"Is… is this real?" breathed Minerva.
The amount of treasure covering the floor would probably be enough to sustain the Kingdom for more than a century. Furthermore, they could see several magic items half?buried in the mountain of gold. Judging by Evander's reputation, each of those was probably items heard of only in the legends.
"T?That sword?" Minerva was panting from excitement. "I?It looks exactly like the weapon used by Evander when he fought the Demon Lord's army?"
Wisgarus looked at the sword held by the golden pillar. Its translucent white blade gave off a soft glow, its platinum hilt embedded with five gemstones of different colors. According to the legends, each of those gemstones represented the five basic elements.
The Sword of Morpheus.
A sword capable of changing its shape in accordance with its master's will. It could become a staff, a shield, a spear, a bow, a bracelet. The blade was made of crystallized mana from the Dragon ?ein below. The hilt was made of adamantite, and each of the five gemstones was made from the core of an Elemental.
According to legends, the blade was capable of absorbing tremendous amounts of ambient mana in the surroundings, and the five gemstones render it capable of performing high?level spells, while reducing the cast time of magic formations.
It was the most prized treasure of Evander Alaester. After his death, numerous magicians and demons tried searching for this weapon, but to no avail.
This weapon—capable of even cutting through adamantite—was the inspiration when the first maginus was created.
Who would have thought that his disciples hid the weapon inside this labyrinth?
The two royal court magicians knew that whoever gets their hands on that treasure would gain unfathomable strength. Peerless power capable of destroying even a tribe of dragons. Overwhelming strength capable of stopping a Demon Lord's army on their own.
Minerva swallowed dry spit. She trembled as she stared at the Sword of Morpheus. The beauty of this sword shamed even her most prized possessions. She knew she had to get her hands on this weapon no matter what.
Without warning, she ran toward the golden pillar and grabbed the sword.
"Are you an idiot?" yelled Wisgarus. "What if there are traps?"
Minerva salivated as she caressed the sword in her hand. She took it out of the golden pillar and rubbed it against her cheeks. Like a maniac, she repeatedly murmured, "The Sword of Morpheus… the Sword of Morpheus?"
Wisgarus looked around nervously, afraid that some trap would suddenly activate inside the treasure room. Right now, just a single look at Minerva was enough for him to arrive at the conclusion that the woman had lost it. She had given in to her greed.
Ever since she was young, this female magician loved beautiful things —and this sword was definitely the most beautiful artifact they'd seen in their life. No wonder she was so rapt by it.
As Minerva was rubbing the sword against her cheeks, the symbols carved on the walls glowed. The ground shook, the mountain of gold coins clanked, and a deafening roar was heard outside. Minerva jolted out of her trance as the roar continued to echo from the outside. She locked eyes with Wisgarus.
"T?The Earth Scylla." Wisgarus trembled. "I?It woke up?"
Color drained from Minerva's face, but she still didn't let go of the sword. If worse came to worst, she'd flee the dungeon alone with the Sword of Morpheus.
This was her life's greatest find. She'd keep this sword, no matter what.
As she was racking her brain for a way out, the runes and symbols on the wall started spinning, and a ten?meter large magic formation manifested itself above them. The magic formation activated, and the runes shattered like glass, dispersing into numerous particles of light.
An invisible force started compressing the bodies of the two royal court magicians. Thankfully, Wisgarus never removed the magic armor covering his entire body. It was his strongest defensive spell, capable of surviving several blows from gigantic monsters.
But Minerva wasn't as fortunate.
The moment the trap was activated, her body was instantly compressed. Her body burst and her innards splattered on the treasure?
covered ground.
Wisgarus trembled upon witnessing the death of his comrade.
There was no scream.
Everything happened in an instant.
"Damn it." He gnashed his teeth.
Unable to withstand the invisible force trying to crush his body, his armor started forming cracks. He knew that it was only a matter of time before he would meet the same fate as Minerva.
Unlike the female magician, he held no interest in these glittering things. Indeed, the Sword of Morpheus was enticing, but the life of His Majesty preceded everything. He had sworn allegiance to King Alvis. He could not afford to die here without warning those on the outside.
Knowing that there was no way for him to escape the treasure room, he resolved himself to at least relay a message to the captain.
"At least let the knights survive." He gritted his teeth and summoned all of his remaining strength.
Using all of his remaining mana, he cast a spell. A chunk of earth separated from his armor and formed a sparrow.
"Relay the message to Captain Symon?" he snarled. "That they need to get out of this floor? Now?"
Filled with all of Wisgarus' remaining mana, the sparrow momentarily resisted the invisible force in the treasure room.
The sparrow flapped its wings, flew up, and escaped through the open door. Engraved on its small body was Wisgarus' last message to the captain.
Hopefully with this, the knights would immediately escape this labyrinth.
Wisgarus smiled wryly. Who would have known that they'd be the cause of the demise of this expedition? He was sure that had they not entered this treasure room, the Earth Scylla would have remained in its slumber.
We've ?een too greedy.
His armor finally shattered. As though an invisible giant grabbed his entire body, balled it, and crushed it with its gigantic hands, his body burst and his innards splattered.
The Sword of Morpheus slowly floated up and twisted for a moment, as though looking at the corpses beneath its blade, before returning on top of the golden pillar.
*** Captain Symon furrowed his brows as overlapping roars echoed from a distance. The ground rumbled then stopped. A large shadow flew past, creating a gust of wind.
