When Apollo caught sight of the approaching figures, his eyes sparked with recognition, and an audible sigh of relief escaped him.
"Master! Old Man!" He exclaimed.
The two figures revealed themselves to be none other than his mentor, Aaron, and the blacksmith, Old Man Aragon, both of whom appeared to have hurried here with great haste, evident in their laboured breathing.
Apollo swiftly made his way outside to greet them.
"Kid, are you alright? Where are the enemies?" inquired Master Aaron, concern etched on his face.
"Yes, where are they?" Old Man Aragon added, his gaze taking in the disarrayed surroundings.
It was evident to Apollo that they had rushed to his aid, a realization that brought him a sense of reassurance.
"The intruders have been dealt with. I managed to take care of them with the security measures in place here."
"Oh, that’s good," Aaron replied with evident relief. " Are you injured, or did you encounter any difficulties during that time?"
"No, master, I’m alright," Apollo reassured him. "But the alchemy puppets sustained some damage during the battle."
After saying this, he looked at Old Man Aragon, as those puppets were quite dear to him. But today, half of them are damaged, and a few were destroyed.
Afterwards, Apollo led them to the training hall, where they were confronted with the sight of corpses strewn about and the wreckage of the alchemy puppets scattered across the floor.
Seeing this, both of them were shocked. They can only guess how strong his enemies were just by seeing the condition of the alchemy puppets, which are famous for their durability.
But when both looked at the corpses and felt the residue energy in the body, they knew the enemy might be stronger than their thoughts and the battle might not be as easy as he mentioned.
Old Man Aragon also felt bad for his alchemy puppets, as it was not going to be easy to fix them.
It not only needed the help of a rare expert in alchemy products, but it also required high-quality materials.
"Oh, and Young Lord Ragnar from City Hall Mansion left something for you, Old Man Aragon."
Apollo remembered how banged up the guy was as he made sure that he gave the box to Old Man Aragon. So he didn’t waste time and told him about it, as it can be very important.
"The city lord sent something here, and even his son came on his own to deliver it."
"Yeah, and it seems very serious; the guy came in pretty bad condition to just deliver something."
Hearing this, Old Man Aragon’s expression changed, as it seemed something really bad might have happened for him to deliver an item to him.
"Quick, bring me the item that the city lord has sent."
And after that, Apollo lets the alchemy puppet bring the old box to him.
"Here it is."
Old Man Aragon quickly took a look at the old box and felt surprised by the special runic seal on it.
"Something really bad must have happened to him to send it to me. Come here, kid, let me teach you how to open this Fibonacci runic seal."
Apollo came near him, and he started to slowly decode the runic seals.
"This runic seal follows the numeric order of the Fibonacci series, and you just needed to break in that order to open all the seals placed on the box."
"1, 2, 3, 5,..."
He meticulously dismantled the runes in sequence, dedicating several minutes to the task until he ultimately deciphered them, unlocking the seal guarding the box.
Szzz! azz!
Some powerful aura burst out from the box, which shook them as the seal was broken.
Three of them looked intently at the old box, wanting to know what was inside it.
"This!"
When they opened the box and looked inside, all of them were surprised to see the item in it.
Surprisingly, it was a ’Crown’—a resplendent golden circlet adorned with enigmatic black crystals, imbuing it with an aura of mystique and profundity.
"What is this?" Apollo asked as he felt fascinated by the crown, which seemed to attract him like they had some sort of deep connection.
Old Man Aragon had a different expression, as it was filled with shock and fear. He didn’t seem to expect that this was with the city lord all this time.
"What kind of crown is this? Hmm, Aragon! Aragon! What’s the matter?" Master Aaron felt weird seeing his reaction.
It must be massive since he has never seen him make this kind of face. He and Apollo didn’t say anything and remained silent. The whole place at the moment was so quiet that they could hear and feel their breaths.
"Sigh, I cannot believe that somehow the Dark King’s Crown will end up in my hand."
He looked at Apollo and Aragon and said it in a complicated mood. For some, it might be an unimaginable treasure, but for most, it is a cursed object that brings death and destruction.
"Dark King’s Crown, what’s that?" Apollo asked, as he already felt the connection between this and the attack.
Master Aaron also looked at Old Man Aragon, whom he also didn’t know anything about.
"For to understand it, first you have to know about ’Dark Heaven Court’."
"’Dark Heaven Court!’ Are you talking about the crazy guys that destroy kingdoms on whims and have their tentacles all over the Rion?"
Master Aaron burst out loud, hearing ’Dark Heaven Court’ as this ancient power is one of the craziest ones out there.
"Yes, the same one; its history is very ancient, even before the creation of the Empire of Rion."
"It was a force created by three powerful ancient gods, and among them, the strongest was called ’Dark King Erix’."
"The might of the Dark King Erix was so formidable that it was rumoured that two other gods paled in comparison, mere servants to his dominance. As he vanquished additional gods over time, he rechristened his dominion as the Dark Heaven Court."
"Legend holds that the Dark King’s Crown is the most coveted treasure in his possession, purportedly concealing the enigmatic source of his unparalleled power."