775 Cunning

As the goat-faced Devil approached and stared at him, Lumian's hand was already gripping the hilt of the Sword of Courage.

When the white bone leg came crashing down, he swiftly drew the iron-black sword, burning with a bright white and blue flame, and met the attack head-on.

Clang!

The clash echoed loudly, and Lumian's palm split open, spilling blackened, coagulated blood.

The immense force from the goat-faced Demon's strike made him lose his grip on the Sword of Courage, sending him flying and crashing into a pile of rubble.

The goat-faced Demon stepped over the fallen sword in two strides, standing before Lumian and raising the bone leg again.

Suddenly, in its blood- and pus-filled eyes, the figure of Sharron, the temperance faction demigod, appeared. Its raised hands froze in midair.

Seeing the goat-faced Demon's movements slow down as if struggling against something, Lumian ignited with white flames, transforming into a spear and darting past the high-ranking undead to where the Sword of Courage had fallen.

Perhaps because the goat-faced Demon wasn't an undead created by the Death pathway, its intimidating effect on Lumian was weak. It lacked the ability to enslave his body and mind, allowing Lumian to muster the courage to fight back.

While retrieving the iron-black broadsword, Lumian released the spirituality he had accumulated using his Ascetic ability.

At the same time, his eyes turned iron-black, reflecting the many colors on the goat-faced Demon.

He quickly found a patch of pallor, took two steps towards the goat-faced Demon, and leaped high.

In midair, Lumian adjusted his posture, gripping the Sword of Courage with both hands and descending towards the slow-moving Demon, still battling Sharron.

This time, he used the Sword of Courage's Cull ability!

His spirituality surged into the iron-black broadsword, causing the bright white and blue flames to flare up and then condense inward.

With a heavy thud, Lumian landed on the Demon's back, stabbing the Sword of Courage into the junction of its neck and body. The blade sliced into the decayed flesh like butter.

As pus splattered, the flames on the broadsword poured into the goat-faced Demon's body.

Boom! A muffled explosion echoed, and Sharron quickly withdrew from the Demon's body.

The Demon disintegrated into a puddle of sticky black liquid, condensed from evil thoughts.

The liquid, scattered by the expanding flames and shockwaves, swiftly flowed into the dark hole leading to the Pale-white Nation, seemingly to reassemble itself.

Holding the Sword of Courage, Lumian felt his released spirituality deplete by two-thirds. He wanted to chase and fight the Demon again but felt his body stiffen and his soul trapped in an invisible cage.

"Retrieve your target item first," the faint voice of the Knight of Swords echoed in his ears.

Right... Lumian agreed with the Knight of Swords' reasoning.

I don't fear the goat-faced Demon. I can totally grab the Abscessed Hand's body before it reassembles!

He transformed into a burning-white spear, darting to the bone torches. To better move the Abscessed Hand's body, he temporarily stashed the Sword of Courage in the Traveler's Bag.

Moments later, Lumian felt a pang of fear: I only have a third of my spirituality left, yet I was thinking of a life-or-death fight with the Demon?

And Sharron is clearly in poor condition!

Now isn't the time for that. Shouldn't I grab the target item and leave the collapsing cathedral before the Demon reassembles?

Thankfully, the Knight of Swords acted as a valve for my courage and found a convincing reason!

Without hesitation, Lumian grasped the Abscessed Hand's half-body, trying to lift it.

It was extremely heavy, like metal. Fortunately, Lumian was now a Sequence 5 Beyonder, from a pathway known for their strength.

During this process, Lumian worried the body might suddenly reanimate and deliver a fatal blow. However, the Abscessed Hand's half-body, after enduring years of cutting by the goat-faced Demon, seemed lifeless with no abnormal reaction.

Lumian placed the half-corpse into the Traveler's Bag, relieved to see it "sink" inside.

Living flesh couldn't be stored in the Traveler's Bag, and the Abscessed Hand's body had shown self-healing traits earlier. Lumian had thought if he couldn't store it, he'd carry it or have the Knight of Swords or Sharron possess it to make it move.

With the body stored, Lumian heard creaking sounds from the dark hole.

He immediately transformed into a blazing spear, darting out of the half-collapsed pitch-black cathedral.

With a swoosh, the white flames left a burning trail in the dark, spreading quickly into the distance.

Without the Pale-White Nation's erosion, Lumian flew far in one breath.

Under the golden humanoid lamplights, he repeatedly transformed into a blazing spear, finally reaching the shadowy River Styx.

He saw the gloomy, tattered boat reappear, slowly approaching as the boatman rowed.

Lumian waited anxiously, not daring to fly onto the boat as a spear.

According to the Knight of Swords Maric, doing so would make him sink into the river's depths, never to be saved.

Behind him, pale green flames burned quietly, sometimes swaying with the ground's tremors, sometimes shaking with some vibrations.

Lumian tensed, feeling an increasing danger, unsure if it was from the ancient Death's corpse awakening or the goat-faced Demon's pursuit.

He looked at the slow-moving boat, using a Hunter's method to calm his emotions.

He chuckled and spoke to the Knight of Swords Maric within him, "I thought the goat-faced Demon was powerful, just below the ancient gods, holding a grudge against the Devil Monarch and desiring the egg beneath the ancient Death's corpse. But now, it seems it's just at the Saint level, with only a corpse left, lacking Beyonder characteristics."

The Knight of Swords didn't respond.

Lumian continued, "The goat-faced Demon's initial request to kill the Devil Monarch was likely a bluff, making us more likely to accept the second condition, thinking it reasonable. If Oxyto's premature child hadn't interfered, we might have stolen the egg, only to face the ancient Death's wrath, unrelated to the goat-faced Demon.

"It also used the request to kill the Devil Monarch to build its image, making us think it was formidable, of high rank, preventing us from attacking it or abandoning the egg task.

"What a cunning Demon..."

Lumian then remembered the demon's accusation: "You've taken that egg for yourself!"

When did I take the egg? It's still under the Phoenix Ancestor's corpse. I only resonated with the creature inside, hearing and seeing what it did... Did the Demon mistake this resonance for me taking and breaking the egg? As an undead, even if it was a Saint-level Demon in life, it might have little brain left, acting on its cunning Demonic instinct... As Lumian pondered, the tattered boat finally reached the shore.

He jumped aboard, standing behind the boatman.

Though the boatman might attack later, compared to the goat-faced Demon's pursuit and the ancient Death's corpse's awakening, it was "friendly."

This was manageable.

The rickety boat shook as it left the dark shore, slowly heading towards the middle of the shadowy river.

Lumian looked back at the depths of the Underworld, seeing the intense darkness calm down, no more tremors or heavy sounds.

Everything was serene again.

Lumian relaxed a bit, instinctively sighing.

This Underworld trip was indeed "intense"...

Only now did he ponder the huge black egg issue: The creature inside seemed related to Omebella!

From this, Lumian felt the Great Mother naming Her Child of God after the ancient god, Omebella, wasn't just for symbolic reasons to erode the Earth Mother's authority. The fallen Goddess of Harvest held significant secrets.

But Omebella wasn't one of the eight ancient gods ruling the sky and land, just the Giant King's queen, akin to an Angel. How can Her secrets affect the current era?

Ah, many key pieces of information are obscured by history's fog. Only a few high-ranking beings from the Second Epoch know a bit...

Lumian mused as he watched the dark land of the Underworld recede, until only the shadowy River Styx water filled his view.

He suddenly felt the matter had finally come to an end.