The egg

For a moment, Lumian was unsure whether the extraordinary item "The Powerful One’s Dark Box," which originated from the "Broker" Pathway, had any Negative Effect.

To be fair, the fact that "encountering a deal with evil creatures like Devil" somehow prevented a potential battle. Without this "Negative Effect," Lumian suspects he would have been attacked the moment the Goat-Faced Devil discovered him, instead of being asked if he needed meat. This seems to be a manifestation of how the "Shadow Merchant" can reduce the malice of dangerous creatures and mysterious beings.

However, it would be wrong to say that this is not a "Negative Effect." A deal with the Devil is never simple or easy; it can even be very dangerous, even if the Devil is already dead.

Lumian hesitated for a few seconds, then pointed to the "Abscessed Severed Hand" half of the body placed on the Gray-White stone table and said, "I want it all. What do I need to give in return?"

He planned to first assess the difficulty of the transaction. If it proved impossible, he would ask the Temperance Faction Half-God for help to deal with this rotten Goat-Faced Devil and eliminate it!

"Encountering a deal with evil creatures such as Devil" does not mean you must make a deal with evil creatures such as Devil!

As soon as Lumian finished speaking, he felt his body stiffen and a chill spread through his body.

He knew what was happening, but he didn't stop it or struggle. Then he found his mouth opening and closing on its own, producing a sound like sandpaper rubbing against rough metal from his dead vocal cords.

The voice repeated Lumian's question in an unknown language, and every Vocabulary sent chills down Lumian's spine, making him feel as if they were piercing his Spirit Body.

The hunched, sheep-faced, Pitch-Black- skinned, rotting Devil responded in the same language, its Cavern voice echoing loudly.

One of those Vocabulary made Lumian's Spirit Body and body feel as if they were being gripped by a giant hand.

If he hadn't already been in a "dead" state and hadn't been protected by the Golden Mask of the Aegis Family, such an exchange would have severely injured him.

Soon, the ethereal voice of "Knight of Swords" Maric echoed in his mind:

"I want Farbauti dead!"

Farbauti? The Demon Monarch Farbauti, the true form of Naporidisli? The deal was for me to kill an Ancient God? Lumian narrowed his eyes slightly, staring at the enormous Goat-Faced Devil, and said through his regained control of his mouth, "That's Ancient God, I can't do it."

"Let's change the terms."

If the Goat-Faced Devil doesn't want to change, then there's no need to change it!

If I can't face the Ancient God, can't I at least defeat you?

It's just that I owe a Half-God a favor!

I'll pay it back slowly later!

Whether it was the "Knight of Swords" or That One Temperance Faction Half-God, he once again took control of Lumian's body, translating his words into a language that the Goat-Faced Devil could understand.

This also gave Lumian some strange feelings.

The Goat-Faced Devil was supposed to be four or five meters tall, but because its back was constantly hunched, it looked only a little over three meters. After a moment of silence, it said in Cavern, low voice, "I want that egg."

Egg? Lumian muttered to himself in confusion.

He was able to understand directly because "Knight of Swords" had already provided a simultaneous translation.

"Where is that egg?" Lumian asked.

Once one of the Temperance Faction Member within him had taken control of his mouth and finished relaying the message, the rotting Goat-Faced Devil dropped the massive leg bone in his hand to the ground with a loud thud.

"In the Palace," the Goat-Faced Devil replied simply.

This also made the translation of "Knight of Swords" much easier.

Lumian asked, as if confirming, "' Death God's' Palace?"

Could the former dwelling place of the Deity be extremely dangerous?

The Goat-Faced Devil's two dim eyes, oozing blood and pus, twitched slightly.

"Right."

An egg inside the Palace "Death God"... Lumian hesitated whether to agree to the trade or just steal it.

He looked around and asked further, "What does that egg look like?"

While waiting for the Temperance Faction Member to translate, Lumian discovered Statues lying beside the half-buried Stone Pillars, its body reduced to only a fragment.

It can be vaguely seen that it is a bird Statues, with feathers that seem to be woven from mysterious patterns, Paleness and dull.

Bird Statues... A thought struck Lumian, connecting this to the egg the Goat-Faced Devil wanted.

Once the translation was complete and his mouth returned to normal, he added, "Bird Egg?"

After a dozen seconds, the Goat-Faced Devil dragged the Paleness leg bone forward two steps, the bone scraping against the ground with a sickening sound.

The Goat-Faced Devil said slowly and haltingly, "Yes."

It's very big.

"Black, within the Flames."

They really were Bird Egg, and clearly from an abnormal Bird Egg... birds... Lumian suddenly thought of Oseto's premature baby, whom they were tracking, and the state of the "Banshee" when they were going all out:

That looks a lot like a bird, with claws and wings!

Although it looks distinctly different from this bird Statues, they are both birds at least... Moreover, since there is an abnormal Bird Egg in the "Death God" Palace, it means that a mother once existed, a mother in the Mysticism sense, a "mother"... Lumian vaguely grasped the reason why Oseto conceived such a Corpse infant and threw it into the Underworld.

Her goal was also that egg; she wanted to use it to do something to the Underworld.

