"What do I have to do to become your champion?"
As Areth asked the question, Tiamat found the determination on his face amusing and decided to answer him.
"I already have several candidates who wish to become my champion besides you. If you can prove yourself and eliminate them, I will elevate you as my champion..."
A thin smile formed on Tiamat's lips. Her golden eyes drifted across Areth's face, as if weighing the darkest corners of his mind.
"…but it will not be that simple."
The goddess took a heavy step forward. The sound of bones cracking echoed throughout the cavern.
"The mortals who seek to become my champion are not ordinary people. I wonder how they will deal with you... Now be gone."
-------------------------------------------
When Areth returned to the world, Tiamat's words were the first thing on his mind. A god could declare only one person as their champion, which meant they were extremely selective about whom they elevated. Naturally, since he had read the novel, Areth already knew who Tiamat's future champion would be.
And eliminating that person would be extremely difficult.
Not that he had any intention of doing it anytime soon.
So what would he do instead?
Naturally, he would do what any rational person reincarnated into a novel they had read would do.
He would use the knowledge from the story to grow stronger.
Unlike the Moon Goddess, Tiamat had returned him to his home. When Areth looked at the corpses, he realized that not much time had passed since the massacre. He could no longer remain here. Even though he was a duke, he had just killed the most powerful noble in the kingdom and turned his back on the kingdom's most widely worshipped deity, the Moon Goddess.
The royal family would move the moment they learned about it. After all, an opportunity like this would never appear again. Neutralizing the two most powerful noble houses in the kingdom with a single incident would benefit the royal family first, and then the smaller factions.
The current king might appear frail and old, but Areth knew that he was a cunning man.
Moreover, one of the princesses was an absurdly powerful woman, and Areth had no desire to encounter her.
So he immediately left the room and decided to gather the valuable items from Landerbern Palace.
The moment Areth stepped outside, he saw the servants waiting in the corridor.
They were lined up along both sides. Some were crouched on the floor, while others leaned against the walls. Their faces were pale. Some of them were servants belonging to other noble families. A few had red eyes from crying. The scent of blood from the room still hung heavily in the air.
This meant that not much time had passed since the massacre. There was also a section in the novel that explained how time flows differently in the realm of the gods.
Areth stood at the doorway for a few seconds. The servants' gazes slowly shifted toward him. One of them seemed to hold their breath. Another trembled. Because the blood on him was not merely the blood of a wounded man.
It was the blood of someone who had walked out of a massacre.
Areth noticed their reactions but offered no explanation. There was no point. Within a few hours, the entire palace would know anyway.
He began walking slowly.
Bloody footprints appeared on the marble floor beneath his foot. The servants instinctively stepped aside. None of them spoke.
Until the oldest woman among them addressed him in a trembling voice.
"M-My Lord Duke…"
Areth stopped. He tilted his head slightly to the side. The woman lowered her eyes.
"Is… the Archduke well?"
Areth watched her for a few seconds before answering calmly.
"No."
The woman's face turned completely pale. A quiet ripple of whispers spread through the corridor.
Areth continued.
"Not anymore."
The words fell like stones. Some servants collapsed to their knees. A few began to cry. Others simply froze. Areth did not stop to watch them. He kept walking.
After a moment, he slowed down slightly.
His eyes wandered across the high arches of the corridor. The ancient frescoes on the ceiling, the family crests engraved into the walls, and the intricate craftsmanship left behind by the artisans who had served this house for a thousand years… all of it suddenly looked different.
As he examined the palace's splendor, he felt strangely conflicted. He had reincarnated into Areth's body, yet he had barely taken the time to reflect on it. Of course, now was not the moment either. Still, standing inside Areth's body made the palace seem far more valuable in his eyes.
This palace had been used by Areth's ancestors for a thousand years and had even served as the royal palace for a time. The thought of abandoning such a valuable place and its history left a bitter taste in his mouth.
He would have to leave it behind for now.
But deep down, he swore that one day he would reclaim it.
A place like this was far too valuable to be discarded in some forgotten corner of history. If he played his moves carefully, his next visit here might very well be a celebration.
But for now, remaining here with nothing but Tiamat's blessing, whose true effects he did not yet fully understand, would be suicide. Perhaps he could attempt to raise an army on the scale of a duchy. But he could not deal with that absurdly powerful princess and her cunning brother.
Areth finally snapped out of his thoughts when he arrived before the excessively ornate door described in the novel.
The door truly looked exactly as the novel had described. It was made of dark black oak, and its surface was almost entirely covered with golden inlays. The crest of the Landerbern family was engraved in the center.
This door did not merely open into a room.
It opened to the Landerbern treasury.
Areth placed his hand on the heavy handle and paused for a moment. He remembered how the door was opened in the novel.
The handle itself was only a mechanism. The true lock lay within the family crest at the center of the door. Blood had to be dripped simultaneously into the eyes of the owl statue carved into the crest.
Something only someone with Landerbern blood could do.
Areth lightly bit the tip of his thumb.
Blood dripped.
One drop into the right eye.
One drop into the left.
For a moment, the golden inlays shimmered with a crimson glow.
Then the sound of heavy iron bolts shifting echoed from within the door.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
The hidden mechanisms inside the door unlocked one by one.
This door had been designed by a noble house that was not only powerful but also deeply paranoid. Even if an invader managed to break the door down, they would still face second, third, and fourth locks hidden behind it.
