Chapter 80: The Enemy Arrives at the Underworld Palace

The path ahead was far from smooth for Cutler and his companions. Not many had managed to rush into the blue passage; apart from Cutler and Lloyd, only four sailors from the Sisei navy had escaped, each wounded and with little weaponry or equipment remaining.

The situation was much the same for the native warriors. Out of a force of over two hundred, fewer than twenty had made it out alive. Gazing at these seventeen or eighteen warriors, their courage shattered, Cutler raised his voice and shouted.

"You should hate that Incan old man, Socresa. If not for his ambition, we would already have reached the City of Gold. The items I just used up would have been enough for me to easily defeat all the demons and allow us to take the entire City of Gold without trouble.

And now, you’ve all seen it. That old Incan, Socresa, wanted to become the Sun God himself, and that’s why things have come to this. Don’t you have any thoughts about that?"

The native warriors' faces remained cold and expressionless, and Cutler soon awkwardly realized that none of them understood a word he’d said. He was speaking in Sisei, while the natives spoke a language so varied and strange that no one could even tell from which family it derived.

Everything Cutler had said was in vain. The only reason these warriors followed him was not because of his character, but because they simply had nowhere else to go.

What Cutler didn’t know was that the escaping natives numbered not just these seventeen or eighteen, but altogether forty or fifty, each making different choices.

Some fled back along the way they had come, while others, more decisive, simply placed the leaf they’d been given earlier into their mouths.

No one knew what became of those who fled back along the original path.

But those who tried to leave the Underworld in front of the others all died.

As soon as the natives placed the leaves in their mouths, their bodies seemed to be crushed by some invisible force, compressing again and again until, before everyone’s eyes, they were flattened into meat patties.

Such a scene terrified some of the warriors, who promptly threw away the leaves they carried. Yet others hesitated, wondering why their companions had been crushed so, suspecting it might be a trap.

Amidst this fear, they finally reached the end of the blue passage.

Before them stood two columns of blue flame, blazing like pillars of fire. Cutler, who had just finished binding a wound on his hand, began transforming his spear into the shape of a longsword.

"Lloyd, you’ll lead the charge. Once you’re through, don’t worry about the others—just push ahead. I don’t know what we’ll encounter, but smaller targets are safer. Once we’re sure it’s safe, we’ll leave the Underworld and enter the City of Gold to hunt the demons. As for these natives, if they want to follow, let them serve as cannon fodder. If not, it doesn’t matter."

Hearing Cutler’s orders, Lloyd drew his rapier and turned to glance at Cutler. "Lord Becket, are you alright?"

"Don’t worry about me, it’s just a scratch. I’ve survived worse and still defeated demons; this will be no different. No matter how strong the demon, it means nothing to me."

Hearing this, Lloyd felt his lost confidence returning. He nodded firmly to Cutler and then, gripping his rapier, charged forward.

The instant he burst through the pillars of fire, he sensed something flying toward him. Without thinking, he raised his rapier, blocking two incoming objects with a metallic ring.

Beyond the fire lay a city of the dead. In front of him was a makeshift stone barricade, atop which stood a host of undead.

Unlike the previous chaotic undead, these resembled trained soldiers, with clearly defined units—shield-bearing infantry and archers among them.

Most notably, the stones were freshly stacked, without any real design—clearly arranged in direct response to the blue passage.

A suspicion flashed through Lloyd’s mind: had that old man really deceived them?

At that moment, Cutler burst through the flames as well, followed by the four Sisei sailors, and then, however reluctantly, the native warriors.

Seeing the situation before him, Cutler’s expression darkened. "Damn it, that old man really is a liar."

His words were answered not by explanation, but by a volley of arrows from skeletal archers.

Once, Cutler could have easily evaded such a barrage, but after the previous battle, he was no longer in peak condition. He tried to rely on his speed, but the movement tore at the left side of his body with searing pain, leaving him unable to dodge as before.

Just then, Liu Zhi and his group hurried back out of the mist.

Upon returning to the Underworld Palace, Liu Zhi immediately learned that the enemy had entered. Without hesitation, he seized Videnina’s hand and dragged her to the blue passage.

"They’re fast," he remarked as they arrived, only to stop short—Lloyd was standing not far away.

"No wonder—the enemy was led here by him. I still have a score to settle, and I wonder if Perkin survived."

As Liu Zhi spoke, he drew his longsword. He hadn’t forgotten how Perkin and his party had treated him—abandoning him, intending to feed him to the snakes.

Taking a step forward, Liu Zhi shouted, "Lloyd!"

Lloyd, still fending off flying swords, was startled by the call and was about to respond when Cutler grabbed his arm.

"Don’t answer. Ghosts can use your name to control your mind. Everything you see and hear is an illusion—ignore it. Kill the undead and let’s get out of this damned place."

Just then, Videnina appeared behind Liu Zhi, immediately drawing Cutler’s attention.

"So this is the demon they spoke of: four arms, a serpent’s tail. That’s it. Good—once I kill him, the City of Gold will be mine."

Even in the face of such adversity, Cutler’s confidence remained unshaken.