Whether it's integrating the Undead Kingdom of the Lacré Region into their own "Otherworld" or holding Ritual to Pregnancy Corpse and allow them to give birth, is it all for this purpose?

Hmm, does she intend to merge the Underworld with her own "Otherworld"?

That's incredibly ambitious!

This is a relic of the True God, the former Divine Kingdom!

But if Oseto actually succeeds, wouldn't the "Great Mother" be able to descend directly to Earth?

Even if she can't fully integrate with the Underworld yet, and has only planted a seed, it is still a very dangerous thing for our world!

Lumian immediately asked about the Goat-Faced Devil again:

Have you seen a giant baby with bird claws?

The rotting Goat-Faced Devil stared at Lumian without answering, whether because it had never seen him before or because the influence of the "Broker" Pathway was limited to the transaction itself.

Lumian paused for a few seconds before saying, "Deal!"

The Goat-Faced Devil moved its head almost imperceptibly, turned its body, and dragged its Paleness leg bones back to the Gray-White stone table where the "Abscessed Severed Hand" half of its body was placed.

Lumian lowered his voice and told the "Knight of Swords" and the Temperance Faction Half-God what he had just thought of.

"Knight of Swords" Maric responded quickly:

"We're going to Death God's Palace now."

Seemingly fearing Lumian's apprehension, the "Knight of Swords" added, "You wear the mask of the Aegis Family, so many dangers in the Underworld will automatically avoid you. The only monsters we need to worry about are Mutation Monster like the ' Ferryman.' And if Oseto's Monster child can get close to the ' Death God's' Palace, close to that Bird Egg, then we should be able to as well. Even with the Gift Power of Oseto's 'inherited' blessings, its premature birth only amounts to Sequence 4 at most."

Seeing that the "Knight of Swords" had unusually spoken so much in one go, Lumian pondered and said, "Its existence and birth Ritual are very special. Perhaps it can partially utilize the power of the Underworld. Even if it is premature and does not yet reach the Angel-Level, it should still be regarded as Half-God with Sequence 3 strength in the corresponding environment."

After all, it was an infant born through the fusion of the "Otherworld" and the Undead Kingdom, aided by Darsh Lake, and this infant had also undergone the process of being conceived in a corpse, born after death, and then returning to its original form, undergoing fusion and mutation.

It absolutely cannot be considered a living being, because living beings die instantly in the Underworld.

"Yes," the "Knight of Swords" replied succinctly.

Under the Paleness light of the torches atop the broken wall, Lumian asked the two Temperance Faction Member within him, as if seeking confirmation:

"If we keep walking along this path into the Depths of darkness, will we reach the Palace of ' Death God '?"

Lumian remembered that the Knight of Swords had mentioned that he had read a lot of the notes of the Descendants of the Death God Reaper.

Before the "Knight of Swords" could answer, the Goat-Faced Devil standing in front of the Gray-White stone table suddenly raised his huge, Paleness leg bone.

It pointed with its leg bone to a dark, gaping hole near the broken Statues, created by the impact of the Dome's stones.

That seemed to lead to the Basement of the Pitch-Black Church.

Lumian paused for a moment, then blurted out, "You mean, from here you can go directly to the ' Death God's' Palace?"

According to the Knight of Swords and the images he had seen before, Lumian believed that the Palace of Death God was located at the bottom of the dark Underworld, and that one had to follow the road down into the Underground to reach it.

But since we're going downhill, jumping directly into the "Basement" where the bottom is invisible seems like an option.

As Emperor Roselle said, all roads lead to Trier!

The rotting Goat-Faced Devil slowly nodded.

Only then did Lumian suddenly realize:

This guy understands my Intis language!

Then why were you looking for a translator just now?

Is Devil still Devil after it dies?

Lumian wasted no time confronting the rotting Goat-Faced Devil and ran a few steps to the dark, gaping hole.

He conjured a ball of Blazing White Flames and placed it at the edge of the Black Hole, illuminating part of the scene inside:

Huge Stone Pillars, blackened Wooden Frame, collapsed Stone Slab, and winding staircases stretched downwards, disappearing into the Depths of darkness.

"No problem," the Knight of Swords, representing That One Temperance Faction Half-God, declared. "We can reach the Palace of Death God."

Without further hesitation, Lumian jumped onto the partially collapsed staircase.

Instead of running down the stairs as usual, he leaped back and forth between Stone Pillars, Wooden Frame, stairs, and walls, descending in a straight line.

During this process, Lumian sometimes transformed into Blazing White Flame Spear to cross completely collapsed sections with no foothold, and at other times into Shadow Creature to bypass special areas.

The surrounding darkness seemed to Concealment something that even the Blazing White light could not illuminate, but Lumian ignored it, pretending not to notice.

After descending rapidly for an unknown period of time, Lumian's feet finally touched the ground.

In the Blazing White light of the fire, he saw that the surroundings were covered with broken bones, some white, some yellowish-brown, and some Deep Brown.

Not far from Lumian, a dark stone wall stood, with a heavy Wooden Door that seemed to allow Giant to pass through.

Lumian walked to the Wooden Door, bent over, stretched out his palms, and began to push outwards with force.

His intuition told him that the Palace of "Death God" was just outside.