Chapter 273: Gauntlet

A deep rumble echoed.

From the far side of the room, a door lit up, seared with blood-red sigils.

The next chamber waited.

The reward room.

It felt as if they were stepping into the vault of a lavish emperor. A vampiric emperor.

Gone were the rotting walls, the weeping stone, and the haunted chill of the dungeon behind them. Instead, velvet drapes and golden sconces lined the interior. Chandeliers of blood-red crystal floated in the air, buzzing with magical energy.

Rich carpets covered the marble floor. Tables piled high with treasure sat in circles, untouched for what felt like centuries. Gold coins, jeweled goblets, vampire-made weapons, and bizarre trophies from forgotten wars.

The party stood still for a full breath.

Then Luna blinked.

“… This gotta be a trap, right?”

No one answered.

Luna’s expression slowly shifted. Her pupils dilated. A greedy glint sparkled in her eyes as her mouth curled into a grin.

Then, wordlessly, she opened her backpack.

Aria sighed. “Oh, no.”

Too late. Luna had already started shoveling coins, rings, and a particularly shiny dagger into her bag like a squirrel on caffeine. She snickered under her breath as she worked.

“Loot goblin… Nyx laughed, then gave a helpless shrug, and joined her. “With this much, we could afford all the gear we want. Maybe even a private tower. Paying off my debt to that disgusting man would be a mere drop in the bucket.”

Bastet’s eyes shone as she twirled a silk drape between her fingers. “Mmm… sleeping beside this kind of aesthetic… So delicious~ I’m already redecorating my den in my mind.”

Aria didn’t like what she was hearing. “We’re selling them! You’ll have to decorate your room with something else.”

“I’m not selling a single candlestick. You’ll have to kill me!” Bastet declared with a hiss.

Kaiden didn’t say a word.

He wasn’t paying attention to the gold. Or the ancient weapons. Or even the magical artifacts in gilded boxes.

His gaze was locked on the center of the room.

Where a single, plain dais stood beneath a cone of crimson light.

And atop it: a gauntlet.

It was made of simple iron and had no decoration. No aura. No mystery.

No presence.

It didn’t belong here, among all these expensive items.

And yet…

Kaiden stepped toward it, drawn by something deeper than logic. His instincts were screaming. That gauntlet mattered. His whole body felt it. His Gluttony Sin resonance pulsed, and his eyes gained a hint of orange in them as he almost transitioned to the Sin Stance without thinking.

But it was not mere gluttony on his part. No, the sin wasn’t feeling gluttonous. Instead, it was excited to make the acquaintance of this item.

He reached out and touched it.

Nothing happened.

No magical glow. No power surge. No ancient ghostly voice.

Frowning, he picked it up and slid it over his sword hand. The fit was snug but unremarkable. It didn’t change shape. Didn’t spark. Didn’t even make his hand feel warm.

Kaiden stared at it as the realization dawned on him: it really was just a plain iron gauntlet.

His brow furrowed.

“… What are you hiding from me?”

Why was a piece of junk placed so precisely? Why did it sit untouched in a room of riches? Why did every fiber of his instincts insist this was more than it seemed?

*Chime!*

That was the exact moment when a sudden sound rang through the air.

The looting stopped. Even Luna paused with a fistful of gem-encrusted necklaces as the sound gave way to a voice.

It was refined. Measured. Male. A noble’s cadence, sharp with superiority and pride, but aged and weathered by time.

“You have proven yourself worthy of receiving my lord’s gauntlet. It was not made to glitter. It was not forged to impress the eye. This iron once sat cold and nameless upon the anvil until my lord raised it and wrote history with it. It is not mere adornment. It is Count Adamar Veylin’s legacy. It was the weapon by which he carved his name into stone and song alike.”

Kaiden became more confused with every word the voice uttered. “Weapon? It’s a gauntlet, a piece of armor…” He felt something was wrong here. “And he used it to make history…? My current gauntlet is much better… so how?”

But the voice didn’t answer him. It was no conversation, just a recorded message.

“When my lord fell, his sons came to claim all that was left. They took the riches. They took the blades. They took the throne. But not this. For they failed the trial.”

“They called it cursed. They said it was broken. They said it had lost its magic. Fools. They lacked the one thing required.”

A pause came, drawn out as the speaker remained silent for a good few seconds.

“Recognition.”

He said at long last. The weight of the gauntlet on Kaiden’s arm suddenly felt heavier.

“You have earned my lord’s permission to own the gauntlet. But not the gauntlet’s permission to wield it. To wield is to be acknowledged. You are not its master. Until it recognizes you, it is no more than iron. Should you think of it as a mere item… You will never unlock what sleeps within.”

Kaiden stared at the metal covering his hand.

Recognition?

How the hell was he supposed to earn that?

“…How do I even start?” he whispered. “What do you want from me?” The speaker didn’t provide him with any clues, not even cryptic journal entries like before.

As if in direct response to his question, a vibration rippled through the gauntlet.

Then a burst of red light flickered across the air before him. The light expanded outward in crisp lines, forming a square of symbols and archaic glyphs. A holographic message now floated in the air, projecting a string of phrases written in the same archaic vampiric script that had decorated the trial room mirrors.

The letters burned themselves into the air, glowing crimson, and somehow shifted, becoming English letters he could read easily:

“Only in the blood of the usurper will your truth be proven. Only then shall I kneel.”

“…What the hell does that mean?”