Chapter 47: A Cage in the Void
Seven hundred million Mana!
He didn’t love money.
Really.
As the Hero, he received a monthly salary of one hundred thousand Mana, a considerable sum in the Heavenly Continent, though not as extravagant as the income of the great nobles.
In his previous life, he had never worried about money.
But this amount still shocked him. He hadn’t realized Loseweisse was so wealthy. He had only received an annual salary of one hundred million Mana after saving the entire continent.
Loseweisse was just the Holy Maiden of the Holy See. Though her position was prestigious, her salary wasn’t exorbitant. Even if she lived to be two hundred years old, she wouldn’t be able to accumulate such wealth through her salary alone.
It was clear that she had been exploiting her position, embezzling funds, and accepting bribes. How corrupt!
And to think that she had constantly pestered him to buy her clothes and had always expected him to pay for their meals.
She had been playing the poor, helpless maiden all along.
But then again, resurrecting Jie Luo required rare and expensive ingredients. And she had been cultivating her own private force. These things couldn’t be achieved without considerable funds.
He wasn’t motivated by greed, he told himself. He was simply disgusted by her hypocrisy, her blatant corruption. He pocketed the storage ring, his heart filled with righteous indignation.
His eyes crinkled with amusement.
He had almost forgotten his original purpose. Now, he was on a treasure hunt. He snapped his fingers, his gaze turning towards Shaye.
“Shaye, next!”
Shaye was just as eager. She wasn’t lacking in wealth either.
As the most powerful Witch, she was richer than most nations.
But…
She had a fondness for shiny objects: crystals, gems, gold coins, banknotes… They brought her a strange sense of joy, making her wonder if she had some dragon blood in her lineage.
After her return through time, her physical body had been destroyed.
She was now a parasite, inhabiting Qin Chu’s body. Her previous wealth was gone. This unexpected windfall delighted her.
She didn’t even wait for his command. She floated towards another wall, another intricate magical ward, its presence undetectable even to Qin Chu.
But Loseweisse’s wards were no match for Shaye’s skill. She disabled it with ease, revealing another storage ring.
He channeled his magic into the ring, its contents spilling out before them.
This time, it wasn’t banknotes. It was… Saint Quartz, filling the entire space, its multicolored brilliance so intense that it made his eyes ache.
Saint Quartz was a precious ore in the Heavenly Continent, a combination of diamond and gold, possessing both beauty and practicality.
It was used to create exquisite jewelry for royalty and nobility.
Mages embedded it into their staffs, enhancing their magical conductivity.
Warriors incorporated it into their armor, increasing its durability through special enchantments.
And it contained a vast reserve of pure elemental energy, making it a valuable tool for any practitioner, aiding in their training and replenishing their depleted magic or Battle Qi.
Its uses were numerous.
But it was rare and expensive, its value exceeding even gold.
This ring, filled with Saint Quartz, was worth far more than the previous ring filled with banknotes.
Qin Chu and Shaye, now full-fledged robbers, swept through the first floor, their original goal forgotten.
Each ward concealed a storage ring.
“We’ve struck it rich!” Shaye exclaimed, rubbing her hands together gleefully.
Qin Chu stared at her, surprised. He hadn’t realized the most powerful Witch was a money-grubber.
His image of the fearsome Dark Witch was crumbling.
Her eyes sparkled with greed. “These three rings probably contain more money. We’ll split it seventy-thirty.”
“Why do I only get thirty percent?” he protested.
“Seventy percent is mine,” she stated flatly.
“What do you need so much money for? You can’t even spend it right now.”
“I’ll… keep it safe for you. Six percent interest…”
He had heard of loan sharks, not… deposit witches.
Was she truly the Dark Witch? Or was she the Money Witch?
He ignored her, picking up another ring. He felt a pang of disappointment as he saw its contents. Unlike the previous rings, this one wasn’t filled with treasure. It contained nine notebooks.
He picked one up, flipping through its pages. His initial dismissiveness vanished, replaced by a strange smile.
“What is it? Why are you smiling like that?”
“Nothing. These notebooks are… interesting,” he said, tucking them away.
In his opinion, these notebooks were more valuable than the Saint Quartz and Mana.
They were Loseweisse’s personal journals, detailing her observations of the other Hero Squad members and their interactions with Jie Luo, the First Hero.
Perhaps she had intended to preserve these memories as a memento?
But as he picked up the next ring, he discarded that theory. This ring contained a single, thick diary. Its pages revealed Loseweisse’s dark side, her obsessive possessiveness, her jealousy.
She had harbored intense animosity towards anyone who got close to Jie Luo, even men.
This diary was a collection of her darkest thoughts, her hidden desires, her venomous rage.
She had been consumed by jealousy when Athena, Ekaterina, Sylph, or any other woman interacted with Jie Luo. The pages were filled with insults, calling them “whores” and “sluts.”
She had even envisioned elaborate and gruesome deaths for each of her comrades.
No wonder she had sealed this diary with magical wards. Beneath her facade of grace and purity, she had been a cauldron of negativity, releasing her pent-up emotions through her writing. This diary, if exposed, would shatter her image as the Holy Maiden.
He pocketed the ring and opened the last one.
It contained seven scrolls.
These scrolls, unlike ordinary parchment scrolls, were made of an unknown material, their color a dark, unsettling gray.
Intricate patterns, resembling chains, covered their surfaces, inscribed with countless ancient runes. Even a glance at these runes made his eyes ache, tears stinging his eyes.
A dark mist clung to the chains, their links taut, as if something was struggling to break free.
He felt a shiver run down his spine. He imagined countless grotesque figures writhing beneath the chains, their presence a palpable threat.
Danger!
Cold sweat beaded on his forehead. He had been the Hero, the slayer of Demon Kings, the strongest being in the Heavenly Continent.
Though he was weak now, his courage and willpower remained.
But these scrolls… they filled him with a primal dread. His instincts screamed at him to stay away.
“Open it…”
A soft, seductive voice echoed in his mind.
His trembling fingers reached for one of the scrolls.
He didn’t want to touch it…
Why…
His fingers brushed against the scroll’s surface.
A wave of energy, powerful and chaotic, surged through his mind, overwhelming his senses.
He saw endless darkness, a vast, empty void. A giant sphere, its surface covered in countless vertical eyes, pulsed within the void.
Black tendrils, resembling monstrous serpents, snaked across the sphere’s surface, their movements erratic and sinister.
The serpents writhed and intertwined, merging into a massive chain that stretched into the depths of the void.
At the end of the chain… a giant cage.
…
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