Chapter 398: Rescuing Aflon, An Escape
"G-Good sir, I don't mean to be rude, but the doors of all the Dukes' Treasuries are made of something called 'Immortal Titanium,'" the Merchant said with a tone of warning. "To scratch, let alone cut through it, one would require strength bordering on the Immortal Emperor Realm. In the Azureflask Empire, Immortal Emperors are especially rare, so the vast majority of these Treasuries are deemed virtually impenetrable—"
SHING!
A crisp, cutting sound echoed out.
"!!!"
The Merchant's disbelief morphed into utter bewilderment as he stared slack-jawed at the nonsensical sight before him.
"T-The vault doors," he stuttered. "They were cut through!?"
Right before his very functional pair of eyes were the two golden doors, and then there was the giant x-mark etched straight out the middle of them!
"Well," Azmodeus said calmly. "What are you waiting around for? Let's head in and conduct the inspection."
The apathetic voice of the good sir took the Merchant out of his thoughts as he struggled to regain his bearings. He then fumbled toward the good sir and jointly entered into a room filled with countless shimmering objects.
'I wonder if my son is faring any better in all this,' he thought as a few of his hair strands fell off his head. 'Hopefully he got out of there as soon as he could…'
Achoo!
A heavy sneeze echoed out in the damp underground dungeons of Duke Rowan's Castle. A young, slightly handsome man rubbed his nose as he shuddered a little from the low temperature.
"It's so cold in here," Aflon said as he leaned his body against a cold stone bench. In his solitary cell, this was the only thing he had.
Even his clothes and possessions had been requisitioned by the Duke's guards after they claimed he had disturbed the peace. Now, it was just him and his underwear in a very dark and very cold cell.
"At least I showed the good sir that I have worth," he mumbled as he saw his own breath. "...Will I die here…?"
"Hopefully not… After all, I still haven't repaid the good sir for helping me tell my father what I wanted…"
As Aflon's vision flickered in and out of reality, the one who organized this grand heist had just finished up the 'inspection' of the Duke's goods.
"After inspection, I can confirm that Duke Rowan was not the one to hire the Sand Scorpion Thieves to steal the King Crystals," Azmodeus said as he scanned the huge empty room with his hawk-like gaze.
He had to make sure that no valuable was left unpocketed. All could be converted into Loot God Essence or used to purchase other worldy goods, so every piece was precious in his eyes.
The Merchant fumbled behind him while anxiously staring at all the missing treasures. "G-Good sir," he said. "Should we not put everything back now that you have confirmed that none of it connects Duke Rowan…?"
Azmodeus raised his brows as if he had just heard the most heinous hate speech in the history of mankind. "Put it back???" He questioned passionately. "Are you out of your damn mind!? What if I didn't inspect hard enough?? Then the treasures will be left here all alone, with no one to inspect them! Isn't that borderline criminal??"
The Merchant's eyes brightened up in realization as his view of the good sir only became better and better. "Of course, good sir!" He shouted silently. "If you don't bring it back for further inspecting — in-depth inspecting — then you won't be able to sleep at night!"
"I get it now," he snorted confidently. "After you have fully finished your inspections, you will sneak back in here and return all the treasures. But until then, you need to hold onto them and continue inspecting."
Azmodeus repeatedly nodded his head. "You are an astute one," he said as he patted the overjoyed merchant on the shoulder. "Now its time we leave this place."
"Yes, sir!"
As Azmodeus and the Merchant left the Treasury without a single penny left in it, the guards finally noticed something was up. The whole place was put on alert, and the two heisters were forced to take a different path than the one they took to get in.
This led to them discreetly and quietly entering the underground area of the Castle. An eerie glow covered the whole place, and it was ominously quiet, but for this Duke in particular, it was only natural to have an underground dungeon like this one.
After all, every single captive caught by the Duke's men would only survive the night, then they would either be set free or… killed the very moment the sun rose to the east.
"We are almost there, good sir," the Merchant said anxiously. "If we pass this corner and then head down this corridor, we will—"
"Father…?"
A hoarse and frail voice faintly sounded out from beside the rapidly moving pair of heisters.
"Hmm?" Azmodeus shot his gaze toward the voice's source. Quickly, his eyes widened. "Oh, it's you, Aflon. What are you doing down here??"
"My son!"
The Merchant left Azmodeus's side as he jumped at the extremely hard iron bars that barred him away from reaching his boy.
"I thought you were dead…!" He shouted in a low tone while trying his best to prevent the waterworks from arriving.
"...Father," Aflon said as he mustered up the last of his strength to walk over to the iron bars. "I just wanted to show you that I was reliable as well…"
"My son! My stupid son," the Merchant shouted while banging against the bars. "In my eyes, you have always been reliable! It's just that after your mother—"
"Hey, I don't mean to interrupt this touching reunion," Azmodeus interrupted as he appeared right next to the heartwarming pair. "But, we have been found."
He pointed toward a few bright torchlights in the distance.
"They're down here!" Someone shouted. "Chase them down and stab them on your pikes! We shall bring them back to the Lord alive and ready to be tortured."
"!!!" "!!!"
Both Aflon and his father wore the same ashen expression.
"Well," said Azmodeus. "Let's do a little cardio and get a move on."
He motioned to the already sliced open cell bars.
"How did yo—"
"It's too bothersome to explain," said Azmodeus. "Just jump through and follow."
FWIP!
He had already vanished and fled through the corridors, eliciting the immediate urgency of the father-son duo as they chased after him while also simultaneously being chased by furious guards.
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