Diablo traveled through time and became a necromancer

Wu Ye's stern shout echoed throughout the cave! Facing the ancient skeletal guards summoned by Nihlathak and the impending devastating corpse explosion, his pupils constricted, and his entire body's mana instantly surged to its maximum!

"Bone armor! Bone wall!" Wu Ye roared, and layers of pale bone armor instantly covered all of his men. Simultaneously, several incredibly thick bone walls rose from the ground, heavily protecting the stone platform area! The high priest's holy light shield also expanded to its limit, and the soft yet tenacious light tried to offset the gathering death energy!

Skeleton Bro roared, and instead of retreating, he charged forward, his greatsword carrying an unstoppable momentum, directly towards the chanting Nihlathak! Capture the leader first!

However, Nihlathak had a strange, almost mocking smile on his face. He didn't dodge, but let the Skeleton Brother's giant sword chop down fiercely!

laugh--!

The greatsword pierced Nihlathak's body unimpeded! But the expected blood and flesh didn't fly. Nihlathak's figure shook and twisted violently like a reflection in water. Then, with a "bang," he transformed into a thick, foul-smelling black smoke and dissipated on the spot! Only the skull-embedded bone staff fell to the ground with a "clang" and quickly decayed into ash!

At the same time, the nearly completed corpse explosion spell and the ancient skeleton guard that had just crawled out also froze, blurring like popped bubbles before dissipating into black smoke. The violent energy fluctuations within the cave abruptly ceased, leaving only the rapidly dimming light of the runes on the wall.

Everything happened so fast! The cave instantly fell into an eerie silence.

"What's going on?!" Wu Ye was stunned, looking around warily. Could that realistic pressure and deadly sense of crisis just now be fake?

The high priest's holy light swept across the entire cave, his brow furrowed. "Master... that 'Nilasek' just now... didn't have a true soul core! Its energy structure was extremely unstable... It was like a carefully crafted... illusion or clone!"

"A clone?!" Wu Ye's heart sank, and he immediately rushed to the stone platform. Anya was still unconscious, but the chains that bound her had vanished. He examined her carefully, discovering that Anya's body was unusually cold. It wasn't just weakness; it was more like... a deep freeze! Her skin was covered in a nearly invisible, extremely cold energy film, impervious even to the healing holy light the high priest continuously injected!

"This isn't a simple weakening or a seal..." Wu Ye's face turned grim. "This is an extremely cold curse! We can't break it in a short time!" He remembered Nihlathak's last mocking smile and words—"...This staff is perfect as one of the sacrifices in my new ritual!"

"Oh no! We've fallen into a trap!" Wu Ye suddenly realized, "This cave, including that clone, is just a cover to buy time! Nihlathak's true body is not here at all! He has long gone to another place to perform his damned ritual with the power he extracted from Anya and his true goal! He deliberately left this difficult freezing curse to delay us and prevent us from stopping his real plan in time!"

Anya must be unfrozen as soon as possible to learn from her whereabouts and details of Nihlathak's conspiracy! But conventional methods are ineffective...

Wu Ye suddenly had an idea. He remembered that among the supplies Quarkak had given him was an extremely valuable life-saving item—a [Two-Way Portal Scroll]! This could create a temporary portal connecting to a designated safe point (presumably the Harrogath Barracks) for ten minutes!

"No time to hesitate!" Wu Ye made a quick decision. He quickly pulled out the scroll emitting gentle spatial fluctuations from his bag.

"Brother Skeleton! High Priest! You stay here, protect Anya, and be alert to any possible subsequent attacks!" Wu Ye ordered, and at the same time tore open the scroll without hesitation!

Om-!

A deep blue light gate, composed of pure spatial energy, instantly opened before Wu Ye! On the other side of the light gate, the familiar rock walls and bustling scene of the Harrogath military camp were revealed! The spatial fluctuations caught the attention of the nearby soldiers.

"Ten minutes! I'll be back soon!" Wu Ye nodded to Skeleton Brother and the High Priest, and stepped into the portal without hesitation!

