Scarlett and the others entered a dark room made of precisely cut gray stone and which looked like it had seen no living things passing through it for ages. The air was stale, with overturned shelves and tables spread out before them, covered in the dirt and dust that had accumulated over the long years.

Adalicia conjured a set of small orbs of light that lit up the space. The orbs were a curious sight on their own; somehow both incredibly bright in the light they provided, yet when you looked at them, they appeared little stronger than ordinary candles.

At the far end of the room, there were a couple of slab-like coffers next to a pile of what might have been broken magical equipment lying in the corner. Scarlett scanned across the walls, noting several empty sconces and some with cracked dark green crystals in them. Zuverian carvings were etched into the stone here and there as well.

Fynn pointed towards a long corridor leading out of the room. “The undead is down there.”

“Then let us first deal with it before we investigate this area,” Scarlett said.

They moved forward as a group, with Fynn and Shin at the front. As they reached the corridor’s mouth, Adalicia somehow made her light bend so that it didn’t travel too far. That was certainly convenient.

Scarlett pulled out her enchanted glasses and put them on, peering down the passage. There was a chamber beyond, consisting of a vast hall that had pillars running down the middle. Rows of stone seats were arranged in front of a grey dais that stood atop a platform at the head of the chamber, with a skeletal shape floating in the air above it. The figure was dressed in worn red robes, holding a long staff in its right hand.

It was this dungeon’s last boss. A lich.

Normally, an opponent like this would call for a bit of caution, but…

Scarlett glanced at Adalicia and the rest of her group.

Both pyromancy and lumomancy—one of Adalicia’s specialties—were counters to undead, and Scarlett’s party was pretty good at teaming up against lonesome opponents. Not to mention that Adalicia was a grand wizard. The woman might not focus on battle magic, but she was still a pretty powerful mage in her own right. In the game, a grand wizard or mage was at minimum level 60, so if Scarlett’s estimations were correct, Adalicia would either be similar to Garside in strength or stronger. Considering this dungeon wasn’t at the same level as the Howling Gale’s Haunt, they didn’t have too much to worry about.

She gestured for Fynn and Shin to proceed. Rosa used her magic to buff their group as the two young men moved ahead. Scarlett had already used the [Charm of Expedient Change] to equip everything but her [Tiara of Lost Benediction] and followed behind them.

The moment Fynn stepped foot into the chamber, the lich at the head of the room spun around. A pair of bright red eyes locked onto the young man, pure hatred in its gaze.

A blazing beam of light tore across the hall and engulfed its entire left arm. Large parts of its robes disintegrated under the attack, and its skeleton was left black and charred.

Scarlett turned to look at Adalicia. The woman’s tome was floating in the air beside her, and a set of runes dissipated into thin air in front of her hand. That had to have been [Radiant Surge], a spell that had existed in the game as well. It looked a lot more dangerous in person than it did in front of a screen.

The lich let out an enraged scream that echoed across the room. It raised its other arm and a green light formed around its staff. Three rays shot out from it, arching towards Shin and Fynn. Shin raised his shield and blocked two of them, but the blow forced him several steps back. Fynn managed to dodge the one aimed at him, sprinting through the chamber like a madman. Even the lich seemed shocked at the speed with which he reached it, trying to float back as the young man jumped to slash at it in the air. Several more spells were conjured up just to keep him in check, and the others in their party took the opportunity to close the distance themselves.

Another streak of light from Adalicia slammed into the lich’s side, burning even more of its robes and body. When Scarlett got close enough, she followed the attack up by forming a conflagration of flames that stuck to the lich’s upper half just as Fynn leaped up to strike at it from underneath once more.

It didn’t take long for their group to finish it off from there. Within a minute, what remained of the lich fell to the ground like a charred husk, leaving the chamber silent.

“That…was fast,” Allyssa muttered near Scarlett. The girl hadn’t been given much chance to do anything that fight.

“There still remain other undead in these ruins,” Scarlett said. “Though, in truth, they are likely to provide even less of a challenge.”

