Jared looked at Emiliano and smiled. “Well, I have you, Mr. Fairchild of Stormwind Sect, to thank for this. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have broken the arcane array so quickly.” Needless to say, Emiliano was dumbfounded. “Me? Why would you thank me?”
Luol and the others, too, didn’t understand what Jared meant. After all, why would the deactivation of the arcane array have anything to do with Stormwind Sect?
“Of course I have to thank you! If you hadn’t instructed your subordinates to force the activation of the Death Trap Formation, thereby draining its energy, I wouldn’t have broken it so swiftly!” Jared exclaimed with a slightly smug grin. “Even though there was a Death Trap Formation within the arcane array, its power had weakened steadily over the years. Then, you got your men to break it and trigger the Death Trap Formation, which exhausted whatever remaining energy it had! That made my work so much easier, and best of all, I didn’t even have to worry about getting injured…”
By then, Emiliano’s face had darkened and twisted into a grimace. Damn it! I got my people to open the stone door first because I wanted to gain the upper hand…. Who knew it’d give Jared an advantage instead?
Upon hearing Jared’s explanation, Luol and Avery couldn’t help but burst out laughing. However, they knew the man had only said that to antagonize Emiliano. He had never needed the latter’s help to break the arcane array, but if he wasn’t keen on sharing the real reason, Luol and Avery knew.
better than to probe further. “Let’s head inside…” Jared said, a smile tugging at his lips when he saw how agitated Emiliano was. Without further ado, he led everyone into Narcissus Palace. Having suffered heavy losses, Emiliano had no choice but to follow behind..
After stepping through the stone door, they were greeted by a massive square with eighteen stone pillars. Not only was each of those pillars ornately carved with a dragon, but the designs were also different.
Even though everyone in the group was an elite fighter, the cold waves of negative energy that constantly washed over them sent chills down their spines.
What was even stranger, though, was the stone wall at the far end of the square that signaled the end of their road. “What’s going on, Mr. Chance? Is Narcissus Palace only this big?” Skyler asked in bewilderment.
Jared shook his head as he unleashed his spiritual sense to penetrate the stone wall. Unfortunately, that didn’t work because there were no paths but solid rock beyond. Now, it was Jared’s turn to be baffled. “Huh? That can’t be right… Is this all that is to Narcissus Palace?”
Meanwhile, Emiliano and Avery had ordered their subordinates to comb the place for magical items. To their dismay, the square was empty save for the eighteen stone pillars. Naturally, everyone was disappointed.
They had put in so much effort to find the ancient ruins of Narcissus Palace, yet the place. turned out to be pathetically small and devoid of magical items.
“What the f*ck is this lousy Narcissus Palace? I can’t believe I lost my men for nothing!” Emiliano fumed. Avery, too, furrowed her brows. “This doesn’t make sense. How can Narcissus Palace only be this big? More importantly, why is it empty?”
Just then, Luol leaned forward and whispered into Jared’s ear, “Mr. Chance, don’t you think the placements of the eighteen pillars are a little odd? They somewhat resemble an arcane array…”
After scrutinizing the stone pillars, Jared approached one and gently caressed it. As soon as he made contact, the draconic essence within him stirred, causing the stone pillar to emanate a faint aura from within. Before long, the eyes of the dragon carving on the pillar began to glow.
