The Paladin in the Abyss-Chapter 698 - 722: Dwarf’s Intuition

Chapter 698 -722: Dwarf’s Intuition

“But we have limited time,” Lancelot said, somewhat distressed, “There are still three Demon Refinements in the Volcano Fortress. Although Tijana said it’s not a problem, if the demons just hold one at the gate and the other two attack the Flame Palace, she definitely won’t last long…”

“We’ll just search quickly, it won’t take too long!” Bruto hurriedly waved his hand, “My intuition tells me there really are great things here! Give me five minutes… no, three minutes will be enough! And this isn’t Visuvius’s treasure vault, whatever it is won’t know, so we can just take it directly…”

Lancelot hesitated slightly. His Spirit Perception was mainly effective in detecting creatures with strong auras. It was also not bad for finding objects imbued with nature’s spiritual energy, but Bruto had a better nose for finding precious metals and gemstones. If he said there were valuable items, they probably were.

“Alright, just three minutes,” Lancelot finally nodded, “But be careful. This place is, after all, a prison for death row inmates and it seems to have been forgotten for a long time, all ideal conditions for producing strong curses. If you really find something, don’t rush to use it or activate it. Wait until we’re back in a safe environment to assess its effects…”

“Of course!” Bruto pulled out a pair of exceptionally heavy blacksmith gloves from his backpack, “Made of asbestos, with four layers of lead lining inside. With these, even the stomach acid of a Giant Dragon wouldn’t stop me from plunging my hands into it…”

“Giant Dragon’s stomach acid might just corrode your hand, but it won’t make arrows flying past turn and hit your face, or make shadows under your feet materialize and trip you up,” the Half-elf Cursed Swordmaster warned. “It never hurts to be cautious.”

“Okay, okay, got it!”

The Dwarf said this but had already started running. Trusting his strong sense of perception, he ran straight to a prison cell. With his hands, he easily created a large hole by pulling apart the already decayed metal bars.

His companions crowded around and found a skeleton lying on the ground inside. The size was similar to an ordinary human’s, but it had a head that resembled that of a Viper on its neck. Despite the creature clearly having been dead for years, its terrifying skeleton still evoked a deep unease in the watchers.

However, this obviously did not stop the treasure-seeking Dwarf. He fiddled with the ashes beneath the skeletal remains and soon, a flash of gemstones caught everyone’s eyes. Bruto hurriedly quickened his pace and soon pulled out a ring set with a deep green gemstone. In the darkness, the ring emitted a dim green light, indicating it was truly a magical item—a reason it had resisted the ravages of time. All magical items, irrespective of the strength of spells attached, do not degrade over time unless left in a Dead Magic Zone, where they would deteriorate just like any ordinary artifact. But who would commit such a wasteful act?

“My intuition tells me that this thing was originally in the stomach of that body, and it fell out to the ground many years later,” Alamir commented with his arms crossed. “If I were you, I definitely would not wear it on my hand right now.”

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“In the stomach, huh? It’s better than I expected,” Bruto chuckled and shook his head, then handed it over to Lancelot, “Here, you keep it for now. Let’s have Kalalin look into what it’s used for later on.”

“Alright,” Lancelot nodded. “Is this the treasure you sensed?”

“No,” Bruto shook his head, “But it should be nearby. I’ll keep looking…”

In the second room, there was nothing, and the Dwarf circled inside before eventually turning over a small pouch from a pile of ashes.

“Ha! A Dimensional Bag!” Bruto excitedly showed his discovery to everyone, “There might be some good stuff in here!”

“Wait a minute!”

Lancelot suddenly spoke up to warn them, as his Spirit Perception had suddenly become very uneasy, as if he had just heard a terribly bad idea. Fortunately, the Dwarf’s previous remark was merely seeking his approval, and he hadn’t actually done anything yet.

“What’s wrong?” Bruto asked, startled, throwing the bag onto the ground, “Is there something wrong with it?”

Lancelot didn’t answer but produced a blue Sword Aura from his hand, slicing off a metal rod over four feet long from the gate at the entrance. He carefully grasped one end of the metal rod, using the other end to pry open the bag, and then slowly inserted the rod into it.

Initially, the bag behaved like a normal Dimensional Bag, sucking in the front end of the metal rod, but it only went in about a foot deep before stopping. Then, Lancelot felt a pushing force in his hands as the bag ‘spat’ out the metal rod, and he also sensed a wave of cold spiritual fluctuation, as if the bag was very dissatisfied with this ‘meal’.

“By Moradin’s beard!” the Dwarf exclaimed in surprise, “What is this damned thing? I almost reached my hand inside it…”

“It definitely isn’t a Dimensional Bag,” Alamir said with certainty, “and I would never let any part of my body get close to that opening, not even a hair.”

“I have a pretty good guess where the prisoner in this room went,” Lancelot shook his head, “but this is indeed a magical object, perhaps Kalalin can tell us more…”

As Lancelot spoke, he conjured a vine as thick as a finger from the ground. The vine, like a living rope, tightly bound the opening of the bag and continued to grow, passing the bag to the Human Knight’s hand. Lancelot dared not store it in his Dimensional Bag but hung it on his belt. His True Yuan continuously energized the vine securing the opening, ensuring the vines stayed tight, and any abnormal movement from the bag would be immediately sensed by him.

“This should be fine now,” Lancelot gently patted the bag, “How about it, Bruto? Do you feel anything?”

“Yes, this time I’m absolutely sure!”

The Dwarf affirmed vehemently, prying open the metal gate of the third cell. The prisoner this time seemed to be a human, at least there were no abnormalities visible on the skeleton. It wore handcuffs at the wrists, and Bruto quickly found the object that had attracted him since the start — a gemstone nestled in the skull of the corpse, radiating multicolored brilliance. The Dwarf grabbed the skull, shook it, and the gemstone fell out of the eye socket, caught in his hand.

“Ha! A Thief’s Stone!” Bruto called out happily, “And it’s so big!”