Chapter 67: Trapped in the Circle

Chris waved his hand and released Nathan. "What now?"

"This way." Nathan pointed in a direction, and Chris grabbed him by the shoulder before dragging him along.

Lilith followed without speaking.

They passed several doors. "What is behind these doors?" he asked.

Nathan shook his head. "I don’t know. I was never able to open them."

Chris stopped and looked at the doors on either side of the hallway.

Approaching one of them, he examined its surface. Just like the walls around it, the door was covered in images depicting the war.

Instinctively, he raised a hand and touched the carvings.

However, he was soon surprised when the door began to light up, glowing symbols appearing across its surface before—

*CRACK!*

It creaked open slowly.

He smiled and took a step inside.

"What in the..." He was soon startled by what he saw.

Piles upon piles of gold were scattered throughout the room.

"So much gold!" Lilith was also surprised as she approached.

Chris shook his head before stepping back outside.

"What? Are you not going to take it?" Lilith asked, surprised.

"No." He shook his head. "This is the tomb of a fallen hero. These treasures were placed here as tribute."

Lilith raised an eyebrow. "But there’s so much gold! You wouldn’t need to worry about money for the rest of your life."

"And why don’t you take it?" he asked with a smile.

"I’m a princess, remember? I don’t care about money." She shook her head.

"Well, dear princess, I’m quite rich myself, even if I don’t look like it." He shrugged. "Besides, wouldn’t that be the same as grave robbing? There’s no way I would do such a thing." He said the last part with disdain.

Lilith smiled. "I never took you for a good person."

"And I’m not a good person. But I still have my boundaries." He shook his head before approaching another door.

Just like the previous one, it was filled with gold.

He approached another, then another. Each room was filled with gold.

"Nothing to see here. Let’s continue."

They continued to the end of the hallway before reaching another door.

He tried touching it to see if it would open like the other doors, but nothing happened.

Looking at Nathan, he raised an eyebrow. "What are you waiting for? Open it."

"Yes!" Nathan flinched and hurried to open it.

*CRACK!*

The door creaked as it slowly began to open.

They all stepped inside and found themselves in a huge room. What immediately stood out was a door on the other side, as well as a strange pattern carved into the stone floor.

Strange lines seemed to connect at the center, where a circle was carved into the floor.

There were also two stone statues of soldiers standing on either side of the door.

However, there were no symbols or carvings depicting the war anywhere on the walls.

Chris raised an eyebrow. "That’s it? What’s this room for?"

Nathan shook his head. "I don’t know, but the artifact should be on the other side of that door." He pointed toward the door across the room.

"How do you know this?" he asked.

"I... I heard stories about it."

He looked at him strangely. "Stories? You’re telling me that you came here looking for an artifact based on nothing but some stories?"

"I know it sounds strange, but I’m confident that the artifact is there. It has to be!"

"Fine... Go and open that door."

"I... I don’t know how."

Chris looked at him with narrowed eyes. "What? You don’t know? Are you messing with me?"

Nathan shivered. "No! I came here a long time ago and couldn’t open the door, but that was many, many years ago! I was hoping it had weakened with age."

Chris shook his head. "So you lived here? And you never managed to open the door?"

Nathan nodded.

Chris almost slapped his forehead in annoyance. Walking up to the door, he placed his hand against it to test it.

Nothing.

He turned toward Lilith. "Any ideas?"

Lilith shook her head.

He looked around the room, trying to find anything that stood out.

Approaching the stone statues, he examined them closely and even tried pushing and pulling on different parts, but nothing happened.

His attention then turned toward the circle in the center of the room.

Stepping onto it, he examined the carvings.

Lilith approached as well and stepped onto the circle.

*WOOSH!*

In that instant, the edges of the circle began to shine as a transparent barrier surrounded them from all sides. Extending from the floor to the ceiling, it trapped them inside the circle.

"What the..."

He approached the barrier and touched it. It felt solid.

Raising his fist, he slammed it against the surface.

*BANG!*

Not even a ripple appeared.

He turned toward Nathan with a threatening look. "What is this?"

Nathan widened his eyes. "I don’t know! I really don’t kno—"

*SLASH!*

Nathan’s eyes suddenly widened as he felt an intense pain in his neck. A moment later, his head fell from his shoulders and tumbled to the ground, followed by his body.

He didn’t even understand how he had died.

Chris and Lilith gasped at the sight.

One of the stone statues behind Nathan had suddenly raised its sword and slashed at him with incredible speed. It had moved so quickly that neither of them could even react.

The other stone statue moved as well, unsheathing its sword.

Both statues now stood directly in front of the door, as if guarding it. However, they didn’t approach Chris and Lilith, who remained trapped inside the barrier.

"What in the world just happened?" Lilith asked.

"I have no idea." Chris shrugged.

"What should we do now?" she asked next.

"I have no idea." He shrugged again.

She looked at him strangely.

"What?" He raised an eyebrow.

"How are you so calm about all of this?"

"And why wouldn’t I be? Should I start panicking and crying?" He smiled amusingly.

"I... I just can’t believe you’re acting as if everything is fine."

"But everything is fine, isn’t it? We’re not in any immediate danger, and we’re still alive, right?" He chuckled.

"But we’re trapped!" She sounded frustrated.

