Truth or lies?

"Lord Bals, you truly kept your word."

Only then did everyone notice the dark figure, and they also heard his words.

Alice's expression shifted slightly. She subconsciously took several steps back from Lord Bals, drawing her long sword with her other hand. Although she didn't point it directly at Bals, her eyes flickered with vigilance.

Siosand whistled lazily, "It seems he's in a hurry too?"

As he spoke, he casually stepped in front of Sart and pulled Aaron back as well. He then looked at Bals, either intentionally or unintentionally.

"This is a trick of the Heretical Cult," Bals said with a grim face and an exceptionally serious tone. "I am the Lord of Leyden City in the Yagrant Kingdom, and a member of the Soggothos family. Why would I become a follower of the Heretical Cult?"

"Because you crave power, just like Tien," the figure chuckled dryly.

Bals scanned everyone again. "It's true that I crave power, but what I crave is controllable power. Now that I've reached the Gold Tier, don't I understand what kind of tricks you cultists are playing?"

The figure slowly walked closer, his voice carrying an inexplicable persuasiveness, "But we do possess power, exceptionally great power..."

"Starlight Above, See Through Evil!" Sart quickly grabbed a small handful of Spirit Powder and immediately began the ritual.

Bands of azure light slowly circled everyone, reflecting the churning black mist around them.

"You all retreat. He might be difficult to deal with." Bals's Iron Arm gleamed again, with profound runes flickering unstantly. The sound of interlocking gears could faintly be heard.

Aaron's eyes darted back and forth between Lord Bals and the cultist, unsure whom to trust.

Lord Bals definitely had some issue, but whether that issue was related to the Heretical Cult, he couldn't find evidence for yet.

And the cultist's words were also quite convincing. Bals's various behaviors provided unspoken support for his claims.

What if Lord Bals turned on them...

In the narrow sewer, a cultist of the Crawling Hand using unknown means, coupled with Iron Arm Balthus, would make even escape a luxury.

Who was right, who was wrong?

"I don't kill nameless people. What's your name?" Aaron called out loudly.

"Me? You can call me Tog the Evil Hand."

Tog's tone carried a hint of mockery, as if he was certain he had them all cornered.

"Give me some time," Sart whispered to Aaron, discreetly rubbing his gloves. Spice powder trickled down.

With the Spice Gloves, even if he couldn't reach for the spice box behind him at the moment, he could still perform the ritual.

Alice stared intently at Bals and slowly moved to Aaron's side, the silver-white light on her long sword flickering.

Bals's expression changed. "You all go first. Follow this path down, find any exit and leave. Alice, Ed didn't come down. I suspect he went to your guild hall. Get out of here!"

Alice frowned, pursed her lips, and said firmly, "The House of Iris will never leave its back to the enemy!"

"There is absolutely no room for you to interfere in this battle..." Before Bals could finish speaking, a faint rustling sound came from the surroundings, as if something was approaching.

"Heh, trying to leave now seems a bit too late." Tog stood in the darkness. Although his face was still unclear, everyone could imagine his arrogant expression from his tone.

"Spiritual Eye Clarity," Sart said in a low voice.

Aaron felt an inexplicable warm current flow from behind him, directly into his eyes. His vision blurred slightly, then suddenly became brighter. Even the dim torch in his hand seemed to shine brighter.

"Glimmer Vision. We might need to leave here," Sart said quickly.

Aaron instinctively looked around. Everything around him seemed clearer, allowing him to see further into the distance.

Therefore, he saw hands and held his breath.

Not far behind them, several human hands were scattered, blocking their path.

They were of various sizes, but their dark green skin and twitching fingers proved their identity.

Crawling Hands!

Just a moment ago, while they were talking with Tog, these Crawling Hands had appeared behind them.

It was predictable that they wouldn't let them leave easily.

This path was blocked.

Was the previous conversation just a delay tactic?

Aaron swallowed. Despite being mentally prepared, seeing the Crawling Hands still made his neck ache faintly.

Ahead, there was a cultist of the Crawling Hand, plus Lord Bals with an unclear stance. Behind them were several Crawling Hands. Suddenly, Aaron and the others were in a dilemma.

They could either choose to trust the Lord and break through to escape, or help him kill this cultist of the Crawling Hand.

But the problem was, if they chose wrongly, they would be plunged into an abyss from which there was no return.

"These are still projections," Sart whispered. "The true Crawling Hands are refined from Transcendent beings of Silver Tier and above. They naturally possess several abilities. These are defective products."

Alice, holding her shield, charged towards the Crawling Hand, not forgetting to shout, "We'll get out first."

Siosand coughed, his pale green eyes flashing with starlight.

As a Silver Tier seer, he could mobilize his soul power to perform some temporary perceptions and prophecies.

However, the results were as expected: fruitless.

Tog and Bals, the two individuals present, had become major variables in future timelines. Even with his acute senses, he couldn't find a clear direction in the dense fog of the future.

On the other side, Balthus had directly confronted the cultist.

At this moment, the Iron Arm had transformed under the operation of gears. Amidst the creaking of machinery, terrifying metal spikes spread wantonly, the cold light of runes faintly visible. The original human hand had disappeared, replaced by a two-handed warhammer!

With the combined force of machinery and muscle, Balthus swung this weapon as if wielding a toy hammer.

A sharp gust of wind shrieked, traveling far through the sewers.

Although the cultist was enveloped in viscous black fog, which could even twine around Balthus's Iron Arm like a snake, in the face of such a fierce weapon, it could only retreat steadily.

Every collision between the black fog and the runes erupted in several visible ripples, leaving deep marks on the walls as they struck.

"Go quickly!" Despite being in the advantageous position, Lord Bals shouted sternly, "He's still buying time!"

Tog laughed loudly in response, "Balthus, you don't need to pretend. Just like how you killed Tien back then, wouldn't it be easier to just kill them directly?"

Thanks to ld幽灵 for the two rewards~

Thank you all very much for coming today~

Hmm, I just found out the recommendations will last a whole week...

However, there might not be extra updates later. Two updates a day will be more stable~

After all, having too many words before going on shelves isn't good, but Pit God will work hard to save manuscripts, striving for a burst of updates when shelves open~

Hand over your recommendation tickets and free monthly tickets quickly!