Chapter 69: A Leap of Faith

He jumped back onto Azreon, and they flew into the sky before he looked in the direction of the explosion.

Activating his dragon vision, he could barely make out something glowing in the distance.

"Guess we found out where he is."

’Probably, but we can’t be sure,’ Aura replied from the pouch.

He nodded. "I’ll go on foot from here. Azreon, you’ll stay here and keep watch over this body."

*ROAR!*

They dived down, and he started walking through the forest.

Not long after, he emerged from the forest into a clearing.

Looking ahead, he could see Lilith fighting a man surrounded by demonic energy.

There seemed to be a barrier surrounding the entire area.

’See those insects along the edges of the barrier? They must be what’s keeping it up.’

He nodded. He had already noticed that himself.

Silently approaching one of the insects, he sent Gwenor into it, quickly purging the demon energy from its body.

The barrier instantly disappeared, and he continued approaching the fight.

...

"So that’s how it happened?" Lilith widened her eyes at the revelation. "You were quite lucky to find that!"

"Indeed, my luck has been quite good recently." He nodded. "But I didn’t expect you to know so much about this. You already seemed to know about the acolytes and their technique for escaping death." He looked at her suspiciously.

"The spirit in my head told me a few things." She nodded.

"I expected as much." He smiled.

Soon, his mark started shining just as brightly as hers as the circle beneath them began glowing again. In just a moment, the entire circle was fully illuminated.

The barrier around them started dissipating.

They both stood on guard, preparing to confront the stone statues, but what happened next shocked them.

The stone statues didn’t rush to attack them at all. Instead, they lowered their weapons and returned to their original positions on either side of the door before becoming motionless again.

They looked at each other, both seeing surprise in the other’s eyes.

Chris sheathed his sword. "Well, that was easier than I expected. Let’s continue." He took a step toward the door, and Lilith followed.

"Hey, don’t you think all of this is strange?" she asked while catching up.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, all of this." She pointed at the circle and the stone statues. "Someone must have arranged everything! These stone statues, that barrier, the condition of answering questions... It must have been planned."

He nodded. "Indeed, that’s the only possibility."

"And you’re not curious at all?"

"I am quite curious, but it’s useless." He stopped and looked at her. "This tomb is centuries old. The ones who made it are either already dead or outside our reach. Whatever answers we want will have to wait."

She thought about it and nodded. "You’re right. Sorry."

"There is nothing you should be sorry about." He shook his head as he looked at the door in front of them. "Now, let’s see how to open this door."

He extended his hand and touched it.

As soon as his hand made contact, half of the door lit up with symbols, but it didn’t open.

"I think you should touch it too." He advised.

Lilith nodded before taking a step forward and touching the door herself.

*THUMP!*

The door thumped beneath their touch, sending a pulse through the room as it lit up completely.

*CRACK!*

It started opening.

Stepping into the newly opened room, Chris and Lilith observed their surroundings.

The room was very small and almost empty, except for a stone coffin in the center, on top of which sat two wooden cases.

They looked at each other before approaching the coffin.

"So this is where the supposed hero is buried? It’s kind of depressing," Lilith said as she looked around the room.

"Death is always depressing. What did you expect?" He approached the coffin and extended his hands to open the larger wooden case on top of it.

*CREAK!*

As soon as the case was opened, a white light illuminated the entire room.

He was surprised to see a beautiful sword lying inside. The sword constantly shone with light, giving it an almost ethereal appearance.

Suddenly, the beast pouch at his waist began to glow as Aura emerged from it in her small fox form.

She jumped onto the coffin and touched the sword inside the case. Her expression looked sorrowful.

Lilith was startled by Aura’s appearance, but then remembered the person Chris had been talking to earlier.

"You know about this sword?" he asked.

Aura remained silent for a moment before replying, "Yes. This sword was forged in Ael’Zoria many years ago."

He was intrigued. "Is there something special about it?"

"Naturally, it’s very special. The sword’s name is Cyth’vane, which means fiend-cutter, or demon-cutter. It was the first weapon forged specifically for the purpose of fighting demons."

"Oh? The sword must be of a high grade, right?" He became even more interested.

"Of course. It’s a Legendary-grade sword." Aura smiled.

"Legendary? Hiss!" He gasped in astonishment. Legendary-grade weapons were the highest grade in existence and were quite rare.

"And it’s not just any Legendary weapon, either." Aura shook her head. "It’s specifically made to be used with Gwenor. It can amplify it and make it even more deadly to demons," she explained.

"Really!? Isn’t this sword perfect for me, then?" His eyes widened as he grabbed the sword’s hilt.

"UUUUUUUUGH!"

He used all his strength, but still couldn’t lift the sword at all.

"Hahahahaha!" Aura laughed.

"What?"

"It’s just funny that you thought you could easily lift a Legendary weapon." She shook her head while snickering. "You’ll need a lot more strength if you want to wield this sword."

"Sigh... I knew it couldn’t be as good as it seemed." He shook his head in disappointment.

"It’s normal. Just store it in your storage ring. Once you increase your level further, you’ll naturally be able to wield it," she advised.

Nodding, he slowly closed the case before storing the entire thing inside his storage ring.

"It’s still a good thing." He nodded, satisfied.

