A Gunslinger’s System in a World of Magic

And then, while Eloise was reproaching Norbert for greedily seeking the best loot for himself, Henry had looked at the Throne. The seat the Lich never left. Not even when Henry had opened the contraption and gotten his hand around the Phylactery.

With a closer look at the Throne and his perception to guide him, he noticed the part that had been damaged by Louis\' spell revealed something behind and he had a moment of inspiration that the Lich had another hiding spot almost as important to it as the Contraption on the ceiling.

And now that it had been opened, he understood why the Lich would treasure it. Lying here, bound by chains, was what it treasured the most. Its knowledge. Some were probably written by its own hands.

Considering how easily overlooked the throne was and how the Lich had been reluctant to stand, Henry found himself entertaining a wonder as to why the Lich had not kept his Phylactery there.

And then, he realized the contraption was not at all a bad hiding spot. Had he not had the visions he received with Undead Woes to guide him, Henry knew it would have taken too long to make the guess. Which explained the smugness of the Lich when first they entered the Chamber; What they sought was not at all far and yet, it was unseekable.

The Phylactery\'s energy had been completely sealed off and the contraption had not even looked all that out of place. Death would have likely come faster than discovery.

Anyway, Louis\' words seemed to speak aloud the thought that had just entered into Henry\'s head;

These magic books —Grimoires— were the biggest treasure here and not just because of how much they were worth outside the Dungeon even though that was certainly a large part of it. It was because the wealth of the Lich\'s experience, its morbid practices to secure eternal life and also create abominations and monstrosities, were recorded in those pages.

In fact, one of these books most likely inspired him to step onto the morbid path.

Anyway, now that the words left Louis\'s lips, the others in the Chamber realized why Henry had chosen the Throne and the area around it. At the time he chose, they had thought he was after the wall-mounted antiquities over there as well and were delighted that he was getting the lesser share.

It was apparent now that they\'d been wrong. The panel with the Grimoires was the prize they should have sought.

Andor tensed and reached into his bag to grip his Spear, ready to pull it out. Louis was too engrossed in what he was reading, and trying to decipher, to realize the looks they were getting.

"Let\'s take them all," Henry said, sounding quite calm despite all the attention, "Louis, close the book. You can read it when you\'re out."

Louis looked disgruntled but he snapped the book shut. It was as though closing the book brought him back to his senses and he finally noticed the attention they were garnering.

Instinctively, Louis started the motion to toss the book into the bag he still had on his back when a hand gripped his wrist before it could get close enough.

"Drop it," Aurelius said in a low urgent voice while Louis\' eyes widened in surprise. He hadn\'t even sensed the Knight getting closer.

Henry frowned and with a flex of his hand, he drew \'The Hydra\'s Sting\' from his Inventory and held it tight as he asked,

"What are you doing?"

While Henry didn\'t like Aurelius, he believed the Knight had at least more nuance than the other greedy bastards in the Chamber. At the very least, he hadn\'t been expecting him to try to seize their loot.

Aurelius glanced at Henry and then at the gun in his hand. He pursed his lips and then looked at the book in Louis\' hand as well as the ones still on the panel,

"That book is evil. They all are."

"How so?" Henry asked casually as though he wasn\'t planning how best to make sure his bullet went through the Knight\'s forehead.

Aurelius was fast but not as fast as him. While the Knight\'s higher Strength stat could help if they were to take off in a race, Henry doubted it would help in terms of reflexes so he was a bit confident.

And then he heard as well as felt Nyx trot closer. She had been so quiet so far that he might have wondered if she had sunk back into the shadows but she was still on the surface and her eyes were on Aurelius who didn\'t seem to notice.

"They are the last testament of a Lich… An undead monster with a desire for creating abominations," Aurelius said through gritted teeth.

"Your point?" Henry asked.

"My point?" Aurelius asked like Henry\'s response surprised him. Andor had pulled his Spear out now ready for a fight that looked so sure to happen.

"Yes, what\'s your point? Nothing you\'ve said tells me why I —we— should let any of this go. Who cares if it belonged to a Lich, I care how much it\'ll make me."

Aurelius\' eyes flashed and he grabbed the book in Louis\' hand as though to hold it up to prove his point,

"What good could the knowledge of such abominable works do for the people outside? It would only sow chaos and create trouble. Imagine thinking to facilitate the creation of more Liches or even worse, the sacrifice of innocents all because you want to make money?"

Henry flinched at that. To be fair, more sacrifices like the Lich had made were not the sort of thing he\'d like to see. He could desensitize himself by deciding not to care about what happened to strangers but that was much much easier said than done.

That said, clearly Aurelius\' plan was to confiscate the books and Henry couldn\'t have that. All that righteous zeal meant nothing to him and he knew Aurelius\' thoughts could be just as insidious as those evil strangers he claimed he didn\'t want to see getting their hands on the books.

"You make a compelling case," Henry said with a small smile, "I\'ll think about it while I hold on to them."

Aurelius clutched the book he had seized from Louis to his chest and drew his sword,

"I can\'t let you do that," he said as he pointed his sword at Henry who already had \'The Hydra\'s Sting\' pointed at his forehead.

The gun glowed green as Henry powered it up to fire any of the two magical shots it was capable of. Maybe even activate the two at the same time.

Andor had his Spear tight in hand too but he was forced to only partially pay attention to Aurelius and Henry because the other groups were also sharing greedy looks and appeared very interested in seizing hold of the loot.

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"Oh, come on, Again?" Eloise\'s voice said, cutting through the tense atmosphere.

It seemed like she had not been close by before because, had she been, Henry was sure she\'d have stepped in the moment Aurelius grabbed Louis\' wrist. Or maybe she just hadn\'t been paying attention. Either way, her voice did not make either of the two drop their weapons.

Eloise\'s face came into view and she sighed while shaking her head,

"Surely, there\'s a compromise."