Chapter 47: The Study
The ground beneath Reiji’s feet suddenly opened like a hatch. Reiji stared at the empty ground.
"Fuck..."
Gravity took hold, and Reiji fell inside. Vel saw this and immediately broke into a cold sweat.
"Oops, wrong wall, meow."
Vel rushed to the other side and tapped on the wall near the waterfall. A hole suddenly appeared, and Vel ran towards it with his chubby cat body.
’He’s going to be so pissed.’
He frantically rushed down the stairs. He didn’t expect he would open the other hole.
"It seems I forgot to close it. I’m so fucked."
"Fucking bastard!" Reiji muttered in spite.
’Shit, I’m still falling. If I don’t do something, I might end up breaking quite a few bones.’
[Mana Manipulation.]
He used mana to strengthen his legs. He used mana to reduce his weight, and it seemed to reduce the speed at which he was falling.
Reiji landed safely, but he was still angry.
"I swear I’ll break his legs."
Meanwhile, Vel, who was frantically rushing down the stairs, was thinking.
’What if I run away? No, he would definitely catch me.’
’What if I fake my death? No, that would be worse because he might even kill me.’
"The best option is to beg. Even if I become crippled, meow," Vel thought as he ran faster down the stairs.
He also noticed that despite his new body being fat, it was surprisingly nimble, and he didn’t even miss any steps as he ran.
Reiji suddenly saw a hole appear in the wall, and a chubby yellow cat ran towards him.
"You son of a bitch."
"My Lord, I’m truly sorry. I didn’t know that passage was still around. I thought I had blocked it. I swear I didn’t mean any harm, meow," Vel begged and explained.
"You lying snake."
Reiji’s aura exploded, and Vel immediately knew he was done. He could feel Reiji’s hand looming over his head.
’This is how I go...’
Reiji stared at Vel, who was a cute little chubby cat. He couldn’t do it. He loved cats too much, and if Vel hadn’t transformed, he would have already broken his legs.
"I forgive you, but only this time," Reiji said.
"Really? Thank you, My Lord! You won’t regret it, meow!" Vel said happily. At least he wasn’t getting killed, as long as he didn’t mess up again.
Reiji looked around. The place was similar to the cave with the waterfall. The area was covered with a pale blue glow coming from countless glowing veins spreading across the walls. Reiji had a feeling it was Vel’s doing.
"My Lord, follow me, meow," Vel said as he walked forward, heading deeper.
Reiji followed behind him, looking around.
"Hey, furball. Are you really the one who dug this place?"
"Yes, My Lord. I did a long time ago using a pickaxe I had secretly taken from one of the workers," Vel said smugly.
Reiji rolled his eyes at this shameless goblin.
As they continued forward, Reiji suddenly felt something strange.
Reiji stopped and walked towards a wall.
Vel noticed something and turned around, seeing Reiji no longer following him.
"My Lord, it’s this way, meow."
Reiji didn’t answer Vel. He continued walking towards a corner.
"Hey, furball. Come here."
"Coming, My Lord, meow."
Vel immediately rushed towards Reiji.
"Are you the one who created this?"
Reiji pointed at a wedge in the corner of the wall.
"No, My Lord. I think it was there before I dug this cave, meow," Vel said.
He was confused why Reiji was concerned about the large crack in the wall.
Reiji frowned as he pushed himself through the wedge. He didn’t know why, but he felt a strange force pulling him.
Vel immediately followed after Reiji.
"My Lord? Where are you, meow?"
The place was dark, and Vel couldn’t see anything.
"Don’t tell me you’re scared of the dark," Reiji teased.
[Soul Torture Flame.]
An amber flame appeared on Reiji’s palm and cast a golden glow over the place.
Reiji looked around. There were strange markings along the walls, along with unlit torches lined up on both sides.
Reiji lit one of the torches, and instantly all the torches became lit.
"Hmm..."
’My Lord, I don’t like the feeling I’m getting from this place.’
Vel spoke to Reiji telepathically.
He felt there was something strange about this place, and it made him super uneasy. Even his fur was standing on end.
’Relax. I’m here. I won’t allow anything to kill you before I do,’ Reiji reassured Vel.
Vel didn’t know if he should feel safe or worse.
Reiji started walking forward, and Vel immediately followed after him, staying very close.
Soon, they arrived in front of an old-looking door.
It didn’t resemble the gate or any other door Reiji had seen since entering the palace. This one was plain and strangely familiar in a way, but old.
It was a door made of oak wood.
Reiji touched the door. There wasn’t any handle, doorknob, or even a crack. It was as if the door had been seamlessly integrated into the wall.
Reiji suddenly remembered the treasury and activated Demonic Essence.
[Demonic Essence.]
The dark aura instantly wrapped around his hand, and Reiji lightly tapped on the door.
Suddenly, a clean crack appeared in the door. It ran from top to bottom, and the door slowly opened.
Reiji stared at the scene inside, at a loss for words.
"Hmm..."
He walked in and was taken aback by what he saw. He had expected something like a treasury filled with valuable weapons or maybe cores.
But he didn’t expect to see books and shelves.
The books were arranged neatly on the bookshelves, but the entire place was covered in dust.
The room was illuminated by a single red crystal hanging from the ceiling at the center of the room.
At the corner of the room was a small desk with a single book on it.
The books seemed to radiate a subtle aura that made Reiji frown.
’It seems I was right after all.’
Reiji walked over to the desk and picked up the book.
The cover was made of something like animal skin.
