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Chapter 95: Down the hatch

“It’s possible, but I doubt that huge thing would have tolerated much hanging out around its hoard,” Lillia said as they pressed into the dark. “It didn’t seem like a hospitable neighbor.”

Arwin nodded, then remembered that it was too dark for anyone other than Lillia to tell what he was doing. “I don’t think we’re going to have any more enemies. Not in this room, at least. I’m fairly certain this is the end of the dungeon.”

“There’s no way there’s something more powerful than that thing waiting for us deeper down.” Reya’s voice cracked with worry and she cleared her throat. “Right?”

Before Arwin could answer, he bumped into Lillia’s back. She’d stopped walking.

“Sorry,” Lillia said. “This is the end of the passage. Can you see the door in front of us?”

Arwin squeezed past her and squinted. The only things he could see were vague outlines and shapes in the dark, but after feeling along the wall for a moment, his fingers found a cold metal handle.

“Found it,” Arwin said. “On the off chance that there are enemies here, can we count on you to hold them off until we can get to somewhere with light?” Arwin asked Lillia.

“Yeah. My shadows couldn’t do too much to something as big as the Bonehemoth, but I’ve got enough energy left over to handle something small.”

That was enough for him. He pushed the door open a crack. Dull green light spilled out into the hall and illuminated the stone with its faint glow. There were no signs of motion from beyond, so Arwin opened the door the rest of the way.

A cavern stretched out before them. Huge, jagged crystals jutted out on the walls and ceiling, blankets of rippling quartz covering everything but a thin passageway that wound up to an altar made up of purple gemstones.

The altar was about two times Arwin’s height and six times his width. It seemed to be made from stone, but the crystals covering its surface made it impossible to tell anything for sure. Any designs that may have been on it in the past were long since swallowed.

“Whoa,” Reya breathed from behind Arwin. “It’s beautiful.”

“And slightly ominous,” Rodrick muttered. “These are the same crystals that were on the last two monsters we fought.”

“Make sure not to touch anything,” Arwin said. He stepped onto the tight passageway and started down it. His head turned on a swivel, gaze scouring the room in search of something that may have been lying in wait.

They found nothing but crystal. The passageway led him along its twists and turns until he stood at the glistening altar – the only patch of color in the entire room that wasn’t green. Across from him was what could only be described as a solid wall of crystal.

Beyond it, Arwin could barely make out a large hole. It had been completely sealed over by the green gems, but it looked similar enough to the one that had been in the room behind them that it didn’t take a genius to tell what it had been for.

The Bonehemoth used to be able to access this area from there. But why would it care at all about an altar like this? It’s big, sure, but nowhere near big enough for it. How would such a massive monster store a hoard here?

The crystal held no answers. Arwin scanned the room one last time, but there really didn’t seem to be anything other than the huge altar before him. He chewed his lower lip in thought. There was no way that the Mesh would have considered a mere block of stone a hoard.

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“I’m not seeing our loot,” Rodrick said as he and the others walked up behind Arwin. “Where’s the hole to stick the key?”

“I think we might have to do some digging,” Arwin said. He set the key down and hoisted Verdant Blaze. “I suggest you head back to the entrance of the room. I’m about to start swinging heavy objects at disturbing speeds.”

He repressed a laugh at the annoyed grumbles that went up as everyone headed back to the safety of the hall leading into the room. Once they were all out of range, Arwin summoned his full armor around himself to limit the amount of spots that stray fragments could catch.

Then he reared back and swung Verdant Blaze. The hammer slammed into the crystal covering the altar with a loud crack. Nothing happened. Arwin wasn’t too bothered. There were a lot of things that he couldn’t handle in this world, but anything that sat around and let him wail on it wasn’t one of them.

He swung the hammer again. And again. And again. Arwin didn’t even bother using [Scourge]. Verdant Blaze struck harder with every blow. The crystals in its head vibrated in a keening song, sending feelings of delight and hunger through its connection with Arwin.

