Chapter 646: Partnership
"Although your words make sense, I don't want to use the third ability unless I was pushed into a cornered situation," Charles said while shaking his head and was about to put the sword into his space ring but stopped as he noticed resistance from the ancient long sword with a golden hilt.
"She doesn't like to be stored in a space ring or any other dimensional ring. You must carry her around all the time." Azoth said.
A look of annoyance appeared on his face.
"Can't she transform herself into a ring or bracelet?"
"Unfortunately, no. But Grace can disguise herself perfectly and won't even attract the attention of a Divine. So, you don't need to be scared of being chased by multiple powerhouses." Azoth said in a reassuring tone.
On the other hand, Charles heaved a deep sigh, stored the Moonfire Scimitar into his space ring, and put Grace on his waist.
"Although this sword looks troublesome, I'll take it instead of letting it rotten in this dungeon," Charles said calmly, shifting his attention towards the palace entrance hall.
As he stepped into the hall, he was immediately struck by its impressive features and intricate details. The entrance hall was typically designed to be spacious and welcoming. It had a high ceiling and expansive dimensions, creating a sense of grandeur. The hall also appeared rectangular, leading to other areas of the palace. Ornate stucco appeared on the ceilings and walls, featuring motifs such as floral patterns, geometric designs, and heraldic symbols.
The hall was illuminated by three elegant golden chandeliers suspended from the ceiling. These lighting fixtures provide a warm and welcoming glow, enhancing the overall ambiance of the space. The floor of the entrance hall was covered in intricately patterned tiles, adding to the visual appeal of the hall and creating a sense of durability and solidity.
The entrance hall's walls were adorned with tapestries, paintings, and other forms of artwork. These pieces depicted a different civilization's historical events, their families, and even scenes of battles of legendary beings, adding a touch of beauty and cultural significance to the space. Within the entrance hall, Charles also saw a designated area for receiving guests near the bifurcated staircase and noticed multiple sofas were arranged in order.
While impressed by the beautiful architecture, Charles quietly walked in and soon asked a question.
"So, there are more guardians in the First Layer? What is your purpose?"
Azoth closely walked by his side and spoke casually.
"Although I can't tell you the purpose of this Dungeon, this place has both opportunity and danger. And the reason for multiple guardians within the First Layer is mainly the gateway to the outside worlds. Only those who form an agreement with the Guardians in the First Layer can enter and exit this Dungeon. Once you move to the next layers, only one person will act as a guardian for each layer and will not interfere or interact with any participant. And don't even try fighting any of them if you don't want to see the next moment."
Her final sentence appeared more like a stern warning to Charles.
Charles nodded as he continued to walk towards the bifurcated staircase and asked the next question.
"Do I have to enter the Second Layer now? Or can I enter whenever I want?"
"It's your choice. After you become a Celestial Key Holder, you'll become more like a half-member of this Dungeon. That's how you can enter this Dungeon and even invite some friends to join you." Azoth responded while creating a crystalline key out of thin air and gave it to him.
"Usually, I never showed interest in getting involved with participants from different worlds and only contracted with two persons for hundreds of thousands of years. But around 400 years ago, one of the guardians contracted with a newly arrived elf and managed to leave the Dungeon. To be precise, he defied the Dungeon's ********* with the help of this Elf and escaped. Like me, after that incident, all other guardians also started showing more interest in the new participants and thinking of a way to escape this confinement."
Upon hearing those words, Charles could only think of one person.
"Sun God Abium, huh? He is truly a troublemaker."
"Yes! He is the one that changed the law of this Dungeon and even caused great chaos in the Seventh Layer!" Azoth abruptly paused for a moment and soon asked curiously.
"But how did you know it was him?"
"I'm from the same world as he is staying right now. And the period you mentioned earlier also corresponds with the time he arrived at the Edhen World. So, I made a rough guess." Charles said as he sat on the nearby sofa and continued as he crossed his legs.
