It's been more than two hours since the Treasury locked Serena and Seth inside and left the others baffled by this unexpected development.

Anabelle was sitting with her knees folded in front of the wall where previously the Vault door appeared with her fingernails being trimmed at a continuous pace and breathing slower than a normal rhythm.

She has been like this ever since she realized that no spell of hers would work on this phenomenon. There was nothing left but waiting for the door to show itself once again.

No one including Anabelle was able to perceive who attacked Seth at such a crucial time and threw him inside. And this fact was annoying Anabelle to the bone.

Generally, a Temple turns into rubble once the core is repressed but since an exception of the Treasury appeared, the normal laws would no longer be valid.

In case of special appearances like the Treasury or Secret Door to connective Dimension, then the natural rule of the Runic Temple alters.

The core wouldn't diminish completely until the people stuck in the special rooms either die, get corrupted or conquer. That was the reason why the soldiers in the original plot of the novel were able to enter the Temple after Arata got stuck inside.

Currently one of the professors went to temporarily subdue the Temple core in order to ask for reinforcement. Professor Cedric was present along with the students as he helped them to recover.

By now, Team B would also have understood that something was wrong since the other part of the Crown would not also close until Seth and Serena don't exit the Vault.

"But I can't understand one thing…"

Amidst soft chattering, one of the students—Rick—who was a commoner like Arata and Anabelle and was a student of magic engineering spoke in a slightly higher tone, which ended up attracting every gaze.

"We all know that President Seth is a Grade 5 magician and had great efficiency with his psychokinesis. Then why didn't he pull out everyone in one go?"

The barren hall of the Temple went dead silent upon hearing the question which inwardly some other students also thought about but didn't voice out.

It was widely known that Seth was an exceptional mage who reached such rank through his phenomenal performance in the field of Wizardry. For him to lift mere students, wouldn't have been much problematic.

Then why did things end up like this…?

However, before anyone could have voiced their thoughts, a life alarming voice that was colder than the granite floor of the temples, resonated heavily.

"That man saved all of your arses and now you are doubting his methods?!"

Anabelle was extremely furious and along with Rick, everyone felt her emotions vividly. The glass-wearing boy dared to speak nothing further as cold chills made all the strands of his body stand erect.

Arata was equally shaken by such temperament as the clouds of his gloom instantly vanished. He indeed was depressed because he decided to go against Seth and failed miserably. But now, Arata was taken aback to notice how much Seth's safety influences Anabelle.

The atmosphere hadn't even recovered from Anabelle's previous statement when another warning was issued.

"You guys should just pray for President's safety. Since if anything happens to him, I swear on the name of the God I have faith in. I will thoroughly destroy each one of you before getting rid of your worthless life. Remember that."

____________________

Inside the Treasury, the past two hours seemed like an eternity since the temperature inside was far lesser than the outside.

It was one of the trials of this weird yet rewarding place. It pushes the contenders to their limits and bestows them with challenges in such situations to evaluate whether they are worthy of the prize or not.

Seth was sitting at a side with his furry coat draped over his body as he formed all his plans for how he would be handling the upcoming trouble.

He couldn't remember who the hell pushed him near the gate but at least something good happened out of such misfortune.

'Now I know where to start my search from… '

Seth was aware that no one other than the ten students and two professors came inside the temple with them since he did a thorough scan at the time they halted near the entrance.

It was just a nonchalant analysis but now, Seth felt fortunate that he did check on the students.

There was no doubt that the person who is fucking with the plot and trying to spy on Seth from the shadows, belonged to the group who came with him.

It can be one of the professors or the protagonist himself. But Seth didn't give a damn about it.

'Whoever you are… I will shred you to strips… ah! "

His thoughts came to an abrupt halt as he felt some weight over his shoulder and found Serena resting her head on him while trembling dangerously.

"You okay? "

Seth wasn't inhumane to not ask about her well-being when Serena was shaking in such an unstable manner.

"P-president I-I feel I wi-wi-wi-will die… "

Her voice was slurred and unclear and without even seeing her face, Seth knew Serena was falling into hypothermia.

Since all the pure Soul-related tools were useless in the Treasury, there was no way Seth could pull out potions from his spatial storage.

There didn't seem anything to burn in this freezing cold as well. No lamp, no light, and no hope of seeing flames as well. In such a condition, even Seth was getting worn out.

Due to the lack of resources, there seemed only one option even though Seth knew Serena might hate him more for this.

But not like he cares about her opinions anyways so why not get rid of the cold first?

"Come here. "

Seth took his hands out of his furry coat and pulled Serena from her position. The other party was so broken because of the cold that following Seth's words seemed the only possible choice for her.

Seth used one hand to unbutton his shirt and the other hand to pull Serena in between his long legs which were folded and worked as a barricade for Serena.

"Curse me all you want afterward. "

Serena had no longer reasonability to understand what was happening as Seth undraped her coat as well and took out her one-piece frock which was wrinkled near her knees.

Once out of the dress, Serena was left only in her pink underwear. Her white milky skin was pale as a sheet. Her face was seemingly getting lifeless and her lips quivered like a broken record.

Seth didn't ogle at her body and pulled Serena in a tight hug before draping her coat over her back and wrapping his animal fur coat over both of them.

His curled legs were pressing Serena from both sides and his arms encircled her bareback tightly holding Serena close to his bare upper body.

The heat Serena felt from him was enough to let her lose in his protective embrace as she closed her eyes after attaining such gentle comfort.

Unbeknownst to the outside world, these two shared the world that night where no one was allowed to trespass.

Seth also threw all the thoughts of the aftermath into a corner of his mind and closed his eyes to enjoy this much-needed warmth.

'On a better look, she is not that bad……'

____________________

A/N: - I also deserve some warmth.