Chapter 182 The Treasury Lyrian looked back at the Magma Dwellers as he chuckled slightly. His plan had worked. Since they were pushing so hard, if they suddenly had no need to do so, their balance would of course be broken.
Looking forward again, his smile instantly dropped. Spade and Glis turned the corner, appearing right in front of him with determined gazes in their eyes.
Without hesitation, Spade threw his sword at Lyrian with force. Glis enchanted her wand, throwing an ice spike his way. With the golden core already placed inside of his ring, Lyrian narrowly avoided both attacks and slipped past the two, jumping across the side walls.
They began following him with haste as he ran, keys jingling in his hands.
'How do I find the treasury now!? I have these morons on my tail, and this labyrinth is huge! I will definitely run out of stamina before those two...'
As he thought this to himself, he glanced at the keys, causing his eyes to widen slightly.
'They... they're numbered!'
He yelled inwardly in excitement, seeing various numbers on the hilt of the keys.
'Of course, they are! One wouldn't be able to get anything in here otherwise...'
There was a slight dilemma though. The numbers were complete chicken scratch. He couldn't understand them. Still, he imagined that as long as he could link each key to a room, he would have a basic understanding as to where the treasury would be. Sᴇaʀᴄh the n0vᴇl(ꜰ)ire.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.
He picked out the biggest key from the bunch.
'This one...'
Then, he looked past his shoulders to see both Spade and Glis quickly gaining on him. Especially Glis, who skated past Spade and was mere feet away from Lyrian.
On top of that, he also noticed the Magma Dweller guards, also running after him behind the other two. As he saw this, a plan came into mind.
While running, he began to pick up the torches on the wall as he went, gathering them all in his hand. He dashed from wall to wall, which allowed his momentum to be a little more speedy as well.
The two chasing him had no clue what he was doing but didn't pay too much value to it. Their attention was focused solely on him and the golden core, so whatever he did with some measly torches, they couldn't care less about it.
Lyrian suddenly jumped up, slamming the torches onto the ground beneath him. With the oil from all of the torches colliding and splattering into the air at once, this resulted in a seismic explosion that blocked the path for at least a second, causing Glis and Spade to halt in their tracks.
"That was his plan? To slow me for a mere second?"
Spade scoffed, as he suddenly heard rapid, loud thuds approach him in quick succession. Turning around, he barely blocked a spear that was quickly thrust at him by a Magma Dweller.
While stopping for that second, the other guard also attacked Glis.
"Oh! I didn't even notice these brutes! I was too focused on Theageld! How smart!"
Spade yelled, his eyes widened and a smile residing on his face as he exchanged blows with the guard with his sharpened hands.
Glis summoned small spikes, throwing them at the one she fought.
"But what's your plan? Black Sheep!"
Spade yelled loudly, his voice echoing throughout the halls. His eyes widened even more as if he had gone insane.
"You can't run forever! I will catch you eventually, coward!"
He let out a maniacal laugh, dismembering the Magma Dweller as he continued forward. Glis finished her off too, lodging several spikes of ice into it before skating ahead.
Hearing Spade's loud voice, Lyrian tsked.
"He thinks I'm running from him... he thinks I'm a coward. He's got another thing coming."
He suddenly arrived at the end of the hallway. There were many other passageways to the left and the right, and also doors to head into, but Lyrian followed the pattern on the doors which led him to the final one, the one that matched the pattern of the largest key he had.
"You're the only option I got."
He said, jamming his hey into the large, unguarded door and twisting it, his anticipation rising to the top of his body.
...
Nothing happened, the door didn't open. The key didn't work. Lyrian looked up at the door in frustration, then looked back at the hallway.
"They will be here any second. Damn it!"
He said, Enhancing his hand as he cocked it back as a thick green aura enveloped it.
With unbridled determination coursing through his veins, he roared, "I'm giving it everything I've got... SHOCK FIST!"
His voice echoed through the chamber as he pushed his very essence to the brink, summoning an electrifying surge of power. With a resounding crack that shattered the stillness of the moment, his fist connected with the large key. In an explosive display of sheer force, the lock broke open and the formidable door flew back.
What met Lyrian's weary eyes next was a substantial pile of shiny loot. Gold coins, other riches, precious metals, jewels, valuable ornaments, and... elixirs. A ton of them!
It was like opening a door to heaven. As he stepped forward, his legs tried to give up, his mana completely depleted, but he gritted his teeth and continued forward, surges of pain searing down his body. With his core brunt out, it felt like he could pass out any second, but his willpower power to too strong to let him do so.
His vision was slightly blurry, but he clearly saw a golden star at the top of the golden pile, a large bottle of blue elixir in a luxurious bottle. On his hands and knees, he climbed the 10-foot summit of gold to the top, before lying flat on his back, the bottle of elixir in his hands.
With a smile on his face, he seemed to pass out.
***
Seconds later, Spade and Glis arrived at the unhinged door in unison. It was barely hanging onto its axis and blocked what was inside. Quickly pushing it open, all they saw was Lyrian lying flat in the middle of a giant, empty room.
His stomach was enlarged and protruding, and a delightful smile stretched across his face as his eyes were closed. It was almost as if he was in the greatest slumber of his life.