There was nothing written on it, just plain brown leather.
Reiji blew the dust off the book and opened it.
There was nothing written inside, only blank page after blank page.
Reiji was getting annoyed the more pages he flipped.
But then, when he turned another page, he saw something.
Just a single line written in the middle of the page.
"After the thousand days and nights war..."
Just that one line. It made Reiji frown deeply.
He remembered what Vel had told him, that the Undead King had waged war against several continents.
So he guessed that this book must have been a journal that belonged to the Undead King.
’This must have been the Undead King’s secret study or something. But if it was the Undead King’s secret study, why does it feel like no one has been here for ages?’
The thought echoed in Reiji’s mind. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
As he turned to the end of the book, he saw a piece of paper folded neatly.
He opened it only to discover it wasn’t just paper.
It was a map.
A map of a continent that wasn’t on Earth.
On the map were illustrations of hills, mountain ranges, and several locations marked with red and blue symbols.
He didn’t understand what they meant.
"Hey, come take a look at this. Do you know what continent this is?"
Vel immediately rushed over and looked at the map, but he was confused.
"No, I don’t think this is a continent I’ve seen before. I’ve seen maps of all the continents, and this doesn’t look like any of them. I think it might be an island, meow."
This made Reiji feel even more uneasy.
He then opened the other books in the study, but most were blank, and the writing in the ones that did contain words had faded to the point that he couldn’t understand them.
There were even some books containing magic circles.
He took the book with the magic circles and inscriptions and placed it into his inventory.
The others without any readable words he put back on the shelves.
He also stored the journal in his inventory.
But Reiji still felt there was something more to this place.
For now, however, he decided to leave as he walked out of the room, and Vel immediately followed after him.
They continued onward but soon arrived at a turn.
That path had no light.
Reiji used Soul Torture Flame again and saw another line of torches.
He lit the first torch, and just like before, the rest instantly became lit and illuminated the path.
At the end of the path stood a massive door wrapped in thick chains.
’My Lord...’
’You can feel it too...?’
’Yes. I think we should stop here.’
’Shut up and follow me.’
Reiji walked towards the door, and Vel clung tightly to his pants like a frightened kitten.
"If you rip my pants with your claws, I’ll roast you alive."
A small amber flame shot out from Reiji’s palm.
Vel swallowed and let go of Reiji’s pants, but he still walked very close to him.
As Reiji got closer to the giant chained door, the strange feeling in his chest became stronger.
Ding!
A blue screen suddenly appeared in front of him.
[Warning.]
[Restricted Area Detected.]
[Host does not meet the minimum requirements.]
[Minimum Requirement: A-Rank.]
[Access Denied.]
Reiji stopped.
"Huh?"
He stared at the notification before looking at the giant door again.
"So there really is something behind this thing."
"My Lord, let’s go back, meow," Vel immediately said.
"No."
"My Lord... meow"
"No."
Vel’s whiskers twitched.
Reiji ignored him and walked closer.
The chains wrapped around the door were enormous. Each chain was thicker than his waist and covered in strange black runes.
Reiji reached out and touched one of them.
The metal was cold. Extremely cold.
It felt as if he was touching a corpse that had been frozen for thousands of years.
Still, something bothered him.
The treasury door had rejected him before. Yet Demonic Essence had opened it and just like the other door.
Maybe, just maybe...
Reiji extended his hand.
[Demonic Essence.]
Dark energy immediately covered his arm. The black aura slowly crawled across his skin before gathering around his palm.
Vel’s eyes widened.
’Please don’t My Lord?’
Reiji ignored him. He placed his hand against the giant door. But nothing happened.
The chains remained still. The door remained shut.
Reiji waited.
One second, two, three... nothing happened.
He removed his hand.
"I guess it doesn’t work."
Vel immediately nodded.
"Exactly, meow."
"Let’s leave."
"Agreed, meow." Vel nodded.
The two turned around and began walking away.
Then...
CLANG!
The sound echoed throughout the entire passage.
The both froze and slowly, both turned around.
One of the giant chains had fallen onto the ground.
"..."
CRACK.
A crimson line suddenly appeared across the center of the door. Then another, then another.
The crimson lines spread like veins. The entire door began glowing with a blood-red light.
RUMBLE!
The ground shook violently.
"What the hell did you do, meow?" Vel screamed.
"Why are you blaming me?!"
"Aren’t you the one who didn’t listen? You just had to put your hands on the door didn’t you?"
"You little shit."
The crimson light exploded.
A giant demonic symbol appeared on the surface of the door.
The moment Reiji saw it, the Demonic Essence inside his body reacted on its own. His dark aura erupted wildly.
Ding!
[Access Requirement Bypassed.]
Ding!
[Initiating Transfer.]
"What transfer?"
Reiji’s eyes widened.
A terrifying suction force suddenly erupted from the door.
"My Lord, meow!"
"Grab something!"
"There is nothing to grab, meow!"
The force instantly swallowed both of them.
Reiji only saw a flash of crimson light before his vision turned completely black.
Then the hall fell silent once more.
The massive door stood motionless as if nothing had happened. Only the broken chain lying on the ground proved otherwise.
_________
Mass Release at the End of This Month!
A total of 15 Chapters will be released at month-end.
For every Super Gift, I’ll add bonus Chapters to the release.
1 Super Gift → 12 Chapters total
3 Super Gifts → 15 Chapters total
10 Super Gifts → 50 Chapters total
The more Super Gifts received, the more Chapters you’ll get!
