Chapter 112: 111 Thief

Under the moonlight, Lacus sat upon a broken log, surrounded by two dead forest barbarian bears.

"Bears again..."

Lacus now felt disgust at the sight of bears; last time, a Tyrant Bear had caused his entire squad to be wiped out, made him lose track of the Holy Codex, and led to severe punishment upon his return.

Afterwards, he was assigned to raid human cities, only to fall into an ambush and nearly fail to escape alive.

Only after the fact did he learn that this time, humans had set a trap under the guise of summoning a Hero, eliminating the Shadow Demon Lord.

And his master, Elinor, had gone along too, but since she had sold out the Shadow Demon Lord, she seemed to have been punished by Your Majesty upon her return.

Anyway, whenever Lacus saw her, he could tell at a glance that she was seething with anger, which she very naturally took out on him.

Lacus still remembered her words: "Retrieve the Holy Codex to atone for your sins, and you will be promoted; if you fail to retrieve it, just die out there."

Yet no subordinates were assigned to him, making it clear he was being used as a scout.

Lacus dared to guarantee that after he left, Elinor would definitely send a full squad behind him, and that something had been done to him—either a tracking device or a death replay!

"That damn... damn..."

"..."

After holding back for a long time, Lacus still didn't dare to curse aloud.

Fear of superiors was carved into the very bones of vampires, even though he was only a half-vampire.

"I won't die! I am a genius! I will definitely retrieve the Holy Codex, then get promoted... keep getting promoted!"

Lacus wasn't just boasting when he called himself a genius; at only level 40 and not yet promoted, he had already acquired the innate skill 【Blood Control】, which indeed made him a genius.

While encouraging himself, Lacus took out a small metal plate and began grinding his fingernails against it.

He had no disguise skills, but fortunately, the difference between vampires and humans wasn't too great.

A bit of powder on the face could cover up the pale skin.

As for his nails and teeth, he simply ground them down.

This metal plate was a small magical artifact circulating within the Hermit Empire; after grinding one's nails and teeth with it, a layer of mana would remain on the surface, temporarily preventing them from regrowing, with one grinding lasting about two or three days.

This method was cheap and convenient, but the only problem was grinding down one's teeth, which was actually quite shameful for a vampire.

But he had no time to care about that now.

After finishing up, he stood up and headed toward the Amethyst Dungeon; to avoid crowds along the way, he deliberately bypassed Silent Wind Town, came from the forest direction, and chose to enter at night.

Sure enough, when he arrived at the dungeon entrance, besides two night guards, there was no one else around.

"Going down into the dungeon alone so late?" The guard, Aiden, noticed Lacus, his hoarse voice trailing off with a yawn.

Although it was a bit strange that he had emerged from the forest, he still greeted him.

They were stationed here to send timely messages in case of emergencies, not to actually block the dungeon entrance and interrogate adventurers.

"Just gathering some Firefly Grass; no need for a party!" Lacus calmly made up an excuse on the spot.

He thought that would be the end of it, but unexpectedly, after hearing him, the two guards were stunned, gave him a couple of extra looks, but didn't say much more.

Only after Lacus entered did the other guard ask, "Senior, what level is this person? Do you know him?"

Aiden rolled his eyes: "How would I know? I can't possibly know all high-level adventurers, but if he can go gather Firefly Grass alone, he must be at least Gold Rank, maybe even Diamond..."

Lacus found it strange that the two guards had looked at him that way, but fortunately, he had successfully entered the dungeon.

He took a black stone emitting a faint glow from his chest, examined it carefully, and noticed it seemed dimmer than before.

"As expected, the Holy Codex is inside this dungeon."

This was a special artifact, crafted by refining a magic crystal in an environment sharing the same origin as the Holy Codex; its characteristic was that the closer one got to the Holy Codex, the dimmer the glow became.

Thanks entirely to it, Lacus had managed to find his way here.

However, this artifact had a limited lifespan; he had to lock onto the Holy Codex before it failed, and couldn't let it happen like last time.

"Come to think of it... was the Amethyst Dungeon originally this dark?"

