Garein was dead. His mangled remains fell from the ceiling, his massive body long since stripped of its shape. After all, having taken a direct hit from an electromagnetic cannon, his torso had almost completely vanished, leaving only a few scraps of flesh clinging to a skeletal frame to prove he had ever existed.
Erich had found this fight rather comfortable. Though his muscles were sore all over, the sense of congestion within his body had lessened a bit more. Furthermore, his Constitution and Strength had each increased by five points, making it quite a fruitful harvest.
With the boss taken care of, Erich began the most important phase: looting the corpse.
In truth, there wasn't much worth looting from Garein's corpse. While the bodies of the undead did indeed condense certain magical materials, Garein's torso had been almost entirely blasted through, leaving very few usable parts. Erich searched the corpse up and down for quite a while but failed to find any useful materials.
Still, Erich hadn't expected much from Garein's body in the first place. What he was truly eyeing was Garein's treasure.
Stepping around the pool of dark liquid slowly spreading beneath Garein, Erich crossed the grand hall and walked toward the massive stone throne where Garein had previously sat.
The wall behind the stone throne was carved with rough reliefs. At first glance, it looked no different from any other part of the hall, but Erich knew that the third relief brick from the right could be pressed. That was how it was set up in the game—Garein's private storeroom was hidden behind it.
He reached out and pressed it. The surface of the brick sank slightly, and a dull sound of mechanical gears turning echoed from within the wall. A moment later, a secret door popped open, leaving a narrow gap. Behind the door was a low-ceilinged room. It wasn't large, but it was crammed with items.
On the left side were neatly stacked silver coins, reflecting a dim luster. Next to the silver coins lay a large quantity of bone-based undead materials.
Erich rummaged through the pile of bones for a good while before finally pulling out a ring.
The band was silver, showing faint signs of wear. Embedded on the face was a heart-shaped red gemstone, its surface densely engraved with runes. Upon closer inspection, those patterns were shimmering with a faint, flowing light.
【Ring of Quiet Reflection】
This was the objective of Erich's trip—an accessory that could boost psionic magic. Erich slipped it onto his finger, channeling mana into it while carefully sensing its effects.
Although Erich didn't know how to use psionic magic, the alchemists who crafted this kind of accessory usually recorded the user manual directly into the gear. One only needed to inject mana to read it.
Sure enough, as his mana flowed in, the ring's functions automatically surfaced in Erich's mind.
The Ring of Quiet Reflection had two core functions: it enhanced the psionic magic cast by the wearer, and it disrupted any psionic magic targeted at the wearer. Simply put, it was both an amplifier and a shield.
In other words, this thing could block Lorraine's mind-reading!
Erich changed his mind. It would be better to give this ring to Nora as a return for his second-largest financial backer.
Erich's current savings amounted to 23,034 copper coins, which was roughly equivalent to 2.3 gold coins.
His number one financial backer was Alicia. Back when he made a bet with her on who would become the other's servant upon losing, Alicia had ultimately lost. Of course, Erich couldn't actually force the young mistress of the Wayne family to be his maid, and Alicia herself couldn't bring herself to do it either. In the end, the matter was settled with a compensation of thirty gold coins.
In truth, it was more than just thirty gold coins. After all, over the past few months, Miss Margaret had continuously sent over various practical alchemical potions, which added up to a non-negligible sum when converted to currency.
Erich could accept Alicia's money with a clear conscience, but he felt somewhat embarrassed to take the young princess's money. After all, Alicia's money was won through his own capabilities, whereas Nora's side was entirely a matter of her forcing money upon him.
Over the past few months, Nora had stuffed quite a lot of things into Erich's hands under various pretexts. Moreover, she was smart enough not to give gold coins, but rather various materials, potions, and books that Erich needed. Erich could only brazenly accept them while looking for opportunities to return the favor.
Now, the opportunity had arrived. Even if it wasn't to guard against Lorraine, a royal princess still needed to protect herself against psionic magic.
Having decided the ring's recipient, Erich began to deal with the remaining items.
There were a total of one hundred and twenty silver coins, which Erich stuffed into the pockets of his relatively intact black robe—the one he had taken off before the battle. He couldn't recognize most of the undead materials, and they took up too much space, so he ultimately only selected a few that looked valuable to carry with him.
The elevator descended to the floor where he had arrived. As Erich stepped out, he saw a dim soulfire flickering at the end of the corridor.
Lian poked half of her head out from the shadows. Seeing that it was Erich, she ran over quickly, nervously inspecting the wounds on his body as she muttered:
“You, you're back... That, that Garein...”
“Dead.”
Lian froze. Her already plain face twisted into an emotional expression, and she began to sob:
“Thank you... Thank you...”
Her body began to glow, and something was welling up from the depths of her soul. Erich had seen this state described in textbooks—once an undead's obsession was resolved, they would dissipate like this, their souls returning to the Soul River.
Erich reached out and patted Lian's head. “Go in peace.”
However, the light did not continue to spread, nor did it carry Lian away. Instead, it seemed to be held back by something, slowly growing dim. Lian herself blinked in confusion and asked, “Go where?”
Erich fell silent for a moment. “Wait, wasn't that the special effect for departing from the mortal realm?”
“Lian doesn't know,” Lian tilted her head. “But Lian feels like she's gotten stronger.”
Erich sensed her carefully. Indeed, the aura radiating from Lian was slightly richer than before, and her spiritual form had become more solid. She hadn't disappeared; instead, she had undergone some degree of sublimation after her obsession was resolved.
Erich thought about it and understood. The prerequisite for an undead to dissipate was that the soul itself had to be willing to let go. Although Lian had let go of her hatred for Garein, she seemed to have other attachments. Perhaps the companions who had been dragged to this castle?
Thus, Erich handed over the bundle of undead materials in his hand.
“For you.”
“This, this is too valuable. Lian can't...”
“You led me to Garein. You've earned this, so take it.”
Lian accepted the bundle of materials with both hands, hugging them tightly to her chest.
“Is there anywhere else you need to go?” Erich asked.
A faint light appeared in Lian's hollow eyes:
“Yes! The basement. Lian's companions... some of them might still be alive.”
“Lead the way.”
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