As the tremors of the explosion faded, Eomer deactivated his holy art vine protection.
The elven heavy warrior also deactivated his Immovable Fortress.
Beyond their defenses, everything was in chaos.
The surroundings were nothing but ruins and broken walls; only the small area beneath their feet remained relatively intact.
Looking up, they realized they were no longer in their original position.
The explosion had destroyed the partitions between the palace labyrinth sections, causing them to fall down two floors.
The labyrinth where the adventurers were currently located was built by Dalun Li using stone, a replica of the pitch-black palace that contained its projection.
The true pitch-black palace, condensed from the power of the evil god, Dark Starry Sky, had long since been hidden in a hidden floor by Dalun Li.
Thus, its durability was not that high; as this was only the tenth floor, there was an upper limit to the power a floor could withstand.
Even with sufficient power, it was difficult for Dalun Li to reinforce the strength of this labyrinth.
However, despite the significant damage, the ruined labyrinth was already self-repairing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"Where is Caiman Grey?"
Nephalian quickly scanned the ruins but found no trace of Caiman.
"With the Forbidden Fire and the full power of a fourth-rank priest of the Holy Light detonating together, that fellow should be dead."
Eomer made this guess without much doubt.
They had witnessed the power of the Forbidden Fire firsthand; even if Caiman had the ability to withstand the Holy Light, there was no way he could have survived the Forbidden Fire mixed within the explosion.
After all, Caiman lacked the Forbidden Fire Blessing Mark and did not possess the Candelabra; it was impossible for him to endure the Forbidden Fire.
As the surrounding labyrinth began to self-repair, the elven group did not remain idle.
Since the partitions of the labyrinth had been blasted open, they could take the opportunity to accelerate their exploration before the repairs were complete.
Furthermore, there were Claude's magic items and Caiman's greater magic grade magic item, the Forgotten Hero.
Even lesser magic grade magic items were extremely precious.
Not to mention that Claude and Caiman each possessed a uniquely powerful and precious greater magic grade magic item.
They quickly began searching the labyrinth while it was still repairing itself.
However, they only discovered the Elemental Decomposition iron staff and the Inverse Compass.
Both magic items had sustained damage.
Because magic items contained mana, their inherent durability was extraordinary even without considering their special effects.
Yet, these two lesser magic grade magic items had actually been damaged.
The forms of both Elemental Decomposition and the Inverse Compass were warped and charred, damage caused by the scorching heat of the Forbidden Fire.
Eomer was not surprised; given the power of the Forbidden Fire, it was not strange that it could damage magic items.
It was uncertain if they could be repaired; for now, the mana within these two damaged items had not dissipated, meaning their special effects remained, though they would certainly be affected.
However, they found no sign of the greater magic grade magic items, the Forgotten Hero and Pious Whisper.
Pious Whisper was made of fabric, so had it been incinerated by the Forbidden Fire?
But what about the Forgotten Hero?
Could it be that Caiman was not dead and had somehow survived the scorching Forbidden Fire?
The probability was too low unless he possessed a treasure capable of resisting the Forbidden Fire, similar to the Candelabra.
These thoughts flashed rapidly through Eomer's mind.
The handsome male elf eventually gave up on deeper speculation, though he kept the thought in the back of his mind.
In any case, that was a conflict between the elves and the Grey family.
He held the two magic items and turned to look at Manfred.
The previous attack had left Manfred exhausted and injured, but under the healing of the vines, he had regained his ability to move.
After all, Eomer was a third-rank priest of the elves, wielding the power of natural life; his expertise in healing holy arts was no lower than that of a priest of the Holy Light.
Manfred gripped the Candelabra tightly.
Although they had stood on the same side before, the enemy had been dealt with, and the alliance born of combat had dissolved.
It would not be surprising if these powerful, hate-filled elves turned their blades against him now.
"Though you are a human, you are not as wretched as the rest of the Grey family."
Eomer tilted his handsome face upward, speaking with what seemed like a smile.
"There is something about you worthy of our respect."
"But we need the Forbidden Fire more than you do. We will not hold back on the path to claim it."
Like Nephalian, Eomer did not validate Manfred's desire to seek the Forbidden Fire merely to protect himself from the Grey family.
