BAM!
Yet another beast was sent flying away. Ashton's summons had gone on a rampage, especially Sven who had become death itself for all those humanoids. Sven's swings were nothing like before. There was no hesitation in attacking the ones who dared to harm his master.
His technique was perfect. Each of his swings was destined to chop at least one head off of the shoulders of his enemies.
He was easily pushing them back, yet something felt weird. Ashton had searched every room, and every corner of the place they were in and yet he couldn't find a way out. Every room he went inside was either empty or filled with a foul smell. Even worse than that of the dead following him around.
It seemed that the portal was the only way out of there, but it too was inactive. The only good thing that came out of the farce was the exp he got as Sven massacred everyone.
'At least I figured something out. Whoever is behind all this shit isn't here.' Ashton thought before cancelling [Valhalla].
Although he could put more souls in there, he decided not to, because these humanoid creatures weren't anything special. Also, his HP had reduced to 50%, thanks to the excessive use of [Blood Mist]. It was a good idea to wrap everything up and prepare for what was to come next.
Ashton knew the man would have some kind of a backup plan. But rather than waiting for the person to stir some shit up, he decided to take matters into his own hands.
"If there isn't a way out, I'll simply make my own." Ashton flexed his shoulders while clenching his hands into fists and slamming the wall in front of him with all his might.
It took a couple of strikes, but he finally managed to destroy the wall. However, he wasn't expecting to see what was in front of him. It was yet another corridor, an exact replica of the one he had just been inside.
However, the two corridors were not linked with each other through any means. No doors, no windows, nothing. It was almost as if the building was just a huge maze… or a prison to keep something locked inside.
[You have discovered the long lost 'Eastern Palace'.]
[A hidden mission has been triggered.]
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The secret of the Eastern Palace
[Introduction]: You have stumbled across the ruins of the Eastern Palace. Believed to have been lost long before mutations even existed. Till now, it was believed to be a myth, an abandoned castle with promises of riches to those who could find it. But what if you end up finding more than just riches here?
[Objective]: Uncover the secret of the Eastern Palace.
[Task]:
>> Main quest: Locate the treasury of the Eastern Palace.
>> Side quest: Find more about the mysteries hiding in the shadows.
[Progress]: 0/2 quests completed.
[Reward]:
>> Information regarding the Eastern Palace.
>> Detailed map of the Eastern Palace, with hidden pathways marked.
[Mission Commissioned by]: Unknown
[Priority Level]: 10 (The host cannot ignore the mission, there is no time limit but the host cannot leave the mission grounds before completing the mission. Unleash they are willing to embrace death.)
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"Really? Yeah, it's a great time to give me a mission. It's not like I'm trying to get out of here ASAP. Fcking bullshit!"
Ashton wasn't pleased, to say the least, but it wasn't like he had any options either. The mission had the highest priority. He couldn't ignore it even if he wanted to.
Thankfully, there was no time limit for him so he could, at least in theory, finish the quest. On the other hand, the appearance of the palace had some good news along with itself.
Since the area hadn't been discovered before, the chances of someone watching him were next to nothing. Which in turn meant he could go haywire without fearing any consequences of his secrets being leaked.
"Yeah… wishful thinking ain't gonna help me out here." Ashton shook his head, "There's no way the people who placed cameras and other shit in the corridors before wouldn't know about this place. My guess is… they knew there was something behind the walls but didn't know what."
Ashton continued, "Maybe that was the whole point behind bringing me here. They wanted me to find what was here… and I fell right inside their trap. Welp… no point crying over spoilt shit."
There was one more thing bugging Ashton. Why the hell was a palace designed like a maze? It must have been a defence tactic, but if someone wanted to invade the palace, they could have simply destroyed the walls and made a path right to whatever was in the middle of all this mess.
At least that's what he was going to do. But first, he wanted to look around and see if there was anything of importance there before heading into the next corridor or whatever.
Maybe if his luck was still as good as before, he might even end up finding the lost pieces of the Grim Reaper's set. He looked around for a bit, but couldn't find anything. Just like the previous corridor.
But the eerieness of the situation was slowly getting to him. Not to mention the absence of any kind of night creature. Both the things when coupled together… seemed odd. But since his [perception] couldn't find anything, Ashton felt he was just being paranoid and overthinking things.
When in reality, that was his guts screaming at him. His [Perception] had been fooled before and it could be fooled again. However, his hunch had never failed him… just like this time. As Ashton was about the break the next wall, he realised he had something that could be of some use to him.
It was the thermal scanner that Baiter had given when they visited the outskirts of the swamp. Ashton used the device. According to the machine, he was already surrounded by various heat signals.
"Fuck me…" Ashton mumbled as he barely managed to get away unharmed.
The ground he had been standing on a mere second, was blown into smithereens. As the clouds of dust began setting down, Ashton finally got a view of the 'thing' that attacked him.
"A robot? What the hell?"