Chapter 294: Unsealing Hammer

Chapter 294: Chapter 294: Unsealing Hammer

Seraphina Sinclair paused and glanced down at Lucky.

Her gaze was faint and emotionless, holding neither blame nor comfort—only a calm as deep as a tranquil pool. In the dim glow of the oil lamp, she looked exceptionally distant.

Lucky’s nuzzling froze, and the fawning whimper in its throat died.

It lifted its head, its red pupils reflecting Seraphina Sinclair’s pale, calm face and her eyes, which seemed to pierce right through its little schemes. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

A sense of unease, even greater than what it had felt from the spiritual assault in the stone chamber, quietly rose within it.

Its "mother’s" feelings toward it weren’t anger or disappointment, but a complete, glacial disregard.

At that moment, the Gloom Hatchling suddenly realized that its little schemes, its attempts to curry favor and get by, were all meaningless in its "mother’s" eyes.

Seraphina Sinclair quickly withdrew her gaze and continued up the stairs.

The warm touch on her calf vanished. Lucky followed silently at her heels, no longer trying to get closer, just trailing tightly behind, even its breathing growing much lighter.

Finally, she stepped onto the last stone stair.

She reached out and pressed against the red brick door, which was flush with the wall.

The crack in the door was still open, and wisps of cold, damp air seeped through, but the previous malice was gone.

She gave it a hard push.

The door slid inward without a sound, revealing the small room above.

The five monster corpses still lay strewn about. The Silver Door Plate was wide open, and beyond it lay the path to the next area.

Safe.

At least for now.

Seraphina Sinclair stepped through the red brick doorway and stood once more in the center of the small room.

She didn’t immediately walk toward the Silver Door Plate. Instead, she stood where she was and surveyed her surroundings.

A faint, foul stench rose from the monster corpses. The small room was still gloomy, but compared to the bone-deep silence and venomous hatred of the stone chamber below, this place could almost be called normal.

She picked a relatively safe spot on the floor to sit down and took out the Advanced Medical Kit, deciding to give it a try.

The damage she had sustained in the stone chamber was entirely Spiritual Pollution, so the Advanced Medical Kit might not be effective.

Still, Seraphina Sinclair opened it with a sliver of hope, but the result was just as she had expected.

The Advanced Medical Kit couldn’t detect any physical injuries on her body, so naturally, it wouldn’t administer any medicine. Besides, even if it had, the medicine likely wouldn’t have alleviated her mental exhaustion.

As for what could give her a quick boost of energy...

Seraphina Sinclair took out the Energy Potions she had gotten from the Pretty Guardian. She drank two cans, mouthful by mouthful, and only then did she feel a little better, though her body was still exhausted and in poor condition. She leaned her head against the wall, zoning out for a moment while she waited for the potions to take full effect.

The exhaustion and stinging pain that originated from the depths of her soul finally eased slightly, at least allowing her to regain her clarity of thought.

Her longsword lay across her lap, and she opened her left palm.

The jet-black ring reappeared in her palm, like a silent period marking the life-or-death struggle she had just endured.

She lowered her gaze and examined it closely.

Its material was impossible to identify—not metal, not stone—yet it felt colder and heavier than both.

Insight still only showed six question marks.

This meant that either the ring’s level was far beyond her current scope of understanding, or it was under some kind of special seal or in a dormant state, blocking any external attempts to perceive it.

Recalling the violent Spiritual Pollution in the stone chamber and the skeleton’s madness as it burned its own essence for one final strike, Seraphina Sinclair was more inclined to believe the latter.

And most importantly, she happened to have a B-level Unsealing Hammer!

Without the slightest hesitation, Seraphina Sinclair immediately retrieved the B-level item from her Silver Moon Earrings.

She placed the jet-black ring on a flat patch of ground and gripped the Unsealing Hammer.

’Use it!’

’Why not?’

Seraphina Sinclair had been saving the Unsealing Hammer for this very moment!

Especially now that she was certain this ring was an exceptionally good item.

The hammer felt heavy in her hand, suffused with a strange warmth that stood in stark contrast to the ring’s coldness. Seraphina Sinclair took a deep breath, aimed at the ring on the ground, and gently tapped it with the flat end of the hammer’s head.

This was the method of use described on its panel.

The moment the hammer’s head touched the ring, the runes on its body erupted in brilliant golden light!

This golden light seemed alive, transforming into countless tiny golden threads that precisely wound around the jet-black ring and began to seep inside.

HISS!

A thick black aura suddenly billowed from the ring’s surface!

This black aura was like negative energy condensed to its absolute limit, filled with venom, madness, hatred, and despair.

It struggled and twisted, trying to resist the invasion of the golden threads. It even faintly coalesced into phantoms of the shattered skulls from the stone chamber, letting out a silent shriek.

But the Unsealing Hammer’s golden light was as steady as a rock. It carried a righteous, magnificent aura, capable of dispelling all evils, and it slowly chipped away at the black aura, dissolving it.

The ring itself began to change as well.

On its once deathly still, pure black surface, a web of dark red cracks appeared.

These cracks were a miniature version of the bizarre patterns on the stone altar. Now, under the assault of the golden light, they were dissipating inch by inch.

The entire process lasted for about ten seconds. After everything settled, Seraphina Sinclair used Insight on the ring, full of anticipation.

A moment later, Seraphina Sinclair was speechless.

The Insight panel hadn’t changed at all!

And after the last wisp of golden light vanished, the ring returned to its previous appearance.

This outcome... was something Seraphina Sinclair had already anticipated, to some extent.

The Unsealing Hammer’s quality was clearly stated, and its Description was also very clear: it could only break seals of B-level or lower.

The fact that it could resist the Unsealing Hammer meant the ring’s quality was definitely above B-level!

Seraphina Sinclair took a deep breath, a flicker of joy finally igniting in her heart.

High risk, high reward. That was the iron law of dungeons.

She closed her palm around the ring again. It was still just as cold, but now she could vaguely sense an extremely faint and elusive pulse, like a slumbering heart’s first, nearly imperceptible beat.

’This proves the Unsealing Hammer wasn’t completely ineffective. At the very least, it shook something on the outermost layer.’

’And...’

Seraphina Sinclair tilted her head back in thought. ’This thing seems to be the reward for ranking first in the Zone.’

’Back then, Rex Shaw mentioned in the Zone channel that he’d gotten a hammer. It’s a shame I didn’t find it among his belongings.’

’But when the servers merged, there were so many Zones, which means there were quite a few first-place winners. Maybe I can buy one.’

Seraphina Sinclair returned the ring to her Silver Moon Earrings.

’Now isn’t the time to obsess over this. I’m not strong enough, so there’s no point in forcing it.’

The priority was to recover and then decide whether to leave this damn place or keep moving forward.

Seraphina Sinclair’s gaze finally fell upon Lucky.

It was huddled in a corner, trying its best to reduce its presence.

Its big red eyes were secretly peeking at her. When their gazes met, it flinched, and its tail went rigid.