Diablo traveled through time and became a necromancer

The wind and snow howled sharply against the ice walls of the Arreat Plateau as Wu Ye clung tightly to the jagged black rock face. The skeleton army, like a silent white tide, pounded the narrow ice path with a rhythmic "crack." The High Priest's holy light dispelled the chill in a small area, but it couldn't dispel the ever-tightening tension in Wu Ye's heart.

From the moment he stepped into this mountain region covered in blue-purple crystals, the feeling of being watched had been ever-present. At first, it was just a vague intuition, like an ice needle gently pricking the back of his neck. But now, it had solidified into a tangible reality—cold, ancient, and carrying a scrutinizing malice, as if some living thing lurked beneath the ice of the entire mountain range, watching his every move through the eyes of countless ice crystals.

"Skull Bro, expand the alert range to fifty meters!" Wu Ye commanded via the mental link, his bone staff unconsciously rubbing against the rough surface of the [Echoes of the Mountains] totem in his arms. The totem was radiating an unusual warmth, faintly resonating with some kind of pulse deep within the mountain walls.

Skeleton's empty eye sockets swept over the towering ice cliffs on either side, and his greatsword rose slightly. His jaw opened and closed silently, conveying a rare warning signal: "Energy...flow...abnormal. The mountain...is 'watching'."

Wu Ye's heart skipped a beat. Even Skeleton Brother had sensed it! This was no illusion!

He stopped abruptly, his gaze sharp as a knife, sweeping over the clusters of eerie blue crystals covering the ice wall. The empty eye sockets of those ancient creature remains, frozen for millions of years, seemed to move slightly in the wind and snow. Deep within the ice, a faint, dark red light flashed by, like the blood vessels beneath the eyelids of a sleeping behemoth.

"Playing tricks!" Wu Ye snorted coldly, slamming his bone staff into the ground! "Bone Armor! Bone Protection!" The azure bone armor instantly covered his entire body, and sharp bone spikes broke through the ice from beneath his feet, forming a defensive barrier around the squad.

Almost the instant the defense was completed, a sudden change occurred!

"Crack! Crack! Crack!"

On both sides of the ice wall, dozens of giant, inverted, spear-like ice spikes snapped without warning! Enveloped in dark green fel energy runes, they tore through the snow and wind like javelins hurled from hell, hurtling towards Wu Ye's location! The shrill whistling sound of the air being ripped apart was deafening!

"Bone wall! Multiple bone walls!" Wu Ye reacted with lightning speed, unleashing a frenzy of mental energy!

hum!hum!hum!

Three thick walls of bones instantly rose diagonally, intersecting to form a sloping protective dome!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Ice shards rained down on the bone wall! A deafening roar echoed through the valley! Dark green fel runes exploded upon impact, corrosive energy coiling around the bone wall like venomous snakes, emitting a piercing sizzle! The bone wall trembled violently, spiderweb-like cracks spreading wildly across its surface, and ice shards and bone fragments cascaded down like a waterfall, slamming into the skeleton warriors' bone shields below with resounding thuds! The immense impact sent the entire squad staggering backward!

"It's a trap! And there's more!" Wu Ye gritted his teeth and persevered, his mental energy surging out like a flood to maintain the bone wall. The timing and angle at which these icicles broke were far too tricky; they were definitely not just simple remnants of a trap! Someone was manipulating it! Or rather… the mountain itself was cooperating!

"Holy Light Barrier!" The high priest raised his hands high, and a dazzling light shield instantly opened, enveloping the crumbling bone wall dome. Holy energy and fel energy clashed fiercely, exploding into countless specks of light!

"Skull Bro! Find the energy source!" Wu Ye shouted.

The soul fire in Skeleton's eyes exploded! [Shadow Steps] activated! His figure transformed into a black lightning bolt that tore through the wind and snow, instantly appearing on a protruding ice crystal platform on the right side of the ice wall! The greatsword, accompanied by a shrill whistling sound that tore through space, slashed fiercely at a violently pulsating dark red crystal core embedded deep within the ice layer!

"Roar--!"

A deafening roar, filled with pain and rage, seemed to emanate from the depths of the mountain! The entire ice wall trembled violently! The crystal core that had been struck shattered instantly! Dark green blood mixed with ice shards sprayed out! At the same time, the relentless onslaught of falling ice spikes abruptly halted!

"Corpse Explosion!" Wu Ye seized the opportunity and pointed his bone staff at several Fallen corpses that had been smashed by ice shards (they had somehow emerged from the ice cracks) on the ground!

boom! boom!

Green flames of death exploded on the corpse! The shockwave from the explosion not only shattered the remaining ice shards but also violently dispersed the pervasive fel energy mist!

