Chapter 309: Attempting To Steal Guinevere’s Divine Holy Lance

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"This heart..."

It was the heart of that man in the visions of this dungeon’s memory; the heart tore apart by the woman he loved... Genesis.

Riven stopped a few steps away and looked at it for a long moment, going back over the memories he had seen earlier.

And that frog he’d fought before too, it wasn’t just some random frog monster at the end, it had inherited a part of that old man’s "spirit", this was why it was so wise, even though it didn’t understand why.

He still found it strange that a simple frog could carry that kind of awareness.

Could that frog have been a reincarnation of that ancient being? Of that Powerful Precursor? Or... maybe it just inherited that might he possessed, a bit of his spirit, but not truly him.

The more he thought about it, the harder it became to decide which option made more sense.

Well, the heart itself, could it be him or... perhaps not? It was hard to think about it, was the Sorrowful Heart a being of its own now, or it was still trapped there with his mind, waiting for someone to free him from this dungeon?

He had no clear answer yet, and guessing would not help.

At the end, he’d have to wait until the dungeon bosses respawn to learn more about what they truly are, and their connection to that Ancient Precursor.

That seemed like the only practical way to get real information.

Riven walked forward and found something beyond the corpse of the Sorrowful Heart, a glowing spear emanating massive quantities of divine power, mana, and spirit everywhere.

The weapon stood upright, half-buried in the ground, and the light coming from it was hard to ignore.

"W-what is this?!"

He gasped in disbelief as he watched the SSS+++ Rank Relic, an almighty item that had been found within deep inside an SSS Rank Dungeon, the "Valkyrie’s Heavenly Palace".

The weapon stood there as if it had always belonged in this place, even though it clearly did not.

Although he was confused at first, he immediately remembered this being the precious weapon his elder sister, Guinevere, always wielded anywhere.

"Guinevere... my sister’s weapon!" he said. "It stayed stuck here for some reason? I cannot believe it..." he slowly walked towards the spear.

Each step brought him closer to something he never expected to find inside this dungeon.

"It’s the weapon your sister was wielding..." said Daniela. "She was fighting a vampire woman who was going completely crazy because her son died."

She pointed at the spear while she spoke, still looking a bit nervous about the whole situation.

"Elias’ mother?" Vladimir asked.

"Rose Bloodmoon," said Riven. "Another SSS Rank Hunter... thankfully they didn’t seem to see us, so we’re safe... right?"

He glanced at Daniela for confirmation, hoping the answer would stay the same.

"Ah! Yeah they didn’t see us," Daniela nodded confidently. "I was using Veil of Invisibility, I copied it with my mask!"

She tapped the mask on her face as if to prove the point.

"Oh that mask came in clutch, well done," said Riven with a nod. "Now... what do I even do with this thing? It’s almost an L Rank Relic at this point..."

He stared at the spear for a few seconds, unsure whether touching it was a good idea at all.

"Take it for yourself?" Vladimir asked. "Why wouldn’t you?"

The question hung in the air while Riven thought it over.

"...I’ll try."

Riven extended his hand and touched the spear, Cagliostro, with his bare hand, the moment he did, blinding light emanated from the weapon as it burned his hand within mere seconds.

"Ugh!"

The pain hit him right away and forced a sharp breath out of his lungs.

Riven felt an immense pain, clenching his teeth but not pulling his hand back, he grabbed the golden metal, feeling an immense searing burning sensation.

His fingers tightened around the shaft even as the heat grew worse.

His hand was being roasted alive the more he touched the weapon, as the divine energies within were constantly contrasting and trying to fight back against him.

Smoke started rising from his skin, but he still refused to let go.

"It seems it is clearly refusing to be held by anybody but its master," said Riven with clenched teeth. "Is it Soul-Bound to Guinevere?"

He already suspected the answer, yet he kept testing it anyway.

Riven exuded his psionic power as well as his spiritual aura, the power of his Divine Axe Art, and many more powers within him, all concentrated within his palms as he took the spear off the walls, even as his arms burned to a crisp and regenerated constantly, ashes and flames covering them.

Every time the flesh burned away it grew back, only to burn again a second later.

He couldn’t make the weapon float either with his psionic powers, they were too weak for the lance to be lifted like this... and indeed, the lance, when fighting back, was monstrously heavy, he could barely hold it with his two arms.

The weight alone made his shoulders strain under the pressure.

"Oof! It really doesn’t want to be held by anybody else than my elder sister...!" Riven laughed, shaking his head.

"Can’t you dominate it somehow?" Vladimir asked. "Come on now! You’re the bastard who’s done worse things aren’t you?"

He crossed his arms and waited for an answer, clearly expecting Riven to just force the issue.

"Hmph, easier said than done, Vladimir," Riven sighed, infusing his Soul into the spear. "For that I would need to overwrite the Soul Bond it has established with my sister... but to fight against a weapon near the level of Legendary Rank with my bare soul alone...! Well, I could try?"

He already knew the odds were against him, but he decided to test it anyway.

Riven forced his entire Soul and Spirit into the Spear.

FLUOSH!

RUMBLE!

Crack, crack...!

CRACK!

Massive cracks surged across the floor and around him, constantly trying to fight back against his Domination and his Soul and Spirit Power trying to overpower it.

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