She looked around the space as she walked up to where Fynn and Shin already stood, next to the boss’ remains. The staff that the lich had used lay next to it, as well as what was left of its robes.

[Ruby Infused Warden Staff (Epic)]

{A staff infused with the rage of its caster, empowering attacks}

[Scorched Robes of Sorcerous Synergy (Epic)]

{This robe was once made of fine fabrics and steeped in powerful magic, but has since fallen into disrepair. What remains of it is but a shadow of what it once was}

Her eyes lingered on the robes and their tattered state. Not only were they old and fragile, but the fight really had dealt a number to them as well. She hadn’t cared much about holding back in fights like this before, since most items they found weren’t taken from the bodies of those they defeated, but this was a bit of a waste, wasn’t it?

The description still said the robes were epic-tier even after all the damage, but it had been the same back when she looted all of that Cabal Adept equipment. And only some of that had actually been sellable. In the future, it might be good to be more careful when possible.

…Hopefully this one wasn’t a lost cause.

For now, she instructed Fynn to place both items in the [Bag of Juham]. She would look over them later, but she didn’t have too much interest in keeping either. A staff was far too unwieldy to carry around, in her opinion. Even if it was incredibly powerful, she knew several other items she would prefer. And the robes would only be useful to her if she could transfer the enchantment to another piece of clothing. Something worth looking into, but considering their current state, she didn’t have high hopes.

She turned to the others. “Since we have dealt with the most immediate of the threats, we can search this area before we proceed to the next sections.” Adalicia’s interest seemed fixed on the dais on the platform where the boss had been. “Miss Mendenhall. You can, of course, do whatsoever you wish for the time being.”

The wizard gave her an appreciative smile before walking up to examine the dais closer.

Scarlett directed Allyssa and Shin to start going around the room and gather anything that looked valuable and like they could bring it with them. Modern archeologists would have despised her for her crimes against their craft, but she honestly didn’t care too much.

She brought Fynn and Rosa along as they returned to the first room, inspecting it closer. There appeared to be plenty of lootable things in here. At a closer look, not all the crystals hanging from sconces on the walls seemed cracked, so those would definitely be coming with them. Evelyne had told her Zuverian light crystals sold for a decent amount. The old magical equipment in the corner probably held some value to the various mage towers as well, even if some of it was broken. There were also plenty of smaller trinkets and baubles spread out on the shelves, including the occasional Zuverian gold coin.

While all of that caught her attention, her main focus was on the coffers at the end of the room.

She walked over to them, eyeing the symbols etched into the stone slabs on top of them. There were two coffers, each bearing the same designs. She didn’t understand Zuverian, but she knew roughly what to expect.

Calling over Fynn, she had him remove the slabs. The heavy stones slammed into the floor with loud thuds as he pushed them off, and clouds of dust spread through the room. Scarlett scrunched her nose for a moment as she waited for it to come to a rest, then took in the coffers’ contents.

Next to her, Rosa let out an impressed whistle.

The coffer to the left was filled with gleaming gold coins. Judging from how much Scarlett knew one Zuverian coin to be worth, she estimated that there was somewhere between 50 000 to 100 000 solars worth of gold here.

The second coffer didn’t hold any gold. Instead, there were only two items. A scale made of clear silver, unmarred by the passage of time but with no other notable features, as well as a small grey cube that held a clear surface.

[Scale of Reconciliation (Epic)]

{That which was once one may now be two, but there is always place for reunification}

[Cube of Instant Katabasis (Epic)]

{One may find themself facing an untenable situation, yet the one that has tomorrow always prevails}

While there were several reasons for Scarlett to keep exploring Zuverian ruins like this one, this here was the reason she had wanted to clear this ruin in particular. The second item, especially, was something she wanted in preparation for what they would do once Gaven returned from his mission.

She picked up both artifacts and placed them in her [Pouch of Holding]. Then she spent some time gathering up all the gold from the other coffer with Fynn’s and Rosa’s help. After that, they collected the rest of the items in the room before returning to the chamber where Adalicia and the others were.

