Chapter 323

Chapter 323
## Chapter 323

Legacy (3)

The moment Horus stepped past the threshold of the 「Golden Treasury」, a lengthy hallway stretched out before him.

Brilliant gemstones were set directly into the stonework and the ceiling above, bathing the area in light, and every surface—with the sole exception of the pristine marble floor—gleamed with a deep golden luster.

‘Hold on, this isn’t just painted to look like gold. It’s… actual solid gold?’

Horus ran his fingers along the masonry, his eyelids flaring in astonishment, as he gave a measured nod.

The reasoning behind the title 「Golden Treasury」 was now abundantly clear.

It was entirely literal, lacking any metaphor.

‘Even by the standards of a Gold Dragon, this seems… a bit much.’

Horus offered a faint exhale, shaking his head slightly at the uninspired and flashy architecture.

To think that even for a Gold Dragon, this level of opulence would feel…

‘…Then again, it actually has a certain charm.’

…oddly captivating.

No, “charm” didn’t quite capture it. A profound sense of gratification, a bizarre feeling of utter fulfillment, began to swell deep within his chest.

The metallic radiance of the precious metal, catching the illumination of the glowing gemstones, flickered and danced beautifully.

This was no mere superficial gilding. Meticulous engravings lined the walls, fracturing the light into countless angles and creating an enchanting display.

Who could possibly remain unaffected by such a breathtaking sight…?

“Get a grip! Focus!”

Slap!

Horus, who had found himself mindlessly admiring the artistry carved into the walls, snapped back to reality and delivered a sharp strike to both of his cheeks.

He had nearly been ensnared.

The environment was crafted to perfectly appeal to the innate desires of the Gold Dragon lineage!

‘Whew, let’s keep moving.’

Forcing the lingering fascination from his mind, he proceeded down the hallway, his gaze darting from side to side like a youth surrounded by novelties.

‘Realistically speaking, raw gold doesn’t hold nearly as much worth as genuine magical relics.’

Granted, gold retained a massive value across Auterica since it underpinned the entire coin-based economy, but such a common material shouldn’t be enough to satisfy the hoard of a true dragon.

There were precious gems, enchanted alloys, crystallized mana elements…

“…Heh, and every bit of this belongs to me now?”

Yet, the sheer scale of the wealth… it provided an unexpected level of gratification.

Perhaps this inherent satisfaction was the reason the Gold Dragon clan maintained a reputation for being far more cooperative and less avaricious than their draconic kin.

‘It’s a reasonable assumption. But that’s irrelevant at the moment.’

Having finally pacified his sudden rush of possessiveness, Horus arrived at the terminus of the corridor.

He could easily have deployed sorcery to hasten his arrival, but he had intentionally chosen a slow march, lingering to absorb the view.

…And perhaps to indulge just a bit longer in his newfound fondness for the precious metal.

“Incredible…”

The sight that greeted him was an immense draconic monument, constructed almost entirely from solid gold.

Its scale easily eclipsed the true, draconic manifestation of Elder Dragon Shri Hartgen.

‘Is that the true physical scale of an Ancient Dragon… an Elder Dragon?’

The absolute pinnacle of the draconic lineage, whose numbers were exceedingly scarce even during the golden era of their species.

He let out a sharp breath, completely stunned by the massive form that spanned over a hundred meters in length—a mythic entity he had previously only known through lore.

Simultaneously, he felt a profound wave of respect for the sovereigns who had come before him.

To realize that the historical Immortal Kings had successfully brought down such monstrous entities, even Ancient Dragons…

It was an astonishing accomplishment, utterly fitting for a figure known as the ‘Continent’s Despair’.

‘And presently, I am also… ’

Horus rolled his shoulders back and straightened his posture, a wave of self-assurance washing over him, before shifting his attention away from the colossal monument and the overflowing mounds of coinage and gems resting at its base.

Imposing archways, marking the entrances to varied chambers of the vault, lined the perimeter of the primary hall.

This central space was merely the entrance foyer, not the actual repository.

The various portals likely separated the wealth based on classification.

‘Which implies… everything out here is just… the leftover sundries.’

Was this the sensation experienced by an individual inheriting an incomprehensible empire of wealth?

It was a staggering reality to comprehend, a manifestation of limitless prosperity.

‘Time to move.’

Hesitation would serve no purpose.

He stepped forward with absolute certainty toward the nearest archway, brimming with anticipation.

The grand pursuit of a youthful dragon had officially commenced.

