Chapter 156 - - 156 - Claiming the Vault

Chapter 156: Chapter - 156 - Claiming the Vault

The King summoned Lucien to his chambers that evening.

King Kavor sat in a heavy wooden chair by the tall stained-glass window, gazing out over the sprawling rooftops of the capital. He was still recovering from the months of poison and confinement, but color had returned to his cheeks, and his eyes carried the sharp, calculated gleam of a monarch regaining his footing.

"The Queen has been arrested," the King said without turning. "The Temple has endorsed Zaria’s claim. The court is united behind her."

"Not entirely united," Lucien replied, stepping out from the dim perimeter of the room. "There are still those who secretly supported the Queen. They’ll need to be dealt with. There will always be people who oppose Zaria, and in the future, she will have to handle them alone."

"One thing at a time." The King finally turned to face him. "You’ve done what you promised. My daughter has her throne. I have my life. The Queen has been neutralized."

"For now."

"For now," the King agreed, nodding slowly. "But I have a question."

"Ask," Lucien said, his expression impassive.

"Why?" The King’s gaze narrowed, cutting through the dim light. "Why are you doing this? You could have taken the throne yourself. You’re powerful enough. You could have killed everyone in this palace and claimed the kingdom for your own."

"I could have," Lucien shrugged, his tone casual. "But that would require effort. I’d have to deal with the court, the Temple, and the neighboring kingdoms. I’d have to sit in a throne room all day and listen to endless petitions. I’d have to be responsible."

"And you don’t want that."

"I want treasure. I want power. I want beautiful women, good wine, and the freedom to go wherever I want." Lucien offered a faint, unbothered smile. "Ruling a kingdom is a job. I don’t want a job. I want an adventure."

The King stared at him in silence for a long moment, measuring the sheer indifference in the young man’s eyes. Then, slowly, a dry laugh escaped his lips. "You’re the strangest person I’ve ever met."

"Maybe. But don’t worry," Lucien said, stepping closer, his voice dropping into a steady, resonant tone. "I know you still have suspicions about me. But I will protect Zaria as long as she never betrays me."

"She never will," the King answered softly, his voice softening with paternal conviction. "She’s not like the Queen. She’s better than her. You might not know this, but there were many factions and lords who tried to court her in other ways. Some offered marriage so she could gain ultimate power; some offered charity to buy her favor; some offered a hand of friendship. But she saw through every single one of them. She knew they all wanted to claim my kingdom—to claim Veylcrest. She could have lived an easy, sheltered life elsewhere, but she chose to stay and protect this kingdom. So, if she chose you... she must have seen something extraordinary."

Lucien looked back at the King, his eyes sharp and unreadable. He remained silent, letting the weight of the old ruler’s words settle in the quiet room.

"I have a simple rule, King Kavor," Lucien said finally, his voice cutting through the air. "If someone shows me loyalty, I repay it a thousand times over. And if someone betrays me, I return that betrayal a thousand times worse. Zaria is very important to me."

Without waiting for a reply, Lucien turned and walked away into the shadows of the corridor.

That night, Zaria came to Lucien’s chambers.

She was dressed in a soft, loose robe, her dark hair falling loosely around her shoulders in gentle waves. She looked physically exhausted, yet her posture radiated the quiet, undeniable satisfaction of a woman who had entered the crucible of war and emerged victorious.

"The Queen is under Temple arrest," she said softly as she closed the heavy door behind her. "The Temple has formally endorsed my claim. The court is loyal to me." She paused, her chest rising and falling with a slow breath. "At least for now."

"For now," Lucien agreed, his gaze tracking her movement across the room. "You’ll need to consolidate your power. Reward your allies. Punish your enemies. Make examples of anyone who might pose a threat. From here on, you will have to shoulder everything a true queen is meant to carry."

"I know." She crossed the floor and settled beside him on the edge of the bed, her warmth pressing close. "I’ve been preparing for this my whole life. I just... I never thought I’d actually get here. Thank you, Lucien. Thank you so much."

"You got here because you were smart," Lucien said, his voice low and rich as he looked down at her. "Because you were patient. And because you were willing to trust a stranger when everyone else abandoned you. You earned this, Zaria. I just helped you take it."

She was silent for a moment, her breath hitching slightly against his chest. Then she leaned into him, her forehead resting against his shoulder, letting the tension of the past days bleed away into the stillness of the room.

"What happens now?" she murmured, her fingers curling softly against the fabric of his tunic.

"Now we get you crowned. Then we deal with the vault."

"The vault?"

"The Queen gave me information about the true contents of the Veylcrest Vault," Lucien said, his tone dropping into a warm, magnetic register. "The Heart of the Veylcrest is just the beginning. Beneath it lies a fragment of a Primordial Scripture—a cultivation technique that could change everything."

