Chapter 64 Hidden jealousy
So……” Seraphyne said, pretending to examine the items Vandal was handing her.
“What happens after you find the item?” she asked.
“Oh, I open the boundary, then my friends and I leave,” Vandal said. “Hopefully we never have to come back here again.”
A subtle sadness crept into Seraphyne’s expression, but she quickly hid it.
“You know… this place isn’t as bad as you think,” Seraphyne said softly. “The discomfort you feel is because the natural order of the boundary hasn’t accepted you yet. It takes time. But once it does, you’ll be able to move freely, as if you weren’t even inside it. There are also many hidden treasures and secret realms that can only be accessed from within this place.”
“Hmmmmm… that is something I would like to explore,” Vandal contemplated. “But I would rather do it alone when my friends are not with me.”
“Why?”
“Because I want them safe and away from any disaster that might happen,” Vandal replied.
“Oh… do you mean to say you are the strongest in your group?” Seraphyne inquired.
“Well… I don’t know. I just want them safe,” Vandal said.
“I want her safe from anything and everything that might hurt her,” Vandal continued.
Seraphyne took note of the word “her.”
“So you also have someone you like in your group?” Seraphyne pressed.
“You ask a lot of questions, you know that, right?” Vandal replied, turning his head to look at her. “Are you even looking at the items I am giving you?”
“Yes… yes, I am. These are not the objects at all,” Seraphyne said as she smiled nervously. “Erm… we should keep looking.”
“Okay,” Vandal said.
“How about this?” Vandal found a strange artifact resembling a chalice and handed it to her.
Looking at it, her eyes dilated as she recognized the artifact.
“What? Is this the item?” Vandal asked, noticing her expression and growing serious.
“This is… this is an artifact called the Changeling Chalice,” Seraphyne said. “I read about it when I was still sick. I had nothing better to do, so I had my father send books from the ancient worn-down library in this place.”
“What does it do?” Vandal asked.
“It has the capacity to change your appearance. Once you fill it with water and drink from the chalice while imagining the person you want to look like,” Seraphyne explained.
Vandal’s eyes widened. This means I can change my identity at will, he thought, excitement surging through him.
“There is one limitation though,” Seraphyne said with a slight frown.
“What is that?” Vandal asked quickly.
“It consumes a lot of resonance energy, and you risk disfiguring yourself permanently if you try to use it with an insufficient amount of resonance energy,” Seraphyne replied gloomily.
“Okay… that doesn’t seem like too much of a problem,” Vandal said. He took the cup from her hand and stashed it away in his space ring before she could say anything.
Soon enough, they had checked everywhere for the item and did not find it.
“If it is not here, then where could it be?” Seraphyne said in frustration.
Vandal’s expression suddenly changed.
“I know where it could be,” Vandal said. He quickly left, running outside with Seraphyne and the king struggling to keep up.
“Where are we going!” Seraphyne yelled as she ran after him.
“To his corpse,” Vandal replied without slowing down.
“His corpse??” Seraphyne repeated to herself.
Soon enough, they arrived at the familiar temple. He quickly ran inside the entrance and saw the broken-down corpse that was once Kennedy. But by the time he searched the body and his clothes, his expression grew increasingly frantic.
“Damn it!” Vandal snarled, his voice laced with anger. He clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles turned white.
“What is it?” Seraphyne asked.
“He had a space ring on him and probably some treasures on his person,” Vandal said. He stomped his foot on the ground in frustration. Cracking the stone pavement beneath him, startling Seraphyne and the king.
“That wretch!” Vandal took deep breaths. He knew exactly what had happened. How was I so stupid that I didn’t see this coming?
“He took the space ring and probably everything else… no wonder he was so quick to leave!” Vandal took a swing at a pillar in anger, breaking his fist into it without much resistance and reducing a portion of it to sand on impact.
“Would you know if the boundary was opened?” Vandal asked, this time looking at the king.
“Yes, I would. This necklace I wear changes color whenever the boundary is open. It only changed color when you and your friends first entered this place.”
“What? So you knew when we entered?” Vandal said in surprise.
“Yes, I knew. I even knew the entry point you came from,” the king said.
“Let’s go… now,” Vandal said as he turned immediately.
“To where?” Seraphyne asked.
“Back to the palace to get my friends,” Vandal answered. “We are leaving this place.”
“How?” the king asked.
“With the item. Once I see that bastard, it is on sight. I will take it from him and leave with my friends,” Vandal said as he gritted his teeth.
He wasn’t aware that his aura was leaking out as his emotions fluctuated. In shock, Seraphyne and her father were even more astonished after witnessing it. They could easily tell that Vandal was a really powerful echo warrior.
Would he be more powerful than Mark Yue? she thought to herself.
Soon enough, they rushed back to the palace. The guards parted way for the king to enter, along with Vandal and Seraphyne following closely behind.
At this time, Sabine had already woken up and was sitting on a rock eating a fruit. Everyone seemed okay, except for Mael, who was training.
“Sabine!” Vandal said happily.
She noticed him and leaped off the rock, hitting the ground running toward Vandal.
“I missed you!” Sabine cried, leaping off the rock and running straight into his arms. Vandal laughed softly as he lifted her off the ground and spun her once.
Seraphyne watched the scene in silence. Across from her, Yazmeen gripped her wooden spoon so tightly it snapped in half with a loud crack, unnoticed by everyone except the short guard beside her.