Chapter 83: The Death of Cutler

Seeing that Liu Zhi showed no fear, Kettler was somewhat surprised. He couldn't quite grasp the meaning behind Liu Zhi's words.

At that moment, Liu Zhi tossed several bottles onto the ground, aiming them at Kettler's feet.

"I forgot to mention, I'm a poisoner," Liu Zhi said.

The bottles he threw contained the very first kind of poison he had ever concocted. After days of research, he had refined the formula to an exquisite degree. Originally designed as an inhalant, the poison had become even more insidious—just a trace of contact would induce powerful hallucinations.

Under normal circumstances, such a poison would be of little use; if he tossed it out, there was always the risk of inhaling it himself. Even if he avoided it, it wouldn't cause the opponent to go berserk; just a few steps could spell disaster if anything went wrong.

But this time was different. Liu Zhi had noticed that the device Kettler deployed had suppressed the speed of everything nearby; even arrows fired would not travel far, dragged down by the increased gravity.

Everyone moved as slowly as a crawling turtle. To cover a mere five meters would take at least a minute. If Liu Zhi retreated further, the time would only increase.

Liu Zhi was confident that once Kettler was poisoned, no amount of madness would alter the reality imposed by the gravity device. Kettler's eyes began to glaze over. In his final struggle, he groped inside his coat, attempting to retrieve something to counteract the gravity potion he had previously used.

But it was already too late. Liu Zhi shattered another vial right in Kettler's face, dousing him with a heavy dose of poison that he inhaled in great gulps. Kettler went berserk, slashing wildly at the air.

Watching Kettler's frenzied movements, Liu Zhi turned and asked, "Videnina, did I look this wretched when I was in the forest?"

Videnina struggled to move, trying to shield Liu Zhi with her body, but she didn't answer his question at all.

Meanwhile, Kettler, now thoroughly intoxicated by the hallucinogenic poison, finally erupted. He 'saw' countless enemies surrounding him—all the demons he had once defeated. They came in every rank and attribute. Kettler frantically pulled various vials from his pockets and hurled them at the ground.

Some of the potions altered the properties of the area, some were offensive and exploded on impact, and others were poisons crafted to target specific demon traits.

As he smashed the bottles haphazardly, the ground around them changed color.

Videnina immediately shielded Liu Zhi and retreated with him.

Yet Kettler made no attempt to escape; instead, he swung his longsword wildly, 'slaying' the demons only he could see.

His body had been forced into overdrive by the potions. The more violently he moved in his delirium, the faster his life ebbed away.

Before Liu Zhi could retreat beyond the gravity spell's range, he saw Kettler's movements growing sluggish. But his expression only became more deranged.

Unease flickered in Liu Zhi's heart as he watched those mad eyes.

Suddenly, Kettler smiled, yanked out his silver crucifix necklace, and, with a flash of white light, his body rapidly turned pale before exploding violently.

The blast wave hurled Liu Zhi and Videnina backward, and the native warriors, Cisse sailors, and Liu Zhi's own skeleton soldiers nearby were caught in the shockwave as well.

When the dust settled, Liu Zhi saw that a large crater had been blasted where Kettler had stood, his longsword now embedded upright in the ground.

Hovering above the sword was a spectral image resembling Kettler as an angel.

Behind the angel appeared something like a portal of light, as if to take the sword away.

But at that moment, the giant eye in the sky suddenly swiveled in their direction and fixed its gaze on the angel.

Instantly, the portal vanished, and the angel, like the mask, the sword, and shield Liu Zhi had brought earlier, dissolved into motes of light that scattered throughout the underworld palace.

After the angel faded, the longsword in the ground also began to dissipate, but unlike the angel, as it vanished, Liu Zhi clearly saw what looked like demonic souls being released, dispersing into the palace as well.

As the motes merged into the underworld palace, Liu Zhi noticed the boundary of mist outside the palace receding, its domain expanding with every spark absorbed.

He was astonished; he could feel that the impact of the sword and the angel far exceeded even that of the Aztec altar fragment.

Especially now, in the sky, a nearly invisible layer of white cloud and some twisted streaks of red meteor-light had appeared.

The white cloud drifted high above the underworld palace, unreachable, while red meteors flashed from one corner of the sky to another.

It was clear these were the lingering effects left by the angel and those demon-like souls.

Liu Zhi stepped forward, intending to examine the place where Kettler had self-destructed, but Videnina blocked his path.

Following her gaze, Liu Zhi saw that the explosion had blown Lloyd's head across the ground, where it had struck a nearby stone.

As the skull shattered, strange symbols began to form.

Liu Zhi pondered for a moment, then decided to approach Lloyd's remains first. Given what had happened, everything about the angel and the longsword had already been swallowed by the palace; there would be no clues left behind. Yet what was happening to Lloyd was something he had never seen before—it warranted investigation.

Placing his hand upon the strange symbols, a flood of information flashed before Liu Zhi's eyes. He instantly understood: these were the obsessions of Lloyd and Perkin, their refusal to see their family's legacy end with them. Under the influence of the underworld palace, this obsession had transformed into something new.

[The Becca Family's Heart of Night: A treasure recording the entire swordsmanship tradition of the Becca family. Dark Night Fencing (Night Breathing Technique)—Z-Slash Secret Sword (Night Counter Step)—Eternal Night Sword Curtain (Z-Slash Ultimate Thrust)—Eternal Tranquility (Ultimate Move—Death's Calm).]

[Note: Establishing a training hall will preserve it long-term; the full Heart of Night swordsmanship can be learned step by step through insight or experience.]