Chapter 380: What The Fuss Was All About
(Vault Chamber, Timer: 14:59)
With Antonio gone, Leo stood alone in the treasure room, as he finally allowed his eyes to roam the chamber he had just risked everything to infiltrate.
There were treasures everywhere.
Artifacts of every shape and size, some glowing, others dull and ancient, but two items stood out immediately to him, as in the entire room, while every other treasure was accessible and open to him, there were only two treasures that were sealed behind several layers of reinforced mana glass, that he couldn’t touch or open.
And for that reason, he walked toward them first.
His boots echoed softly against the pristine floor, until he came to a halt before the first sealed item.
[Blood of the Evil Cult Dragon, Noah]
A vial, no larger than his pinky, floated gently in the center of a reinforced containment field, its liquid still bright red with subtle swirls of gold that refused to settle, as though alive.
The blood didn’t look like any mortal essence—its texture more akin to smoke held in liquid form.
‘I wonder why this is sealed?’ Leo thought, as the protective aura emanating from the glass made his skin crawl, even without touching it.
As far as his knowledge about collecting blood of the deceased went, it was either useful for cloning an individual.
Or it was useful to inherit their bloodline powers, however, he wasn’t sure of the exact procedure for either, so he moved to the second locked case.
[Scroll Belonging to the Timeless Assassin, Retrieved from Evil Cult Dragon Noah]
This sealed case was different from the one surrounding the vial, as instead of just a couple layers of protective glass surrounding it, Leo counted at least seven for this one.
The scroll itself hung unflurred and open, suspended midair and held in a constant state of revelation by anti-gravity magic.
Leo stepped closer, eyes narrowing as he tilted his head and began reading the contents of the scroll line by line, each character instantly clear to him despite the ancient dialect.
[Temporal Shift]
That was the name of the technique, written in gold at the very top.
It was a movement skill that defied the limits of possibility.
The scroll spoke of velocity bordering half the speed of light, of folding space between movements, of stepping faster than sight, perception, or even cause-and-effect.
It was, by every measure, the most complex and overwhelming maneuver he had ever seen.
But then came the limitations.
It required Divine Essence, a type of energy beyond his current reach.
No mana channel could handle such speeds. No mortal bones could withstand the friction. No ordinary perception could guide it.
‘Only a Monarch or higher tier warrior can ever hope to use this technique and survive to tell the tale,’ Leo realized, as he continued reading anyway, every muscle in his body subconsciously absorbing the postures, the flow diagrams, the spine-anchored breathing technique, and the high-speed compression stances etched into the scroll.
It took him five minutes.
Five silent, undisturbed minutes to study every last inch of the scroll with razor focus, as if engraving the knowledge into his bones.
And then he saw the final line.
> Only those related to the Timeless Assassin by blood can perform this technique.
Leo blinked, then stared a second longer, that line echoing louder than the ticking timer behind him.
‘So that’s why it’s locked away and not in the personal arsenal of Dupravel Nuna—’ He realized, as even Monarch Dupravel, for all his power, couldn’t use it.
It wasn’t just a matter of strength or cultivation, but rather blood and legacy.
“So this is what all the fuss was about…” Leo whispered, not as a boast but in solemn recognition, as he backed away slowly and turned to the rest of the vault.
[09:50]
The timer flashed in the distance, the numbers now demanding urgency.
Leo inhaled slowly and marched toward the next row of objects, determined to scan as much as he could, knowing he had just minutes left to pick something that could help him with the next phase of his journey.
He read quickly.
[Soul Lantern of the Void Hermit]
A sealed lantern that could reveal the aura trails of any dead-being within a ten-mile radius. It worked once per day and burned all the mana in the user’s body each time it activated.
[Gauntlet of the Spellbreaker Monk]
A rust-colored glove etched with breaking runes. It allowed the wearer to nullify one magical construct per hour, whether it was barriers, enchantments, even illusions, by crushing them with bare hands.
[Beast Contract Ink ]
A vial of silver-black ink capable of forging an eternal contract with any one beast of your choosing. Only usable once. Cannot be undone. Fuses the soul of beast and master forever.
[Mirror of the Seventh Lie]
A hand-sized mirror that reveals the greatest lie a person has ever spoken about themselves.
[Silent Reaper’s Cloak]
A plain gray cloak made of something lighter than air. Grants complete silence while moving, muffles footstep and heartbeat sounds, and allows the user to pass through minor barriers undetected.
Leo’s eyes flicked from one item to the next, each one rare, strange, and deadly in its own way.
And yet, as the seconds ticked by, he could feel how none of these initial items he scanned were even remotely the right fit for him, as he began frantically moving to look for the perfect item.
“Come on, there has to be something worth taking from all these treasures that’s worth billions of MP, and probably a one in the universe item—” Leo muttered under his breath, desperation mounting with every heartbeat.
He knew that this choice wasn’t just about value alone.
It was about finding an item that aligned with his fighting style, with his instincts, with everything that made him uniquely dangerous.
Or an item that would help him navigate the chaos of joining the Cult, and improve his odds of survival dramatically.
Mass release chapter 5/6.
Special shoutout to patron AceKing137 for his 5000 coin donation.