Zaria tilted her head back, looking up into his eyes. "That’s what you want, isn’t it? That’s what you’ve been after all along."

"I want the treasure. I want the power. I want the adventure, and I want to grow even stronger." He reached out, his hand gently cupping her jaw, tracing the soft contour of her cheek. His eyes burned with an intense, heated focus as he met her gaze. "But I also want you. That’s the part I didn’t expect."

She stared at him, her breath catching in her throat as the electricity between them flared. Then, a slow, knowing smile curved her lips.

"I know," she whispered, her voice thick with sudden longing. "Because if you only wanted the treasure, you could have killed everyone in this palace and taken it by force."

Lucien didn’t answer with words. Instead, he leaned down, capturing her lips in a deep, consuming kiss that stole the air from her lungs. Zaria gasped softly against his mouth, her hands rising to tangle in his hair as she pulled him closer, pressing her body flush against his. The initial gentleness dissolved instantly into a searing, breathless hunger, every touch igniting a fierce, intoxicating heat that flared in the quiet room.

He pulled her down onto the mattress, his hands sliding smoothly along the curve of her waist, tracing the heated line of her skin beneath her robe. Her breath came in ragged, uneven gasps, her fingers gripping his shoulders as the intoxicating friction of their bodies drove out every lingering thought of the crown, the court, and the dangers waiting outside.

"More than any treasure," Lucien murmured against her flushed skin, his voice dark and possessive as his lips tracked down the slope of her neck, "you are mine."

The next morning, the sun broke golden and brilliant over the capital, illuminating the grand plaza where Zaria was publicly named as the royal heir.

The ceremony was held on the magnificent stone steps of the amphitheater—the very same place where she had claimed her divine blessing just days before. Thousands of citizens packed the square, their faces turned upward, filled with a mixture of awe, reverence, and desperate hope. In the front rows, the severe inquisitors of the Sunfire Temple stood tall and silent, their imposing presence serving as a public, unbreakable endorsement of her legitimacy.

King Kavor stood before the crowd, his voice carried by spiritual resonance across the vast plaza.

"I name my daughter, Zaria Veylcrest, as my sole heir," the King declared, his voice ringing with absolute authority. "She will rule this kingdom after my death. She will choose her own advisors, free of outside influence. And she will be the greatest monarch this kingdom has ever known."

The crowd erupted into a deafening roar of cheers and applause. Zaria stood tall at the center of the stage, her Earth-Sovereign Physique glowing faintly beneath her ceremonial robes, her expression entirely calm, regal, and absolute.

A short distance away, half-concealed in the shadows of a marble pillar, Lucien watched the spectacle unfold with a crystal goblet of dark wine resting lazily in his hand.

"At least control of Veylcrest is complete," he murmured quietly to himself. "Now it’s time for the real prize."

Later that afternoon, once the celebrations had subsided, Zaria, Lucien, and Vex gathered deep within the subterranean levels of the palace.

The royal vault was a colossal subterranean cavern carved directly into the living bedrock, illuminated by thick veins of crystal that pulsed with a deep, rhythmic spiritual glow. At the very center of the chamber rested the Heart of the Veylcrest—a massive earth-vein crystal easily the size of a small house, radiating waves of pure, concentrated energy that made the air itself shimmer.

Yet, blocking their path to the crystal stood the Guardian.

It was a towering monstrosity forged from ancient dark steel and enchanted stone, standing twenty feet tall. Its hollow eye sockets burned with an unquenchable, ancient fire. It had stood guard in the dark for centuries, bound by spiritual arrays and blood oaths far older than the kingdom itself.

If a guardian of this caliber could fight for me, things would go even smoother, Lucien thought, his eyes narrowing as he analyzed the terrifying density of its power. An entity holding the might of an Abyss Core realm... I wonder what terrifying destructive arts it can unleash.

"I am the Guardian of the Vault," a voice boomed from the construct, rumbling through the cavern like a localized earthquake. "Only the pure bloodline of the First King may approach. All intruders will be obliterated."

Lucien studied the shifting runes across its chestplate. Abyss core realm. Exactly as the Queen had warned him. A direct assault would trigger a cataclysmic battle.

"Zaria," Lucien said quietly, not taking his eyes off the towering metal beast. "I need you to gift the vault’s contents to me. Formally. As Queen."

She didn’t hesitate for a single heartbeat. Stepping past him with absolute regal confidence, she raised her chin.

"I, Queen Zaria Veylcrest, do hereby grant my honored advisor, Lucien Vale, full and unconditional claim to the treasures of this vault, in recognition of his supreme service to the crown."

