Chapter 654: Gains

Cole nudged a nearby skull with the tip of his boot, watching it roll away before finally lowering his sword.

"Please stay like that," he muttered, drawing a breathy laugh from Yaana.

Maya merely shook her head and raised another sphere of light, sending it toward the darker recesses of the hall.

They took their time checking the surviving alcoves and the spaces behind the fallen columns, making sure nothing else was hiding among the debris.

Fortunately, the cavern was empty, just as it should have been, and it seemed the undead mage had been its only true occupant.

With that settled, the others made their way toward the broken throne, where Elion was crouching beside the remains.

Most of the undead mage’s spectral frame had begun to lose its shape, collapsing into a thin, smoky substance around the dark orb still lodged in its chest.

Elion used the tip of Kurogoroshi to loosen the strands of decaying matter clinging to the core’s surface.

Once it was freed, he coated his hand in mana and lifted it into the torchlight, turning it slowly while the others gathered around him.

The orb was slightly larger than his fist, its surface so smooth that the blue flames reflected upon it in sharp, wavering lines. At first glance, it appeared almost entirely black, but when he tilted it, deep shades of violet and smoky green emerged beneath the polished exterior.

Within it, fine streams of residual mana curled around one another like ink suspended in clear water.

Some drifted lazily through the outer layers, while others gathered around a dense, lightless centre, vanishing into its depths before slowly emerging again.

Despite the fact that he had exhausted the monster, the core still radiated an unpleasant chill. Faint wisps of dark vapour clung to its surface, and Elion could feel the corrosive nature of the mana pressing against the thin protection around his palm.

It was strangely beautiful, though he doubted anyone would want to admire it for too long with their bare hands.

"That looks expensive," Cole said, leaning closer without quite entering its reach.

Maya gave him a sideways glance, but her own eyes were fixed on the orb with considerable interest.

"It certainly should be," Elion replied, taking one final look before storing it away.

"Put those away as well," Maya said. "Someone will definitely be willing to buy those robes."

Elion nodded and retrieved the fallen bone staff and the undead’s spectral robes as well, making sure nothing was left near the throne that might be worth examining later.

Once the remains had been dealt with, they all began to look around the cavern.

A disaster-class monster had occupied the place, and while its remains alone made the encounter worthwhile, all of them were hoping there had been something else here for it to protect.

Elion decided to make the search easier by using the World’s Eyes.

He allowed his perception to spread, expecting the familiar sensation that would let him examine the hidden spaces beyond their immediate surroundings.

Instead, his sight met the same invisible resistance as before, leaving everything concealed behind the walls and beneath the floor frustratingly obscured.

His brows drew together.

The barriers were still there.

He tried again, narrowing his focus toward the far wall, but the result remained unchanged. He was able to see quite a bit, but nothing that would give him the information that he wanted.

Whatever protected the underground structure hadn’t weakened with the undead mage’s death, meaning the creature hadn’t been responsible for those barriers after all.

’Then who put them here?’ he wondered, looking toward the faded writing along the walls.

Unfortunately, nothing in the cavern seemed particularly willing to answer him.

"Still can’t see through it?" Maya asked, noticing his expression.

Elion shook his head. "The barriers are still up. We’ll have to search ourselves. Hopefully, we don’t find anything unpleasant."

They spread out within the hall, staying close enough to keep one another in sight as they looked.

Yaana was the only one who remained near the throne, moving around its broken base and peering into the gaps left by the damage.

Elion had just begun examining a shallow recess beside the platform when a loud, delighted squeal rang out behind him.

"Ah! Come here! Quickly!"

He turned hastily, only to find Yaana crouching behind the stone seat.

A warm, shimmering glow illuminated her face from below, and she was grinning so widely that he doubted she had discovered anything dangerous.

"What’s all the commotion about?" he asked, walking toward her as the others abandoned their searches and followed.

Yaana didn’t answer.

Instead, she reached down into whatever was hidden behind the throne and lifted a handful of gold coins.

She held them up for everyone to see before spreading her fingers, letting them fall with a bright, musical clatter.

That was enough to make the entire group quicken their pace.

A large chest sat within a recess behind the throne, its dark wooden sides reinforced with tarnished metal.

The lid had been pushed back against the stone, revealing a mound of gold coins so deep that there was barely any room left beneath its rim.

Among them lay dozens of shimmering mana stones, their clear surfaces catching and scattering the light. Some glowed with a soft, milky radiance, while others held a brighter gleam within their translucent depths, bathing the surrounding gold in a dazzling lustre.

"Wow..."

Cole reached into the chest and lifted a handful of coins, staring at them before allowing them to slide between his fingers.

There had to be thousands of gold coins in there, at the very least.

Maya crouched beside Yaana. She brushed a hand over the top of the pile, then lifted several coins as though she needed to feel their weight before believing they were real.