The wizard was still standing up on the platform, leaning over the dais there as she inspected it. Scarlett told Fynn and Rosa to help Allyssa and Shin, then approached Adalicia.

The woman looked up as she came near, then gestured at the dais. “Do you know what this is?”

Scarlett looked down at it. Despite seemingly being made of simple stone, the design of the dais was fairly intricate. It had elaborate inscriptions covering most of its base and carved into its face was a mess of complicated lines and symbols written in the Zuverian tongue. There were a few cracks in the stone, and some of the symbols weren’t entirely legible, but it seemed in a better state than some of its surroundings at least.

“I do not,” she said.

“It’s a type of relic sometimes found in places like this one where the Zuver resided, often referred to as a Tabernacle. It’s believed that they are related to how the Zuver created the Kilnstones and other artifacts like them.” There was a certain passion in Adalicia’s voice as she ran a hand over the dais. “Unfortunately, no one has been able to completely decipher how they work. Most of the ones that have been found and successfully recovered have all been in relatively poor condition. The most well-preserved one is on the Rising Isle, and even that one has been worn down by time.”

Scarlett looked over the ‘Tabernacle’ once more. If that was how it was, then she did know of it. Not only had these relics been mentioned in some of the texts that she had studied about the Zuverian civilization since arriving in this world, but they had also been present in the game to some degree. It was thanks to one of these that you could reach Beld Thylelion if you were playing the good route.

Adalicia bent closer to the Tabernacle, studying a row of symbols at its center. “The expedition I was part of on the Rising Isle included both mages from Elystead Tower, the Ustrum Assembly, and the Isle. It’s been ages since something on the same scale was arranged, and part of our work actually involved these Tabernacles. I am far from what you might call an expert on them, but I do consider myself somewhat experienced.”

She pulled up the tome fastened to her waist, flicking to a certain page that had numerous sigils engraved on it. They glowed as she moved her hand over them, and some of the symbols on the Tabernacle started glowing in response.

“Oh? That’s curious…” the woman muttered. “It seems to alter its response on its own, for some reason. I wonder why that is…?”

Scarlett wasn’t sure exactly what was ‘curious’ about that, but Adalicia opened another page in her tome and started jotting things down with a pen she had gotten from somewhere.

“…From your description, it would seem this is a relic that most of the mage towers would desire access to,” Scarlett said.

“Hmm, I’m not sure how much there is to be learned from this one that we don’t already know,” Adalicia answered, not looking away from her notes. “The ones that have been encountered up till now have all had some rather complex safeguards, so there is only so much we can do with what limited tools we have. That said, other than the one on the Rising Isle, this is the most well-kept one I’ve seen, so there’s bound to be some interest.”

“Then I presume Elystead Tower will be eager for the opportunity to procure it for themselves, would they not? Before any other faction has the chance.”

The wizard paused, turning her head to look at Scarlett. A small smile formed on her face. “You’re most likely correct. Though I imagine those in charge of our finances won’t be as appreciative.”

“I am sure we can come to an agreement,” Scarlett said. She looked down at the Tabernacle.

It was too large for them to take with them. Removing it wasn’t an option, since it was most likely fastened to the platform beneath. However, they were the only ones aware of the location of these ruins, and Adalicia was unlikely to reveal it to anyone—even the people from her own tower—since they had an agreement. Scarlett only had to have Evelyne contact the people from Elystead Tower and tell them they would sell the information about this place to them first, as well as the Tabernacle in it, if they gave a good offer. All the annoying stuff could be left to the mages themselves this time.

She turned around to leave. “Continue here for as long as you wish. I will leave Mister Thornthon with you in case you have need of him. The rest of us will begin to explore the rest of these ruins.”

Adalicia gave her a small nod before returning her full attention to her work, and Scarlett walked over to where the others were moving around the room. Hopefully, if they finished everything up here quick enough, they would all be back in Faybarrow before midnight.