Chapter 68 - Volume 4 (2/2)

“Hooh? It does have its charm when you look at it this way.”

The personal residential area completed most of the construction in Axlon’s district, which was bordering Minolen Mountain. The buildings were nicknamed the ‘coffins,’ as each unit only had enough s.p.a.ce to lie down and did not have a single window inside. These ‘coffins’ covered one side of the mountain and its neighboring flat lands, with many magical lamps placed around it to make it a tourist attraction. Its nighttime lights attracted many tourists, and Isaac used the lamps to draw many pictures, making it one of the more popular spots in the city.

Past these residential areas, Axlon and Isaac reached the mines, where Isaac suspiciously looked at Axlon. There was no one who seemed to be working in the area.

“Why’s no one here?”

Axlon figured out the intent behind Isaac’s question, and he carefully looked at his surroundings as he whispered quietly.

“I’ve sent all of them away for security reasons.”

“I see you’re up to something big here. What about the other syndicate bosses?”

“I haven’t told them due to security reasons.”

“Pickaxe mentioning security huh… interesting.”

“You’ll understand when you see it.”

Axlon picked up a torch and entered the mine. Isaac doubted if this was a trap for a second, but he trusted his coat, which was akin to a fortress.

Even Isaac was at a loss for words when he heard of its properties from the Silver Spire. Even if he were to fall into water, it will allow him to breathe for 3 days, and even dirt and earth would slip around him, allowing him to swim through earth if he was buried. That meant he could always exit the mines even if it were to collapse.

After much walking while relying on the dim light of the torch, the two reached the end, where they were greeted by a blue glow lighting up the surrounding.

“What are those?”

“They’re mana crystals.”

“Mana crystals? This is the first time I’ve heard that they form veins?”

“Even I was surprised when I found them. I never considered the possibility that such a treasure would be buried in this mine.”

“How did we never find this until now?”

“I believe it’s because of the recently constructed residential area next to the mines.”

Although the residential area was extremely tiny, they contained ma.s.sive arrays of all kinds of quality-of-life magic circles. With thirty thousand of them concentrated on the same spot, the mana escaping these residential areas ended up being absorbed by these mana crystals, which had now reached critical levels and were glowing.

“Mana crystals forming a vein huh…”

Isaac frowned as he looked at the mana crystals, which shone like the Milky Way. This wasn’t good. Pure mana crystals were usually only found as one or two individual stones, not in veins of their own.

This was, at its smallest, a change in the common knowledge about mana crystals in general and at its largest, the crash of the pure mana crystal market in the Empire.

Pure mana crystals could be used in all kinds of situations, and because of that property, they were considered more valuable than gold. Most of the wealthy residents in the Empire saved their wealth in the form of mana crystals.

But finding a vein of mana crystals?

The prices would collapse, and those who loaned money using mana crystals as guarantees would go bankrupt within moments. This was a serious problem; the economy of the Empire could collapse in mere seconds.

“But do you have the Queen’s artefact?”

“Huh?”

Isaac turned to look at Axlon at the sudden question, only to see his face expressionless, like that of a puppet. A chill went through a corner of Isaac’s brain.

“What is the Queen’s artefact?”

“Huh? What is that?”

Axlon spoke back in confusion at Isaac’s answer.

“Hmm…”

Isaac stared at Axlon intensely, but all he could see was a baffling Axlon, his previous cold expressionless face missing.

“Did I hear wrong?”

Just when Isaac turned back, Axlon spoke with a deep voice with an expressionless face.

“Do you have the Queen’s artefact?”

Isaac quickly turned the stone on his ring as he pointed it at Axlon without hesitation or thought.

“What the? Did they sell me a defect?”

Axlon’s face went blank for a moment, as if he wasn’t expecting Isaac to attack him instantly. The blank look quickly turned to a sinister smile.

“Kukuku. Do you know why magical artefacts are used as support instead of them being the main weapon? When the mana surrounding it is greater than what the mana crystal contains, it confuses the circuit of the magic circle and leads to activation failure. No matter how many magical artefacts you have, it will be useless in this mine.”

Even Axlon’s voice changed. Instead of Axlon’s deep voice, it was a coa.r.s.e, disturbing voice, as if his throat was clogged with tar, and a vibration rumbled through the ground with the sound of something collapsing. The mines were quickly filled with dust.

“Did the path collapse?”

Knowing that he had fallen into a trap with no exit, Isaac realised he had let his guard down too much and crossed his arms with a smile.

“So who are you?”

“Huh? Where is this? Huh? Sir Isaac, what are you doing here?”

Axlon seemed like he had finally regained his senses when Isaac asked his question. Just when he looked about in confusion, his shadow jumped out.

“Huk! Wha, what the?”

Axlon jumped with surprise when his shadow moved on its own, but when he landed, his head and body were no longer together. Axlon’s head rolled over to Isaac, his face still oblivious to his own death. Isaac looked at it blankly and tapped it away with his foot.

“r.e.t.a.r.d.”

“Kukuku, don’t be so harsh on him. He has been an excellent puppet of mine up until now.”

The figure that sprouted out of Axlon’s shadow formed that of an old man with a hood covering his face. Looking through the lens of his left eye, Isaac could see a dark and sticky aura like that of tar spiral around him.

With a single wave of his hand, earth sprouted and grabbed at each of Isaac’s limbs. With his trusty magical artefacts disabled and the mines collapsed, it was difficult to expect any help from the outside.

The old man shouted out with glee.

“Finally! The Queen’s artefact is mine!”

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