Chapter 126 - - 126 - Vaults of Blood and Desire

Chapter 126: Chapter - 126 - Vaults of Blood and Desire

A heavy, rumbling sound echoed down the damp stone corridor, a low vibration that shook through the masonry floor. Something immense was approaching from the shadows ahead—whether human, monster, or some twisted fusion of both, no one could tell. While Erion remained inside the vault behind her, hurriedly sweeping its massive hoard into spatial storage, Anne immediately shifted her stance and raised her blade, preparing herself for another battle.

The shadows parted, and the true shape of the threat stepped into the torchlight. It was a massive, towering monster standing roughly five to seven meters tall, its bulky body covered in matted, filthy fur. Its head was a horrifying abnormality where facial features should have been; instead, its crown and face were comprised almost entirely of row upon row of jagged, calcified teeth. In its oversized right fist, it dragged a giant, notched iron broadsword that screeched violently as it scraped against the floor.

"So Prince Rumil even has monsters to protect his vault... not surprising... not surprising at all," Anne said, her voice smooth, calm, and utterly devoid of fear.

The beast let out a guttural roar and lunged, swinging its giant sword in a massive horizontal sweep that cut through the air. Anne dodged seamlessly, dropping beneath the whistling blade with fluid precision. Reaching into her Astral pool, she pointed her fingers and launched a Frost Bolt straight at its face. The projectile of condensed ice slammed into the creature’s rocky, tooth-filled jaw, but the attack did almost no damage. Considering its mouth was composed of dense, stone-like bone, the ice barely chipped the surface.

Recognizing the creature’s defensive traits instantly, Anne adapted without missing a beat. She ripped a burning torch from a iron bracket on the wall, lunged forward inside the beast’s reach, and shoved the blazing wood directly into its toothy face. Flames seared into the tender tissues behind its rocky jaw, forcing a pained, bellowing shriek from the giant monster as it reeled backward.

"Seems like it’s workinggggg~" Anne said with a faint, amused smile.

She felt no panic or hesitation. She knew she possessed more than enough raw power to pulverize the creature through brute force, but experimenting in combat was simply her preferred style. That was how she fought: gathering tactical information on the opponents and figuring out the easiest, most effective attack to counter her opponent’s weaknesses. This beast was massive and practically immune to cold, which was a minor inconvenience since ice magic was her primary weapon element.

However, Anne possessed the System, allowing her to spend accumulated system points to instantly learn and deploy any elemental attack or skill she desired. Her points were immense, growing steadily through her frequent dual cultivation sessions with Lucien. Because Lucien’s realm and core foundation were infinitely stronger than her own, dual cultivating with him automatically accelerated her cultivation speed and granted her vast amounts of points to spend.

Activating Frost Step, Anne completely erased the sound of her movement. She blurred into a shadowy afterimage, bypassing the creature’s peripheral vision and reappearing directly behind its massive, exposed neck. The beast turned its head wildly, completely unaware that Anne was already standing behind it.

Anne raised her palm, her eyes flashing with focused intent. Magic circles formed around her arm in a brilliant crimson ring as she invoked a Fire Lance Barrage. Dozens of burning spears formed of condensed fire element materialized out of thin air, launching forward in a blinding streak. The fire lances detonated against the back of the monster’s head, shattering bone and stone alike, utterly destroying its skull in a massive explosion. The giant creature collapsed forward, hitting the stone floor as a lifeless heap.

Down the hallway, a squad of Prince Rumil’s elite guards who had been running up to support the beast froze in terror. Seeing the massive guardian annihilated in seconds, they turned on their heels and began sprinting away.

"Where do you think you’re going?" Anne murmured.

She activated her speed, vanishing from her spot and materializing directly in front of the fleeing guards, completely blocking their escape. Before they could raise their shields or scream, she slammed her foot down onto the floor, unleashing Shattering Glacier.