Lacus murmured, looking at the corridor ahead with only scattered faint glows.

However, he possessed dark vision, so it didn't affect him much.

As he descended, he finally realized what mistake he had just made—

This dungeon, damn it, doesn't happen to have no Firefly Grass, does it?

He had never been to the Amethyst Dungeon before; he only had a dungeon map in hand, which naturally wouldn't mention such details.

But since Firefly Grass was a common plant in dungeons, he assumed it should be here too.

Unexpectedly, after entering, he only saw one kind of glowing mushroom!

This was bad...

If this dungeon truly had no Firefly Grass, then his earlier words would become a flaw; if those two guards were sharp, they might go to Silent Wind Town and report him. Damn it! Damn it!

Lacus quickened his pace; he had to find the Holy Codex and get out quickly!

Along the way, he encountered no real difficulties; he easily dealt with some monsters like pugs, scorpions, and snakes.

Upon reaching the fifth floor, the glow of the black stone finally looked like it was about to go out.

It's on this floor!

In Lacus's view, either the adventurer who stole the Holy Codex had died in the dungeon, or the Holy Codex had fallen back into its old habit of controlling its holder to sneak into dangerous places and quietly slaughter passersby.

A wooden sign standing at the exit caught Lacus's attention.

"What is this? The Fifth Floor Rules..."

After scanning it once, Lacus shifted his gaze and didn't take it to heart.

Perhaps it was truly useful, but first, he was there to find the Holy Codex and couldn't follow the rules to walk on the mushroom path.

Second, after all, it was just the fifth floor with a level cap of 25.

Following the guidance of the black stone, Lacus soon deviated from the mushroom path.

To Lacus's surprise, apart from his feet getting covered in a bunch of fungal threads, he encountered no obstacles along the way.

He had thought he'd at least encounter some traps or demonic creatures!

Yet so far, not a single living thing—could this fifth level be empty?

Only when he reached the Mushroom Forest did he encounter living beings.

Some leaned against the mushroom trees, camouflaged in color-shifting disguise.

He accidentally bumped into one and only realized it was alive when it felt soft.

But these Pukis showed no aggression whatsoever, seemed to have no territorial instinct—even as he walked right up to them, they reacted nothing.

He was perfectly happy to avoid a fight.

As the black stone in his hand grew darker, Lacus's long-dead heart seemed to beat again.

Finally, he stood before a stone pedestal.

???

This was slightly different from what Lacus had expected.

He thought he'd encounter one or a group of controlled adventurers, and after a battle, seize the Holy Scripture.

Or perhaps find the Holy Scripture beside some white bones.

But why a stone pedestal?

A strand of blood coalesced into a bullet between his fingers, ready to destroy the pedestal.

But before the blood bullet could be launched, the pedestal struck first.

"What!?"

The sudden surge of energy shocked Lacus—he barely took two steps back when the pedestal exploded.

Shards of stone shattered his cheek, but he had no time to care.

Amid the chaos, he faintly saw the yellow-covered book he had longed for!

Yet Lacus still retained a shred of sanity—he scanned the surroundings and saw no one else.

Only then did he rush forward, snatching up the yellow book and flipping through it.

"Yes! Yes! It's the Holy Scripture! It's the Holy Scripture!"

In his excitement, the Holy Scripture opened slightly.

"No good!"

He hurried to shut it—he was tasked with tracking the Holy Scripture and knew well how potent its seductive power was; even a few extra characters could ensnare his mind.

But even that fleeting glance revealed, on the charred pages of the Holy Scripture, dense script:

【Run run run run】

What does that mean?

Puff—

A sound came from behind!

In the instant Lacus turned, he fired the blood spike he had gathered.

The blood spike struck the black scales of the Great Black Mushroom and shattered into blood mist.

Its power seemed no different from the saliva arrows of the Milajis.

But Lacus knew well—this attack had once pierced the Tyrant Bear's defenses…

Puff—

The Great Black Mushroom advanced another step; Lacus retreated to the edge of the stone wall.

The pages of the Holy Scripture accidentally revealed themselves.

【I swear, it's not my fault!】

(End of Chapter)