Chapter 152 The Potion's Vault
The Demon Samael led us into the underground hallway, which was lit up by countless lamps set on the walls.
After a few seconds, we noticed a large Vault door in front of us, as well as two demons guarding it.
!?
"Sir Samael? What exactly are you doing here? And who is that demon behind you?" One of the security guards inquired, furrowing his brows.
"You're already aware that you can't bring anyone here, right?" The other guard said.
'Pftt, Hahaha—die, you bastards, those were your final words,' Samael thought inwardly, grinning evilly.
!?
And to back up his claim, two shurikens appeared out of nowhere and punctured both the guard's necks.
"Ahkk" They were dead in an instant.
Samael then advanced and unlocked the vault door by entering a passcode.
Creek—
"Is this it? Are the potions kept here?" Irethiel interrogated him.
"Yes, this is where the potions and money are kept," Samael replied quickly.
"OK, you stay outside," Irethiel remarked as she walked past him, and Ares followed close behind.
!?
'Why is she allowing her human slave to follow her and instructing me to wait outside?' Samael pondered inwardly.
"...But that human bastard is terrifying, no wonder she drags him around," he said to himself, shrugging it off.
***
As we entered the room, we were greeted by a significant number of potion bottles housed in boxes.
The potions were blue and came in little glass bottles.
"Whao, there are a lot of boxes of potions here, how are we going to move them? Will it fit in your storage ring?" Irethiel asked as she turned toward me, both fists on her hips.
"Well, let me see how much I can store in my inventory," I mumbled, controlling the potion bottles with telekinesis.
Tud—Tud—Tud
The potion bottles began to shake before rushing toward me, and as they got closer, I began placing them in my inventory.
But, to Irethiel, they appeared to vanish into thin air as they approached me.
"....."
I kept storing them until the entire room was empty in a matter of minutes.
Surprisingly, my inventory was large enough to hold all of the potions.
'I still don't know what my storage limit is.' I pondered as I drank a mana potion.
"...Your inventory stuff never ceases to amaze me!" Irethiel stated and continued to speak after a brief pause, "There is another door ahead, do you want to examine what's in it?" She asked.
"Sure, let's go. But I already know there'll be money in there," I replied as I reached the door.
I then entered the same passcode that Demon had previously used, and the passcode appears to be the same as the door unlocked.
Creek!—
As I pushed open the door, we were greeted by an enormous mound of gleaming gold coins that filled the entire room.
"...."
"...I'm curious how these savage demons managed to amass such a large sum of money!" Irethiel remarked with a surprised expression.
"This is not the amount of money that can be accumulated in a few days, implying that they have been amassed here for years," I stated.
"Do you want to keep it?" Irethiel inquired.
"Though I am already wealthy to the point where I don't know where to spend my money...but there is no such thing as enough money," I responded with a smile.
"Agh, how long will it take to store this all?" Irethiel grumbled.
"That depends—" I was about to respond when the system's notification sound interrupted me.
Ding!—
!?
[Would you like to add the gold coins in this room to your inventory?
YES NO.]
"...."
Of course, I chose YES!
And then, as if by magic, every single gold coin in the room vanished into thin air and was placed in my inventory.
Irethiel was left dumbfounded by this and was now staring at me with her mouth wide open.
I disregarded her expression, my gaze drawn to a gleaming black crystal lying alone in the now-empty room.
"...What exactly is that?" I mumbled and took it up.
Ding!—
[Crystal of sacrifice obtained!]
As soon as I picked it up, I heard the system notification again.
"Crystal of sacrifice?" I said as I examined the black hexagonal crystal in my palm for a bit before looking up its description.
[CRYSTAL OF SACRIFICE:
Info: The Crystal of Sacrifice is a powerful and ancient artifact that is supposed to contain the essence of all that has been sacrificed or lost.
The crystal is said to be able to magnify the power of sacrifices made to it, bestowing enormous magical power on its bearer in return.
To use the crystal, a ritual must be performed in which blood, magic, or life force is sacrificed to it.
Some say that the sacrifice must be made willingly and with a pure heart, while others claim that any sacrifice, no matter how dark or wicked, will be accepted.
Despite its power, the Crystal of Sacrifice is also said to be cursed, as those who use it risk being consumed by the darkness within.]
....
....
"...I discovered something unexpected and intriguing," I remarked with a grin.
"Hmm? What is that crystal you're holding?" As she neared me, Irethiel inquired.
"It's just a regular crystal," I said, immediately placing it in my inventory and continued, "oh, and take this!" I said as I tossed a red crystal ball toward her.
Catch!—
She quickly grabbed it and inquired, "What is this?"
"I found it in that Zorgoth's corpse," I explained.
Irethiel looked at the red crystal ball for a moment before it turned to a translucent white.
!?
"It was his residual life energy," Irethiel explained, sensing my confusion.
"It resides in high-ranking demons that acquired powers from the demon lords using their blood," she added.
"...I see, so the red crystal ball has turned white because you drained its energy?" I inquired.
"Yeah," Irethiel agreed with a nod.
"Will it assist you in regaining your previous strength?" I inquired, fascinated.
"...This small amount of energy makes no difference," she replied.
"Isn't something better than nothing?" I said with a smile and made my way to the exit.
"...."
"...well, if you put it that way, you're not wrong," she murmured to herself before adding, "Anyway, could you please give me one of those disguise potions? I'd like to try it to see how well it works," she said as she trailed behind me.
"Didn't you learn your lesson about not trusting a demon? Who knows, there might be some side effects from consuming it," I remarked.
"...."
"...Then why are you bringing all those potions with you if you didn't want me to use them in the first place?" She inquired, irritably.
"I never said I wouldn't let you use them, did I?" I answered.
"Eh? So what are you planning? why don't you get to the point and say it directly?" Irethiel asked frustrated.
"...I'll send a sample of this potion to Aegis so she can verify if there's anything suspicious about it, and you know I'm doing this for your own good, right?" I said.
"Tsh, I guess there's no place for selfless people anymore in this cruel world," I commented while shaking my head in disappointment...
"...."
Irethiel merely remained silent when she heard me and gave me a blank face.
'Is he referring to himself as a selfless person? His shamelessness knows no bounds!' Irethiel reflected inwardly.
***