Chapter 181: Another Puzzle

Entering the stone building, Angus and Jayna found an altar with few items in the middle of the empty stone building. Based on the item's aura, they found it should be an artifact.

An artifact is a very rare item with many kinds of effects. So, getting one means getting a huge jackpot. But they managed to get a few at once after their first search.

Would that mean they will get more if they managed to harvest all the stone buildings? Now, both of them feel relieved that their hard work during the past hours is not useless.

As Angus's deduction is correct, both of them immediately take whole artifacts before going to another house that the clock arm pointed at.

During the way, Angus realized that the highest grade monster movement set in a pattern and occasionally stopped for a certain time. Then, they moved back to their previous spot before coming back again later after stopping.

Still, he decided to think about it later and focused on harvesting the rest of the stone buildings that the clock arms pointed at.

In the meantime, less than 30 hours are left before the inner area closes. During this time, most people already decided to go towards the stone pyramid in the middle area to go back.

"Tch.. another empty building. Just where do they hide the treasure like Colossus?" complained Neil before going out of the building.

Not only Neil, but many other people in the inner area also couldn't get something good during their search. The inner area may contain hidden treasures like a colossus. However, to get them is entirely up to their fate.

Some people with better luck could get something like books, scrolls, and weapons during their search. But, most of them couldn't get something good. 

As time kept running, some of the despicable people decided to wait and ambush people near the portal before looting their harvest. Since this is similar to a restricted dungeon, as long as they leave no witness, there is no problem killing the others.

While all of this is happening, Angus and Jayna continue their treasure hunt unknowingly with the help of the monster's position as their guide.

Using the clock arm as an indicator, Angus and Jayna managed to sweep all the stone houses. They found artifacts and many various things like scrolls, books, and much other stuff.

Angus and Jayna are currently completely exhausted after running nonstop since they managed to solve the clock arms puzzle. Despite that, they are still happy with their harvest.

Fortunately, during their search, they didn't cross paths with anybody and create unnecessary conflict. Moreover, there are only less than ten hours left, so everyone is already near the exit at the top of the stone pyramid rather than searching for some unknown treasure.

Still, Angus's instinct tells him that this is not all. He feels like something is missing. Looking at his clock arm drawing once again, he found that each of the clock arms has the same distance and interval from one with the others.

After looking carefully, he found there is one clock arm that is missing. Then, Angus tells Jayna about this new discovery. 

However, Jayna is already too exhausted to reply and give a reaction. She already reaches her limit and even drinks some potion during their search to keep up with Angus.

"Angus, don't worry about me. Just go check that place." said Jayna while sitting on the ground.

"No way, I will never leave you behind." replied Angus.

"But, it could be something more precious than what we found before." said Jayna.

"We gather all of this together, so we should stick to the end together." said Angus before carrying Jayna in a bridal pose.

"Kyaa.. Angus, What are you doing?" Jayna was startled at Angus's sudden action.

"Hold on.. It's going to be a little bit rough [Beast Walk]. *Whoosh*" Angus disappeared on the spot and appeared far away from their previous location.

Angus keeps using [Beast Walk] to his fullest speed while carrying Jayna. He also didn't forget to keep using [Great Mana Echolocation] to check the clock arm position.

Soon, they finally arrive at the stone house that was supposed to be pointed by the missing clock arm.

"Haa.. Ha.. We made it in time. Ha.. Ha.. Let's go check our last harvest." said Angus while calming his breath

"Angus, are you okay?" asked Jayna worriedly.

"It's okay. Ha.. Ha.. I just need to catch my breath." said Angus while taking out the last potion he could consume to rejuvenate himself.

The potion has limited usage. Continuously drinking potion will reduce its effect until it becomes null. It needs a certain period before people can drink the same potion again to get its effect. 

Currently, both Angus and Jayna already drink the potion to their body limit. Drinking any potion further will only increase the recovery time they need for the potion to work again. 

This is the first time Angus feels exhausted physically and mentally to the limit since his reincarnation.

Seeing that there are only fewer than seven hours left, they decide to continue despite being exhausted.

Without wasting any more time, they entered the stone house while supporting one another. Inside the stone building, they found the same altar as the previous stone building. However, there is nothing on the top of the altar except the swirl pattern all over it.

Looking at the similar swirl pattern, Angus immediately takes out his wooden bracelet in his left hand and shows it towards the swirl pattern on the altar.

A moment later, the bracelet shines brightly, and the swirl pattern on the top of the altar moves. The swirl pattern into a sort of sentence in the middle of the altar.

However, Angus couldn't recognize the language of the sentence despite his vast knowledge of the ancient language. As he wanted to give up, fire mana flared up from Jayna.

At this moment, Jayna's eyes changed into a sharp bird's eye, looking intently at sentences on the altar.

"Sacrifice everything in the memory of the forgotten ones." said Jayna in a deep voice.

After that, Jayna fell to the ground, and her fire mana disappeared like it never existed before.

"Jayna, are you alright?" Angus supports her.

"Yeah… It's just.. I am not sure.. I suddenly got another vision about Fire Phoenix life." said Jayna.

Since Fire Phoenix's life is very long, her memory is also too immense for her to handle. So, with the help of [Arctic Heart], Jayna fragmented the memory not to burden her mind.

However, occasionally her memory could resurface if there is a strong trigger like this or when she feels the other phoenix aura before.

After calming down a little bit, "I think the altar needs a sacrifice for the next part." said Jayna.

"Sacrifice.. What needs to be sacrificed? Based on what you said, we need to sacrifice everything in memory of the forgotten ones." said Angus.

"Argh… why so much puzzle. Now, I am furious at the one that created this place. It feels like this place should not be found by any.. one" said Angus slowly at the later part.

"Don't tell me… This is another Jail??" said Jayna.

The last time Angus and Jayna reach the place where everyone didn't want to be found is the jail of Fire Phoenix and almost killed both of them.

After being silent for a moment, both of them looked at each other with unwavering eyes. Although they are afraid about what will happen next, they also didn't want to give up after coming this far.

"Let's get this over until the end." said Angus steeled himself.

"Yeah.. We are already too far to give up now." replied Jayna.

"Still, what's the meaning of sacrificing everything? Everything is kind of an ambiguous word. Don't tell me we need to kill ourselves?" said Angus.

"I think that's not it. Since all this time, the answer is always coming from this place, so it must be connected to this place." said Jayna.

"Wait a minute… Don't tell me.. all the monsters? No, that's not possible. The altar is not big enough to contain them. Then, the only possible thing is something that we got from this place. Those artifacts and all our harvest!!" Angus thought out loud.

"That's quite logical. Since everything we have now is only that stuff if we are not bringing anything." said Jayna.

"So, we need to throw all that stuff into the altar??" said Angus while taking out the pouch storage that stores all the stuff they gathered before.

Looking at Angus's reluctant behavior, "Urgh.. give it to me." said Jayna as she snatched the pouch storage.

Then, without wasting any moment, she poured everything they gathered on the altar. As soon as she finished pouring everything, the altar shone brightly. It is so bright that it envelops the whole building.

Then, a loud clockwork bell sounded all over the inner area. *Teng* *Teng* *Teng*

Some of the people that still stay in the inner area are confused at the sudden occurrence. However, besides the sound, they couldn't see any change. In the meantime, the rumored dark elves look at the sky. 

"Something is just released." said the dark-skinned woman before continuing to go towards the pyramid exit.