Once Miri, Anne, and Isaiah had arrived at the ritual room, they found the door leading into it had already been wide open, likely by Hugo’s key rune. Entering inside, they came across a large dome-shaped room about fifty meters in diameter. At the very top of it was a bright yellow gem about the size of a large boulder attached to the ceiling with some sort of ancient mechanism made of various pieces of engraved stone formed into different shapes—a few of which had fallen off onto the ground due to being damaged.

  As they looked around, the signs of the rampaging incident from a century ago were still quite apparent. Skeletons in mage robes scattered all around, stains of dried-up blood, a messy scattering of claw marks—all of which were indications of the chaos and devastation of that horrible incident.

  The edges of the dome room led to several other smaller rooms, each with their own unique functions. Some were storage rooms holding various equipment and medicine, some were observatory rooms with a viewing window looking into the main dome room, but only one of the rooms held the real treasure—the main control room, where the invaluable runes were kept.

  And that was also where Hugo had exited from, a large linen bag in his hand. Judging from the sound of the rattle it made as it swayed, that was most likely where all the runes he’d scavenged from that room were kept.

  The disheveled middle-aged man gazed at the incoming group with a psychotic, paranoid stare—hugging his bag of runes close to his chest as though not wanting to lose them.

  “It’s over, Hugo! This is the end of the line for you!” Miri shouted angrily.

  “Oh, I see how it is. So you’re here to come take my runes, are you?” Hugo replied, trembling with a mixture of fear and anger like a cornered animal. “Well, you’re not going to get them. It’s mine, I tell you. They're all mine! Every precious rune within this keep is rightfully mine!”

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  “Oh, believe me, I’m not all that worried about the runes anymore,” Miri replied with a fierce look in her eyes, her grip tightening around her staff. “Now, I’m just more focused on kicking your fucking ass. You’re not going to get away with this, not after what you just did.”

  Hugo let out a cackling laugh, showing more indication of his madness. “Judge me all you want, but I know I did the right thing. Deep down, I know what I did was justified. Once I lead you to the runes, you would surely have killed us both and taken the runes for yourselves. I just know it! Besides, I could have easily survived those wounds on my own. I wouldn’t have needed your help anyway.”

  “Wow, if you truly believe that, you must be really delusional,” Miri said as she shook her head in utter disbelief, not knowing whether to feel angry for his actions or feel pity for his deluded state of mind.

  “Please, Mr. Victorstein! You are not yourself at the moment,” Anne urged sincerely. “You need to calm down. We don’t want to hurt you.”

  “I want to hurt him,” Miri said casually. “I want to hurt him very badly.”

  “By the goddess, Miri! We’re trying to reason with him here,” Anne scolded. “Stop trying to make this more difficult than it already is.”

  “Reason with him?! Since when did we ever agree on that?!” Miri argued. “Besides, just look at him! Does he look like he’s someone who can be reasoned with?!”

  “That still doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try! There’s already enough violence for today and we don’t want this situation to escalate!” Anne said to Miri before returning to Hugo. “Mr. Victorstein, please understand that I do not harbor any ill will towards your actions. I understand that you are incredibly distressed at the moment and that you’re probably not thinking straight because of it. So long as you surrender yourself, we can hopefully resolve this situation peacefully.”

  “Yes, father! Please, come to your senses!” Isaiah urged. “It’s still not too late!”

  “Silence!” Hugo bellowed, his voice echoing throughout the dome room. “You…all of you…you’re nothing but a bunch of liars and thieves, trying to take advantage of me, trying to use me to your own benefit! Well, I’m not going to let you do so! I’m not going to risk letting any of you escape so you can tell the world about me—about the treasures I possess—so they can also steal from me as well! I’m…I’m going to make sure none of you leave this keep alive!”