The Guardian froze mid-stride. The crimson fires burning within its eyes flickered erratically as ancient laws, ancient bloodlines, and ancient ownership protocols clashed and re-aligned. Then, slowly, the colossal metal titan ground to the side, clearing their path.

"Access granted," the construct echoed.

As they began walking forward toward the radiant glow of the crystal, Zaria glanced over at Vex, her eyes sparkling with playful mischief. She slowed her pace until she was walking right beside the flustered attendant.

"Vex, you look unusually sluggish today," Zaria whispered with a wicked, knowing smirk, leaning in close to the girl’s ear while Lucien walked a few paces ahead. "And I can tell you’re having trouble walking properly."

Vex froze, the blood rushing violently to her cheeks until her entire face turned the color of a ripe plum. "Wh-What are you talking about, my lady? It’s... it’s just fatigue! I’m simply tired!"

Zaria stepped even closer, her voice dropping to a teasing, honeyed hum that made Vex shiver. "Tell me... did you enjoy that night? I bet your core was overflowing with his heat the moment he drove himself inside you, right?"

"You... you knew?!" Vex squeaked, her hands flying to her burning cheeks as panic surged through her. "My lady, please—forgive me, Your Highness!"

"Oh, stop calling me Your Highness, it sounds ridiculous after we both spent the entire night with the exact same man," Zaria laughed softly, her eyes dancing with amusement. "We’re equals here. Just call me Zaria."

"Za-Zaria..." Vex stammered, her heart hammering against her ribs. "How... when did you even figure it out?"

"Please," Zaria rolled her eyes playfully. "Closing the door doesn’t magically silence the room, and I have the master key to every suite in this wing. When he pushed into you and your cries echoed down the corridor, I was standing right outside. I heard every single breathless gasp."

Vex felt like the stone floor could swallow her whole. She clutched her hands tightly over her burning face. "Are... are you going to kill me? Because I shared a bed with him?"

"Kill you? Are you an idiot?" Zaria smiled, her expression softening into a genuine, flush-cheeked warmth as she looked ahead at Lucien’s broad shoulders. "Does a man like that look like someone who could ever be satisfied with just one woman? I know he’ll take others. But honestly? It only makes him more dangerously appealing."

Vex exhaled a long, shaky breath, her gaze drifting toward Lucien as her hand instinctively drifted up to squeeze her own breast, a sudden jolt of electricity shooting through her veins as the vivid memory of his touch flooded back.

"Yeah..." Vex whispered breathlessly.

Lucien stepped forward, standing directly before the towering Heart of the Veylcrest.

The energy radiating from the crystal was staggering—pure, condensed spiritual essence refined over centuries of uninterrupted isolation. This was far beyond anything he had anticipated. It was a fragment of a primordial earth vein, locked away by ancient founders for reasons that were only now becoming clear to him.

He raised his hands, pressing his palms firmly against the smooth, humming surface of the crystal.

Absorb.

The moment his spiritual channels made contact, agony exploded through his nervous system. The energy within the crystal was vastly denser and more violent than anything he had ever ingested. It poured into his meridians like molten iron, scorching his pathways, tearing at his limits, and forcing his physical vessel to expand beyond its previous boundaries.

He gritted his teeth, a muscle ticking in his jaw as he forced his breathing into a steady, agonizing rhythm, locking his absolute will over the surging torrent.

Hours bled away into the cavernous silence. Zaria and Vex stood a safe distance away, their faces taut with anxiety as Lucien’s aura flared wildly, shifting colors from deep crimson to blinding gold. Slowly, the massive Heart of the Veylcrest began to dim, its centuries-old reservoir of power draining entirely into Lucien’s body, violently reshaping his foundation.

And then, with a silent, deafening shockwave of spiritual pressure, the final barrier shattered.

The surge of power was monumental, washing over the cavern walls and rattling the crystal veins. His soul expanded outward, his meridians widened into unhindered rivers of power, and his comprehension of the world deepened past mortal thresholds.

This place wasn’t just a vault, Lucien realized, a dark, triumphant smile spreading across his face as the energy settled into his blood. It was a hidden cultivation reserve built by the ancient kings so that any future ruler facing ruin could reclaim absolute strength. Too bad it’s mine now. This is why only royal blood could open the gates—if I had tried to brute-force my way through the seals without Zaria, that guardian would have torn me apart. But not anymore.

Peak Abyss Core Realm.

[System Notification: Congratulations. You have successfully broken through to the Peak Abyss Core Realm.]

[Reward structures unlocked and integrated.]

He had finally crossed the threshold. He stood at the absolute pinnacle of power for now.