Chapter 142: Intruders!!

The two guild leaders gritted their teeth in silent agony as Asher casually stored all ten thousand Evolution Stones, and dungeon keys directly into his system storage, then turned around to face them:

​"Alright..."

​He paused mid-sentence, his head snapping toward a seemingly solid stone wall near the rear of the vault: "Oh?"

​The two masters blinked in shock as Asher walked directly toward the blank reinforced wall, bringing his steps to a halt right before it.

​"What is hidden behind this?" He asked, turning his cold gaze to look back at them.

​"Um... Lord Asher..."

​Asher shook his head, refusing to play their games. With a single thought, his suffocating aura burst outward, smashing heavily into the reinforced wall like a battering ram, instantly spider-webbing dense cracks across the stone surface.

​"Should I shatter it open myself, or will you open it properly?" He asked, a heavy, suffocating wave of pure killing intent bleeding into the air.

​"I... I will open it right now!" Richard quickly ran toward a decorative set of ancient plate armor mounted on a pedestal, flipped open its heavy helmet, and slammed his thumb down on a hidden red button.

​Asher watched as the cracked stone wall vibrated, slowly sliding back to reveal a red glowing stone resting inside a secret alcove. He blinked, staring at the strange gem with a subtle frown.

​"What is this?"

​"We honestly don’t know either, Lord Asher," Richard answered truthfully, bowing his head.

​"You don’t know what it is, yet you keep it hidden behind a double-sealed vault wall?" Asher raised an eyebrow at him.

​"I personally discovered it years ago in the deep wilderness during a high-tier expedition," Richard explained hastily:

"The only thing I know for certain about it is that it continuously emanates an absurdly potent energy... I strongly believe this energy operates on a tier far stronger than standard spirit energy."

​He paused, before continuing: "I had no idea how to safely process or utilize it, so I decided to keep it secured deep within the vault."

​Asher listened to his words in silence, turning his red gaze back toward the glowing stone as he mentally switched on the system:

​{Aether Stone.}

{Location: Drops exclusively after slaying a Special or Primordial Boss possessing three or more Titles.}

{Effect [1]: When utilized to enhance equipment, it forcefully pushes the gear by two full tiers above its current tier. Success Rate: 50%.}

{Effect [2]: When an Awakened absorbs 100 stones, it permanently grants them a 10% Aether Energy core conversion. Consuming anything above that threshold will corrupt the user’s mind, permanently mutating the Awakened into a Demon.}

{Details: Formed from the condensed blood of an apex Boss that subsequently merged with corrupted title fragments. It grants immense divine blessings, alongside a fatal curse.}

​’A Demon...? Are Demons fundamentally different from standard dungeon monsters?’ Asher thought with a slight frown, inspecting the stone.

​Aether energy was indisputably powerful—even a mere 10% conversion rate was more than enough to completely alter the balance of a high-level battle. But this raw stone was essentially useless for his personal consumption, considering he already had 100% pure Aether energy flowing uninhibited through his veins.

​’Maybe my wives will eventually need this for gear refinement... As for the nature of Demons, I’ll consult Sara about it later.’ He closed his hand around the stone, instantly storing it inside his system space.

​"Okay. I will spare your lives tonight." Asher said, his cold voice echoing off the vault walls. "But if you ever dare to cross me or my family in the future... I will personally ensure that not a single one of you survives."

​The next instant, pitch-black shadows rose violently from the stone floor, completely enveloping his body. A split second later, he vanished from the sealed vault without leaving a trace.

​’He actually possesses a instantaneous Teleportation ability!’ Richard thought, completely stunned by the flawless spatial magic. Beside him, his Vice Guild Leader collapsed flat onto the cold floor, clutching her chest as she let out a long, ragged sigh of relief:

​"I honestly thought I was going to die right here..." She choked out.

​Richard looked down at her, taking a deep, heavy breath to steady his own racing heart: "We will just have to work twice as hard from now on to replenish our lost Evolution Stones, and keys. We cannot afford to fall behind the other top guilds... And..." He turned his head to stare into the empty, cracked wall alcove:

​"Listen to me carefully: anyone belonging to our guild must never, under any circumstances, offend the Aetheldawn family. If they so much as hear that name spoken on the streets, they should turn and run without a single care in the world."

​"I understand..."

____

​[Outer Perimeter — Daniel’s Private Estate.]

​BAM!!

​"....?!"

​Zion snapped his head violently toward the grand estate gates, watching in utter shock as the massive, reinforced steel structures blew wide open, flying through the air and crashing heavily onto the paved driveway. He narrowed his eyes into a sharp frown, his heightened vision failing to spot the physical assailant.

​"INTRUDERS!!"

"SOUND THE EMERGENCY ALARM!!"

​Dozens of elite combatants from the Awakened Association stationed around the perimeter rushed forward, drawing their weapons and taking defensive positions directly behind Zion. They all stared frantically at the ruined entrance of the sprawling compound.

​"What the hell is going on?! Where is the intruder?!" one of the senior squad commanders asked, turning his head toward Zion in a panic:

​"Captain—"

​"—They are standing right in front of us."

​Zion flicked his wrist in a fluid motion, his radiant, golden Light Bow materializing instantly in his grip. He drew the string back to his ear, channeling massive amounts of his dense spirit energy directly into the construct as a blinding, sun-bright arrow materialized on the string.

​’I can’t pinpoint his exact physical location with my senses, but my battle instincts are screaming that he is standing right there.’

​Without a moment’s hesitation, he released the glowing string.

​BOOOOM!!

​The golden projectile shot forward like a beam of pure sunlight. But before everyone’s disbelieving eyes, the light arrow slammed hard into an invisible barrier midway across the lawn, bounced violently off to the side, and exploded against the outer perimeter wall!

​"This?!" Zion stood utterly stunned, his bow arm trembling slightly.

​"No way!! Captain Zion is an SSS-RANK Light-Element Archer!! Almost no one in Vaeloria can block his focused attack head-on, but it actually just bounced off?!" An Awakened exclaimed in absolute horror.

​"Is that really how you welcome an invited guest?"

​The twenty elite Awakened heard a calm, chilling voice echo directly in front of them. The very next second, one hundred massive arrows constructed entirely from scorching, dark-red flames materialized in the sky above the exact spot where Zion’s light attack had bounced off.

​"I always pay back my attackers a hundred-fold."

​BOOOOM!!!

​The entire barrage of one hundred flaming arrows rained down simultaneously, shooting forward with terrifying, sound-breaking speed straight toward the ground below!

​"DAMN IT ALL!!" Zion screamed.

​BOOOOM!!!