Baator Hell Promotion

Chapter 62: Treasure (Part 1)

The bound spirit let out a long cry that sounded like both a groan and a cheer, then completely melted away in the fading sunlight.

Shortly after it vanished, the rune on Lady Frodis's hand flickered and quickly faded. The sunlight vanished as quickly as it had appeared, as if it had never appeared.

The moment the sunlight disappeared, Ugo collapsed to the ground with a thud. Frodis, on the other hand, rested her hands on her knees, panting heavily, barely able to straighten her back. Finally, she collapsed to her knees, a trace of blood seeping from the corner of her mouth.

The dwarf ran over nervously, observed the dragon's face as clear as gold paper, and quickly took out a thick-walled glass bottle filled with crimson liquid, and poured the entire bottle of liquid into the water bag at his waist.

After the Dragon Vein Lady drank a few gulps of the liquid from the water bag, the effect was immediate, her skin flushed like a hot bath. At least she'd recovered from her breathlessness. The dwarf eagerly carried the water bag to the succubus. Inside was warm, sweet wine. It burned like a flame from Hopper's mouth into her abdomen, and she even regained feeling in her ankles.

"Heart Mother's fine brew!" After giving a few sips to the remaining two orcs, the dwarf took a few swigs himself, his cheeks flushed as he loudly declared, "This is also the warmest protection for the dwarves who travel far away."

"I say, is that monster really dead?" Carlo tried hard to stand up, but finally felt it was more comfortable to lie on the ground. He had consumed too much energy to lure away the bound spirit.

"It's completely dead. That last blow from the big guy was really ruthless. It used up all my ghost oil." Brand smacked his lips and tied the water bag reluctantly. "No matter if it's a ghost or a spirit, it can't be resurrected."

"I noticed that it seems to be Queen Shirley. Don't you feel uncomfortable at all?" Frodis asked inquiringly, half-raising herself with the help of the Eye Demon's shell.

The dwarf waved his hand carelessly and said nonchalantly, "Queen Shirley had been dead for over a hundred years when I was born. I don't have any feelings for her. I'm more interested in her treasure."

"Treasure, you finally got to the point we're all interested in," Hopper said. "But this throne room has burned down at least twice. Everything has been burned."

The dwarf smiled inscrutablely, tilted his head back, put his hands behind his back, and said mysteriously, "Oh, my good lady, we dwarves don't pile up all our treasures in the hall like the dragon did."

Seeing that he had attracted everyone's attention, the dwarf continued, "I can lead you to find the treasure, but you must promise to only take what you can carry away and never reveal the location to anyone else."

"Why should I agree to this?" Hopper asked with amusement. "Mr. Brand, you don't seem to understand the current situation. You have already brought me to the City of Thousand Rocks, why shouldn't I turn against you and kill all of you and then slowly search for me?"

Brand also straightened his chest before the succubus's narrowed blue eyes, not flinching. Clearly, the courage our dwarf displayed when it came to the treasure distribution was completely different from the courage he displayed when facing monsters.

"This is all my people's ancestral property. If you don't let me take the treasure back, I'd rather be killed here. But then you'll have to prepare to spend a hundred years searching in the mazes and traps woven by my people!"

The demon's plump lips curved into an arc.

"Then how can you be sure that I won't wait until we reach the treasury and be tempted by the money?" Hopper jumped lightly, and instead of choosing the cold ground, he chose to sit on Carlo's chest and teased the dwarf.

"I know you devils will abide by the treaties you make," the dwarf said hesitantly, fearing the wrath of the assassin. "I want us all to come to an agreement. The wealth of the Thousand Rocks belongs to my people. Each of us can only take what we can hold with our hands. And we must not fight or attack each other over the treasure."

After saying that, he looked at the lust demon nervously, fearing that she would really go on a rampage and kill someone.

Hopper was slightly stunned when he heard the request, then he couldn't help laughing. It was so cute that he took the initiative to ask for a contract with the devil.

"Are you sure they all agree? Dwarf, how do you know I'm the only one here who wants to chop off your head so I can keep the treasure for myself?"

"Stop stirring up trouble here!" Frodis screamed, her voice becoming shrill with anger. "We have all received favors from Mr. Brand. I will never do anything bad to him. I agree to this agreement."

One. The Desire Demon counted silently.

"I agree," Carlo said faintly from beneath the demon. Ugo, who had just woken up, nodded blankly.

Three.

