Chapter 142 - The Guest Area!

The cloak was very cheap, approximately ten points worth that was enough for Zion to purchase any fake identity. Of course, he could have done that either to make things a lot easier, but this time, he wanted to escape with Lia, and the dhampir girl didn't know a thing about his multiple identities and even the system.

If he were to find her wide awake in a dark room, she would instead start attacking him in anger rather than heading off with him. So it was better to use this invisibility cloak until he could figure out what he should do next. But when he actually started using the cloak, he grew even more frustrated.

Why the heck was this cheap cloak like this? Why did it have so few features?

It turned out, this cloak could only hide him for ten minutes at most in a single day! It really wasn't worth ten points!

Zion covered himself with that black cloak and glared at the system with hatred. "007, I'll remember this."

The system felt a shiver down his spine as he wiped the sweat off of his forehead and forced a chuckle. "Host, you don't have to scare me like this. I told you already. We didn't have another choice."

Zion ignored the system and started finding the corridor that would lead him upstairs. It was already afternoon, and almost all the servants were resting. The remaining ones were doing overwork for more wages. Even the soldiers would rest for a bit at this time of the day. So Zion was free to move around.

He had worked here at this palace for a few days already and knew many things about it. He also knew that there was a special corridor where two guards would always be stationed directly at the door so that they could stop unauthorized persons from entering that area. Basically, the corridor beyond that was restricted for normal people, and even the servants weren't allowed. The servants could only enter that area when the queen would be around.

If it were a normal case, it would be difficult for Zion to enter that corridor that would lead him to the guest area. But with the help of this cloak, he could easily sneak inside. It was just that he would have to be careful not to spend a lot of time just trying to sneak inside the corridor because he would also have to make sure to walk out with the help of this cloak.

Of course, things would be different if Lia were to be found alive and awake. He would have to make up some story about this cloak and make sure that the dhampir girl couldn't find out anything about the system.

He could tell her about it, but he didn't trust her enough. There was also an imposter out there, and to him, everyone, even including Lia were the suspects. He didn't belong to this world, so it would be better if he could take a step with extreme caution.

After determining the plan in his mind, again and again, Zion took a deep breath and walked slowly toward the corridor that would lead him to the guest area. It was located at the Eastside that led anyone upstairs. So after walking for a while, he finally reached that place as he hid behind a pillar and glanced at the guards who stood at either side of the opened gate of the corridor with expressionless faces.

The distance between him and the guards wasn't that high, and he was sure that if he activated the cloak here, he could reach the gate within a minute if he walked a little faster than how he would pace normally. He took a deep breath and tucked the cloak around him once again before activating it within his mind.

Once the magical cloak turned on, Zion's entire body vanished as if he weren't present behind the pillar. When he was sure that he was hidden well, he released the breath he was holding and walked forward at a faster pace without making any noise.

When he was just a few steps away from the door, his heartbeat sped up out of the blue. This was a magical world. So he wasn't sure whether the guards could identify his presence or not. He really didn't trust this cheap material that was supposed to provide him ten minutes of invisibility effect.

But to his great fortune, the cloak worked better than he had imagined. He passed through the gate effectively without invoking the guards. After he reached a safe distance, he turned the cloak off and continued walking forward.

Now, where did the queen keep Lia? First, he should find the stairs that could lead him to the guest room. But this corridor seemed endless with walls on either side of it! Just how was he supposed to find the stairs?

He frowned, but he kept walking ahead. Just a few minutes later, he reached a dead-end without anywhere to move.

Zion's hands traced the wall in front of him lightly, and then he turned back to look at the endlessly long corridor behind him.

Now what? He had expected something like this to happen, but once he did, he would have to force himself to go with another plan. He glanced toward a pillar that was situated just to his right, and he directly moved behind it.

If he couldn't find a way out, he could at least wait for someone to open this door.

Thankfully, he didn't have to wait longer than expected. If he were here five minutes later, he would have missed out on the time when Odina had walked over to this corridor at a slow pace.

When she reached the guards stationed outside the corridor, she stopped and glanced at them questioningly. In reply, they shook their heads and bowed respectfully. The queen nodded and continued walking toward the same dead-end where Zion was hiding.

After a while, just as she reached the wall, Zion's attention darted toward her. He didn't turn on the invisibility, but he poked his head out and stared at her actions carefully. In his mind, he was practically praying for a technological mechanism instead of magic, but he knew it would be fruitless. This was the elf kingdom where even a normal clock was created out of magic. Then what to speak of a simple mechanism to open the door?

As expected, Odina's eyes glowed brightly after she reached that place. Her hands were placed against the wall as her lips moved to mutter a spell. It was unknown what she was doing, but after a while, the texture of the wall changed automatically and it opened with a swoosh.

Then the queen lowered her hand and walked forward without any pause. Zion turned on the invisibility mechanism and entered the passage before it could turn off automatically. Thankfully, he was able to follow the elf queen without any hesitation before the door closed behind him.

The two of them walked without making any sound. It even seemed as if they walked while levitating above the floor. After that, they both climbed the stairs and came within a minute.

When they reached the guest area, Odina stopped for a moment before turning to her right and entering another corridor. Zion grimaced seeing that. Just how many endless corridors were there in this place?!

The ten minutes time limit would end if this continued on! Thankfully, he still had seven minutes before the cloak could get turned off immediately. The two of them walked for another minute before the queen finally stopped in front of another dead-end. So repeated the same process with her palms plastered against the wall and opened the pathway. Zion entered after her quickly before the door could be closed at his face.

He currently didn't care whether he would be stuck at this place or not. His first aim was to find Lia as soon as possible. And after that, he would think about escaping with the system's help. In any case, he would also get rewards from the system that could help him purchase skills of higher quality.

Wait! Wasn't the case completed already? Why didn't he get any reward yet?

Before he could continue to think about it, he reached the center of the room that had opened up to him after he followed Odina. There, he could see a familiar girl lying on a round bed covered with quilts. Fireflies danced around her constantly, but Zion could tell that those weren't normal fireflies. They were probably the queen's magical aspects that she was using to make sure that Lia could stay here without any hindrance.

Heh. It seemed that this elf queen didn't want to let the dhampir princess go so easily. She actually blocked all the pathways of escape for Lia!

Just then, he noticed the queen's hands clapping in the air, and soon after that, the fireflies disappeared as Lia opened her eyes. She blinked multiple times as if she were trying to clear her vision before she glanced at the elf queen who just entered. Her eyes squinted in a split of a second.. "You're here."