Under the moonlight, Lakus sat on a broken log, surrounded by two dead forest dire bears.
"Bears again..."
Lakus now felt sick at the sight of bears. Last time, it was because of a tyrant bear that his entire squad was wiped out, they lost track of the Holy Scripture, and he was severely punished when he returned.
After that, he was assigned to harass human cities, only to walk into an ambush and barely escape with his life.
He learned afterward that the humans had set a trap under the pretense of summoning heroes, eliminating Lord Shadow Demon in the process.
His master, Eleanor, had also gone along, but because she had betrayed Lord Shadow Demon, she seemed to have been punished by His Majesty upon her return.
In any case, when Lakus saw her, he could tell at a glance that she was seething with rage, which she naturally took out on him.
Lakus still remembered her words: "Retrieve the Holy Scripture and redeem yourself—you'll earn a promotion. Fail to find it, and you might as well die out there."
Yet she hadn't assigned him a single subordinate, clearly treating him as nothing more than a disposable scout.
Lakus was certain that after he left, Eleanor had definitely sent a complete team to follow behind him, and she had undoubtedly tampered with his body—either with tracking magic or death replay enchantments!
"That damned... damned..."
"..."
After holding it in for a long time, Lakus still didn't dare curse her out loud.
Fear of superiors was carved into every vampire's bones, even if he was only a half-vampire.
"I won't die. I'm a genius! I'll definitely find the Holy Scripture and get promoted... keep getting promoted!"
Lakus wasn't just boasting when he called himself a genius. At only level 40 and before his advancement, he had already acquired the talent skill [Blood Control]—he truly could be considered a genius.
While giving himself a pep talk, Lakus pulled out a small metal plate and began filing his nails with it.
He had no disguise skills, but fortunately, vampires weren't too different from humans.
A bit of powder on his face could mask his pale skin.
As for his nails and fangs, he simply filed them down.
This metal plate was a small magical tool circulated within the Shadow Empire. After filing nails and teeth with it, it would leave a layer of magical power on the surface, temporarily preventing them from growing back. One filing could last two to three days.
This method was both cheap and convenient. The only problem was that filing down all his fangs was actually quite humiliating for a vampire.
But he had no time to care about that now.
After finishing his preparations, he got up and headed toward the Amethyst Dungeon. To avoid crowds along the way, he deliberately bypassed Mute Wind Town, approaching from the forest direction and timing his entry for nighttime.
Sure enough, when he reached the dungeon entrance, there were only two night guards and no one else around.
"Going into the dungeon alone this late?" The hoarse voice tinged with a yawn—Guard Aiden noticed Lakus.
Though he found it odd that the man had emerged from the forest, he still greeted him.
They were stationed here to relay urgent messages when necessary, not to actually block the dungeon entrance and interrogate adventurers.
"Just gathering some glowgrass—no need for a team!" Lakus calmly made up an excuse on the spot.
He thought that would be the end of it, but unexpectedly, both guards looked stunned and gave him a few more glances, though they said nothing more.
After Lakus entered, the other guard asked, "Senior, what level is that guy? Do you know him?"
Aiden rolled his eyes: "How would I know? I can't possibly know every high-level adventurer. But if he can gather glowgrass alone, he's at least Gold rank, maybe even Diamond..."
Lakus found it strange why the two guards had looked at him that way, but at least he had successfully entered the dungeon.
He pulled out a faintly glowing black stone from his chest, examined it carefully, and noticed it seemed dimmer than before.
"The Holy Scripture is definitely in the dungeon."
This was a specially crafted tool, made by placing magic crystals in an environment with the same source as the Holy Scripture and refining them. Its characteristic was that the closer it got to the Holy Scripture, the dimmer its glow became.
It was entirely thanks to this tool that Lakus had been able to track the Scripture all the way here.
However, this type of tool had a limited lifespan—he had to locate the Holy Scripture before it failed, and he couldn't afford another failure like last time.
"Speaking of which... was the Amethyst Dungeon always this dark?"
Lakus looked at the corridor ahead, which only had sparse glimmers of light, and muttered to himself.
Fortunately, he had darkvision, so it didn't affect him much.
