I let out a quiet sigh and tossed the gun away.
Then, I looked at the corpse.
High Priest Bowden lay sprawled on the blood-slicked floor.
His body was still warm, but his face was frozen in the kind of expression most people only make once in their lives — right before they die.
His final moment, captured forever.
It was almost poetic.
Except I wasn’t feeling particularly poetic right now.
I stared at him for a long moment. Then, sighing again, I crouched down and grabbed his arm.
“Heavy bastard,” I muttered while struggling to lift him up.
The guy was deadweight — and I meant literally. Also, dragging him wasn’t exactly appealing. But I didn’t have a choice.
The treasure room’s entrance was locked behind a three-factor biometric authentication system. Retina scan. Vein pattern recognition. DNA verification.
A level of security that bordered on paranoia.
Unfortunately for Bowden, he was the key.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out a clean cloth. No way was I touching his blood-soaked robes with my bare hands.
With some effort, I hoisted him onto my back like a grotesque backpack as his limbs swung limply by my sides.
It was unpleasant.
It was also necessary.
I started walking toward the underground entrance, stepping over bodies and walking around pools of blood.
The metallic floor was slick in places. I had to be careful not to slip.
But I also couldn’t afford to waste time.
Blood doesn’t stop flowing immediately after death. From zero to five minutes, it still moves in the body due to residual pressure in the veins and arteries.
I needed to get Bowden to the underground floor within that timeframe.
Because if the blood stopped flowing in his veins, the security system’s liveness detection would determine him dead — and the biometric locks wouldn’t open.
So I hurried as much as I could without losing my footing.
Looking at all the gore, I felt sick to my stomach.
But I had a feeling that while this was my first time wading through the aftermath of a bloody massacre, it wasn’t going to be my last.
After reaching the reinforced door that led downstairs, I pressed Bowden’s palm against the biometric panel.
The scanner beeped, processing his fingerprints. A moment later, a dull click sounded and the lock disengaged.
The door hissed open, revealing a well-lit stairwell descending to the lowest floor of the bunker.
I adjusted my grip on Bowden’s corpse.
Then, letting out a tired sigh, I started walking down the stairs.
•••
The underground floor was colder than the bunker above. The air was still and undisturbed, carrying the faint scent of dust and metal.
I was standing in a narrow corridor right now.
At the very end of this corridor, bathed in dim emergency lighting, there was the entrance to the treasure room.
To get inside, you had to pass through a thick titanium door.
The only way to open it was through a biometric panel mounted on the wall beside it, equipped with three different types of scanners.
There were security measures in place for anyone dumb enough to try brute-forcing their way inside.
…Just like Michael did in the game.
Since he found this bunker — and the treasure room — by accident, he had no way to bypass the biometric authentication.
So, he did what any dumbass would do. He used his Demonic Sword, and after a little effort, he managed to carve a hole in the titanium door.
But the moment he stepped inside, he was bombarded by lasers, turrets, and force field traps. He only survived thanks to his plot armor and his absurdly high strength.
Any normal [C-rank] Awakened dumb enough to try and break through would either die or be chased away by the security measures.
…Actually, a normal [C-rank] Awakened wouldn’t even be able to get through that titanium door.
Michael only managed because his Demonic Sword was a powerful artifact — one that could cut through almost anything, as long as he could supply it with enough Essence.
I could maybe use my innate power to bend the metal and create an opening, but I wasn’t strong enough to deal with the security measures inside.
Which was why I needed Bowden.
I let out a breath and adjusted the High Priest’s dead body on my back.
“Alright, old man. Time to be useful one last time.”
I stepped forward and positioned his face in front of the retinal scanner.
A soft whir filled the air as the machine activated. A thin red light flickered across his lifeless eye, scanning for identification.
A second later, a monotone voice rang out.
«Retina scan complete. Identification: High Priest Bowden. Access level confirmed.»
I shifted, adjusting his arm to press his palm against the vein scanner. As I did, I gently squeezed his wrist a few times to stimulate blood flow.
Another beep. Another confirmation.
Finally, I retrieved a small knife from my pocket and made a shallow incision on his fingertip. A bead of blood welled up as I pressed it against the DNA scanner.
A final chime resounded.
«All authentication factors confirmed. Access granted.»
With a deep mechanical groan, the titanium door began to slide open.
I shook my head. “Paranoid bastard.”
Who the hell keeps this level of security in a treasure room?
…Okay, most people do.
But if Bowden had made it just a little easier for burglars to break into, he’d still be alive. I would’ve just stolen everything I needed and left without orchestrating such an intricate plan.
But no. He had to be difficult.
So, in the end, I had to kill him.
My thoughts were interrupted as the door slid open completely revealing the treasure room beyond.
The first thing I saw were rows of storage containers lining the walls, each marked with security codes and caution symbols.
Some held weapons. Some held artifacts. Some held things I had no intention of opening.
Then, I saw gold. Jewels. Relics. Stacks of rare artifacts.
And at the very center it, secured in a heavily locked case sealed with shimmering runes, was what I had come for.
The Divine Sword Aurieth.
I let Bowden’s body slump to the ground.
Then, with a small smirk, I stepped into the room.
…And immediately started squealing like a lunatic.
“Wheeeee! Whooohooo! Booyaaa!”
