Chapter 184: Rule Stone (Part 1)
The moment Luo Bingqing and Elyara stepped inside the underground chamber, their eyes did not land on the space rift in the center.
Instead, they were attracted to a headless corpse lying on the broken ground, both arms and legs severed. What chilled their hearts even further was the lingering aura of a level 37 epic level warrior around the corpse.
Seeing the condition of the body, they couldn’t help but tremble. The corpse had gone completely soft, as though every single bone within him had been pulverized into dust. The thought that Azrael had been the one to put a level 37 Epic into such a state sent a wave of fear through their hearts, shaking them to the core.
Azrael, on the other hand, did not spare Boris’s corpse even a glance. He simply walked toward the rift, his expression calm and unbothered. As he passed by the body, he casually kicked it aside, as if discarding nothing more than a piece of trash.
"The rift is at the very peak of the Epic level," Azrael muttered after closing feeling the energy fluctuations emitting from the rift, his tone serious. "Just slightly below the threshold of Legend. Inside, there could be creatures already close to becoming Legends."
His words pulled Elyara and Luo Bingqing out of their thoughts and despite their burning curiosity about how he had killed Boris, they too turned their attention to the rift and moved closer.
"It will be dangerous for only the three of us to go in," Luo Bingqing said after carefully feeling the energy fluctuations radiating from the rift.
Elyara and Azrael did not refute his words as they knew he was right.
"Do you want to wait for the security forces and go in with them?" Elyara asked after a moment of silence.
"No," Azrael immediately refused. "Have you forgotten? We are only Class-level beings, not even at level 20. If we enter alongside the security forces, who will definitely send several Epic-ranked warriors inside. Do you honestly think they will allow us to claim any of the precious treasures within the ruins? The moment they realize we are just low-level Class warriors, they will assume we joined them because we are too weak to explore the ruins on our own." He paused briefly, then continued, his tone sharper.
"In such a situation, even if we obtain something valuable through our own strength, the security forces will demand a share. They’ll argue that we could only explore the ruins safely because of their presence. And if we refuse..." Azrael left the sentence unfinished, but Elyara and Luo Bingqing immediately understood.
People were easily swayed by greed. If they managed to acquire something truly priceless, others would not hesitate to rob them—using force if necessary. After all, inside the ruins, they could kill anyone, and there would be no one to hold them accountable.
Of course, Azrael’s caution bordered on paranoia. From the moment he had stopped before the rift, the sound of chains rattling within his mind had grown more intense, reaching an entirely different level, as if something within the rift was calling to him.
He still did not know what was drawing him in, but he was certain of one thing: the fewer people who entered with him, the lower the chances that whatever it was would be stolen away.
Though Luo Bingqing and Elyara felt that Azrael was being excessively cautious, they could not deny that his reasoning held weight.
"So, what should we do?" Luo Bingqing asked.
"Let’s go in," Azrael replied in a low voice. "It’s not as if we can’t leave once inside. If we find that the danger is beyond us, we can always retreat and think of another method to explore."
Luo Bingqing and Elyara considered his words carefully before eventually nodding in agreement.
Still, something continued to bother both of them.
"Are you sure we should enter before the security forces arrive?" Luo Bingqing asked.
"What’s wrong with us going in?" Azrael said calmly. "Although there is a law stating that any entrance to ruins discovered on an inhabited planet falls under the jurisdiction of the Federation, and no one is permitted to enter without proper authorization... it’s not as though we are entering willingly."
At first, Elyara and Luo Bingqing looked confused upon hearing his words. But soon, realization dawned on their faces, and both smiled faintly.
"You’re right. We aren’t going in willingly," Elyara said with a nod.
"We fought against the leader of the Transcendent Organization and ended up being dragged into the rift during the battle. Entering wasn’t our intention," Luo Bingqing added, also nodding.
Azrael’s lips curled slightly into a smile when he saw that they understood his meaning and he turned back to the rift, his eyes sharp.
Taking a deep breath and ignoring the maddening sound of chains rattling within his mind, he asked in a serious voice.
"Shall we?"
Luo Bingqing and Elyara’s expressions grew equally serious and they both nodded.
To avoid the risk of being separated when entering, they clasped one another’s hands tightly and stepped forward into the crimson rift.
The moment their bodies touched the turbulent spatial energy, their figures flickered and vanished from the underground chamber.
All three immediately felt their surroundings twist violently as an overwhelming spatial force pressed down upon them. Their minds spun, dizziness washing over them from the instability of the teleportation process. Yet, none of them loosened their grip as they knew that letting go now could cause them to be scattered and deposited in different parts of the ruins.
The teleportation lasted more than ten seconds—far longer than a normal transfer before the world around them shifted again, and their feet finally touched solid ground.
The moment they landed, a nauseating wave hit them, the kind that made their stomachs churn as if they might vomit at any second.
But knowing they had arrived in a dangerous place, they forced themselves to steady their breathing, regaining their bearings as quickly as possible before scanning their surroundings.
Azrael had just lifted his head to inspect the area when suddenly, glowing notifications flashed before his eyes and the instant he read them, his entire body froze.