447 Red Phoenix Pearl (1/2)
The gnome king might have died a miserly death and all that remained on him were bones, literally. Adorned by the armour he wore while he was still alive, his skeleton was sitting upon his throne in an imposing manner as if daring the enemies to try and take Gnaway from him.
Zero took a look at the once-mighty king and bowed as a sign of respect, Truen and Jermine following his lead.
The king wore chain armour made from mithril adorned with gold trimmings. On his hands, he wore leather gloves that were half rotting but his grip on the machinery mounted in front of his throne didn't loosen even in death. The machinery was pointing upwards and based on the trajectory, Truen could deduce that he could shoot enemies from outside the city walls from his throne room.
”This must be the Gatling Gun,” Zero said after a thorough inspection.
From the mithril helmet of the king, a red phoenix suddenly appeared. The flames were wild and untameable but they didn't feel hot. Truen and Zero were calm even in the presence of a legendary bird and that confused Raju.
”Come on out,” Zero told the mastermind behind the phoenix illusion. Then, with a smirk, he added, ”Raju.”
Pouting now that his fun was over, the djinn called the illusion away and materialised himself.
”How did you know? Also, congratulations on passing the final trial.”
Zero laughed. ”It was a little too easy,” the doctor admitted. ”All the trials were made to find yourself a suitable candidate who could be trusted to be both honest and capable. You want this Phoenix's Pearl on King Gregory's necklace to be given to Goddess Isis?”
Jermine couldn't see what Zero was talking about but Truen noticed that there was a very bright red gem on King Gregory's necklace. He thought that it was a large ruby at first. How did Zero know that it was the red phoenix's pearl they were looking for?
In a rare moment of celebrating the use of his intelligence, Zero explained that his true objective wasn't just to clear the trials.
Zero pulled out one of the blueprints that he was talking about. Truen squinted and didn't understand the writing but there was one thing he understood. The design of that red stone on King Gregory's necklace matched the schematic.
”The Red Phoenix Pearl isn't a time gate device. It's actually a timer that runs consistently on a loop. King Gregory wore it as an amulet to count down his days till death. The fact that you were bound to this device powers it forever so there really isn't a need to send this to Isis. In other words, you're being used as a power source for a luxury clock and you want out. Did I miss anything?”
Jermine's jaw fell. Gnaway's owner was just a selfish djinn who wanted someone to free him so he set up all those dangerous trials just to trick someone into doing it? How cruel!
Speechless, Raju tried to hide back into the necklace but he was one step too slow. Truen fired an arrow that created a huge pagoda prison, trapping the poor djinn.
”I'm sorry! I'm sorry!” the djinn apologised and begged for forgiveness. Truen wasn't too forgiving and notched another arrow. Zero was very calm but Jermine panicked. Was he going to allow murder right before his eyes? Jermine couldn't believe it.
The arrow whistled and landed squarely on Raju's chest and he squeezed his eyes shut. However, he didn't feel any pain.
Slowly, Raju opened his eyes again and Jermine blinked. What kind of arrow was that? What did Truen do?
”He's all yours for interrogation,” Truen told Zero. ”The spell lasts for a whole day so take your time. Jermine and I will prepare lunch or dismantle some beetle corpses. Also, we're going to loot this place after lunch.”