Hopper looked up to see everyone staring at him nervously.

"For the sake of your bottle of holy water, I agree. After all, not all holy water can explode." Hopper spread his hands, a cunning smile faintly visible behind his veil. "Deal."

-

If Brand hadn't led him there, Hopper probably wouldn't have guessed the treasure room's door was in the throne room. On the wall behind the throne and the pillars, there was an ordinary, low, and old wooden door. Perhaps because of the presence of the undead, there wasn't even a trace of fungus or insect damage on the door. It looked like the entrance to a servant's passage.

More crucially, the scorch marks that spread across the hall stopped not far from the wooden door, meaning the treasure room likely escaped the fire. Hopper gazed at the darkened pillars and could almost imagine the scene: a massive dragon's head forcing its way through the door, followed by a cone of flames nearly as long as the dragon's body, consuming all the splendor of Thousand Rocks City—the queen, the generals, the tapestries, the silks—all reduced to charred ash.

The clicking sound interrupted her thoughts, and Carlo, who was unlocking the door, looked up blankly.

"Did a magic trap get triggered?" Flotis asked nervously, leaning back slightly, ready to escape at any moment.

"No," the orc said helplessly, using his extra-long fingers to push the door open. "There's no trap on this door."

"It must have been dispelled by the Beholder," Hopper realized. But more questions loomed. A Beholder could certainly dispel a single door trap, but how could it dispel so many Beholders? The bound spirits just now couldn't possibly defeat the Beholders. A bound spirit's primary attack method was to drain the life out of the living. So what about the wounds on the Beholders?

"Never mind, let's go in first." The dwarf pushed the door open impatiently and was the first to walk into the treasure room.

Hopper followed Carlo inside. The room inside wasn't much larger than her quarters in Torch Keep. Unlike the legendary depictions of mountains of gold and silver, it was as simple as a utility room. There were no mountains of gold, no fruit hanging from branches, and no oil lamps. There were only closets against the wall and boxes piled on the floor. The entrance to the treasure vault was small, making it difficult for beholders to pass through. Moreover, beholders had little interest in inedible treasure. They probably scanned it with detect living creatures, or at most had their servants perfunctorily check a few boxes before leaving. This is why the place is so well preserved.

"That's a bit far from what I expected," Frodis said critically, clearly sharing Hopper's thoughts. "Isn't the City of Thousand Rocks known for its wealth? I thought the treasure room would be at least a little bigger than the throne room."

"This isn't the treasure room of the City of Thousand Rocks," the dwarf crouched down and fiddled with the lock of a cupboard. "A dwarf's hoard wouldn't be barricaded with a few pieces of wood. It must be hidden in the deepest dungeons. You can't see its adamantine gates without passing fifty sentry posts."

"This is at most the Queen's personal toy vault. The room behind the throne room is usually used to store the King's trophies. Look~ Pah, damn it."

The dwarf opened the cupboard, and hundreds of years of dust flew out, choking him and causing him to step back repeatedly.

In the cupboard leaned a hammer taller than a dwarf, emitting a faint red light in the darkness.

Chapter 63: Treasure (Part 2)

"It should be the weapon of an orc chieftain."

Brand dragged the hammer out with great effort, blew off the dust, and tried to swing it with both hands, almost spraining his waist. Ugo quickly grabbed the hammer with one hand and supported him with the other.

The orc shook the hammer in his hand, raised it above his head and swung it in a perfect arc. The black stone hammer head, studded with two long tusks, made a humming sound in the wind. The perfect balance of the weapon and the weight of the hammer made Ugo very satisfied, showing a mess of teeth.

"I want this hammer, no one else wants it." His voice was almost pleading.

The dwarf turned to look at the succubus. Although they had just agreed not to argue over property, everyone knew the succubus was the most powerful here, so theoretically, she should have chosen first. She was no less powerful than an orc, and the sword she wielded was just an ordinary one. The succubus could really use this hammer.

Hopper looked at the dwarf in bewilderment. He didn't really think he wanted to be a hammer-swinging succubus. That strict lady would probably have her housekeeper following her around all the time, ringing a bell and yelling, "Watch your appearance!"

Carlo was now fully utilizing his abilities, his lockpicking tools constantly in his hands. His eyes widened as he continued to open cabinets and boxes. Boxes of coins of varying qualities, colors, and materials piled up like a mountain. Brand exclaimed, plunging his hands into the pile, his face filled with fascination. Sadly, many of the garments, made of what should have been precious fabrics, hadn't withstood the test of time. Perhaps the Queen's attendants hadn't considered storing them for centuries when they stored them in her private treasury.