The rain of icicles finally stopped. The bone wall, supported by the Holy Light Barrier, barely held up, but was riddled with cracks. Wu Ye gasped for breath, his gaze fixed on the spot where Skeleton Brother had shattered the crystal core. The dark red filthy blood was rapidly freezing in the ice, but the ice wall in that area was noticeably duller, as if it had lost its "vitality."

"Master...that thing...it's like the heart of the mountain..." The high priest's voice was tinged with fear. The holy light sensed the evil aura that was connected to the origin of the mountain range as the crystal core shattered.

“It’s not a heart.” Wu Ye wiped the frost from his forehead, his eyes cold. “It’s an ‘eye.’ Someone is watching us through this thing… or rather, this mountain itself is the ‘shell’ of some being.” He recalled Rathma’s prophecy and the strange movements of the Worldstone in the search results, and an even more terrifying conjecture surfaced in his mind—had Baal’s erosion of the Worldstone already caused some kind of distortion in the Arreat Mountains themselves?

After a brief silence, the wind and snow seemed to intensify. A deep, rumbling sound, like a giant beast grinding its teeth, came from deep within the ice wall. Around the area where the crystal core had been shattered, the eerie blue ice crystals began to writhe and multiply unnaturally!

"Be careful! It's 'healing'! And it's 'raging'!" Wu Ye's pupils contracted. Several humanoid silhouettes rapidly materialized from the writhing ice crystals! They were entirely composed of ghostly blue ice crystals, their joints covered with dark red demonic energy veins, their eye sockets burning with icy flames, and sharp ice blades forming in their hands!

An ice construct! The manifestation of mountain fel energy!

"Frontline defense! Backline focus fire! Target the fel energy node at the joint!" Wu Ye quickly adjusted the tactics. These constructs moved somewhat stiffly, but their defense was extremely high, and their ice blades slashed with a chilling aura!

The skeleton warriors' bone shields firmly blocked the icy blades, sending ice shards flying! But the chill spread along the bone shields, visibly slowing the movements of the front-line skeletons! Skeleton archers unleashed a barrage of soul arrows, while mages fired bone spears densely at the construct's joints! The arrows struck the dark red veins with a muffled "thud," causing the fel energy veins to flicker erratically, and the construct's movements to falter!

"Aging! Increased Damage!" The double curse aura instantly covered the area! The construct's speed and defense plummeted!

Skeleton King, like a black storm, swept his greatsword across! 【Storm Strike】, crackling with blinding lightning, slashed fiercely at the waist of a construct! "Crack!" The sword, imbued with the power of lightning, shattered the ice crystal joints covering the fel energy veins! The construct's upper body crashed to the ground, struggling as it disintegrated into shattered ice!

The battle was swift and efficient. Under Wu Ye's precise command and the weakening effect of his curses, the ice crystal construct was quickly disintegrated into a pile of chilling fragments. But Wu Ye did not relax in the slightest. He walked to the location of the crystal core that had been shattered by Skeleton Brother, crouched down, and ran his fingertips over the dark red stains remaining on the ice wall. Within the stains, a faint yet pure aura of hatred, like a venomous snake, tried to burrow into his skin, but was instantly dispelled by the warmth of the Guardian Fang pendant.

“Baal…” Wu Ye murmured the name, his voice almost inaudible in the wind and snow. He looked up into the depths of the ice wall. The writhing ice crystals had stopped growing, but the heart-pounding hum deep within the mountain had not disappeared. Instead, it was like the panting of a wounded beast, growing even heavier.

"Skull Bro, what did you feel when you shattered the crystal core?" Wu Ye asked through the mental link.

After a moment of silence, Skeleton Brother transmitted a fragmented perception: "...Darkness...Whisper...Star map...Fragments..." At the same time, a fragmented pattern made of starlight flashed through Wu Ye's mind—it was strikingly similar to a corner of the star map he had seen in Rasmar's dream!

Wu Ye's heart skipped a beat! Rasma's prophecy, the changes in the mountains, Baal's erosion, the strange star map... all the clues, like shattered mirrors, reflected an unsettling light at this moment.

He clutched the warm [Echoes of the Mountains] totem in his arms, his gaze fixed on the deeper part of the snowstorm, on the icy path leading to the entrance of the ancient road, which seemed to be watched by an invisible force.

"Let's go!" Wu Ye's voice was resolute, carrying an unprecedented gravity. "I don't want to stay in this godforsaken place for another second. But the road ahead... is probably even more treacherous."

The white bone tide surged once more, silently piercing the swirling snow. Wu Ye glanced back one last time at the writhing ice wall, as if seeing countless icy eyes slowly closing in the shadows. The "gaze" of the Arreat Mountains had not vanished, but had simply deepened into darkness, awaiting the next, even more deadly "blink."