Chapter 777: Cunning

As the goat-faced demon approached and stared at him, Lu Mi's hand gripped the hilt of the Sword of Courage.

Facing the plummeting white bone leg, he instantly drew the iron-black straight sword, its blade wreathed in blazing white-and-blue flames, and met it head-on.

Clang!

Amid the violent resonance of the collision, Lu Mi's palm split open, oozing blackened, congealed blood.

The overwhelming force from the goat-faced demon shattered his grip on the Sword of Courage, hurling him backward with a thud into a pile of shattered stone.

The goat-faced demon stepped over the fallen iron-black sword, closed the distance in two strides, and raised its white bone leg once more.

Suddenly, its dim, blood-and-pus-dripping eyes reflected the figure of the Moderation Archon, Sharon—its raised arms froze mid-air.

Seeing the goat-faced demon's movements slow drastically, as if struggling against unseen forces, Lu Mi ignited blazing white flames, transforming into a lancing spear of fire, and shot past the high-rank undead being to land beside the fallen Sword of Courage.

Perhaps because the goat-faced demon was not an undead born from a Death Path adept, its terrifying effect on Lu Mi—the undead—was weak, and it lacked the ability to enslave his mind and body, allowing Lu Mi to muster the courage to resist.

As he retrieved the iron-black straight sword, Lu Mi released the spiritual energy he had accumulated using the "Ascetic" ability.

Simultaneously, his eyes turned iron-black, revealing multiple colors on the goat-faced demon's body.

He swiftly identified the pale hue, took two steps toward the demon, and leapt high into the air.

Mid-air, Lu Mi adjusted his posture, reversed his grip on the Sword of Courage, and plunged downward from above toward the goat-faced demon, still locked in struggle with Sharon, its movements sluggish and rigid.

This time, he used the Sword of Courage's "Harvest"!

His spiritual energy surged wildly into the iron-black blade, causing the blazing white-and-blue flames coating it to flare violently before collapsing inward.

With a wet thud, Lu Mi slammed into the demon's back, driving both hands downward, embedding the Sword of Courage into the junction of its neck and torso, sinking into its rotting black flesh like a knife through butter.

Amid spurting foul pus, the blazing white-and-blue flames covering the iron-black sword poured entirely into the goat-faced demon's body.

Boom! A muffled explosion erupted as the Moderation Archon Sharon swiftly withdrew from the demon's body.

The goat-faced demon disintegrated into a thick, viscous black sludge resembling congealed malice.

This black sludge was scattered across the ruined church by the expanding firelight and the shockwave, then swiftly slithered into the dark, yawning hole leading to the Pale Realm, as if seeking to reconstitute within.

Holding the Sword of Courage, Lu Mi had already consumed two-thirds of his spiritual energy; he intended to pursue and fight the goat-faced demon again, but his body suddenly stiffened, his soul locked in an invisible cage.

"First, take your target item." The weakened, almost ethereal voice of the Sword Knight echoed in his ear.

That's right… Lu Mi accepted the Sword Knight's reasoning.

After all, I'm not afraid of that goat-faced demon—I can just put the "Pus-Swollen Stump"'s body into the Traveler's Satchel first!

He transformed into a spear of blazing white fire, shot to the base of the bone torch, and, to better carry the "Pus-Swollen Stump"'s half-body, temporarily shoved the Sword of Courage back into the Traveler's Satchel.

Instantly afterward, Lu Mi felt a surge of dread:

I only have one-third of my spiritual energy left—why am I still thinking of fighting the goat-faced demon to the death?

And Sharon's condition is clearly terrible!

At a time like this, shouldn't I just grab the target item and flee this half-collapsed church before the goat-faced demon reassembles and catches up?

Thank goodness the Sword Knight acted as a valve for courage—and found a convincing reason!

Lu Mi no longer hesitated; he gripped the half-body of the "Pus-Swollen Stump" and tried to lift it.

The body was extremely heavy, like forged metal—but fortunately, Lu Mi was already Rank 5, and on a Path renowned for strength.

