Although the magical beasts in these crystals wouldn’t harm him, they never obeyed Carl’s commands. Their primary task seemed to be protecting the altar, followed by their instinct for hunting and survival. So when Carl heard that the Black Night Tiger had appeared outside the forest and harmed someone, he felt a bit worried but helpless.

 

Now that the first guardian beast had been killed by the adventurer, Carl felt a mix of joy and concern. After much hesitation, he decided to release a new guardian magical beast. He no longer cared about anything else; he didn’t want to lose the power and status he had worked so hard to attain.

 

Carefully skirting the altar, Carl approached the shelf where the magical beasts were stored. After a brief selection, he reached for a sealed crystal with a depiction of a flying bird.

 

This one. Hopefully, there won’t be any more problems this time.

 

“If I were you, I wouldn’t make a single move.” 

 

A chilling and ethereal voice, like that of the Grim Reaper, suddenly sounded in his ear. Carl’s body tensed, and he realized that, at some point, a cold gleaming dagger had been placed against his neck.

 

His hand froze in mid-air, and uncontrollable sweat trickled down his forehead. With a voice as fragile as a mosquito’s buzz, he tremblingly asked, “Who are you? What do you want?”

 

“What do I want? I should be the one asking you, right? Mr. Hunter Carl Perkins, why aren’t you resting at home on this dark night? What is this power? And how do you know about this place?”

 

The cold, interrogating tone continued from behind him. Only then did Carl manage to turn his head slightly to catch a glimpse of the captor.

 

A regular coarse cloth coat, shoulder-length black hair, a natural, unadorned face with well-defined features, looking to be in their early twenties. While she might not be considered exceptionally beautiful, she was quite attractive.

 

Although the woman was smiling, Carl couldn’t help but feel a shiver down his spine.

 

“You, you’re that pretty woman who came to the town a few days ago! You’re not a merchant, are you? You…”

 

“Be honest!”

 

The woman behind him kicked Carl’s knee from the inside, causing him to kneel uncontrollably on the ground, and the short knife on his neck left a faint trace of crimson.

 

“Don’t even think about any crooked thoughts. From now on, I ask, and you answer. If you say a single wrong word, I’ll cut off one of your fingers. Do you understand?”

 

“Yikes! I understand, I understand, I understand, I really understand! Please, go ahead, ask!”

 

Seeing the man’s compliant demeanor, a hint of disgust flashed in the woman’s eyes, but her tone remained relatively unchanged.

 

“First, where did you get your power? Although it’s only at the novice-level, it’s clearly not part of the kingdom’s normal power system. You’re just a regular hunter, you couldn’t have obtained it on your own.”

 

“Well… this… Ahhhhhhhhh!”

 

After hesitating for a moment, Carl’s face suddenly changed, and he let out a blood-curdling scream, and one of his pinkies soared into the air, falling to the ground with blood.

 

“I do what I say, don’t think of playing tricks.”

 

“Ahhhhhhh! I’m sorry! This power, actually, it was given to me by a man from outside. I don’t know his name, and he concealed his appearance with a cloak. He gave me, gave me a dark pill to eat, and then I could control those black mists! Spare me, I haven’t done anything wrong!”

 

“Haven’t done anything wrong… Hmph…”

 

The woman uttered a disdainful murmur, not giving a response, but continued to ask.

 

“Does he have any distinctive features? What is this altar used for?”

 

“Distinctive features… distinctive features… Ahhh, yes! When he handed me the pill, I saw a green snake-shaped tattoo on the back of his hand! As for the altar, I really don’t know. I’m just a small fry, sister; I really haven’t lied to you!”

 

“…Let me ask you, was the Black Night Tiger from before released from these sealed magic crystals?”

 

“Uh… yes…”

 

Carl wanted to resist a bit, but the impression left by the pain of his recently severed finger was too intense. He instinctively nodded, and by the time he realized it, it was too late.

 

“Tsk.”

 

The woman knew that she wouldn’t get any new information from him, so she heavily tapped the hilt of her knife on his head, causing Carl to lose consciousness. She then collected all the crystals on the shelves and glanced solemnly at the black gem on the altar, choosing not to touch it. She dragged the man out through the passage they had come from.

 

After the woman’s figure had disappeared for a full minute, two blurry lights flickered in the underground chamber, revealing the figures of a black-haired and a blonde girl.

 

“Huh, the water here is deeper than I imagined. The woman from earlier… her strength is decent, at least better than Uncle Lester. Did she arrive here a few days ago?”

 

In other words, someone had already realized that the events here were not ordinary and had sent the woman to investigate secretly. It’s just unclear what the relationship is between the various parties involved.

 

Violet smiled as she looked in the direction the woman had disappeared and then turned her attention to the black gem on the altar. She wasn’t sure why the woman had chosen to leave without touching the altar, but judging from her expression, she probably didn’t have the confidence to deal with it and went to gather reinforcements.

 

“Xiao Guang, can you tell what this is?”

 

Without the caution they had shown before regarding the gem’s fluctuations, the two girls approached the altar closely, examining this strange-looking object.

 

“It’s an unfamiliar artifact, probably not part of the system in our world, but its power doesn’t seem very high. Master, should I destroy it?”

 

Xiao Guang touched the edge of the gem, and her fingertips flashed with an electric spark-like light, but she didn’t seem to have a strong reaction.

 

“Well… let’s not rush. Let me see… 【Item Appraisal】!”

 

A faint blue ripple radiated from Violet’s palm, scanning the entire gem’s body. After circling it once, the ripple returned to the girl. Violet quickly obtained information about the gem.

 

【Demon God Gem (Fragment)】

 

Type : Special Item

Quality : Purple Rarity

 

Description

A staff once used by a powerful entity in ancient times. The gem embedded within it shattered into fragments during a great battle, and this is one of them. Although its power has greatly diminished, the gem still possesses extraordinary abilities beyond human imagination and can be used to store energy.

 

“A purple rarity… Why does it feel a bit low? Is it because it’s so badly damaged?”

 

【Item Appraisal】 is a universal skill in the world of 【Illusory World】, and its evaluation of an item is based on the standards of the game, depending on the user’s proficiency and level.

 

Generally speaking, items and gear in 【Illusory World】 are classified into these tiers based on their value: White (Common), Green (Fine), Blue (Rare), Purple (Exquisite), Gold (Spirit), Orange (Sacred), Red (Semi-Divine Artifact), and the most powerful Divine Artifact with its distinctive color.

 

At first glance, this item appeared to be quite high-class, and Violet had thought it would at least be a Spirit or Sacred item. She didn’t expect it to be just a damaged Purple Rarity item. It seemed that the damage was quite severe.

 

It’s uncertain what its original form was or if it was indeed a “Divine Artifact” item.

 

“Anyway, regardless of what it is, since it’s displayed so openly, not accepting it would be an insult to the hidden hand behind all this. Thank you, boss. Let’s have it!”

 

Violet placed her hand on the black gem, and with a thought, the item appeared in her inventory without any resistance or unusual circumstances, perhaps because this item’s quality was too low, as it had not even developed sentience yet.

 

“Great, we’ve got some extra loot. Although we don’t know its purpose, there’s nothing else here worth our attention. Let’s go.”

 

“Yes, Master!”

 

With a flash of light, the two thief ladies’ figures disappeared once again in the dim underground chamber.

 

 

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TL NOTE: Please don't skimp on the stars for the translation - it inspires me and gives me the strength to write more. Thank you~!

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