Aceās eyes narrowed when he heard the chain figureās broken words, as he couldnāt make anything out of them, and Zaria wasnāt in a condition to pay the latter any heed.
"My spell wonāt hold much longer, and once the spell is gone, Khazar or anyone who had the Master Key of this prison will be alerted. Not to mention, the forbidden spell will cause powerful undulation.
"Although those undulations shouldnāt be a problem, we are in the Abyss and those undulations will be filled with Spirit Qi...so we should leave while we have the chance."
Zaria coldly communicated with spirit transmission with a hint of disappointment, "
This was nothing but a waste of time."
Ace didnāt retort anymore, as he shared a similar sentiment to Zaria when he glanced at the chained figure and the dark prison chamber with unease. This was supposed to be a treasury, yet it had ended up being a dungeon.
He was just about to agree on leaving with Zaria when suddenly the chained figure twitched violently as if it had already guessed their intention.
This time it spoke again, and its words became more stable and comprehensive, "Kha...zar...I...a...m...Khazar!"
"Khazar?" Ace was startled as he stopped and looked at the chained figure, a hint of doubt crossing his face, and asked, "Did you just say āI am Khazarā?"
"What are you talking about? Heās Khazar? Then who is that guy outside?" Zaria retorted as she felt Aceās notion ridiculous.
Furthermore, she was also feeling frustrated about not getting her big score, so she was now angry at Ace for his ridiculous conspiracy theories.
But that figureās reaction to Aceās words again startled both as the former started to tremble like a grass blade in a violet storm.
"Y...es...yes!"
Just as that word sounded, the chains wrapped around him started to flicker as a powerful suppression power gushed out, seemingly directly challenging the figure.
Black blood suddenly gushed out from his opened eyes before it was shut tight, and all the signs of his moments were gone entirely.
Ace stood in silence for a long while after the figureās last convulsion. The sound of dripping blood echoed faintly, rhythmic and hollow, and each drop falling like a heartbeat into the darkness.
āI am Khazar...ā
Those broken, trembling words replayed in his mind like a curse.
His brows furrowed deeply as his thoughts began to spin.
"Khazar... could it be possible?" He murmured under his breath, his gaze fixed on the suspended form.
The half-rotted flesh, with the crimson veins glowing faintly beneath the skin, was monstrous. Yet, beneath the ruin, something about the jawline and the faint shape of the features tugged at his memory.
Furthermore, Ace thought about that inexplicable sense of familiarity when he first laid eyes on that figure, and maybe it wasnāt an illusion, and he might have seen that face before.
Aceās senses were extremely sharp, not just his eyes, but deep within the traces of soul resonance he could feel when he first met Khazar, the āOverseerā of Black Hermit.
A flicker of energy so faint it barely registered then, but now it made chilling sense.
āCould it be... the Khazar we met outside is a fake? An impersonator like me? But who and whatās his purpose?ā
Aceās mind tightened like a snare, as he was very familiar with the art of impersonating someone.
A shiver slid down his spine, not from fear, but from the sick realization that they had stumbled into a web woven far deeper than treasure hunting or theft.
At that moment, behind him, Zariaās hoarse voice cut through his spiraling thoughts, sharp and urgent, "Snap out of it, idiot! My spellās collapsing faster than expected. The moment it breaks, the entire Black Hermit will feel the surge!"
Her breath was shallow, her aura flickering like a candle in a storm.
"Even if that thing really is Khazar," She said, forcing the words through clenched teeth, "It has nothing to do with us. Once the containment alarms trigger, every Abyssal Being in this city will come swarming here. This secret will be exposed even if we do nothing!"
Aceās eyes lingered on the chained figure one last time. The black runes were already writhing, twisting with growing instability. He could almost feel the seal responding to the fading spell, a beast stirring beneath a broken lock.
Finally, he nodded. "Youāre right. We canāt afford to get captured or worse, die, for curiosity."
They turned back toward the gate, their footsteps echoing softly as the suffocating dark began to recede behind them.
But before crossing the threshold, Ace suddenly stopped.
Zaria froze, frowning. "What now?"
The gloom that had shadowed his face moments ago melted away, replaced by that all-too-familiar glint of cunning thief in his eyes. Slowly, his lips curved into a sly, knowing smile.
"I think itās not as bad as weāre making it to be," He suddenly said, voice smooth, confident. "We may not have found any treasure, but... that doesnāt mean we canāt profit from this."
Zariaās brows furrowed. "Profit? You meanā"
Aceās grin widened. "Secrets are worth more than gold, and we just found one that could shatter this entire cityās balance. Donāt you think someone would pay dearly for knowing whatās chained beneath Khazarās feet?"
Zaria blinked, momentarily stunned by the sudden return of his roguish audacity, then let out a low, disbelieving chuckle. "Youāre insane... but you might not be wrong."
---
Back at the Black Hermit Mines...the entire area was deathly still.
Dozens of armored enforcers and abyssal sentinels stood in rigid formation. The ground was covered in sealing arrays and obsidian runic circles that pulsed faintly beneath the feet of their mistress, the Dread Duchess herself.
Her beauty was terrible and commanding; her veil shimmered with threads of crimson light, and her mere presence bent the abyssal Qi around her like a storm caught in her orbit. None dared to look directly at her.
Even Khazar, the cityās ruler, stood several paces behind her, head slightly bowed, hands clasped behind his back like a dutiful subordinate. His usual arrogance was nowhere to be seen.
Mirage Shadow, the Duchessās silent lieutenant, hovered nearby, in form blurred like smoke, watching the sealed mine entrance with an expressionless yet expectant gaze.
However, right at that moment, a soundless tremor swept through the ground. It was faint at first...then boomed through the air like thunder muffled in the bones of the world!