A devastating wave of zero-degree energy expanded instantly across the stone. Hundreds of razor-sharp ice blades burst upward from the floor and walls, impaling every soldier in sight. The blades punctured steel armor effortlessly, stabbing each soldier more than a hundred times in a fraction of a second and killing most instantly. The unluckiest among them did not die right away; they hung suspended against the stone, coughing blood as ice crystallized inside their organs, trapped in agonizing pain as they waited for death to claim them.

When Erion stepped out of the vault after looting every last jewel, he stopped dead in his tracks, staring at the absolute carnage spanning the corridor. Dead guards were pinned to the stone walls, several were decapitated, and others were frozen solid into horrifying statues of ice and blood. Looking at Anne calmly wiping her sword, Erion realized this brutal massacre hadn’t even served as a proper warm-up for her.

At this pace, emptying every vault in the stronghold wouldn’t take them long at all.

Meanwhile, on the southern side of the fortress, Lucien and Zyrelle entered the passageway leading toward the main southern treasury.

Unlike Erion, who relied on mortal tactics and physical prowess, Zyrelle was a proper fighting-type Realm Master. While she wasn’t on the level of Anne or Lucien, she possessed more than enough strength to effortlessly slaughter Body Tempering and Vein Opening realm cultivators.

However, Prince Rumil had spared no expense in securing his wealth. He had hired every mercenary, high-realm martial artist, vicious monster, and rogue Demonic Realm expert he could find, caring nothing for their background as long as they could defend his gold.

None of it mattered in the slightest.

Lucien strolled down the subterranean tunnel with Zyrelle trailing half a step behind him. He walked with a relaxed, careless stride, as if he owned the entire domain. He didn’t even bother drawing a weapon or assuming a stance. The sheer pressure of his spiritual aura was more than enough to crush anything in their path.

Whether it was packs of bloodthirsty hounds or veteran Vein Opening realm guards rushing out from hidden alcoves, anyone unworthy of standing in his presence died before they could even draw near. Guards who attempted to attack him froze mid-step, their eyes wide with sudden horror as Lucien’s aura crushed their internal organs. Blood gushed violently from their eyes, noses, ears, and mouths, and they collapsed onto the floor, dying instantly from catastrophic blood loss.

Zyrelle walked behind him in stunned silence, witnessing feats of effortless dominance that she had only ever heard of in ancient legends. It took almost no time at all for Lucien to reach the main vault doors, leaving a trail of broken, bleeding corpses in his wake.

Reaching the vault, Lucien didn’t waste energy trying to pick the mechanism or blast through the reinforced structure. He raised a hand and activated his Law Breaker authority skill. The complex runic locks protecting the door shattered silently, and the multi-ton door swung open without resistance.

Zyrelle’s eyes widened in genuine shock. Elven defensive technology was far more advanced than human engineering, yet Lucien had dismantled the highest-tier elven vault lock as casually as opening an unlocked wooden door.

Looking past his shoulder, Zyrelle gasped. "Wow... I have never seen something like this, there are so many treasures."

"Don’t worry, it’s ours now," said Lucien.

"Ours?" asked Zyrelle, looking up at him in surprise.

"Yeah, it’s yours as well, we all worked hard for this," said Lucien with a warm, charming smile.

Before she could reply, the heavy sound of approaching footsteps and monstrous roars echoed from the far end of the tunnel. Lucien’s sharp senses immediately picked up the signatures—a horde of heavy monsters accompanied by several brave Realm Masters trying to reclaim the treasury.

To Lucien, paying attention to them was like focusing on ants beneath his boots. Stepping back out into the corridor, he raised his hand and summoned his Dark Lotus Arhat Soldiers. The shadowy, demonic warriors materialized instantly out of the dark mist, their red eyes glowing with terrifying intent. Lucien merely pointed a single finger down the hallway, and the demon soldiers lunged forward like lethal machines, tearing through the incoming forces without emotion.

Watching the dark entities butcher the incoming guards, Zyrelle realized then that Lucien was also a powerful Demonic Realm master, capable of commanding demons to do his bidding. It made terrifying sense—a man with such dark authority naturally possessed strength that defied ordinary rules.

