...

Meanwhile, unaware of the Night Lord's arrival in Vostracane, Izroth descended the last step of the spiral staircase. He soon realized the further he moved away from the top step, the thicker the foul aura became.

When he reached the bottom step, there was a purplish-black miasma that permeated the room's environment. This miasma was the source of the sinister energy Izroth perceived.

Izroth was met with a simple wooden door. It looked as if one could kick the door lightly, and it would fall off its rusting hinges.

'Unlike the metal door at the entrance, this one contains no magic. It's just a plain wooden door. Yet, my Energy Vision Sense is unable to discern what's on the other side of it. Not to mention...'

Izroth's Soul Sense was going crazy internally. The last time his Soul Sense warned him of danger this great was when he came face to face with the arm of the Netherworld Envoy! Only this time, Izroth did not have the buff of divine power bestowed upon him by Tererestiaa to assist him.

'If what's on the other side of this door is causing my Soul Sense to react in such an erratic manner, it's best to take some precautions before I enter. I wanted to wait until I was safely outside of Malentansium territory before using it, but this place will have to do.'

Izroth accessed his inventory, and a few seconds later, a heavily concentrated wave of magic energy and mana emerged as a floating object made its appearance. It was the Blood Moon that Izroth "borrowed" from the Night King's Rite within the Netherly Unlit Grotto. But, its physical attributes differed from its previous state. There were no magic inscriptions or blood red color present. Instead, it resembled a giant black rock that lost its original splendor.

However, just because the Blood Moon's brilliance had vanished did not mean that it had gotten any weaker.

'This is beyond my exceptions. That Earl must be losing his mind after letting this slip through his fingers.'

Name: Blood Moon(Magical Item)

Rank: SS

Durability: ∞(Indestructible)

State: Inactive

Mana Force: 10,000

Mana Force Intake: Inactive

Usage: When in an active state, this item has the ability to draw in mana within its environment and produce its own «Magic Core». Activating this item requires it possesses a minimum of 200 «Mana Force» and provides the following effect(s):

-Produces x1 of the «Magic Core»'s listed below. The first «Magic Core» is created immediately. The user can set this item to «Recharge Mode».

-«Infant Magic Core»

Cost: 200 Mana Force per Magic Core

Recharge Time: 1 hour

-«Advanced Magic Core»

Cost: 1,000 Mana Force per Magic Core

Recharge Time: 24 hours

-«High-Grade Magic Core»

Cost: 3,500 Mana Force per Magic Core

Recharge Time: 3 days

-«Exceptional Magic Core»

Cost: 10,000 Mana Force per Magic Core

Recharge Time: 1 week

-«Heart of Magic»

Cost: 15,000,000 Mana Force per Magic Core

Recharge Time: 1 year

«Recharge Mode»: If enough «Mana Force» is available, this item will automatically produce a new «Magic Core» of the user's choice after the recharge time has ended. The user can also create an order list to have this item create a specific «Magic Core» at set intervals. Recharge times can be ignored, but the cost of «Mana Force» to produce the selected «Magic Core» will increase by 100%.

Special Note: This item does not belong in the hands of the dead and will drop upon the user's death.

The Blood Moon was not an S-ranked magic item, but SS-ranked! Although it was just one rank higher, the difference was massive. Not only that, but it was a rare production type magic item! As long as the Blood Moon's Mana Force Intake could keep up with its Mana Force consumption after extended use, Izroth would have a virtually limitless supply of magic cores at his disposal. The things he could accomplish with the Blood Moon would have most players salivating at the mere thought.

However, Izroth was a bit disappointed about one thing.

'It's a shame there is not an adequate amount of Mana Force for it to create a Heart of Magic.'

Izroth guessed that the Night King's Rite required a Heart of Magic for it to function properly. He was sure that it had finished being replenishing, so why was there only 10,000 Mana Force instead of 15,000,000?

Izroth speculated that the 10,000 Mana Force came directly from Salokin and Essirie. The remaining that was supposed to form the Heart of Magic was drawn in by outside sources of power. These outside powers were likely to be the Lunar Pool where the Blood Moon was submerged and from the Night King himself!

Of course, Izroth had no solid proof, and so it remained mere speculation. Fortunately, his luck was not all bad. There was plenty of Mana Force within the Blood Moon to produce the other available magic cores.

Izroth held the palm of his hands up as two rings slowly emerged from his skin—one from a finger on each hand. These rings were the main body of the Twin Lasting Epoch Sentinels.

'Its low durability is concerning, so I hope that I won't have to use it. But, I may have little choice in the matter.'

Izroth touched the hovering Blood Moon as the magic symbols on its surface lit up. With a single thought, the magic item entered into its active state.

Name: Blood Moon(Magical Item)

Rank: SS

Durability: ∞(Indestructible)

State: Inactive -u003e Active

Mana Force: 10,000

Mana Force Intake: Inactive -u003e +0.02 per second (Extremely Low)

...

After pondering for a bit, Izroth decided to use 1,000 Mana Force to create an Advanced Magic Core. Since the Twin Lasting Epoch Sentinels was on its last breath and had one use left at best, Izroth felt that it would be a waste to use a higher grade magic core to restore its energy.

'Interesting. This is the first magic item I've seen with an accessible interface.'

Once the Blood Moon was running, its interface window appeared in front of Izroth. There were multiple settings to arrange recharge times, a detailed chart of the Mana Force usage, and several additional features. However, Izroth pushed this to the back of his mind as his current focus was on producing a magic core.

Izroth quickly located the command for the Blood Moon to manually create magic cores.

〈System Alert: You are about to create x1 «Advanced Magic Core» at a cost of 1,000 Mana Force. Do you wish to proceed?〉

Izroth accepted without hesitation. After doing so, the Blood Moon slightly trembled as it emitted a faint red light. At the base of the magic item, a small hole no larger than one's fist formed as a perfectly spherical object flew out and levitated at the forepart of the Blood Moon.

This sphere was of modest size and could easily be situated in one's palm. Its exterior was like glass, and on the inside, saturated orange energy packed with mana swirled about freely. This item was an Advanced Magic Core.

Izroth grabbed the Advanced Magic Core and clasped it within his hands. In the blink of an eye, the magic core began to shrink until it disappeared into nothingness. Just like that, it had been wholly absorbed into his Twin Lasting Epoch Sentinels.

When Izroth checked the Twin Lasting Epoch Sentinels' energy status, it had gone from 0% up to 35%. Just as Izroth anticipated, a single Advanced Magic Core only supplied enough for one use of the magic item.

Izroth placed the Blood Moon back into his inventory as it once more became inactive. With that, his preparations were complete.

'Now, let's see just what you are.'

Izroth pushed open the wooden door as he stayed on guard.

Wooooosh..!

Immune!

〈System Alert: You are being suppressed by a strong level of energy!〉

〈System Alert: Checking Willpower...〉

〈System Alert: You resist the force of suppression!〉

Immune!

Immune!

Immu...

A mighty flood of miasma greeted Izroth as if it wanted to consume him. However, whatever its intended purpose, Izroth seemed to be immune to its effects.

At first, the room behind the wooden door was in total darkness. But, after the thick miasma rushed out, a faint red hue dimly lit the chamber.

Izroth's eyes immediately fell upon a tall statue of an unknown creature that stood approximately 10 meters high at the room's center. This statue was the source of that sinister aura.

'What is this thing?'

Izroth stepped into the room filled with deadly silence. Then...

Tap...

Creeeeeak...

... An eye of the statue slowly cracked opened. Within its gaze—a manifestation of absolute evil.