The ancient Egyptians, through a magical ritual, sealed personified inner demons onto stone slabs, then utilized specific magic to control and drive them.
These inner demons were not only used as weapons by the ancient Egyptians but also many were buried within the pharaohs' tombs as funerary objects and guardians.
The path ahead was constructed from multiple stone slabs, each sealing an inner demon.
These slabs posed no threat to normal individuals. As long as their activation conditions weren't met, they were indistinguishable from ordinary stones. The activation condition, however, was fear.
While this was the case, these slabs were stored within tombs, and over the years, the seals on the inner demons within had naturally loosened to some extent. Consequently, although the inner demons couldn't directly break through the seals, they could exert a certain influence on matters outside the slabs.
As long as the victim experienced fear, the activation condition would be met, the inner demon would emerge from the slab, and devour the tomb raiders who had given rise to new fear.
Currently, Hill was clutched in the hand of a monstrously ugly, massive inner demon, and despite all his struggles, it was futile.
Chen Long certainly heard the inner demon's roar and Hill's pained cries from behind him, but at this moment, he could not turn back.
If he were to turn, seeing the materialized inner demon would undoubtedly instill fear in his heart, causing the inner demon beneath his feet to materialize as well.
That would truly be the end of it.
"Chen Long!" Seeing Chen Long hesitate, Old Man shouted again, "Hurry and get the Eye of Horus!"
Old Man's intention was clear.
Though inner demons were powerful, under the Eye of Horus, they were less than dust. Now, only by obtaining the Eye of Horus could Hill be saved and the current predicament be resolved.
With that thought, Chen Long no longer hesitated and strode forward with large steps.
Outside the trial, Old Man was not idle either. He took out a dried pufferfish and began shooting incessantly at the inner demon holding Hill.
Old Man did not expect to inflict any damage on this level of inner demon. His sole aim was to stall for time, attract its attention, and prevent it from consuming Hill.
Regarding the agents assigned by SHIELD, Old Man was very clear. Apart from Hill, Nick Fury's副官 (fùguān - adjutant/deputy), the lives of other agents were inconsequential. As long as she remained alive, there was no problem.
Magical rays struck the inner demon, and although they did not cause damage, they successfully drew its ire.
After enduring several magical rays, the inner demon followed the direction of the incoming rays, its gaze fixed malevolently on Old Man.
Old Man showed no fear, firing another ray towards the watermelon-sized eye.
Roar!
The enraged inner demon roared and charged towards Old Man.
As the distance between the inner demon and Old Man rapidly decreased – five meters, four meters, three meters, two meters, one meter – BANG!
Just as the inner demon lunged at Old Man, it seemed to collide with an invisible wall and was bounced back onto its original slab.
Observing the furious inner demon, Old Man's lips curled into a smile.
As expected, this inner demon was certainly a high-grade specimen among all inner demons. After all, it was tasked with guarding the Eye of Horus, so it couldn't be subpar.
And to prevent these powerful inner demons from roaming freely, restrictions had to be in place.
The wall of air that the inner demon slammed into when it charged at Old Man was a restriction designed to prevent the inner demon from causing damage to the tomb by its erratic movements, confining its range of activity to a specific area.
After several fruitless attempts, the inner demon finally realized it could not harm the detestable old human. Therefore, the intelligent inner demon decisively abandoned the plan to kill Old Man and prepared to devour the human snack in its hand first.
But just as it was preparing to consume the human snack in its grasp, with Old Man's harassment ongoing, a change occurred.
The inner demon instinctively stopped and looked in the direction of the disturbance. Its massive pupils constricted sharply, and fear spread throughout its body.
It must be known that the inner demons sealed within the slabs used on this trial path increased in quality exponentially, with the inner demons closer to the Eye of Horus being of higher quality.
While its attention was diverted by the old human, its companion had already reached the final sealed slab.
For an ordinary person without any professional training, Chen Long had performed exceptionally well. In comparison, Hill had been unable to withstand the pressure on the third slab, causing the inner demon within to manifest. Chen Long, however, had pushed all the way to the last one.
The inner demon on the final slab was the most powerful in the entire tomb, so powerful that its influence extended beyond mere interference to direct intervention, forcefully excavating the fear from within the tomb raiders. Even Chen Long was not spared.
Under its potent intervention, fear began to surface in Chen Long's heart, thus meeting the condition for its manifestation. However, even so, Chen Long did not forget Old Man's words. Knowing that his fear had already activated the inner demon within the slab, he still did not stop but ran towards the end with even greater desperation.
A massive surge of black energy shot skyward, forming a vast expanse of black clouds above.
Just as Chen Long was about to arrive.
Crack!
A bolt of dark lightning struck directly in front of Chen Long's feet, missing him by a narrow margin.
Chen Long knew this was a warning from the being within the thunderclouds.
Then, strands of black energy emerged from the thunderclouds, coalescing into a thick, long, serpentine body that coiled around the entire trial path. A pair of colossal dragon wings unfurled from within the thunderclouds, so vast they nearly filled the entire tomb chamber.
Finally, a head emerged from the thunderclouds.
Although composed of black energy, Chen Long saw it clearly: it was a dragon's head, possessing two mouths, with two backward-curving horns on each side. A pair of golden-yellow eyes stared intently at Chen Long.
The sense of oppression emanating from the creature was no less than what he had felt when facing the Holy Lord directly.
At this moment, Chen Long stood facing this colossal dragon, their eyes locked. The finish line was behind him.
This stalemate could not continue. Chen Long subtly shifted his right leg backward, tentatively moving towards the finish line.
But as soon as Chen Long moved his foot.
Roar!
The dragon, as if provoked, let out a draconic cry.
This cry reverberated through the tomb chamber, causing the entire structure to tremble as if it would collapse from the strain at any moment. Chen Long, being the closest, felt as though his soul was about to shatter.
As for the inner demon holding Hill, it fared even worse, its soul utterly annihilated by this single dragon's roar, thus simplifying matters.
While Chen Long and the dragon were locked in their standoff.
Boom!
A furious thunderbolt struck the tomb directly.
Then, a gap was seemingly torn open in the roof of the tomb, and a long-lost beam of light shone down.