—

The sheer scale of the 「Golden Treasury」 meant it held an astronomical quantity of artifacts, far too vast to inspect during a brief excursion.

Consequently, his initial foray was merely a surface-level reconnaissance, a rapid assessment to understand the layout of the vault.

“Hmph, this is rather… underwhelming.”

Having crossed through multiple chambers, Horus stepped back out into the central foyer and voiced his discontent, halting before the final unexplored portal.

The fruits of his primary search had fallen short of what he envisioned.

His priority was to locate implements that could offer an advantage in direct warfare, yet very few items of that caliber remained among the leftover inventory.

‘Granted, there were a few intriguing relics.’

Shri Hartgen had already provided advance warning that the vast majority of premium armaments had been depleted or destroyed in the fires of past conflicts.

It was highly probable that the bulk of the enchanted apparatuses traded across the continent today had their origins in this very repository.

‘Furthermore, following those catastrophic wars, the Gold Clan faced near total annihilation, leaving them entirely unable to reclaim what was lost.’

Horus clicked his tongue in disappointment, then pushed through the final threshold to see what lay within.

Though a bit disheartened, the spoils he had cataloged up to this point still held immense worth.

The monumental stores of gold would provide an incredible financial surge for Hubert’s Trading Company, while the advanced principles and secrets locked within the uncommon magical apparatuses would prove invaluable to Howard’s forge work…

“Wait. This chamber…”

He froze mid-stride, his expression shifting to one of sudden shock.

The visual style of this particular sector diverged completely from the previous rooms.

In stark contrast to the earlier areas, which were extravagantly decorated with gold filigree and brilliant ores, this specific chamber was cast in shadow and carried a heavy weight.

To put it more accurately—.

‘The masonry, overhead structures, and flooring are entirely composed of specialized sorcerous elements. Mystical alloys and sacrificial mediums… ’

The anomalies didn’t end there.

He extended a hand to press against the dark brickwork, his eyebrows knitting together.

He could detect the presence of an incredibly potent protective boundary enveloping the entire chamber.

‘…This is masterful craftsmanship. It nearly rivals the work of Hans. Could an Ancient Dragon have woven this?’

An incredibly advanced structural ward, possessing a level of sophistication that far exceeded his current arcane mastery.

It functioned as a absolute containment grid, dampening and neutralizing anyone who failed to present the proper authentication.

‘What could they be hiding in here…?’

The answer presented itself the moment he advanced further into the room.

A peculiar sensation of recognition, intertwined with a sudden spine-chilling dread, washed through him as his eyes fell upon the displays inside.

A darkened, gleaming rapier that seemed as though it had been shaped out of solid darkness.

A set of plate armor modeled after a fiendish entity, appearing as though boiling magma had been frozen solid into defensive plates.

A crimson jewel, throbbing with the rhythm of a living heart, interlaced with complex circulatory tracks.

A segmented lash, shifting and coiling dynamically, its length lined with jagged barbs.

Peculiar and unnatural instruments, their dark lineage unmistakable at a single glance.

‘Ah, so this is where they stored them.’

It was entirely logical that the dragons would possess war trophies claimed from their engagements with the Immortal Kings.

Because such malevolent instruments could not be left exposed to the world, the Gold Dragons had naturally gathered and bound them beneath heavy restrictions.

‘Additionally, the draconic race had been battling dark forces long before the rise of the Immortal Kings.’

Even prior to the emergence of the primary Immortal King a millennium ago, there existed foolish mortals who sought to beckon fiends and even catastrophic Demon Kings from foreign planes.

A portion of these relics had undoubtedly been seized and imprisoned during those historical crises.

Brief annotations, presumably penned by the ancient collectors who had secured the items, were positioned beneath each display.

The variation in calligraphy and prose styles lent an engaging historical depth to the exhibit, providing a window into the temperaments of the ancient dragons.

‘Eight-Armed Forest was the Dullahan Monarch who pledged allegiance to the Second Immortal King. He ranked among the most formidable generals of that era.’

Horus, his gaze burning with intense fascination, pressed forward with his inspection, completely untroubled by the malevolent pressure radiating from the exhibits.

As he approached the deepest section of the chamber, an even greater anomaly caught his eye.

An entity secured beneath an exponentially more rigorous containment system.

“Is that…”

A isolated upper limb, bound tightly in ancient linen with its flesh entirely hidden from view, was pinned down and anchored by a multitude of metallic spikes upon an altar etched with blazing sorcerous formations.

‘…Astonishing.’