"What happened to not taking treasures from a tomb?" Lilith teased from the side. "Have you decided to become a grave robber now?"

"Of course not." He shook his head. "This sword is practically tailor-made for me. If someone should use it, it should naturally be me." He patted his chest. "Swords are made to be used, not stored and forgotten. I’m doing a good deed by taking it. Trust me, it’s not that I want it. It would just be a pity to let it collect dust here."

"That... is the most shameless thing I’ve heard in my life." She shook her head in exasperation. "And you still made it sound like you’re the one losing out."

"Meh... Don’t worry about it." He smiled as he opened the other, smaller case.

*CREAK!*

Instantly, violent dark energy spread in all directions, causing their clothes to flutter.

Looking inside the case, he saw an intricate hourglass carefully placed within.

It was encased in gold detailing, and there was no sand inside it. Instead, a purple liquid filled the glass.

He raised an eyebrow. He definitely hadn’t expected something like this. He instantly understood that it must be a demon artifact, but he hadn’t expected it to look like that.

He extended his hand to grab it, but soon felt a stinging pain in his palm.

"Hmm..." He coated his hand in Gwenor before reaching out again.

This time, he was able to lift it.

Turning it around, he examined it.

Lilith, standing to the side, wore a troubled expression as she looked at the artifact in his hand. She felt a strange calling from it.

’*That’s it! That’s what we were looking for! You must take that artifact.*’ A voice rang in her head.

She stayed silent.

’*Don’t you feel it? It’s calling for you.*’

’That doesn’t mean anything. It might be dangerous.’

’*Just trust me this one time! You need that artifact to unleash your full power. It was practically made for you.*’

’Made for me? Explain!’

’*I can’t tell you. Just trust me this once!*’

’If you want me to trust you, at least explain what the artifact does!’

’*Sigh... Okay. It’s like this...*’

Chris was still examining the demon artifact. But no matter how closely he looked at it or how many times he tried to scan it with his system, nothing came up.

"Do you know anything about this?" He looked at Aura.

"No." She shook her head. "I can only speculate. From what that acolyte said, it should be something that can control demonic energy in others, but I really don’t know."

"Can I ask you something?" Lilith suddenly approached them.

"What?" He looked at her.

Lilith looked troubled for a moment before finally deciding to ask, "Can... can I have that artifact?"

He raised an eyebrow and smiled. "So you finally decided to ask?"

"You knew I would ask?" She was surprised.

"I can see your changing expressions from a mile away." He chuckled. "It’s not impossible to let you have it. But first, you must explain what it does and what you want to do with it."

"No! You shouldn’t let her have it! Don’t trust her!" Aura yelled from the side.

"Be silent, little fox. Do you think I don’t see that you have some personal grudges involved here? I appreciate your advice, but don’t let your grudges from the past dictate your judgment. I’ll decide for myself whom to trust." He looked at her seriously.

"You! Humph!" Aura turned around and said nothing more.

"You will really let me have it?" Lilith widened her eyes.

"I never said that." He shook his head. "First, explain."

She nodded. "That’s a demon artifact, as you already know. Only demons can use it. It allows demons to awaken dormant demonic energy in other beings and, through that, control them."

He nodded. "I expected as much. Is that all?"

She nodded. "That’s all I know."

"So you want me to give it to you so you can more easily control people?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Of course not! I want it because it will help me find the acolytes hidden in my country. It will also help me control them!"

"You can control even acolytes with this?" He was surprised.

"Yes." She nodded.

"Interesting." He thought for a moment. "Okay, I’ll give it to you."

"You will?" Both Lilith and Aura widened their eyes.

"Look, I don’t know why, but I feel like I should trust you. I have only two conditions." He raised two fingers.

"What conditions?" Lilith looked at him attentively.

"First, you must promise not to use it on innocents."

"I promise." She nodded instantly.

"Second, I may need your help in the future. If things go wrong, we might need that artifact to find acolytes in other countries."

"I agree." She nodded again.

"Then here you go." He extended his hand. "But remember, if I find out you’ve broken your promise, I’ll definitely kill you." He said in a serious voice.

"I understand." She extended her hand and took the artifact.

*THUMP!*

The moment she grabbed it, the artifact thumped, and a pulse of energy spread in all directions, causing their clothes to flutter again.

"What was that?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I... I don’t know." She shook her head.

He shrugged. It didn’t seem to be anything dangerous.

"Why, Chris? Why did you give it to her? She’s clearly a demon, or associated with them. You’re taking a huge risk!" Aura yelled.

He turned toward her. "I will always trust my instincts. They’ve kept me alive through the years and all the dangers I’ve encountered. Even when they’ve led me into dangerous situations, something good has come out of it." He spoke seriously. "And my instincts are telling me to trust her."

"And what if they’re wrong?" she asked.

"If they’re wrong, I’ll deal with the consequences myself."

"Sigh..." She sighed before turning into a streak of light and entering the beast pouch again.

"Thank you." Lilith smiled, and even the way she looked at him changed slightly.

"Just don’t make me regret it." He shook his head.

[Level increased.]

[Contracted beast’s level increased.]

His eyes widened at the message.

"What is it?" Noticing his shocked expression, Lilith asked.

"Azreon is in a fight. Let’s hurry outside!"