Chapter 701: The Treasure Beneath Elaris

Liam looked toward Voss, his expression calm but his eyes carrying the sharp focus that usually appeared whenever a plan had already begun forming in his mind. The cave around them had gone quiet again, but none of them were thinking about resting.

They had uncovered too much in too short a period, and now Liam understood that simply investigating Eldric from the shadows would not be enough. If they wanted to force the village elder into making a mistake, they needed to disturb the balance he had carefully maintained for fifteen years.

They needed to give him something he couldn’t ignore, something that would make him wonder exactly how much Liam and Irina had discovered.

“When the sun comes up,” Liam said, turning fully toward Voss, “I want you to start a rumor.”

Voss raised an eyebrow. “What kind of rumor?”

“Tell people that I went searching for the cause of the town’s problem,” Liam replied. “Tell them I have found what is causing the town to remain trapped here.”

Voss’s eyes widened slightly.

Liam continued before he could respond. “But don’t stop there. Tell them that I also found something else. Something important. Something that could change everything.”

Voss stared at him for several seconds before a slow understanding appeared on his face. “You want Eldric to hear it.”

Liam smiled.

“Of course I do.”

“If I spread that rumor, he’ll know we’re close.”

“That’s the point.”

Voss folded his arms. “And what exactly do you expect him to do?”

“I don’t know.”

Voss frowned.

There was something almost irritatingly relaxed about the way he said it. Voss had spent ten years investigating Eldric and had learned that the man was extraordinarily careful. He had avoided detection for fifteen years, manipulated an entire village, and maintained a false history that everyone accepted without question. Yet Liam was talking about deliberately putting pressure on him as though they were simply knocking on a door to see who answered.

Voss studied him for a moment before finally nodding.

“Fine.”

Liam nodded back.

Then he turned toward the entrance of the cave.

The darkness beyond it was deep, the night sky almost completely black above the mountain, with only scattered stars visible through the gaps in the clouds. A cold breeze drifted through the opening, carrying the faint scent of stone and distant vegetation. Liam took a few steps toward the edge before stopping.

He glanced over his shoulder at Irina.

She immediately understood.

Without needing to be asked, she stepped toward him.

Voss watched them with a puzzled expression.

“But why?” he asked.

Liam didn’t answer.

Instead, he reached out and wrapped one arm securely around Irina’s waist.

Her eyes widened slightly.

“Liam…”

Before she could say anything else, Liam stepped off the edge.

Voss’s eyes widened.

The two of them disappeared into the darkness.

“Wait!”

Voss rushed toward the entrance, but by the time he reached it, there was nothing below except darkness.

Then he heard the sudden sound of rushing air.

Whoosh!

A brilliant pair of Celestial Wings erupted from Liam’s back, spreading wide against the night sky. Their appearance was almost impossible to distinguish clearly from the darkness below, but the sudden surge of power was unmistakable. Liam’s body stopped falling, his wings beating once with tremendous force before he began ascending.

Higher.

And higher.

And higher.

The mountain rapidly shrank beneath them.

Irina’s hair whipped violently around her face as she held onto Liam. She glanced down and saw the cave entrance becoming smaller and smaller until it looked like nothing more than a dark crack in the enormous mountain.

“Liam!” she shouted over the rushing wind. “What are you doing?”

Liam didn’t immediately answer.

He kept flying.

His wings pushed against the night air as he continued ascending, his eyes fixed upward. He wasn’t trying to reach the clouds. He wasn’t flying toward anything in particular.

He was testing something.

“The dome,” he finally said.

Irina looked at him.

“I’m trying to see if I can escape this invisible dome.”

Her expression changed.

She immediately understood why.

If they were going to confront Eldric, they needed to know exactly how trapped they were. They couldn’t afford to discover during a fight that the barrier behaved differently than they expected.

Liam continued climbing.

The air became colder.

The village below became smaller.

The mountain beneath them slowly disappeared into the darkness.

But then Liam felt it.

Resistance.

At first, it was barely noticeable.

It felt as though he had suddenly flown against a strong current of air.

Liam frowned.

He pushed harder.

His wings beat again.

The resistance increased.

His body continued upward, but every meter became more difficult than the one before it.

“What is this?” Irina asked.

Liam didn’t answer.

He pushed harder.