He swallowed hard, his vision locked onto the severed limb.

It was a mere fragment of a body, yet the sheer pressure it radiated was titanic, sufficient to spark an instinctual alarm even within Horus, who prided himself on his current level of capability.

‘To project this much malice while completely suppressed… Its unsealed state must have been terrifying. What manner of entity did this belong to? It has to be on par with a Demon King.’

His initial apprehension was rapidly eclipsed by an intense thirst for knowledge.

He moved toward the altar with measured steps and swiftly perused the carved text beneath the display.

“…The limb of a true Demon King.”

Though he had deduced as much, seeing the confirmation in reality was staggering.

He spoke the words softly to the empty room, his volume dropping significantly, before casting his eyes once more upon the imprisoned limb.

It remained wrapped entirely in cloth, its true physical traits masked, pinned fast by heavy bindings and iron stakes, completely dormant and silent.

‘How many centuries has it spent trapped in this place?’

An Immortal King was frequently likened to a Demon King in terms of destructive potential, but they were fundamentally distinct species.

He had no recollection of any records indicating a Demon King had broken into Auterica following the emergence of the first Immortal King, meaning this specimen had likely been secured for at least ten centuries.

‘Hold on a moment.’

As he contemplated the severed limb, a memory sparked in his mind.

He had encountered that specific title once before.

It had appeared within the 『Item Purchase』 interface, right around the time he had acquired his Dragon Heart medium.

『Horn containing the essence of the 14th Demon King, L’rei’e (4,620,000)』

He promptly summoned the interface for the Karma Shop, and indeed, the listing was present.

It made perfect sense why the moniker felt familiar.

‘A horn belonging to a Demon King. And the required points have actually dropped.’

The value had exceeded five million points during his initial inspection.

In contrast to the astronomical thirty-million-point artifact whose details were obscured by unreadable text, this item had felt within the realm of possibility, which is why it had stuck in his memory.

‘The fiendish realm, and a sovereign of that plane… ’

The fiendish territory was not an entirely isolated reality, but rather a dimensional pocket tethered directly to Auterica, comparable to the Spirit Realm or the deep void.

Following the devastating campaign of the first Immortal King, the majority of the heretical sorcerers capable of orchestrating fiendish summonings had been integrated into his dark legions, causing such incursions to dwindle to near nonexistence.

‘Regardless, that is a matter of no concern to me at present.’

Horus gave a casual roll of his shoulders and redirected his gaze toward the neighboring relics arrayed nearby.

While the fiendish plane intrigued him, his immediate focus remained entirely on Ganghwange.

‘I will revisit this subject at a later date.’

The specialized items arranged around the Demon King’s limb appeared to share a common origin.

His inquisitive gaze shifted methodically from one relic to the next.

—

“What?”

Siana, who had been actively indulging in her preferred leisure activity of tormenting the deposed Crown Prince Simon, suddenly froze in place.

Her liege, the Immortal King Hans, had materialized directly in front of her.

He carried the visage of an entirely ordinary human being.

“Siana.”

“Ah…? Y-yes, my sovereign!”

Caught off guard for a split second, she scrambled to adopt a posture of absolute submission, pressing herself to the floor.

However, beneath her lowered brow, her vision was wide with sheer shock, her irises trembling with disbelief.

“I require your counsel on a matter, Siana.”

“Your word is my law.”

“What is your assessment of this countenance?”

“My… assessment…?”

A visible tremor passed through her frame at the bizarre nature of the inquiry.

Yet, she forced her panic down instantly, her intellect operating at maximum velocity, as she delivered a seamless response.

“It is… flawless! I would have been entirely incapable of identifying your true self had our souls not been intertwined by our pact! Please pardon my lack of immediate perception, my sovereign.”

“I see.”

Hans offered a slow nod, a look of gratification crossing his features.

Siana, as a succubus, stood unparalleled within the ranks of the Immortal Army regarding matters of subterfuge and mimicry.

She had successfully embedded herself within the topmost tiers of imperial aristocracy, completely deceiving even the most perceptive arch-prelates.

He felt validated by her professional endorsement and, after offering a brief word of approval, departed the chamber.

The moment his form vanished into thin air,

Siana, left entirely to her own devices, squeezed her eyelids shut tightly and pressed her face firmly against the cold masonry of the floor.

‘That breathtakingly gorgeous visage! He has transformed himself into nothing more than a common mortal!’

She bitterly wept for the destruction of one of her sole remaining comforts in this twisted, uninvited eternity.