"You!"
Harriet was furious, but she knew very well that she was no match for Ethan.
And... the moment Charlie said, "Kill the person who possesses the Shadow of the Void", she had considered clearing the stage by killing Ethan or one of the maids beside him.
But who could have expected that everything would change faster than her plans?
"Brother Kaleb!"
Charlie let out a loud cry.
Harriet didn't even dare turn her head.
There was no need to ask. Kaleb was definitely beyond saving.
Although... She usually didn't get along very well with Kaleb, he was still from their district. They saw each other often and had worked together on several missions.
Watching one of her own people die under someone else's sword while being unable to do anything about it filled her with anger.
Yet she couldn't act on it.
She couldn't do anything at all.
Otherwise...
The next ones to die probably wouldn't be just Kaleb.
"Eh? The illusion really disappeared!"
Ethan didn't care about Kaleb's death at all. He even rubbed Daji's head, a slight smile on his face.
He had said it before, if he was going to help Daji get revenge, then he would definitely do it.
Sometimes it wasn't that revenge wouldn't come.
The time just hadn't arrived yet.
"The illusion disappeared?"
Hearing this, Harriet also looked up.
Just as Charlie had predicted, the moment the person possessing the Shadow of the Void died, the illusion instantly vanished.
The passageway was still the same passageway.
But the road ahead was no longer so deep.
There were only a little more than ten steps left before the end.
At the end stood a large empty hall.
In the center of the hall was a giant stone platform.
Beside the platform sat a platinum treasure chest.
Other than that, there was nothing else in the hall.
Only empty space.
"We really cleared it."
Harriet found it hard to believe, but she temporarily put aside her hostility toward Ethan and turned to walk down the stairs.
After all, the dead could not be brought back.
Even if she fell out with Ethan now, what would be the point?
"Sister Harriet!"
Tears filled Charlie's eyes as his lips shook while looking at Harriet.
For a moment, he seemed to have no idea what to do.
"Put Kaleb's body into the backpack," Harriet said without turning around. She took a deep breath and added, "After we get back, I'll report everything to the Lord and make sure he receives a proper burial."
———
[At the Bottom of the Stairs]
Ethan stood beside the giant stone platform and looked at the words carved into it.
After staring for a long time, he came to one conclusion.
"Yep, can't read it."
"..."
Harriet immediately didn't feel like talking anymore.
She had thought that after staring at the platform for so long, Ethan had figured out what was written on it.
Turns out he couldn't read it at all.
'Then what was the point of standing there looking at it for so long?'
"You open the chest. Don't say I'm cheating."
After moving his gaze away from the stone platform, Ethan said this to Harriet.
But actually... It wasn't true that he couldn't understand what was written on the platform.
After the illusion ended, he could see prompts again.
So it didn't matter whether he could read the writing on the platform or not.
He had the prompt.
[Shadow of the Void: The Shadow of the Void is the world's shadow. Unfortunately, no one knows where it is, and no one can catch it. No one even knows what it looks like. I searched for a long time and only managed to obtain a single remnant of it...]
What was carved on the platform was the origin of the Shadow of the Void.
However, Ethan didn't want to tell Harriet what he knew, so he simply claimed he couldn't read it.
Harriet could also see that the writing on the stone was not a language they recognized.
Naturally, she had no reason to doubt him.
"Alright!"
Harriet didn't waste any words.
She walked directly to the treasure chest, put on a glove first, and then lifted the lid open.
Ethan was standing beside the chest, so there was no way for Harriet to cheat.
Inside the platinum treasure chest...
There were four items in total.
A huge black longsword that looked extremely sharp.
A pair of white wings folded together.
Just judging from their size, they would probably be quite large when spread out.
At the base of the wings were many tiny blood vessels that kept wriggling.
They looked alive.
If Ethan guessed correctly, this was probably the Demon Wings that Mr. White had mentioned.
Or perhaps Angel Wings, since they were white.
But they all shared one thing in common.
If used too much, the wings would truly become attached to the user's body.
At that point, removing them would not be easy.
Besides the sword and the wings, there was also a pair of bracers in the chest.
They gave off a platinum-colored metallic shine and looked very solid.
In addition, there was a small transparent box in the chest.
Inside was a pitch-black pill that appeared to be some kind of medicine.
"According to our agreement, we split the contents of this treasure chest equally," Harriet hadn't expected the platinum treasure chest to appear the moment the puzzle was solved. The chance of leaving now was slim, so she could only grit her teeth and divide the loot with Ethan, "And I also promised that you get first pick of one item from this chest as repayment for saving my life."
"Then I won't be polite."
That meant that out of the four treasures in the platinum chest, Ethan could keep three of them for himself.
The one he left behind would go to Harriet. Fair enough.
"But let me make this clear first," Harriet looked nervous, but she still took a deep breath and said, "You can't pick up the items one by one to inspect them. Once you decide which one you want, you have to take it directly."
"No problem!"
Ethan naturally agreed to this reasonable request.
After all... he didn't need to pick them up one by one to know what they did.
Of course, there was no way he would tell Harriet that.
Rather than letting her think she was getting leftovers and making her unhappy, it was better for her to believe they were both making blind choices.
At least then she'd still have a bit of hope that she might get the best item.
It was just like buying lottery tickets.
The drawing happened an hour after ticket sales closed.
The odds of winning were even lower than the odds of getting hit by a car when going outside.
Yet because that tiny, tiny, tiny chance still existed, people continued spending money on tickets every round.
Wasn't that the power of hope?
[Breaking Sword: Just like its name, this sword can cut through any object. It is an extremely offensive weapon. However, it has one drawback. Once drawn, it must taste blood. Otherwise, the Breaking Sword will become a truly broken sword and suffer a certain degree of damage.]
[Demon Wings: Neural parasites are implanted into the wings of a White Rakshasa Bird. After half a month of breeding, when the neural parasites completely replace the nerves inside the wings, the wings are torn directly from the White Rakshasa Bird. The user only needs to place the Demon Wings on their back. The neural parasites will automatically burrow into the user's body and connect to their nervous system, granting the ability to fly.]
[PS: Demon Wings have a usage limit. Pay attention to the degree of parasite integration. Once the parasites become fully connected to the user's nervous system, the Demon Wings will permanently attach to the body and can only be removed through surgery.]
[Magic Reflection Bracers: These bracers look ordinary, but they possess a special effect, magic reflection. As long as someone casts a spell at you, if you use the bracers to block it at the right moment, the spell can be reflected. You might even deal a deadly blow to your attacker.]
[Underwater Breathing Magic Pill: This pill was specially developed by the greatest fishman master, Yumu, so that humans could also visit their beautiful underwater world. Once consumed, your body will grow gills capable of filtering oxygen from water. However, this change only works while underwater.]
All four items looked pretty good.
After reading the prompts, Ethan suddenly had a headache.
He had no idea which one he should leave for Harriet.
[T/N: I think bracers are the best choice here. Or just take it all.]
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