The royal knights who'd been diligently looking for the flower froze upon seeing the seven?headed monster.
"What… the hell," breathed one of the knights.
Including the head, the monster was at least fifty meters long. Its entire body was covered with iridescent scales, it's four wings similar to a dragon's. The seven heads continued to roar, as though enraged that it had been woken from its slumber.
Upon seeing the knights near the lake, one of the heads opened its mouth wide, and without warning, spat out a colossal ball of fire.
The knights, caught off guard, were hit by the ball of fire and were reduced to crisp and dust in an instant. The ball of fire evaporated a portion of the lake, making white smoke swirl up toward the ceiling.
The creature was not only big. It held absurdly strong firepower.
Seeing what had happened to their comrades, the knights trembled in utter despair. It was apparent that this creature woke up just to annihilate them—the intruders. They couldn't imagine how they could probably survive this monster.
Captain Symon shot the red flare. Seeing the red powder exploding in the sky, the knights shook off their fears, amplified the strength of their bodies using magic, and ran toward the giant statue.
The seven?headed creature looked at the humans running below.
Another head opened its mouth and shot a ball of lightning to another group of knights. Unable to evade it on time, some of them put their shields up, but any form of resistance proved futile as the ball of lightning simply swallowed the group of knights, killing them in an instant.
The remaining knights gnashed their teeth and continued running toward their meeting point.
The knights scattered all throughout the floor made their way toward the golden statue, all the while the monster kept releasing spells, killing the knights one after another.
The moment Captain Symon arrived at the foot of the statue, a sparrow made of earth magic flew toward him and landed on the palm of his hand.
He read the words written on the body of the sparrow.
We're pro?a?ly already dead ?y the time you read this. The Sword of Morpheus. The trap inside the treasure room in the statue was activated.
Symon, take your men and leave this floor immediately.
Captain Symon's eyes shook. He unconsciously gripped the stone sparrow tight, crushing its wings. He looked at his men fleeing from a distance.
This was definitely a message from Lord Wisgarus.
With the royal court magicians dead, escaping the Forbidden Region would be exponentially harder, especially with that abhorrent monster flying around this floor.
Were they going to die here, unable to achieve anything?
"Captain?"
The knights who'd managed to survive gathered at the foot of the statue.
"Your orders?"
The knights were pallid as they nervously looked at the monster in the sky. If that monster suddenly decided to blast this place with its spell, the entire expedition team would be wiped out.
Captain Symon stared at the seven?headed creature, then at the stone sparrow in his hand. If what Wisgarus said was correct, and a treasure room was indeed inside this statue, then staying here should be their best option.
If his hunch was right, the monster was here to protect the treasure inside the statue. It should not attack them as long as they stayed near here.
"Hold your ground," said Captain Symon. "Do not leave this camp.
We're staying here, next to the golden statue."
"B?But what if the monster suddenly attacks?"
"Then we'll die," said the captain. He clenched his fists.
It was an all?or?nothing gamble.
The knights swallowed the lumps in their throats. The monster continued hovering above, observing the humans. But for some reason, it stopped attacking after the knights reached the golden statue of Evander Alaester.
After several minutes, the monster snorted, landed on the ground, and observed the humans from a distance. The knights sighed with relief upon seeing this.
It seemed that the captain's decision was correct.
"C?Captain, what about Lord Wisgarus and Lady Minerva?"
They hadn't seen the two royal court magicians since they'd left to search for the flower.
Captain Symon fell silent for a moment. Eventually, he decided to tell his men the truth. "The two of them are probably dead."
He showed them the broken sparrow and the message written on its back. "Lord Wisgarus sent me this."
After reading the message written on the sparrow, the knights looked at the golden statue in disbelief. The treasure room inside it was one thing, but to think that the two royal court magicians died from the traps installed inside the treasure room—it sounded preposterous.
As despair started encroaching on the members of the expedition team, a young knight stepped forward. With a voice filled with uncertainty, he said to the captain, "C?Captain, this is the flower we're looking for, right?"
He opened his cupped hands, revealing a small flower which seemed to have been sculpted from ice. At its center was a tear?shaped azure gemstone.
Captain Symon's eyes widened upon seeing this. The rest of the knights were speechless.
"T?This?" said Captain Symon. "Where did you find this?"
The flower in the hands of the young knight matched perfectly with the description given to them by Lady Ropianna. Without a doubt, this was the Tears of Ubroxia.
"I… I saw it growing near the giant boulder opposite the direction of the lake." Even the young knight who found the flower couldn't believe it was the real thing.
Captain Symon placed both of his hands on the shoulder of the young knight. With an overly excited voice, he shouted, "Well done? Well done?"
This was the first time they'd seen the captain this happy. And this was also the first time he praised someone so earnestly.
But the jubilant expression of the captain was understandable. With this flower in their hands, the lives they'd lost during this expedition would no longer be for naught. As long as they somehow managed to get past the monster and escaped to the third floor, the rest of their escape should be comparatively easier.
They carefully stored the flower inside a metallic box and gave it to the man with the highest odds of surviving their current predicament—to Captain Symon himself.
With the Tears of Ubroxia in his hands, Captain Symon started devising a plan. He knew that it'd be impossible for all of them to return home alive.
Sacrifices were inevitable.
He steeled his resolve.
They needed to bring this flower back to the capital, no matter the cost.