"Well," Cole said, letting the last coin fall from his palm, "I’m feeling much better about getting swarmed by a bunch of ugly skeletons."

Yaana laughed, already sifting through another section of the chest.

The coins moved beneath her fingers, exposing more mana stones and making it clear that the visible ones were only a small portion of what had been buried inside.

Elion smiled as he watched their excitement, though his gaze soon caught on something hidden within the glittering treasure.

A thin, yellowed corner protruded from beneath a cluster of coins near the side of the chest.

He reached past Maya and carefully pulled it out, revealing a worn piece of paper with brittle edges and several faded creases.

When he turned it over, he found only a single line of writing.

"What is it?" Maya asked, glancing away from the coins to look at the piece of paper in his hand.

Elion held the paper closer to the light and read aloud.

"What you most want is what you most can’t have, and what you most can’t have is what you already had and lost."

He paused, reading the line again while the others briefly looked toward him. The words were clear enough, but that did very little to explain what they were supposed to mean.

"Hmm..." His forehead creased. "What’s this supposed to be? A riddle or something?"

Maya leaned closer and read it herself, her lips moving faintly as her eyes travelled over the sentence. Then she shrugged and returned to admiring the open chest.

"It doesn’t matter," she said, lifting another handful of coins with a very shameless smile. "We’re rich!"

Elion stared at her for a moment before a quiet laugh escaped him.

Maya was a sucker for gold, it seemed, or shiny things... Or both.

He put the paper away rather than dropping it back among the treasure. Its meaning could wait until they had finished checking what else was inside.

They began sorting through the chest, moving some of the coins aside to examine the mana stones beneath.

Nora helped gather the smaller ones into a clear space near the front, while Mayumi reached deeper into the pile and suddenly stopped.

"There’s something else here."

She drew her hand back slowly, bringing a slender golden object out of the coins.

Several pieces of gold slipped from its delicate branches and fell back into the chest, leaving a beautiful hairpiece resting across her palm.

It was shaped like a graceful crest of curling waves, its fine golden filigree rising from a row of slender teeth.

Tiny pearl-like ornaments nestled between the curves, and at its centre sat a clear, teardrop-shaped gemstone that caught the torchlight with an almost liquid brilliance.

Every part of it had been crafted with extraordinary care.

Even the underside bore intricate markings, so finely engraved that Elion could barely distinguish them until Mayumi turned it toward him.

It looked far too delicate to have survived beneath such a heavy pile of coins, yet there wasn’t a single visible scratch upon its surface.

"That’s lovely," Nora murmured, leaning closer.

Mayumi nodded, then looked toward Elion. "Can you check it?"

He accepted the hairpiece carefully, and a moment later, the information from his appraisal appeared before him.

His brows rose slightly as he read through it, though his reaction was nothing compared to what followed when he spoke.

"It’s called The Siren’s Song," he said, turning the ornament gently between his fingers. "And it’s a legendary-grade artefact."

"A what?" Cole asked, looking from Elion to the hairpiece.

"Legendary," Elion repeated.

Mayumi stared at the little golden ornament as though it had suddenly become considerably heavier. Beside her, Yaana leaned forward, while Maya finally lowered the coins she had been holding.

Finding gold was one thing.

Finding a legendary-grade artefact buried beneath it was something else entirely.

Most of them had probably only ever dreamed of seeing one, let alone discovering one so soon after entering the legacy world.

Elion could hardly blame them for being shocked, though their expressions made him a little amused as well.

’If only they knew I already have several,’ he thought.

"What does it do?" Maya asked.

"It has three enchantments," Elion replied. "The first enhances the wearer’s beauty and maintains a youthful appearance for as long as they wear it."

"For as long as they wear it?" she repeated, looking at the hairpiece with renewed enthusiasm.

Nora leaned a little closer as well.

Elion glanced between them, finding their interest rather entertaining.

All four could already be called beauties without anyone needing to exaggerate, but apparently, that didn’t make the promise of looking even better any less appealing.

"That’s only the first enchantment," he reminded them. "The second allows the wearer to distinguish truth from lies."

Maya’s brows lifted.

"That alone would be worth a great deal," she said, looking closely at the gemstone set into its centre.

Elion nodded before continuing. "The third allows the wearer to enthral people using their voice. According to this, the effect becomes much stronger and reaches a wider area if they sing instead of simply speaking."

"Wow. Those are some overpowered enchantments," Mayumi exclaimed. "This would sell for a fortune at an auction!"

She was certainly right.

There were plenty of people who would kill to get their hands on an artefact like that.

Noblewomen in particular would probably turn an auction into a battlefield just for the chance to take it home.

’These gains are not so bad...’ He thought...

It was certainly a good haul already, for only their second day within the legacy world. If things continued at this rate, then they would leave this place with their pockets quite full, figuratively, of course.