"Does it make you sad?" EeDechi asked.
Dragon Endbringer had once fought alongside Dragon Emperor against the Eight Greed Kings. But times had changed, and the world had moved on. Dragon Endbringer had become a spirit, while Dragon Emperor had been turned into golden remains, forever trampled beneath the statue of the Eight Greed Kings.
"Not really." Dragon Endbringer let out an almost imperceptible sigh. "The Eight Greed Kings stole all my memories. What remains of the past is like a web of severed spider silk. I can never piece it back together."
EeDechi patted him on the shoulder in comfort.
After reflecting on the imperial might the Eight Greed Kings had once possessed, the Last Defender of the Way team circled around the statue and ventured deeper into the ancient city.
In one corridor, Barrett brushed aside the yellow sand and picked up a jade amulet. After wiping the dust from its surface, he slipped it into his spatial ring.
Click.
The sharp sound of a mechanism engaging rang through the passage. Two enormous fireballs came hurtling toward them from opposite ends! Scorching waves of heat rolled across the ground as the fireballs threatened to crush them between them and roast them into charred pancakes.
EeDechi stepped forward and brought her palm down in a chopping motion, shattering one of the fireballs with a single strike. On the other side, Barrett pulled out his enormous tower shield and used his powerful physique to withstand the other fireball. Flames exploded across the shield on impact.
"Is this supposed to be an ambush?" EeDechi caught a faint glimpse of a withered yellow skull flashing through the depths of the passage before vanishing in an instant.
"Even if it is, it won't do them any good. The treasures of the Eight Greed Kings have already opened their doors to us!" Barrett cracked his knuckles, eager to get started.
EeDechi pushed open a sturdy bronze door, intending to search for the small copper can. She swept her gaze across the room. There was no sign of the copper can, but she did notice a diamond-studded, gold-plated chest lying on the ground beneath a thick layer of dust.
EeDechi picked up the chest and wiped the dust from its surface. Its decorations were extraordinarily ornate, with elaborate patterns of gold and silver woven together, giving it an unmistakably luxurious, courtly air.
A line of elaborate script had been engraved into one side of the chest:
"Imperial Year 1337, Commemorative Piece for the One-Year Anniversary of the Eight Great Emperors Ruling the World."
EeDechi cast 5th Tier Magic: Artifact Appraisal. Lines of text flickered into view before her eyes:
[Item Name: Aetherial Secret Coffer
Material: Unknown.
Quality: Divine Artifact
Function: A large magical storage device with an internal space the size of a palace—dozens of times larger than that of an ordinary spatial ring. It can also hold living creatures, an advantage that spatial rings cannot match.
Remark: Stuff an entire royal palace into the box, imprison a beautiful, highborn princess inside, carry her around with you, and fuck her whenever you want. The wicked invention of the Eight Greed Kings.
Function Two: Within 20 thousand meters, if the owner summons the Aetherial Secret Coffer, it can fly to them on its own.
Erase the previous owner's name from the bottom of the box and carve your own name in its place to become the new master of the Aetherial Secret Coffer.]
EeDechi examined the bottom of the chest and, sure enough, found a metal plate with someone's name engraved on it. She considered it for a moment, then pressed her thumb against the name and rubbed hard. Under the force of her immense strength, the previous owner's mark was erased.
Next, EeDechi used her fingernail to carve her own untidy name into the metal plate.
A faint, mysterious connection seemed to form between EeDechi and the Aetherial Secret Coffer. She casually tossed the chest away and commanded, "Aetherial Secret Coffer, come here!"
The Aetherial Secret Coffer trembled for a moment before flying straight back into EeDechi's hand.
Barrett stared in admiration. "Captain, you really are something. You found a high-level item in no time, and erasing the name actually worked."
EeDechi smiled gently. "From now on, we can keep all our supplies in a single box."
Click.
EeDechi opened the chest.
In an instant, hundreds of razor-sharp blades burst from within!
The moment the lid opened, the swords shot toward EeDechi like bolts of lightning, threatening to turn her into a pincushion.
Everything happened in a fraction of a second. Relying on her seasoned combat instincts, EeDechi immediately released the chest and reacted without hesitation. She snapped her head back and threw herself into a backward somersault, narrowly avoiding the storm of blades as their cold edges swept past the tip of her nose.
The hundreds of swords struck nothing and rocketed into the sky like fireworks. Then they abruptly turned in midair and plunged downward like a meteor shower, diving straight toward EeDechi in a piercing assault.
"You dare play tricks on me?!"
EeDechi flipped her hand and drew her giant sword. Facing the barrage head-on, she swung the weapon in a whirlwind of slashes.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
The clash of metal against metal was more violent than a torrential downpour.
In the end, every sword capable of tracking EeDechi was battered into scrap by her strikes. Twisted and bent blades scattered across the ground, turning the corridor into a junkyard of discarded weapons.
As the chaos subsided, EeDechi let out a relieved breath.
Then she heard a faint sigh echo from the depths of the ancient city.
"Ah…"
The sigh was hoarse and unpleasant, as though it had emerged from a set of rotting vocal cords. From the sound of it, whoever had made it seemed disappointed that the swords in the chest had failed to kill EeDechi.
EeDechi frowned slightly. There was no doubt that an enemy was hiding somewhere in the Eight Greed Kings' desert, lurking like a venomous scorpion and waiting for an opportunity to deliver a fatal strike.
The swords inside the Aetherial Secret Coffer had vanished. EeDechi carefully opened the chest again. This time, everything appeared normal. There were no more strange surprise attacks.
EeDechi peered through the opening and examined the interior of the Aetherial Secret Coffer. Sure enough, an enormous space lay within.
A magnificent palace stood inside the box. It contained a stone-built courtly courtyard and a spacious plaza, as well as fountains, silver benches, and withered tree trunks. Naturally, the water in the fountains had long since dried up.
After centuries of neglect, however, the entire space was blanketed in dust, and everything carried the stale atmosphere of age and decay. Several rotting corpses lay sprawled across the palace courtyard. They wore tattered gauze skirts, and their bodies had become shriveled and desiccated.
A cloud of dust blew into EeDechi's face. She waved a hand in front of her nose and stopped looking inside the box.
"Someone needs to go in there and clean it up," EeDechi said to Barrett and Franco.
Barrett and Franco both took a step back, making their lack of interest perfectly clear.
Franco knitted his brows, then gave a sly chuckle. "Don't we already have a maid ready to go?"
"A maid? Since when do we have a maid?" EeDechi asked, even as she turned her gaze toward Antilene.
Antilene gave a cold snort and adopted a haughty expression of refusal.
"I mean Mare."
Franco pulled a black-and-white maid outfit from his spatial ring and dressed Mare in it. He then untied him and ordered him to work properly and clean the Aetherial Secret Coffer. Otherwise, he would subject him to enema and anal-bursting torture.
Mare was close to tears, but he had no choice. Wearing the maid skirt, he obediently got to work, crawling in and out of the Aetherial Secret Coffer as he carried the garbage and corpses from the interior to the outside.