"Wow! Look at this!" Carlo opened the last and most complicated cabinet and quickly called everyone to come and see.

A snow-white composite longbow hung quietly on a specially made stand, its silver wire inlaid and coiled around the bow creating an intricate and delicate pattern of vines and leaves. Brand carefully took it down, carefully blew away the dust on it, and examined it carefully.

"You're a good girl, aren't you?" The dwarf almost whispered to his sleeping daughter, staring at the bow without blinking.

"The Winter Moon!" he declared. "The work of the elven priests. I only heard that Queen Shirley kept it, and it's completely intact."

He hesitated for a moment, then held the bow out in front of Hopper: "Take it, I believe there is nothing here that would suit you better than this, before I regret it."

"I don't think so. Why do you think the elves would let a devil use their holy objects?"

Hopper reached out tentatively, but before her fingertips could touch the bow, a tiny flash of lightning rippled through the gleaming silver of the Solstice Moon, sending a sting through her.

Hopper opened his hand to show the dwarf, which was covered with a layer of frost.

"Frodis, do you want this bow?" the dwarf shouted to the Dragon Vein Lady who was walking away with a lack of interest. Frodis glanced at him from a distance, spread her hands to indicate that she had no interest, and then went to check another cupboard.

Hopper rubbed her fingers together, shaking off the ice. She didn't care much for the bow; her own flaming longbow was the standard issue given to succubi by Torchhold, and it was sufficient for now. The succubus was looking for something she suspected would be in Queen Shirley's treasury. While searching, Hopper spotted a pile of dusty leather beneath the bow rest. She pulled it out and shook it, and out spluttered a dozen arrows and two javelins.

"As expected, a capable quiver." The demon tied the three-layer leather quiver around his waist with satisfaction and inserted his composite longbow into it for a test. The quiver looked small, but it could easily hold arrows, a bow, and a javelin, and the exterior didn't show any of that.

The Sharp Quiver is a hunting tool bestowed upon followers by the Stag's Heart. It can hold dozens of arrows, a dozen javelins, and half a dozen bows. Legend has it that when followers use the ammunition in the quiver, they are imbued with the power of the Stag's Heart. Because of its incredible effectiveness, countless craftsmen and spellcasters devised various methods to replicate it. Ultimately, with the Stag's Heart's tacit approval, the Sharp Quiver was created. While lacking its divine power, it still retains sufficient storage capacity.

Brand put the Winter Moon back, looked up at the quiver hanging from the Devil's waist, stroked his beard, nodded, and said, "It really suits you."

"Aren't you taking that bow?" Hopper asked curiously. Although the Winter Moon rejected him, the dwarves could still use it. Even if they weren't good with bows and arrows, the price of selling it alone was enough for the dwarves to live a fairly prosperous life. "So what did you take?"

The cabinet housing the longbows looked like elven craftsmanship, untouched by moth or damage even after centuries. Hopper suspected it might have been custom-made by Queen Shirley or one of her female relatives. The cabinet wasn't tall, its overall size designed for dwarven use, but the elves had applied their own ingenuity to the carvings, using smooth, clean lines to depict scenes of dwarven singing and dancing.

Besides the double-door cabinet at the bottom, which housed the Winter Moon, there was another drawer cleverly hidden within the carvings. Brand didn't have time to answer the succubus's questions. He carefully twisted the carved wine glass until the lock clicked open. The dwarf pulled open the drawer and pulled out a small carved box. He opened it and examined it, his face beaming.

Hopper took the box the dwarf handed her, which contained dozens of rings and seals neatly arranged in categories. She picked up a solid gold ring with square letters engraved on the ring face. It was beautiful, but undoubtedly without any magical power.

"Queen Shirley's complete set of personal signet rings and seals," the dwarf cried proudly, "enough to announce the existence of the City of Thousand Rocks to all my people."

Hopper was a little surprised that the dwarf had chosen something that was basically a souvenir. He couldn't really expect to use it to declare himself the new king of the Thousand Rocks.

Artists are indeed all crazy, the Devil thought with a sympathetic heart.

She glanced at Brand's open drawer. Besides the box containing the signet ring, there were what looked like hair combs, beard rings, and armlets. All the trappings of a queen. Hopper ignored the jewelry; her purpose wasn't to plunder the dwarves' hoard; the quiver was a bonus. She followed his lead and opened another drawer. The first thing she saw was a shield-shaped brooch inlaid with pearls, pinned to a neatly folded leather cloak.

