The Horadric Cube on Abel's right arm began to glow dark gold and sucked the pollution away from his soul. Before they even had time to contaminate his soul, the countess's pollution was sucked into the Horadric Cube.
Abel let out a long breath of relief. He sensed his soul contract had been signed. It was only his first time, and he had been attacked. Now he knew how risky it was to sign these kinds of contracts.
"Master, I didn't know things like this would happen!" Said the frightened Countess with a bow.
"No worries, I just underestimated the remaining power of hell!" Said Abel. Afterward, he felt a little bit scared as He thought about the aftermath of his soul being polluted.
It was the first time Abel had signed a contract with another intelligent being. At least it was a human before becoming a dark gold boss. Since this contract was designed for a mount, it almost agreed without even thinking.
"What's your name?" Abel suddenly realized he would drive those nobles back in the Holy Continent insane if he called a Countess, a 'Steward'.
"Master, my name is Bartoli!" The Countess's eyes looked extremely bright. It seemed like she had changed a little after all the pollution had been sucked away.
"Nice, I'll call you Bartoli from now on!" Abel said with a nod.
"Master, this box contains all your rewards for winning a battle against me. Have a look, and feel free to take anything if you want!" Said Bartoli pointing towards a box.
"What's inside?" Abel curiously looked at this legendary hell treasure box guarded by the countless.
"I don't know either since I couldn't open it. Before, different things would come out every time a challenger successfully killed me. But ever since hell had left this world, I don't know what changes had occurred in this box!" Bartoli explained with a soft voice.
Abel bent down and examined the box. There wasn't a lock. When he reached his hand towards the box, the lid automatically swung open exposing the things inside.
First was a magic staff. After he threw it in his Horadric cube, his jaw dropped with a face full of shock.
As he focused his power of the will on the magic staff in his Horadric Cube, it's attributes appeared.
Battle Staff
Two-hand damage: 6-14
Durability: 46-46
+15% increase damage
+3 to Fire enchantment
+3 to Fireball
+3 to warmth
Increase durability by 15%
+50% damage to undead
With socket
The first thing that came to Abel's mind when he saw this magic staff was the rune word 'Leaf'. This was the perfect ingredient for making a leaf magic staff.
Rune word Leaf
3#Tar rune + 8#Ral rune
+5-30 fire damage
Adds 5-30 Fire Damage
+3 to Inferno
+3 to Fire Bolt
+3 to Warmth
+2 to Mana after each kill
Ice defense +33%
+2-198 defense
Abel didn't know if the rune he made would have an affect this Rune Word weapon's ability, but he had no other choice. Rune word weapons were extremely rare in the dark world anyway.
The second item was a rune. Although the sign on it was no longer visible, Abel was sure it was an extremely high-level one. He threw it in his Horadric Cube and it spat out a result.
Rune: Pul#
+30% increase defense
Abel started to wonder if the longer the box stayed closed, the better the value of the rewards. How was it possible such a high-level #1 rune would appear here.
Abel Abel was about to reach for the third object; he realized it had already disintegrated. However, Abel could still make out from the remains that it was an attribute-less white quilted armor. Maybe that was why it had disintegrated during this time.
The hell treasure box was emptied, but Abel was already very satisfied. Both the double socket magic staff and the Pul Rune were extremely rare. Especially that double socket magic staff. It was currently the best thing to help him increase his power.
Abel put away the magic staff and rune. He then looked around this empty room; he wondered how Bartoli could survive in here after all these years.
"Bartoli, let's get out of here!" Abel knew how torturous it must be to live in such an environment as a hell creature with consciousness. Maybe that was why Bartoli would die to get out of here.
"Yes, master!" Bartoli's voice sounded a little shaky since she was about to leave this dungeon, which she had been trapped in for tens of thousands of years. She regained her blush after all the pollution on her had been cleared out.
Abel exited this empty room riding Black Wind. He was totally unaware of how excited Bartoli was as she approached this normal looking door.
Although she was the ruler of this Forgotten Tower, she had never left this room. That was the rule of hell. She was bound to guard this hell treasure box, waiting to get killed by the next challenger and get reborn again. This cycle seemed to be endless.
By this point, all the hell scent on Bartoli had vanished; it was like her soul was cleansed. She never felt so clean before, even the grudges she held in her heart so deeply were gone.
No longer bound by grudges, the rule of hell, and the constant contamination of pollution from hell, she felt reborn again. She only needed to take one step, and she was out of this room.
It was almost like the lock on this door was cursed. Since she hadn't tried escaping for tens of thousands of years, anxiety began to build up with every step she took. It reminded her of the torture her soul had gone through when she first got locked up in hell and tried to escape.
As soon as she stepped her right foot out of the door, she started crying and fell on the flood. She had totally forgotten all about her countess identity, her dark gold boss identity. At this moment, she just wanted to cry out her tens of thousands of sorrows.
Black Wind stopped as Abel quietly watched this noble lady in a luxurious dress, crying loudly like a child. He didn't step up and comfort her; maybe it was best to let Bartoli have this time to herself.
Afterward, Barloti stood up again, wiping the tears off her eyes. She didn't care about the dust on her clothes or the remaining tears on her face. Tears were a luxury to her back in the days, but the moment she looked at Abel gratefully and gave him a 90-degree bow.
"Bartoli, let's go!" Abel bowed back and said softly.
"Yes, Master!" After letting out all her emotions, Bartoli's voice became very faint; it was almost like she had become a different person.
Bartoli came across the big metal wok of fresh blood as she came across the hall. She shook at the sight; she had lost everything because of these maidens' blood. Now it just seemed like a big joke.
In a flash, a ball of fire appeared in Bartoli's hand as she boiled the fresh blood into steam. She mumbled, "from now on there is no more Countess in this world, only the Master's steward Bartoli!"
A new smile appeared on Bartoli's face under the glow of the fire. The smile was so pure; she almost looked like a child. Afterward, she turned to Abel and said, "Master, I'll lead the way for you!"
Bartoli placed her foot on the stairs to the 4th floor. It was at the exact moment, screaming began to emerge from all directions.
Abel's face changed. It was the sound of Devilkins, but he had never heard them scream like this before. They sounded were extremely angry.
A large number of Devilkins rushed out from all the rooms. Luckily Abel had already killed a lot of them when he first arrived, but there were still around 200 of them, and even more were on their way.
With the Sword of Victory in his right and 'Charging Bolt' on his left, Abel and his summons charged towards the Devilkins.