Leaving his summoned soldiers to clear the hall, Lucien walked back into the vault and casually lay down right on top of the massive pile of gold filling the floor.

Zyrelle pulled out the Eternal Void Box and began rapidly shoveling gold coins, enchanted weapons, and precious artifacts into the spatial container.

Lucien watched her work from his spot on the gold pile. "You’ll get tired, why not take some rest?" said Lucien.

"But what if we get in some trouble?" said Zyrelle with concern, looking toward the open door where muffled screams were still echoing.

"Don’t worry, no trouble is bigger than me. I’m the trouble, and I’m resting here while a lady is working...unacceptable," said Lucien like a refined gentleman.

Lucien snapped his fingers, and two shadow soldiers immediately stepped out from the darkness of the room. With a simple gesture of his finger, Lucien ordered them to take over loading the Eternal Void Box with the remaining treasures of the vault.

"Well, problem solved... now you can rest," said Lucien, lying back down, closing his eyes, and resting one hand comfortably under his head.

Zyrelle watched the shadow soldiers working silently, then turned her gaze back to Lucien. Feeling her pulse quicken, she walked over and lay down on the pile of gold right beside him, close enough to feel the heat radiating from his body. She wanted to make small talk to ease her nervousness, but deep down, she knew exactly what she wanted.

No one is here... this is my chance to get noticed by him, thought Zyrelle.

She gathered her courage and asked, "Lord Lucien, are you married!?"

"No... marriage is something that I try to avoid," Lucien replied, his eyes remaining closed. "What about you? Is Erion your fiancé?"

"Ye-yeah... we are together from a very early age," said Zyrelle, her voice faltering slightly.

"He is a good man, strong and brave for a mortal, even killing realm masters...that’s impressive," said Lucien smoothly.

"Yeah, but they were weak," said Zyrelle, a subtle tinge of disappointment lacing her tone.

"Weak, but still he managed to do that... so what kind of man do you like, just curious?" asked Lucien, his expression relaxed and unchanged.

"I like strong realm masters, just like every woman, but I like commanding ones... like those who lead," said Zyrelle, turning slightly on her side to look at his sharp profile. "The reason I agreed for marriage with him is because he was leading those attacks and people called him a man-eater... I thought it was cool."

"So you like people in great positions with many names and who lead?" said Lucien as confirmation.

"Yes... my lord... by the way, what do people call you in the other countries?" asked Zyrelle, her eyes searching his face.

"Monster... and some call me a demon, but I don’t mind names like that," said Lucien.

The moment those words left his mouth, a sharp, electric heat coursed through Zyrelle’s chest and settled intensely between her legs. The thought of his sheer, uncontested power made her blood run hot.

A monster... thought Zyrelle.

Lucien felt a sudden shift in weight as a body pressed down onto his chest. Opening his eyes, he saw Zyrelle lying directly on top of him, her hair spilling over her shoulders and her breath coming fast.

Lucien didn’t push her away. He put his arm around her waist and hugged her tightly against his frame, pulling her down securely against his body. Zyrelle shifted closer, leaning down until her lips were hovering right against Lucien’s ear.

"Lord Lucien... how much are you feeling me?" said Zyrelle in a low, breathless whisper.

"A lot..... is this a seduction? Should I feel seduced?" said Lucien with a calm, charming smile.

"If I say yes, will you stop me?" asked Zyrelle, her gaze locking onto his lips.

"No... I would never reject an invitation from a woman such as you..." said Lucien.

Zyrelle reached up, holding Lucien’s head gently between her hands as she brought her lips down onto his, kissing him with a sudden, passionate desperation.

With a subtle flick of his eyes, Lucien signaled his demon soldiers to leave the room. Then, with a casual wave of his hand, he sent a pulse of magic toward the entrance. The massive, runic vault doors swung shut with a heavy thud, locking securely from the inside and leaving only Zyrelle and Lucien alone in the quiet dark of the treasury.