"But I never expected his arrival to this place." In truth, Charles had been pondering how the Sun Church got its hands on a new Celestial Key 100 years ago. But after hearing Azoth's words, he could easily guess it was Abium's doing.
'Although I don't understand his intention, I will utilize this chance.' While thinking, he turned his attention toward Azoth and spoke.
"I got what you are thinking. Although I'm weak now, I'll grow stronger in the future. As long as you help me with something, I'll try to bring you out of this confinement."
Azoth also sat on the opposite sofa and nodded.
"I'll do as long as it is within my limitation. In return, I want you to reach the Thirty-Seventh Layer of this Dungeon within the next few millenniums and get your hands on an artifact called 'Soul Confinement' in the Soul Guardian's possession. But you must be strong enough to stand toe-to-toe against a Low-Rank God."
"What is this Soul Confinement artifact? Moreover, how many layers does this Dungeon have?" Charles couldn't help but ask.
'I thought it was only a ten-layer dungeon, but I never expected it to be this many.'
"Soul Confinement artifact is a power to erase one's presence even from the taboo existence itself. If I want to leave this Dungeon, I must get my hands on that artifact and change its function. We'll talk in detail about this later. The answer to your second question is that most Dungeons have around 70 layers, but this one only has around 59. And, some powerful Dungeons, like Abyssal Dungeon and Lost Tombs, have around 99 Layers and remained unconquered for ages." Azoth's words piqued Charles's interest more.
"Just who created this Dungeon? For what purpose?" He couldn't help but voice out his inner thoughts. Alas, Azoth remained mute and didn't utter a word about it.
'There are many wonders about these Dungeons. And the Mystic Towers also popped out a few millenniums ago and appeared more mysterious.' He quickly shook his head and decided to improve his strength first.
"Are any layers with Fire elemental creatures residing in this Dungeon? Or, I want some treasure with at least one or two fire-elemental laws." Charles went straight to the point after realizing that he wasn't in any position to change the future of this unfortunate guardian.
"You mean the Unique Fires?"
Azoth pondered for a moment and nodded her head.
"A layer with Fire elemental Creatures... If I remember correctly, the Boss of the Fourth Layer is an Infernal Bird called 'Devil Crow.' It's a peak Legendary Creature with insane comprehension over the Hellfire and can even turn the whole layer into hellish fire. Wait, there must also be another strange artifact within this layer that can erase one's memory using some mysterious fire. Although it was our Fallen Lord's favorite item, it fell into this Dungeon along with the Divine Kingdom and must be hidden somewhere in this layer."
'Purple Fire?' Charles raised his eyebrows and asked further.
"Can you tell me more about this artifact? Is it an intellectual artifact like this sword?"
"Of course not." Azoth shook her head and continued.
"Intellectual artifacts aren't common as magical beasts, Charles. It's a nature artifact with the fusion of three elements hidden inside. Although it doesn't have a will on its own, its power can rival an intellectual artifact's power. And one of these fused powers is the strange fire with a memory-devouring ability." She waved her left hand as she spoke and created a realistic illusion.
A moment later, an image of a silver bracelet-like object with three beads appeared before his eyes. One bead appeared an eerie blackish color, the center appeared greyish, and the final was pure purple.
"This bracelet? It looks more like you would see anywhere in the market." Charles commented jokingly.
"Don't underestimate this artifact's power. Besides the purple flame and a powerful, strange dream ability, it has a unique power to devour an enemy's attacks. Now that I think about it, a book about this artifact's history was written by Lord Phobes in the palace library. You can go to the second floor and search for it on the third shelf." Azoth answered.
'It's a piece of excellent information.' Charles nodded with gratitude and asked further while talking out the parchment.
"Do you know what this place is? Is there anything important hidden there?"
Azoth took the parchment from Charles's hand and inspected it slowly. After some time, she shook her head and responded.
"Nothing much, I think. But if you want to check it out, you can explore that place within the next twenty days." Saying so, she returned the parchment to him and stood up.
After that, she told him to look for her on the third floor if he needed anything and disappeared from there.