However, through the recent battle, Manfred had earned their respect.
"If there comes a day when you change your mind and decide the wicked Grey family should no longer exist in this world..."
"You may come and join us. We would not mind traveling with a human like you."
After saying this, Eomer tossed the warped and charred iron staff—the lesser magic grade magic item, Elemental Decomposition—to Manfred.
"This is what you earned."
"Also, guard your Candelabra well. If we do not find another Forbidden Fire container later, we will come to take yours."
Eomer left with his companions, no longer attempting to seize Manfred's Candelabra.
Manfred watched the direction in which the elves departed.
This was his first time meeting elves.
Though they were different from those in fairy tales, their essence under the weight of hatred seemed to match the descriptions he remembered.
So the fairy tales he read as a child hadn't lied?
Manfred put away the Elemental Decomposition iron staff, tying it to his waist, and then picked up a rapier from the ground.
It was Nephalian's spare sword; although he was not skilled with rapiers, one could not be picky in a dungeon.
He could only hope to encounter a monster merchant in this palace labyrinth and buy a few broadswords infused with mana.
The urgent priority now was to regroup with his companions.
...
The Holy Light explosion in the palace labyrinth drew the attention of every adventurer within the maze.
It also drew the attention of the intelligent monsters guarding the labyrinth.
For instance, the skeletal shamans.
These skeletal shamans hurried to report upward.
However, they were met with a single sentence from the guardian Zeno: "My Lord is already aware."
Tongmu had gone to the subordinate dungeon to search and confirm all the resources there.
Currently, Dalun Li was personally monitoring the entire dungeon.
Therefore, he had noticed the moment Claude self-destructed.
As an intruder and the highest-level being currently in the dungeon, Claude had long been marked by Tongmu's gaze.
He was a primary target for surveillance.
But the man's self-destruction was somewhat beyond Dalun Li's expectations.
He had never seen anything like it.
It turned out priests could self-destruct; witnessing the process from start to finish gave Dalun Li a lot of inspiration for his monsters.
While the self-destruction itself was surprising, the effects it produced were a delight.
When Claude triggered the Holy Light for his self-destruction, his body was already burning with Forbidden Fire.
Under the intense eruption of Holy Light, the power of the Forbidden Fire was amplified.
The Forbidden Fire he had created seemed to have an excellent affinity with Holy Light.
Thus, he had acted decisively, using the masterpiece grade magic item, the Life Casket.
He directly absorbed Claude's soul into the Life Casket.
At the same time, he also retrieved the greater magic grade magic item, Pious Whisper.
Under normal circumstances, Dalun Li would not intervene to take magic items.
Except for the difficult period when he first started his business.
If an adventurer defeated an opponent and took a magic item as a trophy, so be it; the corpse belonged to him anyway.
As long as they continued to explore the Well of Eternal Imprisonment, those magic items were merely being held by them temporarily; sooner or later, they would belong to Dalun Li.
It was like a casino; one did not fear the gambler winning, but rather the gambler quitting the game.
The reason he took Pious Whisper was that Claude's self-destruction had caused the greater magic grade magic item to undergo a mutation.
The power of the Forbidden Fire and the power of the Holy Light had both acted upon this magic item.
While causing destruction to Pious Whisper, it also caused the Holy Light—the power of light—to merge with the Forbidden Fire.
Currently, the once pure white Pious Whisper was half-white and half-burning with a faint, unquenchable Forbidden Fire.
Though it could not yet be called a spark, it showed Dalun Li the possibility of creating a Forbidden Fire spark.
"Claude really is a good man."
Dalun Li could not help but think so.
First, he delivered the Life Casket to me, and then he burned his own life to serve as fuel for the Forbidden Fire.
He allowed me to see the potential between Holy Light and the Forbidden Fire, allowing for experiments with the power of light to grant the Forbidden Fire the characteristics of an eternal spark.
Even after death, he could still be of assistance.
Dalun Li looked at the Life Casket; the next step was to squeeze every bit of knowledge and intelligence from the mind of this fourth-rank priest.
"Well of Eternal Imprisonment Learning Group!"
Dalun Li once again deployed the batch of skeletal magic apprentices to accelerate the transfer of Claude's knowledge.
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