His muscles tightened.

The power flowing through his body surged into his wings, and for a moment, he forced himself upward several more meters.

Then the resistance became overwhelming.

It wasn’t wind.

It wasn’t pressure from the atmosphere.

It felt as though something enormous was pushing against his entire body.

Something invisible.

Something that didn’t want him going any farther.

Liam’s eyes narrowed.

He tried again.

His wings beat violently.

The air around them exploded outward.

Yet instead of accelerating upward, Liam felt the invisible force pushing him back down.

Irina could feel it now too.

Her eyes widened as her body instinctively pressed closer to Liam.

“You’re feeling that too, aren’t you?”

Liam nodded.

“Yes.”

He continued testing the barrier for several more seconds, applying more strength each time. The invisible resistance responded accordingly, becoming stronger as he pushed against it.

It was almost as though the dome knew what he was trying to do.

The higher he went, the harder it pushed.

Finally, Irina stared upward into the darkness.

“It’s real.”

Liam’s expression became serious.

“Yeah.”

He stopped ascending.

His wings remained spread wide behind him, beating just enough to keep the two of them suspended in place.

The night wind rushed around them, carrying Irina’s hair backward and making Liam’s clothes flutter. Far below, Elaris appeared almost peaceful.

Tiny lights glowed from the windows of houses.

The streets were quiet.

The villagers were sleeping.

None of them could see the invisible prison surrounding their home.

Irina looked around.

“So we’re really trapped.”

Liam nodded.

“Completely.”

He looked upward.

He couldn’t see the barrier.

Not even with his enhanced senses could he clearly perceive its boundary, but he could feel it.

It was there.

A massive invisible force enclosing the entire region.

Irina looked at him. “Could you break through it?”

Liam was silent for a moment.

Then he nodded.

“If I wanted to burst out of this, I have enough strength to.”

Irina’s eyes shifted toward him.

“But you’re not thinking of doing that.”

Liam shook his head.

“No.”

His voice was calm.

“I want to know if I could escape if things go south.”

Irina understood immediately.

That was not an unreasonable concern.

They were preparing to confront someone who had survived a battle between powerful cultivators, activated an unknown mechanism beneath an entire village, possessed a supernatural fire suit, and had spent fifteen years hiding his true intentions.

If everything went wrong, they needed an escape route.

And now Liam knew something important.

There was no normal escape route.

The dome would stop them.

But if he could break through it with enough force, then at least he knew there was a possibility.

Irina looked toward the distant village.

“So if we get trapped during the fight…”

“We break through.”

She nodded.

“Good.”

Liam looked at her for a moment before a faint smile appeared.

“See? That’s why I brought you.”

Irina raised an eyebrow.

“You couldn’t have just told me that before throwing me off a mountain?”

Liam chuckled.

“Where’s the fun in that?”

Irina rolled her eyes, though the faint smile on her lips betrayed her irritation.

Liam turned his gaze toward Elaris again.

The village looked harmless from this height.

Almost beautiful.

But Liam knew better now.

Beneath those quiet streets was something powerful enough to create an invisible prison.

Somewhere beneath that earth was the treasure everyone had been searching for.

And somewhere in the village lived a man who had spent fifteen years making sure nobody discovered the truth.

Liam’s eyes narrowed.

“Eldric…”

His voice was barely louder than the wind.

He wasn’t afraid.

If anything, he was beginning to look forward to seeing how the village elder reacted when the game changed.

Liam slowly turned around.

His wings folded slightly.

Then he tilted his body forward.

Irina immediately realized what he was about to do.

“Hold on.”

She wrapped her arms around him.

Liam dove.

Whoosh!

The two of them plummeted toward the ground.

The wind roared around them as the village rapidly grew larger below. Liam’s wings remained partially folded as he accelerated downward, his body cutting through the night air with incredible speed. The mountain rushed past them, the dark trees becoming nothing more than streaks beneath their bodies.

Then, moments before they reached the ground, Liam spread his wings.

Boom!

The sudden burst of air slowed their descent.

Liam swept upward slightly before changing direction and flying straight toward their house.

Irina held onto him as the familiar rooftops came into view.

Neither of them spoke.

There was no need.

They had tested the dome.

They had confirmed it was real.

And now they had something far more important to do.

Find the treasure before Eldric did.