As the lid of the chest gave way, the cellar was flooded with a radiance that nearly blinded the Succubus. Inside, arranged in perfect order, were bars of pure gold, flanked by piles of coins and multi-colored jewels. The wealth gathered in this single trunk was staggering.
Holy crap... I'm rich! she choked out, euphoria washing over her.
This was the true "hidden treasure" Analysis had hinted at. In the current stage of the game, such a sum was an absolute fortune that other Demon Kings could only dream of. The system immediately began firing off notifications of the contents:
[OBTAINED: LEVEL 1 UNDEAD GEM X1]
[OBTAINED: LEVEL 1 EARTH GEM X1]
[OBTAINED: LEVEL 1 WATER GEM X1]
These gems were incredibly rare and valuable; they served not only as currency but, more importantly, as key components for advanced artifact forging and the construction of specialized base structures. Suddenly, another prompt appeared before Lilith's eyes:
[GOLD BARS DETECTED. DO YOU WISH TO CONVERT TO SYSTEM CURRENCY?]
"Yes! Convert everything!" she commanded without hesitation.
The shimmering bars vanished in violet sparks, and Lilith's money counter went wild.
[CONVERSION SUCCESSFUL. GOLD +1,500!]
Her wealth had increased by 1,500 gold pieces in one fell swoop! Combined with her previous earnings and the loot from the mage, Lilith now commanded a sum exceeding 5,000 gold coins.
This is incredible! she thought, laughing to herself in the darkness of the cellar. This hidden treasure is a hundred times better than that measly box that Mage left behind. Now I have everything: the plan, the materials, and a fortune to start with.
Lilith straightened up, and her tired, scorched wing seemed to stop aching under the rush of adrenaline. After stowing everything in her inventory, she turned and left the cellar, heading for their assembly point to announce the beginning of their true empire.
Lilith struggled to suppress a wide grin as she approached the gathering point near the entrance of the Ruins of Fallen Darkness, her powerful wings beating the air. From a distance, she spotted three familiar demonic silhouettes waiting on the rubble. As soon as she landed, kicking up a cloud of dust, the girls immediately surrounded her.
"I see that look on your face, Lilith!" Kala called out, resting her hands on her hips. "Don't tell me you actually dug something up back there?"
Lilith nodded with pride and quickly summarized the contents of the hidden cellar. When she mentioned the fifteen hundred gold coins and the set of rare gems, even the cool Lysandra raised her eyebrows in disbelief.
"Over five thousand gold total..." Lysandra muttered. "That puts us in the absolute top tier of all Demon Kings."
"Then we can finally go back!" Mina shouted, wanting to get away from this dead territory as quickly as possible.
At her words, the other girls coincided with a nod, and all four took to the sky, heading back to their home territory. During the flight, Kala noticed that Mina was acting unnaturally quiet. The small Succubus was flying slightly to the side, staring with strange fascination at her clenched hand.
"What've you got there, kid? Find a hairclip in that trash?" Kala asked, pulling level with her.
Surprisingly, Mina didn't take offense at being called "kid." She slowly opened her palm, revealing a strangely writhing, bright green cord. It looked like a vine, but it moved on its own, almost like a snake trying to sense its surroundings.
"I found it in one of the houses..." Mina whispered. "I don't know what it is, but I feel a weird tingling from it."
Kala, unable to restrain her curiosity, executed a lightning-fast mid-air maneuver and snatched the object from Mina's hand in one move. The green cord immediately wrapped itself tightly around her red talons, pulsing with a faint light.
"Hey! Give it back! That's mine!" an enraged Mina screamed, lunging at the warrior, but Kala easily evaded her attacks with aerial dodges.
"Relax, shrimp. Damn, it really looks like it's alive..." Kala muttered, inspecting the cord, but after a moment, when the object stopped pulsing, she lost interest and let Mina snatch it back.
Mina immediately hugged her treasure to her chest, huffing at Kala. "Mine! Not yours!"
The girl began playing with the rope during the flight. The object behaved fascinatingly—instead of hanging limp, it formed complex geometric shapes in Mina's hands as if it possessed its own intelligence. Mina's face was unnaturally tense, and her eyes shimmered with a strange light.
Lilith and Lysandra observed from a distance. Though the object looked mysterious, they didn't want to take Mina's new toy away, assuming it was just some magical trinket of the mage's. After a dozen minutes of flight, the familiar sight of the violet altar and the safe ruins of their base finally appeared.
Lilith landed with momentum near the violet altar, her hooves kicking up clouds of dust from the cracked floor. Her heart beat fast with excitement—finally, she could stop being just a "poultry dealer" and become a true architect of her kingdom. With trembling hands, she unfurled [Blueprint: Bone House], but her enthusiasm immediately hit an invisible wall of system requirements.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
[Construction cannot begin. Missing required resources.]
Gold: 5,142 / 300 (Met)
Undead Gem: 0 / 1 (Missing)
Wood: 0 / 20 (Missing)
Stone: 0 / 30 (Missing)
Lilith furrowed her brow, feeling a slight sting of irritation, but quickly remembered her find. She reached into her inventory and pulled out the Undead Gem. The object pulsed in her hand with a sickly, greenish light. It was a polished crystal the size of an apple that felt ice-cold to the touch, and within it swirled a thick, dark mist resembling trapped souls.
As soon as she placed the gem on the ground beside the altar, the icon in the system menu immediately turned green.
[Undead Gem: 1 / 1]
"Alright, first step down," Lilith muttered, squaring her shoulders and looking at her companions with a broad smile. "Girls, no time to waste! If we want an army of laborers, we have to build them a home first."
She turned to Kala and Mina; the latter was still kneading the green cord in her fingers, looking as if her mind had drifted far, far away.
"The plan is simple! Lysandra and I are flying to the woods to fell the best trunks. In the meantime, you two find giant stone blocks in these ruins and lug them back here. Once the system 'counts' them, we start building!"
Mina immediately pouted, her green eyes flashing with displeasure. "Whaaaat? I have to carry boulders? My delicate hands weren't made for..." she started complaining in her shrill voice, but she didn't get to finish.
Kala, without a word and with a predatory glint in her eye, grabbed her from behind by the neck, nearly lifting the small demoness off the ground.
"We don't have time for your tantrums, brat," the red-haired warrior snarled, baring her fangs. "The faster we build this, the faster you can go back to licking your string or whatever it is you're doing now. Move it!"
Mina squeaked, kicking her legs as Kala began dragging her toward a rock pile. Lilith exchanged a knowing look with Lysandra. The White Succubus nodded, her form again beginning to emanate the cold energy of readiness.
"Let's fly," Lysandra said shortly.
The two took to the air, cutting through the sky with powerful wings and heading straight for the black wall of the Darkness Woods to secure the final pieces of the puzzle needed to create their first dark outpost.