"There’s no need to guess, Narrell, have someone interrogate the spy swiftly," said Matron Lorina, shaking her head. "You two, lead a team of Royal Guards to chase down the thief."

"Yes, Matron," they responded.

"Um... Matron, Natalia was also killed by the enemy. I worry if the enemy could possibly be a legendary warrior?" Siriel slightly bowed her head and asked respectfully.

Although the possibility was low, Siriel did not want to follow in Natalia’s footsteps.

The entire situation was strange, and in fact, Siriel didn’t want to get involved in this mess. However, as the keeper of the second Treasure Vault Key, she couldn’t avoid the blame for the key’s theft.

"Oh? Siriel, you don’t want to go?" Matron Lorina squinted her eyes slightly, smiling as she looked at Siriel.

"No! Certainly not, Matron. Can you use Divine Art to help verify the strength level of the enemy who killed Natalia?" Siriel shuddered, immediately bowing again in salute.

"Very well." Matron Lorina nodded.

She extended her finger, drawing a spider-like pattern in the air. In an instant, a spectral spider formed of Erosion Energy appeared before everyone. Lorina then asked, "Is the murderer of Natalia a legendary warrior?"

The spectral spider shook its head immediately.

This made Siriel and the Guard Captain exchange a glance, breathing a sigh of relief, yet also showing a bit of surprise.

Considering the Extraordinary Level, could someone really kill Natalia in such a short time?

That was exceedingly rare!

"Is the enemy escaping towards the front gate of Eres City?" Matron Lorina asked her second question.

The spectral spider nodded again.

Since the medium of the Divine Art could only nod or shake its head, the questions needed to be as binary as possible.

Eres City, being within the mountain, did not have the four cardinal direction gates like surface Human Kingdom cities; it only had front and rear exits.

At this point, Matron Lorina seemed to recall something and asked the final question: "Did the enemy disguise themselves with our race’s appearance to approach Natalia and launch an attack?"

This time, the spectral spider seemed to think for a moment longer but ultimately nodded lightly. As soon as the three questions were answered, the spider dissolved into starlike points of light and vanished into the air.

Upon hearing the response to the third question, Siriel and Guard Captain Narrell both breathed a sigh of relief.

’Ah, it was an ambush? No wonder!’

High-tier Priest Siriel and Guard Captain Narrell both bowed once more and swiftly departed.

Meanwhile, on the other side.

Using the Shapeshifter’s Transformation Spell, Raine smoothly passed through the gate before it received the closure order. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Ten minutes later, Raine reunited with Meredith in the Mushroom Forest.

Seeing the familiar silhouette appear and the two almost identical Warhammers hanging at his waist, Meredith immediately guessed that Raine had succeeded.

"Raine, did you really succeed?" But, as she closely examined Raine and glanced at the two Warhammers, Meredith still found it hard to believe.

As a Drow Elf, she was well aware of the power of the second-ranked Hernet Family.

With the information she had, aside from the Matron, there were at least four legendary warriors among the twelve High-tier Priests.

Even if the second Treasure Vault Key was in the hands of any of the other transcendent high-tier Priests, the difficulty of obtaining it would be unimaginable.

If it were her, she couldn’t fathom how to secure the Treasure Vault Key from a transcendent high-tier warrior.

Moreover, she would have to risk returning to the family residence, taking the chance of alerting the Matron, to infiltrate the vault afterwards.

"The process was a bit convoluted, but overall it went well." Raine took out the newly obtained Protector from his waist and smiled.

"Hmm!" Meredith nodded seriously and also started to smile.

At this moment, Raine took out an Identification Spell Scroll, quickly tearing it open towards the Protector in his hand.

In the next instant, information about the Protector surfaced in his mind:

[Twin Hammers of the Emperor - Protector (2/2)]

Type: Warhammer

Quality: Epic Level (7/10)

Special Effects:

1. When swinging, the wielder will inevitably trigger a Pious Shield effect.

2. Upon receiving a Magic Attack, the wielder will gain the corresponding energy shield effect, including but not limited to corrosive, freezing, flame, lightning, thunder damage, etc.

(This effect triggers only once every 15 seconds.)

3. Holy Healing, restores all the wielder’s injuries, stamina, and energy.

(Each trigger of this effect increases the hammer’s damage by 10%, and it can only be triggered once per day.)

4. Set Effect: When wielding two hammers, the Counterattacker and Protector receive the infusion of Emperor Daville’s will, granting an Ignore Defense effect.

(This effect lasts for 30 seconds, increasing the damage of both hammers by 20%, and it can only be triggered once per week.)

(Ignore Defense specifically means ignoring the target’s armor, resistance, damage reduction, shield effects, unless the opponent possesses Rule Power or Divine Power as well.)

Description: One of the twin hammers used by Emperor Daville during the Gray Dwarf’s most glorious era... the Counterattacker’s...

...

If the first three items made the name of the Warhammer, Protector, well-deserved, then the last item—the set effect of having collected both hammers—left Raine utterly astonished.