Episode 30: Grandiose escape. (1)

I followed Avriel to the back of the palace, we walked past all the guards unnoticed without breaking a sweat. As for a player like me who's not part of the Eluna Empire, I couldn't enter the palace through the front gate. Even if I'm part of the Eluna Empire, I needed to contribute a lot to the empire before I could enter the palace. We stood in front of a small wooden door. Avriel gave me a mask and a hooded robe. She told me to wear them. It covered my left eye and half of my face and the hood covered my head perfectly.

[Moon's Series obtained!]

[Crescent Moon Mask: A mask that only the spies of Eluna Empire have. As a result of their loyalty to the Empire, they are given this mask by the emperor himself. This has been going on from generation to generation. AGI+20, additively increase ASPD and MS by 10% when equipped.]

[Hooded Moon Robe: A hooded robe that is used by the spies of the Eluna Empire. A robe that specifically hides the user's identity. No matter how much you move, the hood will stay intact on your head. AGI+20, additively increase ASPD and MS by 10% when equipped.]

[If equipped with all the Moon's series, the player has an extra unique active skill [Moonsteps]. The player can swiftly blink to anywhere within 10 seconds inside a shadow as long as the player is not getting hit by any light, except the moonlight. Cooldown: 5 minutes.]

Avriel also wears a mask and looks at me.

"Just follow my lead and don't say a word and keep your head straight the whole time. Do you understand?"

I nod with understanding. Avriel then knocks on the wooden door in front of us.

[- .... . / -- --- --- -.]

Avriel knocks on the door using a morse code. The wooden door is opening and there's a guard that standing in front of us. He nods and lets us through. I follow Avriel from behind and keep my head straight as she said earlier. When we are far enough from the guard, she looks at me.

"To be able to enter the collection chamber, we have to kill the royal guards. We only have around five minutes after we broke the glass case where they put Krestan's left leg until the patrol royal guards come to check the chamber. Nobody has ever succeeded in escaping the palace. You will likely need some kind of miracle to escape this palace."

I nod with understanding. Unfortunately, with my current level and equipment, I can't kill a single royal guard instantly. But, my strength is high enough to hold them down so they won't be able to ask for help and I will let Avriel finish them off.

We walk towards the collection chamber on the 3rd floor using the secret passage that only the royal family and Eluna's spies know. Then we see two royal guards in front of a huge door made from high-quality wood and decorated with gems. The royal guards notice and then they are pointing their spears at us.

"You have no authorized to be here! Leave!"

Avriel walks towards the guard with no worries. They both are readying their stances. But little they know, another Avriel is walking from behind them silently. Then Avriel slits one of the royal guards' necks. I run towards the other royal guard immediately since his attention is focused on Avriel. I jump and land on top of him then cover his mouth with my hand. Avriel is standing in front of me, and when I'm about to look up to see her face, a dagger is flying down so fast an inch from my face and stab the royal guard's head. A level 200 royal guards are easily killed by Avriel.

Her passive and active skills were terrifying. She created an illusion mirrored image of her before we entered the hall to the chamber. The real Avriel was at the other side of the hall. She then activated the mirrored image of her so she and her illusion could move at the same time. Like a person walking towards a mirror.

Avriel is wiping her hand with a handkerchief. Then she grabs the keys from the royal guards' bodies. She opens the gate and looks at me.

"Let's go."

I stand up and nod.

We are inside the chamber and it's so huge that I have no idea where I should start looking for Krestan's leg. Avriel walks confidently to one of the giant curtains and pulls it down. A clacking sound is coming from our far right. A hatch at the corner of the chamber is opening. I look at Avriel and she just shrugs while smirking at me.

We get inside the hatch and there are so many items in here. From rare to legendary items are displayed in this room. In the middle of the room, there's a huge glass case and inside it, there's a leg covered with a white cloth that has a bloodstain on it that already turns brown. The leg is preserved using some kind of magic. Avriel without any hesitant breaks the glass. It shatters so loudly that I believe the whole palace can hear it. Avriel is walking back towards the shadow.

"I said that I will help you get the leg, but I didn't say that I will help you escape. You have less than five minutes to escape. So, good luck, and I will watch you from the shadows. "

Avriel disappeared into the shadows.

[Voice of the World]

[Emergency quest!]

[A player stole something precious inside the palace's chamber. Find the player and the emperor will give a hefty reward to the player who managed to capture the culprit. The culprit will be restricted to leave the palace for 1 hour by the system. Find the culprit before the time runs out. Every player from Eluna Empire's faction now can enter the palace for the time being.]

[59min 59sec before the quest failed.]

-

Somewhere in the Alliance Kingdoms territory. Ivonna, Emma, and the others are hunting monsters for a quest. They're looking at the VoW and shake their head. Ivonna scoffs.

"I can't believe there's another player who tried to steal something from the empire."

Francesca shrugs.

"I mean, who wouldn't be tempted by the legendary items in the royal palace? The guy who did it first told us in the forum that there are so many of those items that enough to make someone rich in just a single day. But still, the punishment is no joke. That guy is still trying so hard to redeem his mistake to get out from the blacklist."

Michael is rubbing his chin.

"It was a rank 20 or rank 10 legendary items, right? Man, if I managed to escape with those, I don't have to do anything. Hell, even my descendent can enjoy the money and don't have to worry about not having money for the rest of their lives from one of those legendary items."

They are laughing and nodding with an agreement. Then Emma is looking at her friend list. She clears her throat.

"Umm... guys. I think I know who stole the legendary item from the Eluna Empire palace."

They turn around and are looking at Emma while tilting their heads. Emma is pointing at her friend list.

"You can check your friend list and see where's Trevor at."

They're all looking at each other and hurriedly check their friend list and find Trevor's name.

[Trevor (online): Currently at (Secret Chamber of the Eluna Empire's Palace)]

Francesca is snorting and holding her laughs. Michael, Hans, and Leonardo are laughing so hard. Ivonna is chuckling with disbelief.

"Really... he's something else, huh?"

Ivonna is looking at the VoW in the sky and shakes her head while smiling.

-

"Ah sh*t..."

I grabbed Krestan's left leg and immediately drank the lucky potion and equipped the daggers. Back then, there was no such thing as VoW or any players in the game. So I managed to leave the palace without any problems. A screen appeared.

[Krestan's limbs 1/3 retrieved!]

[You are under restriction by the system. You cannot leave the palace and cannot log out for 1 hour!]

[59min 59sec until you can leave the palace.]

[Escape the palace without getting captured in 1 hour.]

[Failure condition: Getting captured or die.]

[If you failed, your stats will be permanently reduced by 90%. You will be under the blacklist player in the system that prevents you from getting EXP and Drop for ??? time.]

I'm about to leave the chamber and a screen appears again.

[Exclusive Task, Grandious Escape!]

[Escape from the palace without getting captured? What is fun about that? How about you killed all the players and NPCs in the palace before the time runs out? Your escape will be legendary!]

[Reward: Title [Phantom Killer]

[Failed: No Penalty]

I chuckle while looking at the screen.

"That's interesting. Might as well try to do that, huh?"