Before long, they reached a half-open iron door at the end of the western corridor.
A rusted plaque hung from it, bearing several faint words in an ancient script.
[Storeroom]
The moment Grant saw the plaque, half his caution disappeared.
The label was clear enough. Surely there couldn’t be anything else hidden inside.
Isolde stopped beside the door and spoke carefully.
“I can only take you this far. My soul contract prevents me from entering the duke’s armory.”
Mina studied her.
“A restriction in the contract?”
Isolde lowered her head and revealed a section of the dark red mark around her wrist.
Mina’s expression softened when she saw it. The last of her suspicion faded.
“Looks like she really is under his control.”
Grant had no patience for any of this. He pushed the door open and walked inside.
Rowan followed close behind. Mina hesitated for a second before stepping through as well.
Isolde remained outside, her fingertips quietly brushing a rune along the edge of the doorframe.
The next instant, crimson flames lit up inside the room.
The three players finally saw what was hanging from the racks.
They weren’t swords, axes, or shields.
They were human bones.
Stripped arm bones had been sharpened into blades. Shields had been pieced together from ribs and skulls.
Half of a face, not yet fully rotted, lay draped over a treasure chest in the corner.
Its eye suddenly opened.
Then it grinned at them.
Grant went pale.
“What the hell is that?”
System notifications appeared at the same time.
[You have disturbed the Bonewrought.]
[Warning, Intruders who do not belong to the Castle Faction will awaken the guards.]
Mina screamed.
“I thought this was an armory!”
Isolde froze outside the door, looking as though she hadn’t expected any of this.
“I… I didn’t know. There really used to be weapons in here.”
The moment she finished speaking, the skeletons in the corners rose one after another.
Ghostly green flames appeared inside their hollow eye sockets.
Dozens of skeletal guards drew their bone blades and turned toward the intruders in perfect unison.
“Get out!” Mina shouted.
But the Bonewrought were already charging.
Grant had no choice but to raise his axe and meet them head-on.
His [Heavy Cleave] smashed through the first skeleton’s ribs. Bone fragments flew everywhere, only to be crushed beneath the feet of the skeletons behind it.
Rowan scrambled backward and activated [Weakness Mark].
The ghostly green cores inside the skeletons’ chests immediately lit up.
Mina gritted her teeth and raised her staff.
“Purifying Light!”
White light erupted across the room.
The Bonewrought in the front row faltered at once.
Isolde stood beyond the doorway, seemingly too frightened to come any closer.
But she never looked away.
She carefully watched the path of every skill, every pause in the incantations, and every point where the light element gathered.
A notification visible only to her appeared.
[You observed the skill, Purifying Light.]
[Analysis Progress, 12%.]
[You observed the skill, Weakness Mark.]
[Analysis Progress, 9%.]
Isolde’s fingers tightened beneath her sleeve.
It wasn’t enough.
Watching a skill once only allowed her to grasp its outer structure.
She needed them to keep fighting.
She needed them more desperate, more battered, and preferably desperate enough to reveal whatever life-saving skills they were still holding back.
The next second, Rowan was driven into a corner by a bone blade.
He cursed and raised his bow again.
“Weakness Mark!”
A pale gray light swept across the Bonewrought’s chest, revealing its ghostly green core.
[You observed the skill, Weakness Mark.]
[Analysis Progress, 41%.]
Mina forced out the last of her mana.
“Purifying Light!”
White light burst across the room again.
The front row of Bonewrought froze, and the green flames between their bones dimmed.
[You observed the skill, Purifying Light.]
[Analysis Progress, 48%.]
They used the skills.
She studied them.
As long as she observed the complete process enough times, she could break the skills down and learn them herself.
Inside the Bone Vault, the three players were being pushed to their limits.
Grant had lost a third of his health. Mina’s mana was almost empty.
Rowan was in even worse shape. A bone blade had torn open his shoulder, and his Corruption Level kept rising.
But players were still players.
