21st Century Necromancer

"Is this an anti-theft measure?" Major General Claire asked Chen Yu, slightly out of breath, as she looked at the statue in front of her that she had just shattered.

"This? It's just some basic setup." Chen Yu walked over to the statue that had been smashed, checking its damage. Seeing that the overall damage was not serious, he waved his hand, signaling the undead soldiers to carry away the three statues that had fallen to the ground.

At the same time, the spear statue and the bow-and-arrow statue also dealt with the scepter statue, smashing its rune core.

Seeing that all six statues were dealt with, Chen Yu then said to Major General Claire, "The shield and battle axe are your spoils. You can take two of the damaged statues, but don't touch anything else."

Major General Claire quickly nodded in agreement, already startled by these six statues and understanding that this place was indeed not as peaceful and serene as it appeared on the surface.

Chen Yu directed the undead soldiers to continue transporting the burial offerings. The two statues under his control also walked into the necromantic space on their own, but Chen Yu never touched the Osiris Sarcophagus inside the temple, nor did he touch the burial offerings beside it that looked like treasures.

As he watched the undead soldiers transport these burial offerings, Chen Yu suddenly noticed a bracelet inlaid with emerald among them.

Emerald is a very precious gemstone with a long history, but before the 16th century, Egypt was the only known source of emeralds in the world.

This gemstone has a beautiful green luster, long adored by the aristocracy. In ancient Egyptian history, the famous Cleopatra was an avid enthusiast of emeralds, even naming Egypt's only emerald mine after herself.

Although the burial offerings in this temple were placed here three thousand years before Cleopatra, the appearance of emeralds is not surprising.

Chen Yu picked up the bracelet and admired it closely.

The temple of Osiris had an abundance of burial offerings, countless precious gold and silver jewels, yet for some reason, Chen Yu always felt that this bracelet was somewhat different.

The bracelet was cast in gold; due to the age and craftsmanship, it was very wide. Rather than calling it a bracelet, it would be more fitting to call it an arm band or bracer.

Lapis lazuli and turquoise were inlaid on the bracelet, depicting the Eye of Horus and the Life Symbol, with a pigeon egg-sized emerald embedded between the two patterns, set in a scarab-shaped groove.

"Resuscitation, perhaps?" The emerald was associated with the power of resurrection and resuscitation. Coupled with its setting on the sun-symbolizing scarab, the significance of this bracelet wasn't hard to guess.

Chen Yu scrutinized the bracelet for some time but found nothing particularly different about it.

Although it was an exquisitely crafted bracelet, it was still just an ordinary bracelet, devoid of any special power.

Yet, such an ordinary bracelet may be offered in tribute to the Underworld King's Majesty in the temple of Osiris, which in itself was its greatest peculiarity.

Unable to ascertain the bracelet's uniqueness, Chen Yu decided to keep it for further study later.

With the burial offerings piled into a small mountain in the temple, quickly moved by the undead soldiers, only the Osiris Sarcophagus and the burial offerings surrounding it remained untouched in the temple.

Chen Yu refrained from touching these burial offerings for a reason. The offerings he had taken were gifts from the pharaohs and nobles buried here, but the items truly meant for Osiris were placed around the coffin.

These burial offerings were distinct from the offerings moved by Chen Yu, not only because these offerings were more precious, but also because they were shrouded in a faint layer of divine power.

This divine power did not belong to Osiris but to Anubis.

Clearly, this guardian god of the dead was fulfilling their divine duty, safeguarding the peace of Osiris in death.

Chen Yu had avoided touching these burial offerings to avert triggering a reaction from the Anubis divine power and activating the temple's defenses.

The temple's greatest defensive measure should have been those two gigantic statues on the plaza, but they allowed Chen Yu to enter so easily and even carry away the offerings placed in the temple, evidently failing in defense.

However, those two statues were supposed to defend against violent incursions rather than serve as anti-theft measures inside the temple.

Yet, having only those six statues as the temple's anti-theft measures was decidedly inadequate since anyone able to overcome the two massive statues outside could not be stopped by the six statues.

Rather than being defensive measures, those six statues could truly be considered mere decorations.

No defensive measures inside the temple? This was evidently impossible, especially since the offerings around the Stone Coffin were shrouded with Anubis' divine power.

Yet, these divine powers merely enveloped the offerings without showing any particular function, which made Chen Yu frown.

Without understanding what role these divine powers served, even Chen Yu couldn't decipher them. Would he have to activate the defensive measures and forcibly dismantle them?

Chen Yu hesitated for a moment but eventually retreated from the temple with Major General Claire, then ordered an undead soldier to pick up one of the burial offerings enveloped by Anubis' divine power from around the Stone Coffin.

As the undead soldier picked up the burial offering, the Anubis divine power pervading the temple instantly became active and converged toward a small golden statue of Anubis in front of the Osiris Sarcophagus.

Seeing this, Chen Yu felt significantly relieved, now understanding the function of these divine powers and knowing how to respond.

As the divine power gathered, the golden statue gradually became animate and enlarged, ultimately transforming into a statue over two meters tall, which then came to life.

"Who is it that dares to intrude into the temple of Osiris and disturb the Underworld King's slumber?" The jackal-headed Anubis opened its mouth, speaking ancient Egyptian.

Compared to the six previous statues, this Anubis statue was much more agile and intelligent, more akin to a fragment of consciousness from Anubis, rather than merely animated divine power.

What particularly caught Chen Yu's attention was that this Anubis statue didn't care about the undead soldier who picked up the burial offering but directly focused its gaze on Chen Yu and Major General Claire standing outside the temple.

The Anubis statue glanced at the undead soldier, instantly turning him into a withered corpse and causing him to wither and die.

After vanquishing the undead soldier with a single glance, the Anubis statue began to stride toward the temple entrance. As it moved, the divine power of one of the ancient Egyptian Nine Pillar Gods surged towards Chen Yu and Major General Claire, changing the look on their faces.