Chapter 47: The box
He found the small stone that opened the door to the wall that should lead to the hidden lab.
It must once have been a trapdoor, but the room had been reconstructed. As he walked down the hallway, he saw metals fitted into the hallway; he saw large glass tubes and pipes.
The tubes were filled with humans, and the pipes were draining away their powers.
It reminded Severin of generators. "....This bastard actually mixed the power of science, technology, and a dose of magic together...."
"....Maybe I should have listened well in class instead of daydreaming about food and web novels I would read at home...."
With his silent presence, he began to trace one of the pipes, following it until he saw where it led. He disappeared among the different large apparatus, hiding himself completely.
It led to the main room where a Scar member that was connected to different pipes was hunched over a table.
".....A single member? In the novel, Eric and Siri led other members to terrorize the students... so it changed... that was why there were so many monsters...."
"....But then the Pandora Box should be here somewhere. It was found here in the dungeon and then gifted to Siri when she said she could use it.... Nobody knew it was a First Grade or that it would surpass that...."
"...I can go over and kill that guy right now... he won't even know I am there until his throat's slit..... Without any presence... nobody should be detecting me right now...."
Suddenly, a voice cut through the air. "Are you done?"
Severin stiffened because he hadn't felt the presence until he spoke. A man that wasn't there walked out of the darkness. He held a chain in his hand and was dragging something out.
"...So he could disappear through the darkness... that's why I didn't feel him...."
"I'm not! I need to locate more monsters. Something happened. I detected a very powerful presence among the students, and it's been killing off all my monsters."
The man that had just walked out of the darkness snorted. "Or you are not powerful enough to deal with a group of students? I told you to train your power more instead of getting absorbed with research."
"This is research!" Arko shouted, and more red light flooded out from his OPT Core. His body shuddered and he stiffened. "Another one taken out so quickly. I need to create more, but I can't find any more monsters."
The man with the chains scratched his head. "I took a look at the main boss, and then when I saw the reward... I might have mistakenly killed it."
Arko stiffened. He turned his head slowly and looked at the man. He said flatly, "You killed the boss of the dungeon. That means you've cleared it, and it will stop spawning monsters. Monsters that I need to create my more powerful monsters and then cause a very powerful monster tide here in the Zenith Hero Academy?"
Severin might have smiled if the situation wasn't right there. At least he'd confirmed that the bastard wouldn't be making more of those powerful monsters.
The man took a step back from the glare Arko was shooting him.
"The mission is gone," Arko sighed and rubbed his face. "What we can do now is to kill all the students, and since someone is killing my monsters, I need you to go and put a stop to it. There aren't that many students left anyway.
"But a complete wipeout is what we are aiming for."
The man nodded eagerly and then finished pulling out what was at the end of his chain.
It was a tall black box with an open space at the front.
It was as if a wardrobe had been left open, but instead of the space inside, what was there was an inky darkness with specks of silver and white.
It was like looking at the sky on a very bright day.
It's the Pandora Box. The King of Artifacts.
Severin smiled.
So did the man. "See? I don't know what this is, but it must be good, right? It's the main boss reward after all. We must figure out its use later."
Arko didn't seem interested. "Just go and take care of the problem, and let's get out of here. It's useless. At least that son of a bitch is dead. I can't see him here again."
"Which one?"
"The son of a bitch that stopped our members from making away with the Key. The leaders are really serious about killing him. I swear they're going to chew us out for this."
The man with the Pandora Box dropped the box, and then he melted into the darkness once again. "I'll be quick."
Arko was again left alone in the room, and he kept muttering to himself about the incompetence of the people around him. "I'll need a long break after this, throw myself into a relaxation research of sorts...."
Severin silently walked out of his hiding place. He crouched and then did a crab walk to the back of the man. He could feel the man's presence so intently—a presence that felt like spoilt blood on the skin.
Severin lifted his sword and positioned the edge at the back of the man, and then he activated his new Stigma. Acceleration!
At the same time, he swung it!
The speed of the slash that followed was so fast that Severin couldn't see it or keep up.
Arko's head was cut off without any resistance, and the sword jerked out of his hand with the same speed, embedding into the wall with a clanging sound, vibrating furiously.
The head hit the ground with a soft thud and rolled a few times. The body shook and flopped over.
"You... you are not dead... but how come you're able to kill me..."
Arko's head was turned over to Severin's place, using his last bit of energy to speak.
Severin smiled. "I robbed a Sword Saint, that's why. I might not reach his level, but his skill will certainly be put to much use."
Arko's head snorted. "You fool! You think we Scar are done with you guys? Our influence is big and long. We will get you and you will suffer for what you....!"
"He's dead," Severin said flatly.
"He is?" a new voice asked.
Severin stiffened. I did not feel the person? Impossible!