I threw my hands up in the air and ran around the chamber like I’d just been declared king of the world.
The amount of gold in this room was ridiculous.
No, really!
I could swim in it.
…And so I did.
I dove into the pile of gold, running my hands through the cold metal, letting it spill between my fingers.
I literally swam in gold.
When I got bored of that, I put on every piece of shiny jewelry that caught my eye and used my innate power to create a golden crown.
Then, I placed the crown on my head like a true king.
After that, I took some selfies.
For a split second, I had the not-so-brilliant idea of uploading those pictures on my social media.
Then, common sense returned, and I discarded that thought.
…But it would’ve been cool.
After a few minutes of playing around, I started to lose interest.
“I guess it’s finally time to do some work,” I sighed one more time, stretching as I walked up to the secured case at the center of the room.
It was a tall locker made of all-black steel. Shimmering runes were engraved across its surface, glowing with a faint violet hue.
These runes made it nearly impossible to break open — unless you were a [B-rank] Awakened.
Thankfully, I had already taken the key from Bowden before I killed him.
I pulled it out and slid it into the keyhole. A quiet click echoed as the locker door swung open without any issue.
Inside, resting on a velvet pedestal, was the Divine Sword Aurieth.
It gleamed like it was made of gold — not the dull, tarnished gold of old relics, but a brilliant, almost ethereal glow as if the metal itself was infused with light.
The blade was long and wickedly sharp.
Its hilt was wrapped in dark leather that was a stark contrast to the shiny blade, and its crossguard flared outward in jagged spikes, resembling the cruel rays of a burning sun.
At the center of the crossguard was a hollow circle. And intricate runes were etched along the length of the blade, creating a mesmerizing pattern.
I couldn’t contain my smile as I reached out and wrapped my fingers around the hilt of the greatsword.
Lifting it from the pedestal, I immediately noticed that it was heavier than it looked, yet perfectly balanced.
I raised it slightly and admired its craftsmanship for a few minutes.
Suddenly, I wished I had a [Appraisal] Card in my Arsenal so that I could inspect the sword’s enchantments.
I glanced around. The treasure room was filled with plenty of artifacts, but there were no Cards.
“Ahh, I guess I’ll appraise it after I get back to the Academy,” I shrugged before moving on to open the other lockers.
I wasn’t here just for the sword — though that had been the main reason.
Somewhere in this room, there was something else I needed. A pile of Essence Stones.
The Syndicate had sent all this gold, these weapons, these artifacts — everything — to the High Priest so he could amass an army for them.
And for an army to wield these artifacts, they needed Essence Stones. Well, at least the mundane people did.
Awakened could imbue artifacts with their own Essence, but even they needed Essence Stones to level up their Soul Rank.
Basically, Essence Stones were the single most important resource for any military force in this day and age.
“Aha!” Just as I expected, inside one of the lockers that I had casually sliced open with my new sword — I found three large duffle bags filled with high-quality, premium-grade Essence Stones.
They shimmered like polished gemstones, each one unique in shape, size, and color.
“Heh.” I grinned, then frowned. “Now, how am I going to carry all this back with me?”
I glanced around. There had to be a spatial storage artifact somewhere in this room.
There was one that I knew of — the leather fanny pack strapped to the High Priest’s belt.
Unfortunately, it was custom-made for him. Only he could operate it. And now that he was dead, no one else could use it.
Maybe a highly skilled artificer could find a way to bypass that restriction. But I didn’t know how.
Which meant I had to find another storage artifact.
It didn’t take long.
I found one tucked away in another locker.
It was a robe. A very unconventional for a storage artifact, honestly.
Most storage artifacts were bags or caskets.
But this robe’s inner pocket was linked to a small interdimensional storage space, making it capable of holding a number of items.
It was even wide enough to store my sword. Maybe. I had to try.
I nodded in satisfaction. “This’ll do.”
Quickly, I stuffed all the Essence Stones into the robe’s pocket, then wore it over my shoulders.
I even stuffed in as much gold as I could in it — until the small storage dimension inside was completely full.
Once I made sure I wasn’t forgetting to take anything important, I left the treasure room and headed out of the bunker.
On my way out, I noticed the young boy I had pinned to the ground with a sword earlier. He was still unconscious.
I had made a deal with the High Priest that I wouldn’t kill him, and I intended to keep my word.
Besides, I wasn’t worried about him. I had already informed the Academy about this place.
Soon, officials would arrive to clean up the mess — and arrest him.
After that, they would turn him over to the Central Monarch.
Since he had served as the High Priest’s informant, he had to know something about the Syndicate.
And the Central Monarch would be very interested in hearing what he had to say.
Maybe she’d torture him. Maybe she’d use other methods to extract the truth from him.
Either way, once he talked, one thing was certain.
He would be executed.
So there was no reason for me to break my end of the deal.
I also noticed the monk staff that the High Priest had used to suppress the Overlord’s power.
For a moment, I considered taking it.
But then I decided against it.
I had two reasons.
First, there was no space left in my robe’s pocket.
Second, while that shakujō was a powerful artifact capable of suppressing an Awakened’s Origin Card… I was an Awakened.
Which meant that if I ever had to use it, it would suppress my own powers as well.
That made it useless to me in any real battle.
It was fine, however. I had already gotten everything I had come to Ishtara for.