By combining their class skills, they finally managed to grind down the last Bonewrought.
The skeleton collapsed into a scattered pile.
Isolde had also finished analyzing the skills they had used most often.
[You have acquired the skill, Purifying Light, Beginner.]
[Skill Description, Deals an additional 5% magic damage to aberrant creatures and reduces their movement speed.]
[You have acquired the skill, Weakness Mark, Beginner.]
[Skill Description, Briefly reveals an enemy’s weak point.]
Isolde lowered her eyes, hiding the emotion within them.
After watching the entire battle, she had finally learned something useful.
Grant stumbled out of the room, breathing hard.
He reached for Isolde’s collar.
“You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”
Isolde looked paralyzed with fear, her eyes wide with panic.
But just as Grant was about to hit her to vent his anger, every noble portrait along the corridor turned its head.
Empty black sockets fixed themselves on him.
A bloodred system warning appeared.
[Warning, You are about to trigger the Castle’s Wrath.]
[Castle Reputation will fall to Hated.]
Grant froze.
At the same time, the dark red mark beneath his feet flashed.
A small portion of his health vanished without a sound.
Rowan flinched as well.
“Don’t touch her! We’ll lose everything if the quest fails!”
Mina leaned against the wall, struggling to catch her breath.
When she looked at Isolde again, her expression had grown complicated.
The NPC really was weak.
So weak that she couldn’t even fight back.
The problem was that their escape route had been sealed, and the story protection around her was far too troublesome.
They couldn’t hit her. They couldn’t kill her. They still needed her to guide them.
That was what made the whole thing so infuriating.
Isolde seemed to finally recover from her fright.
She took half a step back, her voice so frail it nearly broke.
“I’m sorry… I truly didn’t mean to hurt you. I’ve been imprisoned for so long that many parts of the castle have changed.”
“If you think I’m useless, I won’t say anything else.”
The more submissive she acted, the angrier Grant became.
But they really had found loot inside the chest.
[Descender Grant Vale acquired, Bone Blade Fragment.]
[Descender Mina Vale acquired, Remnant Necrotic Light.]
[Descender Rowan Keene acquired, Damaged Bone Bow Component.]
The items looked ordinary, but the system rating was perfectly clear.
[Material Quality, Rare.]
The word “Rare” immediately smothered half of Rowan’s anger over nearly being hacked to pieces.
Grant’s expression shifted several times.
He had lost some health, but they had gained rare materials.
They could keep going.
After catching her breath, Mina softened her voice.
“Miss Isolde, we were too hasty. Don’t be afraid.”
“This place is dangerous for us. We’re only trying to survive… and of course, we still intend to rescue you.”
Isolde looked at her.
The apology was fake.
They had realized they couldn’t force their way through, so now Mina was trying guilt instead.
Sure enough, Mina’s eyes reddened a moment later.
“We came here to save you, and now we’re trapped.”
“You’re an NPC… No, you’re a person too, aren’t you? You must have feelings.”
“That means you should help us. If we die here, we’re really dead. Could you honestly stand by and let that happen?”
Isolde nearly laughed.
Same old trick. Same familiar routine.
But this time, she would never believe a word of it.
She lowered her eyes, her voice soft and gentle.
“Of course I couldn’t. I’m already deeply grateful that you’re willing to rescue me.”
Mina’s expression eased, and she smiled smugly to herself.
She really was just an NPC.
As long as they followed the right dialogue choices, they could always restore her favorability.
Mina immediately continued.
“Then where is the nearest safe place you know?”
Isolde remained silent for a moment.
Grant quickly lost his patience.
“Spit it out!”
Isolde flinched.
“Once the Night Fog descends, every roaming monster in the castle will come out.”
“There is only one place where guests won’t be attacked, at least for a while.”
Rowan immediately asked, “Where?”
Isolde raised her head.
A fragile glimmer of hope appeared on her pale, beautiful face.
“The banquet hall.”