The succubus took out the cloak and shook it open. The cloak was cold to the touch. It should be made of the skin of a crocodile or other underwater creature. The maker deliberately retained the original owner's gray-black scales, allowing it to almost blend into the environment.

"It should be Prince Ruber's shark cloak." The dwarf took the cloak from Hopper and found small words embroidered in gold thread on the hem. "I think he should be Queen Shirley's great-uncle or great-uncle. He was a well-known freak who loved water. This cloak that allows you to breathe underwater was his favorite when he was alive."

The dwarf looked around and put his cloak directly on Carlo, who was standing aside and watching awkwardly.

"Take it. There's probably nothing in this treasure house that suits you better than this. Queen Shirley's family is a freak. She herself likes the elves' craftsmanship, and her grandfather likes dragon bone wine cups. I tell you privately, the enemy might have been attracted by his set of ten dragon cups. But none of them likes fighting very much, so I guess you won't be as lucky as Ugo to find a weapon that suits you."

There were several boxes under the cloak. Hopper opened one of them and found a thick, conical, dirty yellow horn cup on a piece of blue velvet. There was a line of small words embroidered on the velvet: "Hunted on the day of the rising red moon, 47 years old individual." It seemed that this was the wine cup Brand had just mentioned.

The succubus opened a few more boxes. She didn't recognize most of the things inside the boxes, but it was not difficult to guess that they were probably the inheritance left to her by Queen Shirley's deceased relatives.

This discovery encouraged Hopper, after all, what she was looking for was a relic. Finally, she found a palm-sized pure gold box from the depths of the drawer. The heavy and cushioned box was embossed with a dwarf with a delicate short beard and a gloomy face - somewhat similar to the queen on the Rock City coin.

Hopper carefully opened the box. Inside the shallow box was a lock of brown hair with a gold tooth resting on the hair.

As I expected, Hopper smiled smugly.

There was a loud "boom" that startled everyone and made them jump up, with smoke and dust filling the treasure room.

Chapter 64: Commander

Lati walked alone down the dark corridor, her heavy boots making an unpleasant clatter against the stone slabs. Her covert operations class wasn't as good as Hopper's, so she couldn't skim the ground as silently as she did, but the obvious noise was at least partly due to her unhappy mood.

The long corridor, built into the castle's interior, was completely windowless. Square pillars rooted in the floor supported a smooth, elegant dome overhead. The walls were carved with reliefs of dwarven ancestors, each with a different style of beard. A fresh breeze blew from the stone dwarves' mouths or nostrils, producing a whining sound like a horn. Perhaps the castle's builders had simply intended these structures as an aesthetically pleasing and concealed ventilation system, but now the whimpering sound only heightened the loneliness.

Lati didn't like this feeling. Loneliness was like a leech, draining away her patience and fortitude. She hadn't felt this way since entering the Torchhold, and she knew she wasn't in the right place. A devil, even a half-demon like Cambion, shouldn't resist being alone. Relationships on Baator were the simplest in the entire multiverse, consisting of only one kind: superiors and subordinates. Demons inherently couldn't form equal companionship.

But now, she deeply missed Hopper's company. Though the succubus didn't like to talk and preferred to keep his distance, Lati could sense that Hopper was very different from Vera and the others. She possessed a detached aloofness, and not being interested in harming others was practically the best quality a demon could possess in Bartor. Lati deeply enjoyed the company of a companion who wouldn't betray her.

Besides, she thought with a headache, if Hopper were here, at least one of the succubi would know how to deal with this problem.

Cambion tilted his head slightly, once again watching the hem of the skirt disappear behind the statue. Lati didn't feel she had done anything wrong. If it were in the barracks, a new recruit like Lil, who had drawn a host of enemies by disobeying orders, would have been chopped up and thrown into the meat grinder. He had simply told her to get out of the way and not to implicate him, even at the risk of death. Such a rebuke on the Avernus front was even more gentle than a grandmother's lullaby.

Besides, Lil has been to the front line before. Is it just because of my reprimand that she is in this awkward state now?

If it were anyone else, Lati would have let it go long ago. Cambion, with his rich emotions, clearly inherited the weakness of his mortal bloodline. He would have been eliminated early by the harsh living environment of Hell, and helping him would only be a burden.

