Chapter 382 - A Dragon Guarding a Treasure

Noah found himself in an extremely tense environment as he stared at the lazily floating Elite Behemoth that had half of its body sunken in the blazing lava.

The mountainous figure had its eyes closed as Noah could only see half of its body, which actually spanned over 30 meters as it magnificently rolled around the Cavern. His attention was pulled towards the large red crystal of the ancient runic pedestal that seemed to be calling out to him, his eyes becoming hot the more they remained on this shimmering treasure.

He breathed out slowly as he brought himself to calm down and think of the numerous ways to proceed, pulling out the Dagger of Time stored in the [Expansive Space] as well as equipping his miniaturized body with the items from the {Incandescent Flameborn Set} to provide even more protection in this fiery hell!

Numerous calculations passed through his mind as he didn’t activate any skills yet, knowing the moment he used his mana this extremely dangerous Behemoth lazily floating in lava would notice him.

A few minutes passed as he observed its movements in this tense atmosphere, coming to map out its large body gradually as it continued to swim in the lava. The Elite Behemoth actually adopted the features of something that Noah had come across a few times in his life, and that was a Dragon!

The enormous head that continued to dip in and out of the lava peacefully had a rough draconic outline as enormous wings were tucked into its sides, with Noah not even being able to see their end as they sunk in the molten earth.

A dangerously glistening tail that held numerous crystal stalagmites that shone with a deep red hue could also be seen occasionally rise and fall from the flowing lava!

Numerous ideas came and went in Noah’s mind as he tried to map out multiple possibilities, planning for every possible path as he only came out with two. One was miraculously taking this unknown treasure right under the nose of its powerful protector, getting away safely just as the powerful beast was reacting to his movements. This was the best possible course of action, as Noah was not fully confident in being able to take down an Elite Tier Behemoth at this stage, even with his fantastical cheats!

This also brought the consideration that he didn’t consider too much of a limitation because of his nearly infinite mana, and that was the 60% limitation of power given to this clone. This also bought numerous new questions about this limitation that he had to slowly understand.

The other possible pathway for him to take this treasure was if the first plan of snatch and run inevitably failed, where he would then have to leave it to fate and go all out, testing exactly how powerful this Elite Behemoth that was half a step into the Domain Expansion Realm would be. This was the second pathway, and he already sent telepathic commands to a special someone if this path was to be followed, knowing he would need all the help he can get.

His face became stern as he pulled back from the wide Cavern and followed the path that he came in, going more than a few miles as he took out the miniaturized Spiritual Land and used [Anchor] to expertly hide it among the grains of earth in the mountain. This was the last preparation, where just in case something horrendous happened, only the clone would be affected as his main body would suffer a significant blow from the loss of a portion of his Origin.

He made his way back towards the wide Cavern thereafter as the same scene greeted him, getting himself ready as he was going to go for the first possible pathway first- taking the treasure right under the nose of this monstrous Draconic Fire Behemoth!

To do this, he looked at the description of a particular ability from the Seven Deadly Sins that he had not used too often, one that came from the Sin of Greed!

[Emperor of Greed] The user can steal the ownership of any item they see or sense.

The skill stated that he could steal the ownership of any item he could see or sense, being extremely useful, but also raising many questions on what it applied to. This treasure in front of him, could it be considered an owned item that he could use this skill to take? Could this ability be stopped in any way if the perception of this Draconic Fire Behemoth was as monstrous as his intel from the Celestials told him?

There were many unknowns in this first plan, which was why Noah was still fairly unconfident with it, and was simply giving it a shot! He breathed out as his eyes honed in on the faraway glowing crystal, getting ready another phase of this first plan that involved physically teleporting his body as he risked the life of the clone to the close proximity of this enormous Behemoth just incase [Emperor of Greed] did not work.

But before this, there was the ability from the Sin of Greed, and there was also...the Dagger of Time! The abilities that the Dagger of Time had were few, but they were extremely powerful as he always kept the Sheath filled with Time Essence from the Time Space, always ready for use if drastic situations like these demanded it.

When he saw the Draconic Fire Behemoth was at the position furthest away from the ancient runic pedestal holding the treasure, Noah’s face hardened as his eyes locked in on the profoundly glimmering crystal and cast multiple abilities, starting off with the ability from the Dagger of Time that actually stopped time, [Stop]!

SHAA!

Stillness spread through a wide region of the Cavern, Noah spreading out his aura and senses finally as his eyes locked on to the glimmering crystal above the ancient runic pedestal and also cast, [Emperor of Greed]!

...