In a flash, Wu Ye appeared at the Harrogath camp. He ignored the surprised looks of the surrounding soldiers and rushed directly towards the treatment center where Priest Mara was!

"Lord Mara! Emergency!" Wu Ye rushed into the treatment center and quickly and concisely informed the kind and knowledgeable old priest of everything that had happened in the Frozen River Cave, especially Anya's strange frozen state.

After hearing this, Priestess Mara's wrinkled face took on a grave expression. "A deep soul freeze... an icy curse mixed with fel energy... this is truly a vicious technique Nihlathak specializes in. Ordinary antidotes and healing spells are nearly ineffective." She quickly walked to a cabinet emitting the fragrance of herbs, pulled out several rare ingredients emitting auras of extreme cold and heat, and began to quickly mix them.

"It requires the neutralization of the 'Heart of Flame' powder, the stabilization of the 'Eternal Ice Core,' and... my specially crafted 'Soul Warming Potion' as a guide..." Priestess Mara skillfully muttered to herself. Soon, a small vial of potion, shimmering with interwoven red and blue light like a liquid gem, took shape in her hands.

"Here, child." Mara handed the potion to Wu Ye with a serious expression, "Slowly drip this bottle of 'Ice and Fire Curse-Removing Potion' onto Anya's brow, heart, and limb joints. The potion will penetrate, neutralize the freezing curse, and warm her soul. But the process may be a little painful, and someone will need to be there to protect her heart meridians with gentle energy. Remember, time is running out, and Nihlathak's conspiracy must be stopped!"

"Thank you, Lord Mara!" Wu Ye took the warm potion and felt a sense of peace as he felt the strange energy within it. He glanced at the portal in the corner of the barracks, which was beginning to vibrate slightly. Time was running out!

He turned around and rushed back to the portal again, and just before the light gate closed, he stepped back into the cave beside the frozen river.

"I'm back! I got the potion!" Wu Ye shouted to the nervous and alert Skeleton Brother and the high priest, and immediately rushed to the stone platform.

Following Mara's instructions, he carefully uncorked the bottle and slowly dripped the red and blue potion onto Anya's brow, heart, and limb joints. As soon as the potion touched Anya's cold skin, it emitted a slight "sizzling" sound, and the red and blue light seeped into it like a living thing.

Anya's body began to tremble slightly, her brows were furrowed, and a look of pain appeared on her face. The ice-blue cold light under her skin and the red hot light of the potion clashed fiercely!

"High Priest! Protect her heart!" Wu Ye said anxiously.

The high priest immediately concentrated the softest holy light on Anya's heart, forming a layer of protection.

The process lasted for several minutes. Finally, Anya's body trembled violently, and a faint moan escaped from her throat. The layer of extremely cold film covering her body melted away like ice and snow! Her face quickly regained its rosy color, and her breathing became steady and strong.

Her long eyelashes fluttered a few times, and Anya slowly opened her eyes. Her icy blue eyes were a little confused at first, but they quickly focused on Wu Ye, who looked concerned, and the surrounding environment.

"Wu... Elder Wu Ye?" Her voice was still a little weak, but full of surprise and gratitude. "It was... you who saved me?"

"It's okay, Anya." Wu Ye breathed a sigh of relief and asked quickly, "Time is running out! Where is Nihlathak? What does he want to do?"

Anya struggled to sit up, and the high priest held her. Her eyes were filled with anger and fear. "Nihlathak... he's crazy! He kidnapped me and used my frost bloodline and life force as a source of energy, combined with the fel power he received from Baal, to forcibly activate the 'Altar of Destruction' deep within the Ancient Road! He said... he said that once the altar was activated, he could harness the power of the Worldstone to achieve some kind of 'ultimate transformation,' becoming a being beyond life and death! His true form... must be in the Halls of Pain by now!"

Wu Ye's heart was shaken! Activating the Altar of Destruction? Ultimate Transformation? This was even more serious than he had imagined!

"We must stop him immediately!" Wu Ye said firmly.

Anya nodded and forced herself to stand up: "I know a shortcut to the altar... I'll take you there! We must not let his conspiracy succeed!"