As Asher traced the runic lines along the vault, he searched for where the spatial runes were connected.
He sought the structure of the runes that triggered the alarm, the one that was connected to the vault itself.
Unless the vault was opened, it remained concealed. In his previous life, this rune was discovered by Tom, who studied the vault's structure for years on end.
Although Asher remembered how Tom had done it, he still lacked the knowledge to comprehend such complex runes. With his current understanding, it was impossible for him to deactivate the entire system, but he could isolate a few elements.
That was what he intended to do.
"Step back a bit," Asher told Kai.
Asher studied the runes scattered all around the vault. Their complex combinations formed a high-level security system nearly impossible to breach. However, Asher knew a way.
Every rune structure like this had multiple focal points where the structural integrity was weakest. But no one could detect these faults in something like this vault because it was designed to minimize these focal points.
Only the creator could know these focal points, but even they could make mistakes leading to creating such focal points.
Finding these focal points could have taken years, but Asher already knew about them.
As Asher traced the lines of the runes, he recognized a familiar formation.
"This should do it," Asher said.
"When I say go, retrieve those two artifacts," Asher instructed Kai, who nodded in response.
"You will have exactly 4.5 seconds before the runic formation reverts to normal," he said.
"And after that, the Vault will remain closed for 24 hours," Asher said.
Listening to Asher's instructions, Kai harnessed all his mana, increasing his focus to his maximum. Of course, it would have been better if Dane were here, but reaching the fifth level this easily was impossible without Kai.
"I'm ready," Kai announced, his eyes fixated on the two artifacts Asher had indicated.
He took a deep breath and waited for Asher's cue.
Meanwhile, Asher was coating his finger with an aura and concentrating it on one spot. It was the focal point where the mana stream of the runes was at its weakest.
He took his index finger and touched the runic lines, attempting to disconnect them. If an S Rank or above hunter were here, Asher could have seized every single artifact, but that was not the case.
So, he chose to tamper with the runic lines, giving Kai just enough time to bring the artifacts outside.
Suddenly, the blue lines around the vault turned a pale yellow. Kai saw the platform where the artifacts were located glow red. He didn't understand what Asher had done but was awaiting the signal to proceed.
"Go," Asher said loud enough.
*boom*
A sound of a small blast echoed as Kai used a substantial amount of mana to enter the vault.
4....
He reached the first artifact, which resembled a card. He immediately snatched it up and spun around.
3....
He propelled himself towards the second artifact, sensing the vault doors beginning to close.
2.....
Upon reaching the area of the second artifact he needed, he swiftly seized the necklace-like artifact, then turned to see the revolving door closing.
'Shit,' Kai realized he didn't have much time left.
He exerted all his strength into his legs, leaping towards the entrance.
1.....
He was almost at the entrance but only had 1.4 seconds left, so he extended his hand behind his back.
"FIRE BLAST," he cast the spell behind him.
It was the final push he needed, but his entire back would have been burnt if he hadn't been wearing the armor that Asher had provided.
*Clang*
The vault closed, and Asher removed his finger from the rune formation, noticing blood dripping from his finger.
His gaze fell on Kai, who had crashed against the walls of the Fifth Level.
Kai coughed a couple of times as he took a deep breath. He stood up after a few seconds, looking at the now-closed vault. Despite this, he had secured the two artifacts that Asher needed.
Asher walked towards him, checking the information on the two artifacts. They were the correct ones.
"Here," Kai said, standing up and handing the artifacts to Asher.
Asher put both artifacts in his spatial ring. They still needed to exit the facility, but Asher wanted to reach Level 30 before returning to World Academy.
"Is your work done?" Asher asked Tom.
But no response came.
"Tom," Asher repeated but still got no reply.
It didn't take him long to figure out what might have happened, and his eyes fell on the path where the entrance that connected the Fourth and Fifth Level was located.
"You can use your ability, right?" Asher asked, but his eyes were fixed on the entrance.
"Yeah," Kai replied, but he still didn't understand what had happened.
"Use it. We will move to the fourth level," Asher said as he looked around.
Kai looked around, and he could feel a force field. It didn't take him long to identify what this was.
A high-grade mana jamming device that could block all sorts of connections coming into the Fifth Level. But even more problematic was that this device made most artifacts useless for a short time.
Kai immediately used his ability to hide his and Asher's presence as they headed toward the entrance of the Fourth Level.
And Louis Rothschild saw the figures of two masked men in the footage he was looking at.
"How did they get there?" He shouted in rage.
But what was even more shocking, they had opened the vault that only Kamden Whiteheart could open.
The Footage was before they activated the device, so Louis still didn't know about Kai's ability because he had activated the Jamming Device.
"From the mana readings we have detected, they are below S Rank," a person said.
"Lock the Fourth Level and open the entrance of the Fifth Level," Louis shouted at the team in the Fourth Level.
"As you wish," they replied, but the team leader was unsure.
"But we need Master Kamden's per-" He said something when Louis grabbed his neck and slammed him against the wall.
"I am in charge here, not you, bastard," Louis looked at the man who was struggling in his grip.
He released his grip as the team leader started coughing.
"Forgive me," he said.
He had forgotten that Louis Rothschild didn't behave like other people from elite families that greatly cared about their image.
"The entrance will open in 1 minute," one of the people working in the management room said to Louis.
"We have locked the Fourth Level, and nobody will be able to leave," he continued.
"How long will the jamming device work?" Louis asked again.
"For 1 minute, we can block all the communication inside the Fifth Level, but its effectiveness will drop significantly after that, so maximum 2 minutes," The man replied respectfully.
"Enough time for me to kill them," Louis said as he left the room and headed towards the entrance of the Fifth Level.
Louis didn't know how the intruders had opened the vault, but he would kill them. James had clearly told him not to make a mistake while being present here. The Kalvas Gala was around the corner, and this was a big event for the Whiteheart Family.
But something unexpected happened in the Management Room,
"Someone is trying to take over the security system," a guy said as they got multiple alerts on their screens.
In the Abandoned Building,
"This should be enough time for me to warn them," Tom knew that taking over the entire fourth level would take too much time.
So he decided to gain access to a small pseudo-level between the Fourth and Fifth Levels.
He needed to delay Louis Rothschild somehow and warn Asher and Kai simultaneously.
"It's do or die," Tom decided to risk it all.
****************
At the Fifth Level, Asher saw the entrance to the Fourth Level open in front of him,
The entrances to the Fourth and Fifth Levels were not directly connected.
In the middle was a space filled with various security devices. It was neither part of the Fourth nor the Fifth Level.
<B-B...sss R...un>
They heard a glitching voice.
<Lo... ...child>
Those were the last words they heard from Tom before the connection was cut off.
"Lo child?" Kai didn't understand what Tom was trying to convey.
"Louis Rothschild," Asher said as he spread his mana sense.
And he sensed a powerful S+ Rank Hunter coming towards them.
Kai's face completely changed when he heard the name.
"N-No way," He tried to deny the possibility, but sensing a powerful presence ahead of them, he knew that Asher was correct.
A/N : This arc had extended a bit more than required and I have taken all the suggestions so I will improve on my writing skills.
The sourc𝗲 of this content is free(w)ebnov(𝒆)l