Chapter 50
Inside the dungeon, Lilith and Giles pressed on along the only passage there was.
Pale-blue runes flowed across the white stone to either side like an ancient language silently reciting the place's history, and the floor underfoot was smooth and bitterly cold, every footstep echoing away down the empty corridor.
"This architecture is strange," Lilith said.
She'd seen nothing like it. Most intelligent races in this world either lived in primitive settlements or followed the human path of blending magic with advanced craftsmanship — and this was clearly not human work.
The halls were vast, precise, and unnaturally empty, and the whole structure radiated a sense of superiority so complete it was as if the builders had considered every other race beneath their notice.
She studied the walls as she walked, guard never dropping. Giles followed in silence, watching just as carefully.
What could be hidden in a place like this?
Lilith couldn't picture the thing that would pull Vampires, Werewolves, Frost Sabertooths, and Goblins into the Frostlands all at once — but whatever it was, it had to be worth the trip.
She kept her pace deliberately slow. The ideal outcome was for the native factions to find one another first and kill off an Elite or two; only then would she have a realistic shot at any of the spoils.
Eventually the narrow corridor opened into a far larger hall, and the walls stopped being plain white stone. Massive recesses had been carved into them, each holding a relief worked in dark-gold metal.
Lilith stopped at the nearest: a dragon, wings fully spread, head raised in pride, layered scales covering its enormous body in exquisite detail. She glanced along the row. Every relief was a dragon, each in a different pose.
That settled it. "This place belonged to dragons."
Giles shook off his amazement. "Then the treasure hidden here may be a draconic artifact."
Only a theory — but it fit everything they'd seen. The native factions had come to the Frostlands to fight over something dragons had left behind.
"We may be getting close to the main section," Lilith said. "Keep moving."
The hall broadened as they advanced, more draconic carvings emerging from the walls, until an enormous archway rose at its far end.
It was built from the same white stone, but countless runes and totems crawled across its surface — and the moment the two of them looked directly at it, dizziness washed over them both.
The door itself resisted being observed.
Lilith lowered her gaze.
A series of metallic clicks sounded from both sides of the archway. Something that had lain dormant for ages was waking. She stepped back and called Waltz of Ashes into her hand as two figures burst from concealed openings beside the door.
Giles sucked in a breath.
Humanoid constructs, roughly seven feet tall, forged from dark teal metal — thick mechanical tails, long blades where forearms should have been, rust and old battle scars covering their bodies.
Their faces had no features at all. A single blue crystal sat embedded in the center of each head, glowing with cold light, and the instant they emerged, both crystals flared and locked onto the intruders. A low hum filled the chamber.
One construct lunged, its arm blade coming down hard enough to split the air. Neither Lilith nor Giles could sense any aura from the machines — no way to gauge their Rank at all — so given what this dungeon might hold, she ordered Giles back and met them herself.
She shifted aside. The blade hissed past her shoulder and struck the wall in a spray of sparks, and Lilith countered at once: Waltz of Ashes sheared through the construct's reinforced shell as if it were soft clay, laying open layers of rusted gears beneath the armor.
The second one struck from her flank. She raised the shaft of her scythe and took the blow head-on — metal crashing against metal, sparks exploding between them, the impact driving pain through her hands and wrists.
The constructs couldn't use magic, but their raw physical power sat in the upper reaches of Veteran Rank.
Had Lilith run into them earlier in her progression, they might well have overwhelmed her.
She redirected the force, turned with the momentum, and drove a palmful of Deathfire into the construct's chest. The flames detonated.
Undead power engulfed its upper body, and the machine loosed a piercing metallic shriek, convulsing as the Deathfire ravaged its internal mechanisms. Seconds later the cold light in its crystal flickered and died, and the construct stopped dead — toppling like a statue with its supports kicked out.
Lilith flexed her aching wrist and looked over the wreckage. The System displayed nothing. No kill notification, no EXP, no option to raise it as undead.
Makes sense. It was never alive.
Without the System's help, the remains told her little beyond the obvious: extraordinarily sophisticated machines, the work of an advanced civilization.
The power source, at least, wasn't hard to spot — the blue crystals set into their heads.
Lilith had avoided damaging either one during the fight.
More accurately, Waltz of Ashes had failed to cut them.
She picked one up. Cold, sharply faceted, surprisingly heavy — and this time, the System responded.
[Dragoncore Crystal]
[Description: An energy-storage crystal condensed through draconic magic. Consuming it grants 256 EXP. Current energy reserves have been significantly depleted.]
[Note: A Dragoncore Crystal can provide the same function as an Essence Core and may be used as a substitute.]
Lilith stared at the panel. "These count as Essence Cores?"
She looked at the second crystal in something close to disbelief.
The constructs had likely been running for countless years — some energy loss was inevitable.
Then another thought landed: fully charged, these things might have carried Elite-ranked Attributes.
Time had worn them down to Veteran Rank, and thank goodness for that.
Otherwise the fight would have gone far worse.
"One construct, one Essence Core." Lilith grinned. "This dungeon is incredible." She turned to Giles. "Come on. Let's find more of them."
Before either of them could move, the enormous archway rumbled, and the sealed door began to swing open.
The two constructs hadn't merely been guards. They'd been a test — and only those capable of defeating them were permitted to proceed.
Lilith watched the passage widen beyond the door.
"So this is where the real dungeon begins."