Chapter 527: Who dares? Who courts death?!
The group stood before the tall, smooth, white wall of the enormous heavenly vault, its size rising to at least fifteen floors in height.
"Teleport us twenty meters forward. There should be a corridor, if my memory is correct," Lucifer said.
Now that the barrier had been broken, Vesuvius could finally use his powers directly in the vault, or at least in the less secure parts, as no one doubted there would be multiple layers of protection to secure it.
Space warped around the group, immediately shifting into a white corridor, with silver runes glowing on every inch of the surface, reflecting in the mirror-like walls and creating staggering imagery.
"Intruder!" An artificial, almost mechanical voice echoed through the hallway. Two angelic constructs, synthetic beings with the semblance of divine angels but with metallic, clockwork features, stood guard. They drew swords of light, their eyes glowing with an eerie blue light.
Red flashed, and crimson flames enveloped the constructs, instantly incinerating them. Their mechanical forms melted into pools of liquid metal, hissing and bubbling on the pristine floor.
Simultaneously, Vesuvius's eyes flashed, and the warped space barrier quickly expanded, isolating the area from the outside. For a moment, he tensed, but as there were no signs of anyone noticing, he dismissed the barrier.
'Poor constructs.' Even Vesuvius felt pity for the synthetic beings who had come into the path of a group of king-level beings.
"This way."
The group silently walked down the white corridor, their steps not creating even the slightest noise. There were no more guards, only the white walls around them.
'Probably too paranoid to let too many angels in.' Vesuvius quickly analyzed the situation.
As they advanced, the corridor widened into a chamber. In the center stood a powerful construct, a gleaming figure of heavenly metal with runes etched into its armor, eyes glowing with divine energy. A massive, mace-like staff shone with light in its grip.
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The construct stepped forward, blocking their path. "Intruders," it intoned in a voice that reverberated through the chamber. "You shall not pass." It smashed the staff into the floor, sending a shockwave that cracked the floor.
Without hesitation, Vesuvius extended his hand, drawing the construct into his domain. The construct floated helplessly, its metallic form shimmering with the runes on its armor violently flashing. Vesuvius exerted his will, and the space around the construct began to contract.
Metal screamed and groaned as the construct's body was crushed. The heavenly metal crumpled like a sheet of paper, compressed into a dense, featureless sphere, the runes on its metallic body extinguishing one after another.
The group didn't even pause as they nonchalantly strode forward—the lord-level construct was not even worthy of a second thought.
Then massive silver doors blocked their path, runes littering them entirely.
Knowledge stepped forward, her eyes lighting up, scanning the door. "Forget the doors, just teleport us behind them." She waved her hands dismissively.
Vesuvius channeled his power, and space warped once more. They found themselves in another corridor, this one lined with ancient glyphs that pulsed with energy. The air here was denser, charged with protective spells and wards.
"Be on guard," Knowledge warned, her eyes scanning the runes. "These glyphs are designed to detect any damage to the corridor. There are too many separate circuits to disable them quickly."
Before anyone could react, the walls came alive with a sudden, ferocious light. Dozens of constructs emerged from hidden compartments, their mechanical bodies shimmering with divine energy. They surrounded the group, blades of light reflecting off the polished white surfaces of the corridor.
"Intruder!" they spoke in sync.
The air crackled with the energy of the constructs, their metal wings flapping as they launched forward, aiming their blades of light at the group.
Crimson flames flared once more, and in an instant, the constructs were engulfed. When the flames subsided, not a single speck remained of the mechanical assailants.
'This is getting boring.' Vesuvius couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed at the lack of treasures so far and the weak, annoying enemies.
Suddenly, a terrifying aura flooded the vault, all the runes flickering. The aura was charged with divine energy, making it glow with omnipresent light.
"That is the god of light!" Lucifer spread his wings of darkness, the shadow erasing all the light around them.
"But there was no alarm. Everything worked perfectly!"
"To hell with this! All the planning, for nothing! Why is he here?" For the first time since he knew him, Lucifer's tone changed, and his eyes turned red.
"Graah!" Satanael's body expanded, bursting and destroying all the walls in their path. The stone fell as flames exploded everywhere, melting everything into puddles of crimson lava reeking with demonic power. All seven of his heads turned to the sky, and seven crimson beams shot from the gaping mouths of the demonic dragon.
He flapped his wings, raining into the sky above the vault.
"Who dares? Who courts death?!" An unknown voice filled with power boomed, shaking the remaining rubble. "You dare trespass in my sacred domain? Your impudence knows no bounds! Prepare to face the wrath of the heavens!"
"I have to go!" The god of knowledge vanished instantly, and Vesuvius's mind went into overdrive, the thought of retreat passing through.
Vesuvius felt for the source of the aura again and breathed a sigh of relief—it was far, very far, likely just checking the vault with some divine power, like his remote domain.
Even though he had chased away the dwarven god before and wasn't alone this time, he wasn't so arrogant as to think he could defeat a god in their true form on their own territory.
He didn't even know what to expect of a god, what power they had, or what their limits were.
In the sky revealed after Satanael took to the air, countless, tens of thousands of angels swarmed the demonic dragon. Multiple king-level auras were approaching, and the god of light was also moving in their direction, his aura growing so dense it almost turned physical.
'Retreat? Hell no, I am not returning empty-handed.' Assured by his ways of escape, Vesuvius also erupted with power, his bipedal body warping and changing, quickly expanding into his true form.
"Lucifer! You have two minutes to find the artifact and steal everything that isn't pinned to the ground! Then we are leaving." He spat out the words, knowing that the fallen angel was the most likely to find their goal in the half-destroyed vault before the god arrives.
As Vesuvius rose into the sky, flapping his wings, he could finally see how truly vast the vault was. Even after the destruction, it sprawled to a size not much smaller than an entire town.
'Of course! Nothing ever goes according to plan!'