Furthermore, the door was already protected by an extremely powerful defensive spell.
The enchantment had been created by the strongest mage of her era, the wife of the legendary knight Lolt Don Landerbern, the First Landerbern and the slayer of one of Tiamat's generals.
As such, the number of people capable of destroying this door through magic alone could be counted on one hand.
But when Areth stepped inside and saw the pitiful state of the treasure the door had protected, he laughed. Perhaps the room had once been filled to the brim. Now it was merely a shadow of its former glory.
For an ordinary noble family, this treasure room would still have been priceless. But the Landerberns were not an ordinary noble house. At least, they hadn't been.
Areth took a few steps forward. The sound of his boots echoed through the empty chamber. His eyes scanned the chests. Some of them were already open. Inside were gold coins, jewels, and even a few mana crystals.
But their numbers were… far below expectations.
Areth let out a quiet, mocking breath.
"So the novel got this part right too."
The Landerbern family had once been one of the wealthiest dynasties in the kingdom. But over the past two centuries, they had lost their power. Endless wars, failed investments, and the steadily increasing pressure from the royal family had slowly drained the treasury.
What remained here now was not an imperial fortune.
It was merely a memory.
Even so, a fortune still lay here. After all, Landerbern was a duchy despite everything, famous for its large population, its trade caravans, and its port. With the wealth here, an average noble house could survive for centuries as long as it lived modestly.
But he hadn't come here just for the gold anyway.
His eyes drifted toward the back of the room.
There was a shelf there that looked different from the others. Instead of ordinary chests, it held old scrolls and small boxes.
After returning to the world, Areth had searched everywhere for Amelum but could not find it. Though even if he had, The Moon Goddess would never allow him to use it anyway, and she was probably responsible for its disappearance.
Now he needed a new weapon.
Areth stopped in front of the shelf.
Most of the boxes resting on the old wooden rack had faded from the passage of time. Their leather coverings were cracked, and their metal locks were rusted. The edges of several scrolls had yellowed and become so brittle that they were nearly turning to dust.
But Areth's attention lingered on none of them.
His gaze went directly to the long box resting in the center of the shelf.
Even the box itself looked different from the others. It was made of polished black wood, and thin golden lines ran across the lid. The Landerbern family crest was engraved at the center, though unlike the one on the door, this one was simpler. Older.
Areth stood in front of it for a few seconds. Then he lifted the lid. The wooden hinges creaked softly. The interior of the box was lined with dark crimson velvet. And resting upon it was a single object.
A sword.
Areth's eyebrows rose slightly.
The sword was undeniably elegant.
Its grip was wrapped in dark black leather, and a golden dragon's head adorned the pommel. The guard was thin but beautifully crafted, shaped like golden wings extending to both sides.
But the most striking feature was the blade itself.
It shone almost like a mirror. Along the steel ran a faint, wave-like pattern. This pattern was not merely a sign of craftsmanship. It was the typical mark of steel forged with mana.
Areth lifted the sword from the box. It was lighter than he expected. He swung it slowly through the air.
Shhh.
A soft sound cut through the air.
A small smile appeared at the corner of Areth's lips.
"Not bad."
This weapon had once belonged to the very woman he had recently met.
This sword was "Suttan" the blade the Goddess Tiamat had used during her conquest of the world.
She had wielded this sword during her conquests before eventually gifting it to her favorite general prior to ascending to godhood. When Areth's distant ancestor, Lolt Don Landerbern, killed that general, he had taken the blade as war spoils. Since that day, no one had used it.
Areth slid the sword back into its sheath and fastened it behind his shoulder. Then his eyes drifted back to the shelf. This time he examined the smaller boxes. One in particular caught his attention.
It was far smaller than the others and made of dark blue metal. Intricate magical runes were carved across its surface. Areth's eyes glinted faintly. He picked up the box and opened the lid. Inside was a single ring.
It was silver in color. A small black stone was embedded on top. Inside the stone, it looked as if a faint mist slowly swirled.
Areth took the ring into his hand.
When he noticed the runes carved into its inner band, his smile widened.
"A storage ring."
Storage rings were extremely valuable in the magical world. Inside them existed a small pocket of space. The user could store objects within it and retrieve them whenever necessary.
Areth slid the ring onto his finger. Instantly, he felt a vast emptiness form in his mind. Like a dark room. Large enough to hold several dozen chests. A satisfied grin spread across Areth's face.
"Nice."
Then he turned and looked at the treasury once more.
The gold chests.
The jewels.
The mana crystals.
And several old magical artifacts.
Areth sent a stream of mana into the ring and extended his hand toward the nearest chest. A faint tremor rippled through the air. Then the chest… vanished. In an instant, it appeared inside the empty space within the ring.
Areth paused for a moment.
"This will make moving things much easier."
Then he began working.
One chest. Then another.
Gold, jewels, mana crystals, and the small boxes on the shelves disappeared into the storage ring one by one.
Minutes passed.
Eventually, Areth stood once more in the center of the room. The treasury was now almost empty. And the space inside the ring was not even full yet.
Areth gave the room one last look.
The treasure vault that had once belonged to one of the most powerful families in the kingdom now stood nearly bare.
Areth touched the hilt of his sword.
Then he murmured quietly,
"I'm borrowing it for now."
A faint smile formed on his lips.
"When I return, I promise I'll fill this place with far more than what I took."
Then he turned away.
Because there was no reason for him to remain here any longer.