Chapter 63 Finding something useful
“It is not that I am looking down on your intelligence,” Seraphyne said with an honest and respectful expression on her face.
“I simply find you stupid beyond belief,” Seraphyne continued, causing the lady to flinch at the unexpected insult.
“Regardless of what you say, as long as my master has not given me orders to allow anyone into his personal quarters, then no one will enter,” the lady said as she folded her arms and planted herself firmly at the entrance to her master’s quarters.
Vandal had begun to lose his patience. Every second he wasted here was another second he feared for how his friends would fare if Divine decided to attack them while he was here and Sabine remained unconscious beside them.
“Move... I do not want to get forceful,” Vandal growled. A trace of his violent and oppressive aura leaked out with that aggressive warning, causing her expression to change drastically. She burst into profuse sweating and her knees weakened. The pressure felt like invisible hands squeezing her lungs.
“And your master is dead, so you should not be here,” Vandal continued.
“He died a very horrible death.”
“And if you knew the kind of person that killed him, you would run far away from this entire place and never show yourself around these parts ever again,” Vandal said as he watched her expression shift from shock to disbelief.
“You are lying,” she said.
“Ah... why does everyone seem to think I am a liar today?” Vandal said as he threw a side glance at Seraphyne, who smiled sheepishly.
“I will tell you where you will find his corpse. Try not to puke at the sight.”
“You will find him at the temple beside the Jade Infinity Stone,” Vandal said.
The revelation hit her like a bullet as she sat down heavily on the ground, her expression distant as though she was still trying to process what Vandal had said. It was at that moment that Vandal, Seraphyne, and King walked past her and finally entered Kennedy’s personal quarters.
The place contained several liquids stored in vials and dead animals preserved in frozen containers.
As Vandal looked through them and read their labels, one specific label caught his eye.
Stage 12 Golden Striped Snake Venom.
He took it without hesitation and stored it inside his space ring.
They continued ransacking the place and found all sorts of strange devices. Vandal also stored several vials that had clear descriptions of their uses.
“Judging from everything we have seen so far, I do not think the object is in this room,” King said as he scratched his nearly bald head in frustration.
“Hold on...” Vandal said as he took one final sweep of the place. That was when he noticed an unusual bump beneath his foot.
“What is this?” Vandal said as he bent over and removed the brown cloth covering the bump.
“A trapdoor,” Seraphyne exclaimed.
Vandal opened the trapdoor, easily breaking the lock.
A staircase led downward, and as he descended, he saw glow crystals embedded in the walls providing light. At the far end of the room was a map.
“This map is high quality. It is made from sheepskin,” King said as he came down and saw Vandal studying the map intently.
King traced his finger across the sheepskin map.
“These are the connected realms hidden behind the boundaries.”
“Sera, be a dear and carry me. I need to see this map clearly,” King said.
Vandal found the sight amusing as he watched a grown man being carried like a baby by his tall adult daughter.
“Alright, now I can see it properly. Ah... this is the Jiandor Night Lower Realm.” King pointed at a blue triangular section of the map.
“And this right here is the Hundred Battles Arena, said to house the most vicious and twisted Echo Warriors. This place is surrounded by an ocean filled with flesh-eating Echo Beasts swimming in the water. Thank the gods for that, otherwise those bloody criminals would have found their way back to civilization.”
Vandal glanced around the room, waving away cobwebs as he listened and occasionally looked toward King while he introduced the different places shown on the map. He had already decided to take it with him.
“Ah, Sera, this map is going to be mine,” King said excitedly.
“Hmm... nope,” Vandal replied as he walked toward the other side of the room to continue searching.
“Huh? Nope?” King did not understand what Vandal meant.
“Oh... I mean no, you are not getting the map. It is mine,” Vandal said simply as he continued rummaging through the room.
“No? You cannot tell me that. I am the king of this place, and I want this map,” King said. He found Vandal’s smug replies disrespectful to his status.
“It is the least you can do after I saved your daughter’s life and you tricked me in return,” Vandal replied.
That statement finally shut the king up. He looked like he wanted to say something, but no reply came out. Instead, he looked helplessly toward Seraphyne.
Seraphyne shook her head and signaled for him to remain silent. In the short time she had spent with Vandal, she had already gained some understanding of the kind of person he was. He was straightforward and fearless, but also someone who repaid grudges and slights.
She suspected Vandal was the kind of person who would bear grudges and seek revenge no matter how much time had passed. She was doing her best to stop her father from getting on Vandal’s bad side because she instinctively felt it would not end well for him.
“Seraphyne, please come over here and tell me if any of these objects are what you were talking about,” Vandal said.
He deliberately did not call the king, even though he was the one who had directly used the object and would most likely recognize it after so many years. Seraphyne noticed this small detail and was not happy about it. It meant Vandal had developed a poor impression of her father. Whether that would eventually turn him into an enemy was something she deeply worried about.