Chapter 709 - Divided in the Treasure Chamber
Apart from his boosted regeneration abilities and the powerful potion that Lunara had given him, Jack also used a mythic-tier healing spell to speed up his recovery. It was still the first time to have used such items and spells that day so he wanted to heal quickly while he was able.
Given directions, Moranti reached the next and final section of Glacier Keep in record time.
As they exited the maze, the party was in awe of what they found. They had entered an enormous room that spanned multiple floors that no one knew had existed. In the center was a tower of sorts, going from floor to ceiling with hundreds of payable barriers guarding troves of treasure. Dozens of teams were spotted all around the tower, each fighting either another team or more commonly facing a horde constructs guarding the treasures within their troves.
Jack's party came out of the second floor and they were lined up to see a familiar team at work.
"Jack!" Woltin laughed as he spotted the Moranti with two figures on his back. "So you chose green, how unlucky!"
But Jack made no reply. Instead, Jack and his party shot upward toward the distant ceiling.
"JACK HAS A MAP!!!"
A sudden roar filled the treasure chamber, getting Woltin's six-man team and all others to look back to Jack with greed. Jack groaned in displeasure as Halmut exited entered from the center floor and followed Moranti closely. The Sun Dragon was the first of many challengers to charge on Jack.
'I can--'
'Let him chase us,' Jack mentioned to Moranti. 'We have no need to fear him or hold back. Just don't get hurt as we get circled.'
Moranti nodded as he swerved and evaded the first string of attacks made against them. The first person to reach him was surprisingly Torian, followed by his party. But Moranti evaded the attack without issue. However, as Moranti tried to teleport away from the next barrage of attacks he was thrown into the outside walls of the chamber.
Shaking off the blow, Moranti smiled back to his attack while he was being surrounded. Lunara and Jack stayed on Moranti's back, not giving up their charge.
"Woltin, you can nullify skills?" Jack asked.
"Maybe… Maybe not…" Wollice chuckled, still facing the largest of construct hordes at the massive, emerald green treasure trove.
Wollice, however, was standing in front of the surrounding mob. The swordsman wielded his greatsword with pride and pointed it toward Jack. "Just hand over the map and half your keys. You can have the scrap treasures as we--"
Before Wollice could finish his threat, a tightly wound scroll was lobbed toward Wollice. At the same time, Moranti teleported to just beyond the crowd and continued pushing forward.
While Wollice and the majority of challengers were satisfied with the surrendered map, that didn't stop the legendary gods who had now caught up. Not only had Torian's team with Tyres and Kylon reached them but so did Halmut as Tralbok was close behind.
"HOW DARE YOU, JACK?!" Halmut berated, already preparing his breath, claw, and tail attacks with abundant energy.
'Calm down, Moranti. Your job is to handle Torian's team,' Jack ordered, getting his party ready for the final event of his plans. 'Mom, the moment Grixor arrives, he's all--'
Lunara suddenly hopped off of Moranti and descended rapidly. She was already locked on to the Earthen God emerging from the fourth-floor maze.
'--yours… Thanks, Mom,' chuckled Jack.
Halmut stopped Tralbok and Torian from stopping Lunara. He preferred having Jack's party fight separately. That way Lunara or Jack wouldn't be able to play support and buff their team or try to control the battle's tempo. And with greater numbers on his side, Halmut liked the odds of having multiple battles at once.
"Torian, shall we?" Moranti entered his hybrid form and bowed his head to the Thundering God.
When Halmut nodded, Torian backed off to create an opening for the God of Space. Halmut then roared at the slower Flood Dragons entering from the second floor, "Support Grixor while Sillo supports Torian!"
The Flood Dragons felt reserved facing their long-time ally and friend but had no choice but to accept it. Sillo rushed past Lunara while Grixor confronted the Water Goddess with a proud, excited grin. The stage was being set and Jack made no objection to letting Halmut stack the deck in his favor.
"Kylon, you're with us. Support Tralbok and I as we eliminate Jack with great pleasure…" A wicked smile spread across Halmut's face as his final order was given.
Now, while the Sicabor twins and other challengers rushed back to challenge various treasure troves, they got front row views of three separate battles taking shape. Between the fourth and fifth floors was the matchup of the graceful Lunara against the brawny Grixor, along with two Flood Dragons to support the man. At the seventh floor was the matchup of the speed demons, the devastating Moranti against the electrifying Torian with Tyres and Sillo aiding in battle. And the sixth floor boasted the most interesting battle. There, Jack stood off against three of Kartonia's most energy abundant challengers which made an incredibly well-rounded team. With Kylon and Tralbok together, they could switch from support to attack indefinitely while Halmut could face Jack head-on alone if he wanted.
Woltin and Wollice were the most intrigued by the scene. Everyone understood that there was animosity among those from Kartonia but seeing this felt too unfair, which made it all the more entertaining. But the twins were also the ones to hurriedly challenge their respective treasure troves, the two largest openings that were either emerald green on the second floor and sapphire blue on the sixth floor. They needed to hurry up if they wanted to have time to put the map to use.
"So… should we wait for anyone else?" Jack asked, eyeing Halmut with a smile. "Or does the runt feel comfortable enough to play now?"