Chapter 382: Golden Chest
But before that, Charles cast [Multi-vision] skill on himself and checked the possible futures. Soon, a grim look appeared on his face.
'As I thought, she is indeed prepared for such sneak attack.' But he didn't get anxious, though. Instead, he took out a silver pocket watch from his space ring, moved his thumb towards the crown area, and pressed it with a click!
It was the Star Watch's [Fog of Time] skill!
The next instant, an invisible power came out of the pocket watch and spread in all directions. Soon, the mysterious power entered Ivory's Inner World and her consciousness and tried to erase her memories about Charles. A similar thing happened to Felix as well!
For a moment, both of them stopped their battling and shifted their attention to the foreign power. Then, Ivory and Felix used their full wisdom power and blocked it from invading further. Ivory soon noticed that it was the power of 'past' time and became deadly serious.
'No good! I'm losing my focus.' Before she could think further, some power entered her consciousness and started erasing her memories about Charles. Alas, she still maintained her calm and focused her full attention on her consciousness.
Meanwhile, Charles zeroed his gaze on Ivory, raised his hand, and pulled his hand towards his chest. The next instant, all those thousands of invisible strings suddenly moved and completely bound Ivory's body. Not only that, but his dagger artifact also moved at a fast speed and directly penetrated deep into her nape!
By the time Ivory noticed the attack, it was already too late!
The next second, she stumbled forward and soon fell on the courtyard's altar. But what happened after caused Charles to open his eyes wide.
As Ivory fell on the floor next to the courtyard altar, her body ignited on its own and started burning in a crimson fire! Soon, not even ashes were left behind!
Using this opportunity, Felix managed to erase the foreign power and then shifted his attention towards Charles. But instead of showing an arrogant expression, he showed a grim look. The main reason for that was because of the Starfall Codex magic book!
A while ago, he clearly remembered that it was within his hand. But when the foreign power invaded his consciousness, not only did he lose that book, but he also didn't remember how he lost it!
'What did he do?' Confusion appeared on his face.
"You don't get it, do you?" Charles asked with a mischievous smile on his face.
"What did you do?" Felix asked, showing wariness and confusion on his face.
In the meantime, Charles smiled lightly and shook his head. Simultaneously, he conjured a ball of chaos fire and burned the Starfall Codex magic book without hesitation.
"Farewell." He said to Felix and started walking towards the Temple's entrance.
In the meantime, Felix tried to do something, but his Incarnation broke into countless pieces. At that moment, his other two undead skeletons also stopped moving and fell like lifeless skeletons. Not only that, but their weapons also broke into pieces and then disappeared.
On the other hand, Charles continued to walk further and soon arrived at Temple's entrance. He then stepped into the hallway and glanced at the surroundings. Unlike the other temples hallway, this one's appeared much larger. The only thing that appeared in his vision was rock pillars supporting the tall ceiling and portraits of the Rebirth Star.
But as he looked deeply, he noticed that the whole floor, ceiling, and pillars were inscribed in mysterious magic circles!
He activated his [Arcane Eyes] skill and studied the surrounding magic circles for a few seconds. The mode he studied, the more he felt something was off about the whole Temple.
"T-This looks more like a gigantic net! Moreover, they are connected to the sanctum," He muttered in a solemn tone.
Charles then avoided the magic circles, walked past the pillars, and soon reached the sanctum. A bronze double door appeared in front of his sight. Parts of the door appeared painted while the other half remained clean. But Charles sensed a mysterious invisible power appeared around the door and seemed to be protecting it.
He also saw a lock at the center and frowned. But a moment later, he released a single invisible string, moved it into the keyhole, and started unlocking the lock. A few seconds later, a metal clicking noise echoed in the sanctum's entrance, followed by a loud bang.
A moment later, the bronze double door opened on its own and revealed what was inside the sanctum.
But just as he was about to step inside, a cold female voice echoed in his ears.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, mortal."
The voice was so familiar, which made Charles raise his eyebrows. He soon turned around, looked at the hallway, and saw a young elven woman standing next to a stone pillar.
"So, that protector's memories are true! You guys won't die, huh." He stared at Ivory with full of curiosity.
Meanwhile, she let out a chuckle and spoke.
"It's more like a curse to me, though. I can't even go out of this Temple."
She paused for a moment and then added with a smile.
"My job here is to protect the heart of the Fire Bird and wait for a suitable candidate to arrive. Although quite a few brave souls from different worlds came here, they still don't have the qualifications to inherit the heart. But you simply exceeded the common sense. During the fight, you only made one move but killed my Rank-5 clone! Also, you constructed the [Rebirth Flame] spell model. You are the right person to inherit the heart."
Upon hearing her words, Charles got shocked a little and then shifted his attention to the sanctum.
Meanwhile, Ivory also followed his gaze and looked at the altar table at the center of the sanctum.
A golden chest was placed on the altar table, and around it was filled with many unique elemental crystals!
Charles also noticed that the outside magic circles were interlinked and somehow connected to the golden chest!
'These elemental crystals appear to be supplying energy to the golden chest… Something feels wrong here.'
A wary look appeared on his face as he muttered inwardly.
"Is the Fire Bird's heart dangerous? Why did you create such powerful magic circle network to seal it in the golden chest?" He asked while locking his gaze on the golden chest.
At that moment, he felt two types of energy from inside the chest. One was pure like a radiant sun, while the other one was evil with full of wickedness and destruction. To be more precise, evil would be an understatement to describe that thing!
As he stared at the golden chest, Ivory took a step forward, erased the invisible power, and spoke.
"For the past few millenniums, the Fire Bird's heart is constantly burning the evil thing and suppressing its growth. Before the Fire Bird killed himself to create the connection bridge, he came here and placed his heart and the evil thing inside the golden chest. He just told me to find a suitable candidate to pass his inheritance. As for the evil thing, he said nothing about it." She paused for a moment and then added with a smile.
"Don't worry… I'll take that thing and store it somewhere else during the inheritance passing process."
