Chapter 740 – The Eye of Truth
The swirling gold compressed inward, crystallizing in midair. The containnt sphere dissolved around it like lting glass. The golden liquid hardened into a single, perfectly ford eye.
No eyelids.
No lashes.
Just a floating orb with a slit pupil of pure molten gold.
It stared directly at Lux.
The pressure in the vault shifted again, but not violently like the daggers. This was different.
This was... judgnt.
Lux stared back.
Zavros shifted uneasily. "It is assessing you."
The Eye rotated once in midair.
Lux extended his hand.
"Co with ."
The Eye did not move.
Lux sighed softly.
"Do I really have to do the dramatic thing every ti?"
He bit his thumb again. Third ti today. He was going to need a bandage.
A drop of infernal royal blood fell toward the floating eye.
The mont the blood touched its surface, the golden pupil flared bright white.
The vault trembled faintly.
[Claim Attempt Detected]
[Bloodline Match Confird]
[Intent Analysis: Strategic Preservation – 78%]
[Intent Analysis: Revenge – 34%]
[Intent Analysis: Survival – 96%]
Lux blinked. "Hey."
Zavros smirked faintly. "It sees you."
"Too much," Lux muttered.
The Eye pulsed again.
[Claim Accepted]
[Eye of Truth bound to: Lux Vaelthorn]
The golden orb shot forward.
Zavros instinctively stepped forward.
"Lux—"
Too late.
The Eye phased directly through Lux’s chest.
There was no explosion.
No dramatic scream.
Just...
A cold, piercing sensation in his sternum.
Then heat.
Then clarity.
Lux inhaled sharply.
His vision split for half a second.
Layered.
He could see the vault as it was.
And beneath it.
Threads.
Intent threads.
Residual emotions lingering on artifacts.
Traces of fear from long-dead demons who had stood here.
Micro fluctuations in Zavros’s aura.
The Eye settled into his core like a second heartbeat.
[Eye of Truth – Active]
[Passive: Lie Detection Enabled]
[Passive: Intent Analysis Enabled]
[Passive: Threat Precursor Detection Enabled]
Lux blinked twice.
Then laughed softly.
"Great."
Zavros narrowed his eyes. "What."
"I can see your guilt."
Zavros stiffened.
"...Excuse ."
Lux grinned. "Relax. It’s faint. But it’s there."
Zavros glared. "Turn it off."
"I don’t think that’s how this works."
Lux rolled his shoulders.
The clarity did not overwhelm him.
It sharpened him.
He could feel subtle pressure shifts in the vault, like invisible currents of probability. He could sense hostility before it ford fully. Lies before they completed.
He flexed his fingers.
"Now I’m ready."
Zavros huffed. "You were already ard like a walking violation of realm treaties."
"Layered security," Lux corrected.
Zavros turned around. "We are leaving."
He began walking toward the exit.
Lux followed.
Two steps.
Three.
Then...
He stopped.
Sothing to the right.
On a lower shelf.
It was not glowing.
Not humming.
It looked... suspicious.
A small vial.
The liquid inside was not one color. It shimred between silver and black, streaked faintly with pale gold like lightning trapped in tar.
It radiated illegal.
Lux tilted his head.
"System."
[Artifact Detected]
[Na: Ascension Fracture Elixir]
[Class: Hybrid Celestial-Infernal Experintal Concoction]
[Stability: Critically Unstable]
[Description: A forced power amplification serum created by rging purified celestial essence with condensed infernal core extract. Temporarily elevates user’s power beyond current rank limitations.]
[Warning: Demonic physiology below Over-King tier cannot sustain internal conflict between opposing energies.]
[Warning: Soul fracture probability 63% for King tier and below.]
[Required Rank: Above King classification]
Lux’s lips parted slightly.
"...Oh."
Zavros was already halfway down the aisle.
"Lux."
"Yeah."
"Walk."
Lux stared at the vial.
Hybrid.
Celestial.
Infernal.
Rank beyond King.
He felt the Eye pulse faintly in his core.
Intent analysis triggered.
He did not intend to drink it now.
He intended to keep it.
Different.
His smirk slowly returned.
He casually flicked his wrist.
The vial vanished into his inventory.
[Ascension Fracture Elixir – Stored]
Zavros did not turn around.
"Why did you stop?"
Lux resud walking like nothing happened.
"Admiring craftsmanship."
Zavros snorted. "You are banned from admiring things."
Lux grinned quietly.
They approached the corridor lift.
The vault air felt lighter now that the heavy hitters were claid.
The shelves seed... relieved.
Or perhaps wary.
Zavros pressed the lift summon rune.
The doors slid open with a soft tallic hiss.
They stepped inside.
As the chamber began ascending, Lux leaned back casually against the wall.
The Eye pulsed faintly in his chest.
The ring glowed subtly on his finger.
Voracitas and Euphoria rested in storage.
The illegal hybrid elixir sat quietly in inventory like a very questionable savings bond.
Zavros glanced at Lux.
The elevator humd upward, smooth and silent, gold runes sliding past the glass walls like quiet profit margins ticking in the background. The vault’s pressure was gone now. The air felt normal again.
Too normal.
Lux stood with one hand in his pocket, the other loosely adjusting his cuff like he had just finished a board eting instead of claiming three illegal artifacts and rewriting his survival odds.
He looks fine.
That was the problem.
Zavros studied the angle of his jaw. The way his shoulders sat. Relaxed. Controlled. No tremor. No visible aftermath of nearly being erased by the King.
The pressure that made even ancient demons kneel.
Zavros’s thoughts tangled again.
Lux shifted slightly.
He could feel it.
The Eye of Truth pulsed faintly in his core. Zavros’s intent threads weren’t loud, but they were there. Worry. Guilt. Pride. Fear.
It pressed gently against his senses like static under skin.
Lux didn’t look at him.
Didn’t call it out.
Because they didn’t do that.
They were Greed.
Royal blood.
Closeness wasn’t their language.
Business was.
Zavros cleared his throat lightly.
"You activated it cleanly."
Lux nodded once. "Compatibility was high."
That was how they said I’m okay.
Zavros folded his arms behind his back. "The ring?"
"Stable."
The daggers?
"Contained."
The unspoken part hovered between them.
Are you stable?
Lux leaned his head back slightly against the elevator wall.
"I calculated the risks."
Zavros’s jaw tightened.
That wasn’t the question.
But it was the only answer Lux would give.
Zavros looked at the reflection of them in the glass.
King of Greed.
Heir of Greed.
Both sharp. Both composed.
Both pretending this was just another asset acquisition.
He almost said it.
’Sorry...’
The words ford.
Then dissolved.
Instead he said, "Your contingency planning is... thorough."
Lux’s lips curved faintly.
"Optimized."
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