Ch.8181. Pyramid of Inti-Ra (3)

“…Are you saying there’s a time limit for how long we can stay inside per day?”

“Yes. If you stay for more than 1 hour a day, an expulsion spell activates to banish external beings and certain foreign substances. These treasures also fall under that category of foreign substances.”

A moment later, after the summoning time had passed and the Chaos Cavalry had disappeared, Bjorn was listening to a detailed explanation about the dungeon from the vampire messenger while gathering the scattered treasures into one place.

“We are indeed external beings, but what about those treasures?”

“The Great One informed me that they are considered potentially contaminated because we touched them, either directly or indirectly, during our conquest.”

“I see, that makes sense.”

Nodding in agreement with the messenger’s explanation, which he found quite reasonable, Bjorn responded. The messenger then began speaking to him.

“Well then, Apostle Bjorn, I’ll now begin calculating the spoils.”

Saying this, the vampire messenger started separating items imbued with magical power from the pile of treasures right in front of them.

She removed items that might have monetary value but were worse than ordinary iron swords as equipment, as well as anything that overlapped with Bjorn’s current gear.

As a result, what remained before Bjorn were 4 items presumed to be better equipment (Level 2) and about 9 items that, while relatively less powerful, were still quite strong (Level 1).

As Bjorn was examining these items through the magical energy he could sense from them, despite their seemingly miscellaneous appearance, the vampire messenger began taking out each of the 13 items one by one and handing them to him.

“Here, this is a Windbreaker Cloak.”

The first equipment given to him was a cloak.

It was made of magical fabric that was thin yet completely windproof, with geometric patterns embroidered in gold thread on the inside that seemed to create some kind of magical phenomenon.

‘What a strange material…’

“Just wearing it grants resistance to almost all wind-related effects. You can attach it to your armor to conceal it as well, just so you know.”

“Understood.”

With eyes blazing with desire for good equipment, Bjorn attached the cloak to the designated part of his armor as instructed by the vampire messenger. She then continued to hand over the many remaining items without pause.

“It seems quite plain for something found among treasures…”

“This is a Ring of Equipment Concealment. It maintains the effects of your equipment while hiding their appearance. However, for armor and such, while special abilities remain effective, you won’t receive defensive benefits. Oh, and this ring itself cannot be concealed.”

“Is this… a flute?”

“An Armored Insect Flute, a good item indeed. When blown, it can summon an armored insect (beetle) about the size of a small dog once per day. Its combat power is roughly upper-low rank… it persists until death, and even if it dies, it revives the next day. It’s excellent for reconnaissance.”

“An item that summons upper-low rank creatures?”

“Yes, since they revive even after death, and there’s no permanent limit on usage. And while you can only summon once per day, you can maintain up to 100 armored insects at once.”

Bjorn immediately inserted the small flute, which came with somewhat creepy information, into the storage space of his gauntlet disguised as a bracelet.

“Oh, here’s another one. Jump of Faith.”

“What a curious name. Is this… a bracelet?”

“No, it’s an anklet worn on the foot. While wearing it, you can land safely even when falling from great heights… but the speed enhancement effect you get just from wearing it is even better. Now, next.”

“…A headband?”

“Yes. This item is called the Headband of Tenacity.”

What the vampire messenger called the Headband of Tenacity was a long piece of red cloth that somehow gave off a feeling of burning passion just by looking at it.

“Wearing it reduces pain from wounds—HP, that is—and allows you to potentially survive otherwise fatal attacks if you’re lucky. Just in case, carry it with you at all times.”

As he wrapped the cloth around his head as instructed, the messenger picked up a magical weapon that he had been glancing at repeatedly.

It was a magnificent sword with a beautifully crafted teal crystal on the pommel, a handle made of milky ivory wrapped with purple leather straps, a guard also made of ivory, and a wooden scabbard decorated with gold—an elegant yet powerful-feeling blade.

It was such an excellent sword that any warrior would covet it, so Bjorn was looking at the splendid scimitar with subtle expectation, but…

“This… you won’t need this.”

For some reason, the messenger, who had been handing over almost all equipment until now, put the sword back down without giving it to Bjorn.

“…?”

Seeing Bjorn’s questioning look at this unexpected action, the vampire messenger noticed his intention and explained about the scimitar.

“Scimitar of Wind. It’s a good sword. It has the special ability to shoot wind blades by swinging it without using aura. However, you don’t need it.”

“…?”

“Since you seem completely confused, let me explain. The divine artifact you possess from Him is superior in every way. It can change form, and can shoot aura blades several times more powerful than mere wind blades. Besides, you don’t need a backup weapon. By the time your divine artifact breaks, you’d already be dead anyway.”

“…Indeed, you’re right.”

After cooling his head and thinking carefully, Bjorn could easily accept her explanation as it had no flaws.

“Now then, let’s move on… rings. They’re all passive types related to physical ability enhancement. First—”

The distribution of spoils continued in this manner until the sky began to redden with the approaching dawn.

“Well done, Apostle Bjorn.”

With the vampire messenger’s final greeting, he returned with even greater power than before.

※ ※ ※

‘Hmm… seems like everything was resolved well.’

Meanwhile, I, who had been watching Bjorn and the vampire messenger’s actions with divine sight, confirmed that matters had concluded satisfactorily and then averted my gaze.

‘Well then, shall I take a little look around myself?’

I thought as I sent my wolf avatar down to the entrance of the pyramid.

Overall, the rewards from this exploration weren’t bad, but they certainly couldn’t be called optimal—rather ambiguous rewards.

To be frank, for someone skilled enough to conquer this pyramid, except for perhaps the Ring of Equipment Concealment, these were closer to worthless junk items.

“Time to go… grrrr.”

Therefore, after sending down this wolf avatar, I planned to move it directly to obtain additional “side income” beyond the equipment given to Bjorn.

At the very least, I wanted to acquire even one Level 3 equipment, or earn some money to support Gracus.

And so, I moved my wolf avatar, transformed into a bipedal beastkin form, into the entrance of the pyramid.

Following the instincts engraved in this body, I muffled my footsteps while easily detecting and avoiding even crude traps with divine insight and the body’s sense of smell.

Thanks to this, I passed through corridors full of perilous traps almost as if taking a stroll, and soon entered a room I had previously scouted by secretly dispersing bats when I sent in the vampire messenger.

‘Oh, there it is. A puzzle.’

There was a door-like structure carved from sandstone and painted with vibrant colors, with three holes in front of the tightly closed door, and various colored bricks of exactly the right size scattered around that would fit those holes.

Anyone could see it was a door that could be opened by solving a puzzle involving inserting the correct bricks.

‘…Solo play against a hidden boss, it’s been a while.’

While recalling my experiences from my human days with such idle thoughts, I selected bricks according to the puzzle solution I remembered and inserted them into the holes in the wall.

With a grinding sound, the stone slab that formed the door descended into the floor, and beyond the unusually opened door stretched a dark corridor.

Well, for my current wolf avatar, whose sense of smell was thousands of times more sensitive than sight and could detect even non-material things through olfactory means, this posed no problem.

I nonchalantly proceeded about halfway down the dead-end corridor when suddenly my vision inverted, and after alternating light and darkness like flickering lamps—

[■■■■■■■■■───!!!]

The monster that appeared before my wolf avatar as if falling from the sky in the middle of the desert, emitting a terrible shriek, was none other than—

‘There you are, Sphinx.’

It was a special high-ranking Sphinx, the hidden boss of this dungeon.