"And being annoyed won’t help us." He shook his head. "Try to calm down. Take a deep breath. Then we can think about what to do."

She looked at him irritably before turning her gaze away and taking a few deep breaths.

"Better?" he teased.

"Humph!" She grumbled.

"Hahahahaha. Now, let’s see what we can do."

He approached the barrier and tried punching it a few more times with all his strength.

*BANG! BANG! BANG!*

Nothing.

He touched the barrier with his hand and used Gwenor.

Nothing.

Pulling out his sword, he coated it with Gwenor and fire mana before slashing at the barrier.

*DING!*

The sword simply bounced off as if it had struck the hardest material in the world.

He sheathed his sword and shrugged. "Seems we’re trapped for good." He looked at Lilith. "Any ideas?"

She approached the barrier and covered her hand in purple energy, forming a claw, before trying to scratch the surface.

Nothing again.

She shook her head. "It’s useless. It’s too strong."

"Hmm." He nodded before sitting cross-legged on the ground and taking out a sandwich from his storage ring.

Taking a bite, he started munching on it.

She looked at him in disbelief.

"Want some?" He took out another sandwich and offered it to her.

"Are you being serious right now!? We’re trapped here, and who knows if we’ll even make it out alive, yet you’re eating!? Can’t you be more serious about this? How are you so calm!?" She yelled at him.

His expression turned serious for the first time as he looked at her, startling her slightly.

"First, I am very serious. The reason I’m not panicking is because, unlike someone, I’ve spent years in constant danger. What may seem dangerous to you doesn’t seem nearly as dangerous to me."

She flinched at his serious tone.

He continued, "Second, you need to calm down. Nothing good will come from getting frustrated."

He stood up and shoved a sandwich into her hands. "Eat and calm down."

Turning around, he sat down again and continued eating.

She stared at him for a moment before sitting down in front of him and eating the sandwich.

’*Hahahahahahahahahahaha.*’ A voice appeared in her head again.

’SHUT UP!’

’*Look at you, so obedient! Hahahahahahahaha!*’

Veins began bulging on Lilith’s forehead, one after another.

"You seem very troubled," Chris suddenly said while looking at her.

She looked back at him, remaining silent for a moment before finally deciding to ask, "Do you have a spirit inside you?"

He raised an eyebrow. "A spirit inside me? What made you think that?"

"I heard you talking to someone earlier."

"Ah, so that’s what it’s all about." He nodded. "So you have a spirit inside you, I see..."

She instantly flinched. "H-How do you know!?"

"Hahahahaha... It wasn’t that hard, actually. I’ve noticed that you’ve seemed troubled for a while. Your expression made it look as if you were constantly getting angry and arguing with someone, even though you weren’t saying anything. That, together with your question, told me everything I needed to know." He smiled teasingly.

She looked at him seriously. "You can’t tell anyone!"

He shook his head. "I wasn’t planning to, anyway."

She remained silent for a moment, as if contemplating whether to believe him or not, but in the end, she simply sighed.

"So, do you also have a spirit inside you?"

He shook his head. "No."

"Then who were you talking to?"

"That’s a secret." He chuckled.

"You!"

"Me, what?"

"Humph..." She turned her head to the side.

"So, about the spirit inside you. Who is it?" he suddenly asked.

"And why should I tell you? I don’t see you telling me your secrets!" She said in a mocking tone.

He nodded. "So, the spirit inside you is a demon, right?"

She trembled for a moment before acting as if nothing had happened. "I don’t know what you’re talking about."

He chuckled. "There’s no use pretending to be ignorant. I saw that little reaction, and even without it, I already know."

She looked at him. "What do you know?"

He took the last bite of his sandwich, slowly chewing it.

She became increasingly annoyed. "Spit it out already!"

He gulped down the last bite before chuckling again. "You seem to have a problem, princess. You get annoyed too easily. You should consider meditation."

Another vein bulged on her forehead. "JUST SAY IT ALREADY!"

"Hahahahahaha! Okay, okay." He raised his hands in surrender. "That energy you used... I can clearly feel that it’s demon energy."

"How can you feel that?"

"I just can."

"And don’t you suspect that I’m also an acolyte like that freak?" She pointed at Nathan’s decapitated body lying nearby.

He shook his head. "No. His energy is polluted, unlike the pure energy of real demons. Yours is different, much purer than his. But something is still strange about it. I’m not sure what it is, but it’s slightly different from the energy of real demons."

She suddenly stood up and took a step forward. "Wait, wait, wait! Hold up! Did you see real demons before?"

He looked up at her. "Yes."

"Where!?" She took another step.

"In another dungeon." He didn’t see any reason to hide that fact.

"And you expect me to believe that you managed to stay alive after encountering real demons!?"

He slowly stood up and took a step toward her, closing the distance until they were standing right in front of each other, looking into each other’s eyes.

"Not only have I met them, but I’ve also killed quite a few." He flashed a wide smile. "And you, dear princess, are growing more suspicious by the minute."

He extended his hand, grabbed her chin, and raised it slightly.

"Should I kill you too?"

Lilith shivered for a moment but soon noticed the teasing glint in his eyes. Deciding not to back down, she pushed even further.

"Why don’t you do it, then, if you’re so capable?"

She raised her head even more until their noses were almost touching.

"Come on, do it." She smiled.