His hammer struck.

Hairline fractures formed in the crystal.

His hammer struck.

Small shards of glistening purple rained down by his feet.

His hammer struck.

Loud cracks split the air and huge chunks of crystal rained down. Arwin went to swing Verdant Blaze again but paused on the backswing. The stone surface of the altar sat before him, a small portion of it dug out from the shimmering substance covering it. Faded designs covered its surface, but it was impossible to make anything out yet.

Arwin wedged the hammer into the hole he’d made and pulled back, ripping away chunks of crystal and sending them ringing to the floor to unveil more of the stone. With every move, he unveiled more of the altar.

All the designs ran toward its center, where a raised piece of circular stone jutted out of its surface. It seemed to be held in place by a pin that had once allowed it to spin but had been long since wedged shut by crystal.

He brought Verdant Blaze down on the pin, shattering it. The stone plate crashed to the ground and shattered into fragments, revealing a large keyhole. Arwin lowered the hammer and wiped the sweat from his brow as he turned to the others.

“Found the hole.”

“You know what? I’m not even going to take the low hanging fruit,” Anna said as they all worked their way past the crystals and down the path to rejoin him. “It’s so easy that it wouldn’t even be funny.”

“Put the key in already,” Lillia said, coughing to cover a laugh. “I want to see what we got from all this shit. Two Achievements is already great, but I’m hoping for a bit more considering that the hoard was important enough to warrant the Mesh’s attention.”

Arwin felt the same way. He dismissed Verdant Blaze and lifted the key, sliding it into the lock. It slotted into place with a loud click and he twisted the handle. It was like trying to pry apart the jaws of a crocodile.

He gritted his teeth and activated [Scourge]. Power pumped through his arms and the key turned silently. It made a full rotation before a loud pop rang out and a shudder shook the stone altar.

Arwin released the key and took a step back as the purple crystals started to crack apart. They split and tinkled to the ground like a rain of shimmering glass, sloughing off the stone in a wave.

A mechanism cranked to life within the altar. Rhythmic thuds filled the air. They all looked around the room as the ground started to rumble beneath them. The top of the altar shifted.

With every click, it rose another notch. And, finally, Arwin realized what he was looking at. It wasn’t an altar. It was a huge chest. Tick by tick, the stone lid at its top ground back until it was finally raised to a ninety-degree angle. The mechanism rumbled to a halt and the room fell silent once more.

Arwin stuck a foot into the loop at the head of the key and stepped off it. He grabbed onto the lip of the chest and pulled himself up to peer over the edge of the chest, summoning his headgear in the process. Half of him expected to find a monster lying in wait for something juicy to bite at.

Instead, he found himself staring at a hole roughly forty or fifty feet deep. It led into a well-lit room below. The floor was made up of beautiful tiles arranged into a mural. Most of it was blocked from his vision, so Arwin couldn’t tell what it depicted.

He waited for a few seconds to see if anything would show its head. His only reward was silence.

“Well, this seems needlessly complicated,” Arwin muttered.

“What is it? What’s in there?” Rodrick asked.

“A hole that leads into another room,” Arwin replied. “I’m going in. Everyone else wait up here in case something goes wrong.”

“Hold on.” Lillia raised a hand to forestall him. “You aren’t disposable. I’ll go with you.”

“You’re the only one that can make a way out.” Arwin shook his head. “I need you up here so you can make me a way out if things go wrong. You could get caught up in a fight if you’re down there, and it doesn’t look like there’s much room to maneuver. It’s okay. I can handle myself.”

Lillia pressed her lips together. Shadows gathered at her back and she jumped, wings propelling her into the air. She landed on the edge of the chest beside Arwin.

“Fine. I’ll watch from up here.” She formed a rope of shadow and cast it down. “Here.”

Arwin grabbed onto the rope.

“Be careful,” Reya called up.

“I will,” Arwin promised. Then, holding onto the rope, he slid down to see what reward laid in wait for them.