As he went deeper, he finally realized what mistake he had made earlier—
This damned dungeon probably doesn't have any glowgrass!
He had never been to the Amethyst Dungeon before, only carrying a dungeon map that naturally wouldn't mention such details.
But since glowgrass was a common dungeon plant, he had assumed this place would have it too.
Who would have thought that after entering, he only saw some kind of glowing mushroom!
This was bad...
If this dungeon really didn't have glowgrass, then what he had said earlier would become a fatal flaw. If those two guards were sharp enough, they might report him to Mute Wind Town.
Damn it! Damn it!
Lakus quickened his pace—he had to find the Holy Scripture quickly and get out!
He didn't encounter much difficulty along the way. Various monsters like puffshrooms, scorpions, and snakes were easily dispatched.
He reached the fifth floor, where the black stone's glow finally looked like it was about to extinguish.
It's on this floor!
In Lakus's mind, either the adventurer who had stolen the Holy Scripture had died in the dungeon, or the Scripture's old habit had acted up again, controlling its wielder to sneak into dangerous places and secretly slaughter passing people.
A wooden sign placed at the exit caught Lakus's attention.
"What's this? Fifth Floor Rules..."
After scanning through it once, Lakus looked away and didn't take it to heart.
Maybe it was actually useful, but first, he was here to find the Holy Scripture—he couldn't follow the rules and walk on the mushroom paths.
Second, it was just the fifth floor with a level cap of 25, after all.
Following the black stone's guidance, Lakus quickly deviated from the mushroom path.
Contrary to Lakus's expectations, apart from getting a bunch of mycelium stuck to his feet, he encountered no obstacles along the way.
He had thought he would at least run into some traps or monsters!
But so far, he hadn't seen a single living thing. Could this fifth floor be empty?
It wasn't until he reached the mushroom forest that he encountered living creatures.
Some puffshrooms that had camouflaged themselves by leaning against mushroom trees.
He only discovered them when he accidentally bumped into one and felt something soft.
However, these puffshrooms showed no aggression and seemed to have no territorial awareness. Even when he entered the mushroom forest and walked right up to them, they showed no reaction.
He was happy not to have to fight.
Watching the black stone in his hand grow dimmer and dimmer, Lakus's already-dead heart seemed to beat again.
Finally, he stood before a stone pedestal.
???
This was slightly different from what Lakus had expected.
He had thought he would encounter one or a group of controlled adventurers and would have to seize the Holy Scripture after a battle.
Or perhaps he would find the Holy Scripture beside some skeletal remains.
But why was it a stone pedestal?
A wisp of blood condensed into a projectile between his fingers, ready to destroy the stone pedestal.
But before the blood projectile could be fired, the stone pedestal struck first.
"What!?"
The sudden surge of energy made Lakus recoil in shock. He had barely taken two steps back when the stone pedestal exploded.
Stone fragments shattered against Lakus's cheek, but he had no time to tend to it.
Amidst the debris, he vaguely saw the yellow-covered book he had been dreaming about!
But Lakus still maintained a shred of rationality, scanning his surroundings and finding no other people.
Only then did he rush forward and pick up the yellow book, examining it from all angles.
"Yes, yes! It's the Holy Scripture! It's the Holy Scripture!"
In his excitement, the Holy Scripture opened slightly.
"Oh no!"
He hurriedly tried to close it. He was responsible for tracking the Holy Scripture, so he naturally knew how powerful its enchantment abilities were. If he saw even a few more words, he might be enchanted.
However, even with just a glimpse, he still accidentally saw the densely packed writing on the somewhat charred pages of the Holy Scripture:
[Run run run run run run]
What does that mean?
*Puff—*
There was a slight sound behind him!
The moment Lakus spun around, he fired the blood spike he had condensed in his hand.
The blood spike hit the black scales of the large black mushroom and splattered into bloody foam.
The power seemed no different from the water arrows of the Miragis.
But Lakus knew that his attack just now should have been able to break through even a tyrant bear's defenses...
*Puff—*
The large black mushroom advanced another step, while Lakus retreated to the edge of the stone wall.
The pages of the Holy Scripture inadvertently showed:
[I'll state this upfront—this has nothing to do with me!]
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