Pharaoh said lightly when he saw where Danny’s gaze was fixated. He recalled some of the wisps of knowledge he had obtained from the miserable human figure and nodded his head faintly.

“Pharaohs don’t owe favors to others. That means I cannot allow you to leave like this,” The Pharaoh said, unleashing his ancient energy that had accumulated over the course of millennia.

“I will grant you a special death, something few of your kind will ever be granted. Make good use of it, you will only have one chance!”

The moment the Pharaoh’s voice rang out, Danny felt that the surroundings changed. He was weakly lying on the ground but was magically pulled over to an open spot in a fraction of a second.

Time slowed down, and Danny regained clear vision for a second or two. However, all he could see was a bright golden blade that had formed due to the ancient energy swirling through the burial chamber of the Primedival Pyramid.

‘I shouldn’t have trusted them.’ Danny first thought but then his mind went astray.

‘What will happen to Michael? Will he be fine without me? How can I leave my little brother alone?’

As thousands of thoughts filled with regret and self-criticism spread through his mind, it happened. Danny closed his eyes when he saw the golden blade shooting down at him with a loud sound that resembled the hissing of a serpent.

‘I’m sorry…’

Blood splattered, and a head rolled over the ground.

The tension all over Daniel’s body dispersed at once, and his body went limp.

However, there was no pain. Danny didn’t feel any pain. On the contrary, a soothing warmth filled Danny’s mind. It was comfortable and embraced Daniel tightly.

He was not sure what happened, where he was, and how he ended up like that. But one thing was certain.

He was dead.

Daniel couldn’t feel anything. He realized that consciousness wasn’t connected to his body anymore. All he could do was remember what had happened before he died.

Time passed unknowingly and Daniel didn’t know whether seconds, minutes, days, or years had passed.

‘Is that the afterlife? What a shitty place to remember your life, but being unable to do anything…’

After what felt like an eternity to the consciousness of Daniel Fang, the first change occurred.

A stream of information swept into his head, informing him to obey his Lord and to protect him. It also informed him that he would never be allowed to reveal his identity, otherwise, his second chance would be revoked, and his life would end.

After another eternity, a second change occurred. He could feel his body once again.

The moment he regained the feeling in his body, Daniel noticed that something was different.

At some point, a third change occurred. His other senses returned as he was pulled somewhere.

He heard the chirping of birds and felt dense origin energy all around him. A strong smell of flowers, plants, and unique herbs filled his nostrils.

Confused by the sudden change in the scenery around him, Daniel opened his eyes slowly.

The first thing he saw was a densely grown jungle and a large clearing with hundreds of humans pacing around busily.

Then he discovered a young man standing in front of everyone, waiting patiently, and smiling brightly at him.

Daniel froze in his tracks when he saw the young man. His eyes turned blurry as tears welled up inside them. He nearly screamed out loudly, only for severe pain in his head to remind him of the conditions that had been attached to his new life.

Only then did he realize what had happened. He had been resurrected as a Summon…in his brother’s territory…

Daniel Fang was given an opportunity. He was granted the chance to make up for his biggest regret.

At last, he could stay by Michael’s side – even though it was not as his brother Daniel Fang, but as Masked Saber.

But that was fine.

All that mattered was that he was next to Michael and that he could give his all to protect his beloved brother…even if that meant he would have to die once again!

“I’m the Masked Saber. I’m happy to be of your service Mi–…my Lord!”

[End of Volume 5]