CHAPTER 504: CHAPTER 22 THE CRISIS WITHIN THE RELIC

Anvis was unaware that someone was plotting against him and his Secret Ceremony Society at the moment, but even if he did, he would have just laughed it off.

There was no helping it; his current strength and vision had already far surpassed that of the typical noble descendants.

The players indeed had little loyalty to speak of, but that did not make them any less useful.

Moreover, for him, managing players with a panel was much more convenient than managing the native inhabitants without one.

Anvis’s main attention was currently focused on the changes at the site said to contain the Sword of King Selection in legend.

After several days of exploration, following the guidance of the Prediction School’s secret techniques, he had finally entered the real core area of the relic: a chamber completely made of a special alloy, its walls covered with barrier inscription arrays.

These special barrier inscription arrays seemed to have a strong blocking effect, preventing all kinds of magic, including prophecy magic, from affecting the items inside the chamber. If it weren’t for the accidental coordinates discovered before, this relic might have remained hidden for who knows how much longer.

In the center of the chamber, Anvis saw a huge secret magic instrument; a magic energy transmission device with spiral crystal structure stretched out from the surroundings, its tips pointing towards the altar in the center messed with magic circuits.

At the top of the altar nested within four Black Gold inscription rings, hovered a spherical barrier exuding aura, and at the core of the barrier, a stone sword caught Anvis’s eye.

Yes, it was a stone sword made entirely of grey stone, deeply embedded in the rock at the top of the altar. If Anvis had not seen the picture of the Sword of King Selection before it was awakened in his previous life, he might have doubted it was a fake sword.

In historical records, the Sword of King Selection was made entirely of a metal of unknown origins and was covered with extremely intricate three-dimensional inscription circuits, none of which were present on this stone sword before him.

But Anvis knew, this was what the object looked like before it was unsealed.

As for the specific steps to unseal it, he had no idea, as the super-large camp confrontation tasks obtained by several Big Guilds in his previous life involved acquiring it at all costs and then handing it over to one of the top native forces.

It could be to the Camp of the Four Great Families, or the Royal Family Camp, and there might be top-secret tasks given to the other two Empires as well.

In his previous life, this task was ultimately completed by the Silver Blue Club. The Sword of King Selection was handed over to the Royal Family, and with the terrifying rewards and Empire policy support obtained, Silver Blue Club’s position as the foremost among the three big clubs was firmly established.

And in this life, the legendary sword lay before him.

"Is this the Sword of King Selection mentioned in the epic?"

However, Anvis was not the first to find this place. At this moment in the chamber, another figure clad in a full set of Magic Pattern Armor and emitting the aura of a Seventh Rank, was already guarding the spot.

The figure appeared somewhat cautious of Anvis’s arrival.

Although he had discovered this place earlier than Anvis, unable to break through the barrier in front of him, he could only search in frustration, hoping to find a way to disable the barrier.

His name was Daws, and he was the deputy leader of a nearby explorer team.

He was not one of the members of the great Nobles, but through an accidental eavesdropping, he had fortuitously learned of the existence of this unknown relic.

At this time, Daws did not associate the stone sword within the barrier with the Sword of King Selection from the legends.

But given that it was so well protected, maintaining the operation of the barrier for who knows how many years, the sword must have been some kind of powerful artifact.

Anvis’s appearance, however, disrupted his plans.

In such a relic, everyone was a potential enemy – if he insisted on continuing to try to break the barrier, it was very possible that someone would reap the benefits without any effort.

His gaze flashed, and Daws suddenly darted out of the chamber, at the same time concealing his form and aura with the help of a mysterious object.

"Quite vigilant..."

Anvis watched the direction from which Daws disappeared with an indifferent gaze, making no move to stop him.

To Anvis, a mere Seventh Rank, whether truly leaving or harboring the thought of waiting for him to break the barrier and then seizing the treasure, was of no concern.

As for the barrier before his eyes, without the influence of rule strength, there was no barrier that could stop him.

Under the ghostly watch of Daws, who was hiding nearby, Anvis walked through the barrier as if it didn’t exist and casually tried to pull the stone sword out from the altar.

But the moment he grasped the hilt, a sense of death threat prickling at his back suddenly enveloped his spirit, even giving him the illusion of drowning.

Don’t pull it out, don’t pull it out, don’t pull it out!! You’ll die, you’ll die, you’ll die, you’ll die...!!!

His complexion starkly changed, Anvis released his grip on the sword as if electrified and instantly distanced himself from the range of the barrier.

Within the four-fold inscription rings on the altar’s surface, a wisp of red light dimmed once more, as if nothing had ever occurred.

"What’s going on? Is it some kind of defense system from the ruins... No, that kind of all-encompassing pure destructive power, I’d believe it if you told me it was a self-destruct system."

After adjusting his breathing, Anvis calmed down and carefully recalled the sudden crisis premonition he just experienced.

Since it wasn’t his real body exploring this time, even death would only mean the loss of this avatar, so he wasn’t too anxious at the moment.

"Something seems a bit off, let’s give it another try..."

After again attempting to break down the structure of the surrounding Array and once again experiencing a crisis premonition, Anvis finally confirmed that this secret chamber seemed to hide some ’defense system’ that was deadly enough for him.

"The location of the Sword of King Selection seems to be hiding some sort of terrifying trap. It’s best to let others try first before finding a solution."

Having ascertained the problem, Anvis left the secret chamber without any reluctance, and as if unintentionally glanced in the direction where someone was hiding. His figure, too, vanished in a flash.

He’s discovered me!

In that spot, Daws’ heart chilled instantly, and he truly fled without looking back, worried that Anvis would kill him to silence him.

Anvis didn’t care about this, he was waiting for the arrival of others.

Calculating time, people from the other Great Families should be arriving soon.

In the many subsequent attempts, that stone sword gave him a strangely hollow and deceptive feeling. Considering the arrival of the Sword of King Selection this time was more than a year earlier than in his past life, he suddenly harbored suspicions.

Is it really because of the butterfly effect he brought about?

Or is it actually a trap set by someone, and the real Sword of King Selection has not yet appeared in the present world?

Anvis’s wait wasn’t long, soon after, a group of three Explorers arrived here.

The arrivals didn’t hide their identities, and with his conspicuous brown hair and dark gold eyes, Anvis easily identified them as people from the Aslade Family.

The leader was none other than the fifth son of the Aslade Family Head, Yasila Aslade.

Following the subtle traces left by Daws’s exploration of the ruins, the three quickly found the place.

Just as Anvis had guessed, out of personal reasons, they did not notify the Ninth Rank of their family right away, but came to explore on their own, aiming to obtain the Sword of King Selection immediately.

At that moment, upon seeing the arrangement inside the secret chamber and the stone sword within the spherical barrier, Yasila’s dark gold eyes slowly narrowed. That was the excitement and fulfillment of an Explorer who had gone through hardships and finally found the treasure.

"That’s it, Simus, Morag, start working on breaking the barrier immediately!"

Although they were unclear why their master was suddenly so thrilled, the two Dragon Blood Guards still obeyed the order, their Eighth Rank aura surging, and two Attack Magic spells flew directly towards the strange device at the base of the barrier.

Their thought process was simple: deal with the device providing the energy, and naturally, the barrier would no longer exist.

At this moment, Anvis’s spiritual sense once again began to madly send out warnings.