Lil, however, was different. Not to mention that accepting her brother's gift had constituted a sort of implicit contract, abandoning her would likely result in her being hunted by a great wizard. Furthermore, given Lati's unwillingness to acknowledge her weak human ancestry, she was unwilling to allow a creature with whom she had an emotional connection to die.

This feeling is not just sympathy or regret, but also includes the possessiveness of one's own property and the unwillingness to accept the failure of emotional investment.

Finally, she turned around, too lazy to play hide-and-seek. The tall Cambion strode behind the statue, hiding Lil, a face shrouded in terror and tears. Lati reached out and grabbed her by the upper arm, forcing her into the middle of the corridor.

"Okay, Lil, I apologize," she said helplessly, looking at the aggrieved little Cambion and pouting, "I'm willing to make peace with you."

"Lil...Lil is also willing to reconcile with Lati," Lil stammered. Nervously, she began to do what she loved to do when she was upset or nervous - playing the harp. It was her music that had attracted the enemy not long ago. "As long as Lati stopped talking loudly..."

Lati rubbed her temple, feeling a nerve throbbing there. She didn't know why Li'er's brother had sent her to the Torch Keep. Li'er's fighting ability might be enough to go to the battlefield, but her mind was definitely not enough.

"Then you must promise to obey me and not act on your own," Lati said sternly. "From now on, I am your superior, and you must follow my orders as the highest principle."

"Lil, listen to your boss." Obviously, little Cambion still wanted to reconcile, and she agreed without hesitation.

“Answer questions by saying, “Yes, sir.”

"Yes, sir"

Lati breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed like coaxing a child wouldn't be difficult. She wondered why she hadn't realized Lil's mind was still intact. Perhaps it was because she acted so naturally in battle and in daily life, or perhaps the recent bloody battles had irritated Lil. Anyway, she was holding up now.

After addressing the emotional issues of his soldiers, Commander Lati took out his own signpost—a bronze plate. In the middle of the plate was a pea-sized bronze horse with its hooves raised in the air—now pointing to the other end of the corridor.

Following the signs, the two Cambions soon arrived at the hall at the end.

"Wow!" Lil exclaimed softly, looked at Lati's face, and quickly shut up and stopped making any sound.

The end of the corridor was more of a terrace than a hall. Surrounded by translucent stone walls, the terrace extended out from the exit in a large semicircle, with a mess of metal junk piled on the inner side.

Lati walked along the wall to the edge of the fence next to the stone wall and touched the railing. It was cold to the touch, made of stone. She carefully drew her rapier and stabbed it into the translucent wall. The tip of the sword penetrated without resistance, as if there was nothing in front.

Silent Phantom Lil followed and quickly made her assessment. She pointed to the dust-covered floor tiles. They were inlaid with a geometric pattern of silver threads, which converged on a moonstone at the center. "It's a constant magical effect. From the outside, this should just look like an ordinary stone wall."

Lati looked over the railing. From her angle, she could see two neat rows of pillars in the hall below, the back of the throne on the high platform, and two huge wooden doors facing the terrace. Even more eye-catching than these were the piles of armor in the corner of the hall and the strange spherical shells scattered on the floor.

"I guess this terrace is a guardhouse, convenient for observing and protecting the people in the hall below." Lati's military experience allowed her to quickly analyze the terrace's purpose, but she didn't hear Lil's answer. A sense of foreboding came over her.

Cambion quickly turned around and saw Lil squatting in front of the pile of metal balls with her back to her, looking at something.

"Lil, don't be too far away from me," she said angrily, and was about to pull Lil up. Unexpectedly, just as she raised her foot, a colorful eye opened in the pile of metal waste she thought was there, and then a voice without any emotion came from it.

"A legendary artifact has been detected. Identity confirmed. No qualified owner has been detected. Clearance mode activated."

"Lil! What have you done!?"

"Lil didn't do anything, sir! Lil didn't even touch it!"

The little Cambion screamed and jumped up, running towards Lati. Behind her, seven grapefruit-sized eyeballs appeared, along with the silver-gray eyeball with colorful pupils.

When she saw the upper left eye light up, Lati wanted to curse. She rolled on the ground and heard the silver-white beam hit the floor with a rustling sound.

At the same time, Lil's harp sang. Lati breathed a sigh of relief. Lil's harp was an extremely powerful artifact, and she had never seen an enemy who could break free from the control of her harp.