Chapter 782: Superbia

Chapter 782: Superbia

The God of Artifacts, and the one whom King Arthur trusted, was the creator of the three strongest artifacts: the legacy, the crown, and the Isotox. All these three held unimaginable powers that defied common sense.

It could be argued that the holy crown, which appeared every thirty years with more challengers than ever, was stronger than the legacy. However, if the powers of creation were considered, there was no telling which. Arthur received a fraction of that crown's powers, known as Insignias.

[Cannot connect to The Holy Crown.]

A notification appeared as Arthur tried using his insignia to undo the astral venom, but it got rejected. The first time this happened, Arthur fought against Jasmine, his sister. After that, he tried it on several instances, like disabling his mother's comatose state, but it was the same.

"The Holy Crown is changing," muttered Arthur as he stared at the black lightning on his hand dissolving and disappearing. "This might be due to the different timeline or because Seref has something to do with it. After all, he is the vessel of the Scholar Guardian."

This change happened after Arthur destroyed Seref's plans of orchestrating disasters for Arthur to prevent. It might be that Seref was punishing him or simply a method to weaken Arthur.

"The Holy Crown should be too powerful for anyone to temper with, so how did Seref do it?" wondered Arthur before he fastened Suyin to the trolley and raised her with his rune. "Regardless, it was worth a shot."

He hoped his Breaker Insignia would undo the astral venom, but that seemed wishful thinking. Arthur had to rush toward Ayaz before the time was up without using too much of his mana to save it for the fight.

Arthur rushed out of the meadow, bolting as fast as he could. At the same time, he used his telekinesis to carry Suyin and protect her from the wind. If he didn't use his Release rune, he would take almost two hours to get there.

***

"Is that… Ayaz?" muttered Arthur as he stood atop the mountain. It was the fastest way to go over the hill rather than around it, but the scene left him in awe. "I thought this was a city or an island?"

There was a giant lake surrounded by mountains and a floating city in the middle of that lake. The map showed that Arthur had reached his destination, and on the other side of Ayaz was a mountain with a white gate, which was the place where Hartman waited for him.

"Ha!"

Suyin let out a sigh in her sleep, seeming to feel discomfort. Arthur frowned and lowered her to see the dark rash extending toward her chin and down toward her belly. After a moment of thought, he raised her shirt to find that the dark rash had reached her navel.

"The astral venom is attacking her sea of consciousness," Arthur realized his hunch was correct. Otherwise, the sleep rune should have been enough to make her pain disappear. "Is she seeing something?"

Suyin seemed sweaty, and her hair spread because of her loose hairpin. Then, after another struggle, the hairpin fell down the trolley, and her black hair spread on the bamboo. If Arthur remembers correctly, she said that this hairpin was a keepsake from her childhood, which Babo had kept all these years.

Arthur picked the hairpin and found it to be as cold as ice. He could see frost gathering on its surface, and some of it touched him. However, no mana came from the hairpin.

"Is this an artifact? But there are no runes inscribed on it," muttered Arthur with confusion as he stared at the hairpin shaped like a long needle. "What is this thing, and why is it freezing?"

Suyin never mentioned a thing about it, and Arthur didn't think she noticed it. But, on the other hand, if the hairpin was a keepsake from her childhood, which Arthur had a glimpse of, it might be reacting to the deteriorating state of her body.

Arthur tried to place the hairpin in his subspace but couldn't transfer it there. So, in the end, he pocketed it instead of wasting more time trying to understand it.

"There is no time left," thought Arthur as he picked her up again. "If the venom doesn't stop soon, then it will spread to damage her soul irreversibly. Hartman lied," raged Arthur as he carried her down the mountains, rushing toward the lake.

There was no time for him to go around, so he needed to cut through it. With Suyin floating behind him, Arthur rushed forward and jumped to soar. His telekinesis rune carried the two of them over the sky as an invisible boat carrying them through the blue.

As the city became closer, Arthur looked down to see that it had rafts supporting it rather than land. This meant that Ayaz was no island but a giant floating ship acting as a city. This was to counter the waves rolling in the lake and neutralize them. Arthur noticed rafts rising and falling below the city without affecting them.

"Let's hope I go undiscovered," Arthur said, jinxing himself. As he flew over the city, several towers turned toward him. He noticed guns installed on the top, and all of them aimed at him. "Are these the anti-aircraft defenses?"

The mana beams started gathering on the cannons' muzzles, ready to shoot him down. Arthur grimaced and looked at Suyin, who began sweating buckets and screaming in her sleep. If any of those struck her, she would be a goner.

Arthur raised his rune and maneuvered the two of them upward. The mana cannons fired at them, whistling through the air before they missed them by a hairbreadth to tear through the clouds.

However, the mana cannons were still gathering another volley. There were two firing at him, while one of them was too far away to reach him. Thus, Arthur used his rune to move one of the cannons before it fired toward him and made it aim toward its friend.

The two cannons fired; one aimed at Arthur while the other aimed at the first. As the mana beam tore through the cannon, making it explode, the original condensed mana was still zooming toward Arthur.

Since he had to move the cannon, there was no time to dodge the attack. Arthur had to use his telekinesis as a barrier, pushing everything away from Suyin while he received the mana beam with his mana.

The golden and white mana collided, making them explode. The telekinesis neutralized the impact, protecting Arthur and Suyin from harm, but the cost was hefty. Arthur had to use a hundred points of his mana to block that attack since he couldn't use two runes simultaneously.

As the exploding mana drew the attention of the citizens and sailors, Arthur soared higher toward the sky. The cannons followed him, but he hid among the clouds. The air became thin, making it harder for Suyin to breathe, so he had to make it fast.

The two flew through the clouds and toward the white gates of Hoary Dungeon. Flying monsters tried to hinder their way, but Arthur snapped their necks with his telekinesis before starting his descent toward the mountain.

As with many others, the Hoary Dungeon had a giant gate on the side of the mountain. It looked like it had replaced the natural terrain, embedding itself into the hill. The entrance was created from white marble and lined with ancient engravings.

"Are these… a tiger and a dragon?" wondered Arthur as he descended toward the gate, but no one was there. So, he made sure to descend just enough for Suyin to breathe while keeping away from the entrance.

Hartman said he would be in the dungeon, but no presences were on the ground. Moreover, this dungeon seemed deserted since not even awakeners tried to clear it. After a moment of confusion, Arthur decided to call Julia.

"Have you ever heard of the Hoary Dungeon?" asked Arthur as soon as he connected. Julia was silent at first before she asked whether Arthur was there. "The culprit asked to meet in this dungeon, but I have an odd feeling about it."

"Hoary Dungeon was just the ancient name before its real name was discovered. This is bad, Arthur. You need to get out of there. This is one of the Sins Dungeons, Superbia!"

Arthur squinted his eyes at the dungeon, which gave a threatening aura. Unfortunately, his hunch was correct about this. Although he knew that the Sins Dungeons existed in different parts of the world, he was unfamiliar with their original names.

"I cannot just leave because he lured me here," said Arthur as he stared at the white gate. "Even if this is another calamity, I must fight them."

"We are on our way, Arthur. Just wait for us to get there. There are more methods to try than a direct fight with another calamity."

"I feel no such aura from this gate since it seems sealed. Furthermore, no awakeners are attempting to enter it."

"Superbia is the absolute dungeon because it carries the sin of pride! Therefore, only the proudest warriors can enter, and none of them returned alive!"