Throughout the process, Lu Mi feared the body might suddenly reanimate and strike him fatally, but thankfully, after years of being sliced by the goat-faced demon, the half-body had long lost vitality and showed no abnormal reaction.

Lu Mi placed the bluish-black, pus-swollen half-corpse at the opening of the Traveler's Satchel and watched with relief as it "sank" inside.

—Living flesh cannot be stored in the Traveler's Satchel; the "Pus-Swollen Stump"'s remains had previously demonstrated self-healing traits, so Lu Mi had originally planned: if he couldn't store the half-body, he'd carry it on his back—or ask the Sword Knight or Sharon to possess it and make it move on its own.

After securing the "Pus-Swollen Stump"'s remains, Lu Mi heard a creaking sound from within the dark, yawning hole.

He immediately transformed into a spear of blazing white fire and shot toward the outside of the half-collapsed, blackened church.

With a whoosh, the blazing white light left a trail of fire in the dark air, rapidly stretching into the distance.

There was no Pale corruption here—Lu Mi could fly a great distance in one breath.

Beneath the golden lamps shaped like human figures, Lu Mi, having transformed multiple times into a spear of blazing white fire, finally returned to the side of the illusory, dark Ming River.

He saw the ragged, gloomy little boat reappear, slowly drifting toward him as the Boatman rowed.

Lu Mi waited anxiously, daring not to fly to the boat in his flame-spear form.

According to Sword Knight Marich's words, doing so would plunge him straight into the depths of the Ming River, beyond any hope of rescue.

Behind him, clusters of pale-green flames burned silently, swaying with violent tremors of the earth, or trembling up and down with unseen vibrations.

Lu Mi's nerves tightened—he sensed danger drawing nearer, but couldn't tell if it stemmed from the awakening of the Ancient Death God's corpse or the goat-faced demon's pursuit.

Watching the gloomy boat's unchanging speed, he calmed his emotions using the Hunter's method.

He chuckled softly to the Sword Knight Marich within him:

"I thought the goat-faced demon was incredibly strong—a being only slightly weaker than the Ancient Gods, otherwise why would it harbor hatred for a Demon King, why would it crave the egg beneath the Ancient Death God's corpse? But now it seems, it's merely at Saint-level—and even then, only a corpse stripped of its supernatural traits."

The Sword Knight offered no reply.

Lu Mi continued on his own:

"When the goat-faced demon first proposed killing the Demon King as part of the deal, it was just bluffing—to make us more willing to accept the second condition, to subconsciously think it was acceptable. In truth, without that premature child Oseto interfering, we could've stolen the egg; we'd just have faced the Ancient Death God's wrath afterward—but that had nothing to do with the goat-faced demon itself."

"Meanwhile, it used the commission to kill the Demon King to build its own image—making us believe it was powerful, once of high rank, so we wouldn't dare attack it directly or easily abandon the egg mission."

"What a cunning demon…"

As he muttered this, Lu Mi suddenly recalled the goat-faced demon's accusation against him:

You stole the egg!

When did I steal the egg? The egg is still beneath the Phoenix Ancestor's corpse—I merely had a faint resonance with the creature inside, heard what it heard, saw what it saw… Because of that resonance, I subtly absorbed its aura, and the goat-faced demon mistook it for me having taken and shattered the egg? As an undead, even if it was once a Saint-level demon, it should have little brain left now, acting purely on demonic instinct… Lu Mi pondered seriously as the ragged, gloomy boat finally reached the shore.

Lu Mi leapt aboard, standing behind the Boatman.

Though the Boatman might attack soon, compared to the goat-faced demon's pursuit or the anomalies from the Ancient Death God's awakening, he was positively "friendly."

This was within manageable limits.

The gloomy, ragged boat drifted away from the deep-black shore, slowly moving toward the center of the illusory Ming River.

Lu Mi turned back to gaze into the depths of the Underworld and saw the thick darkness had calmed—no more violent shaking, no more heavy sounds.

All had returned to stillness.

Lu Mi's taut spirit eased slightly; he exhaled instinctively.

This "Journey to the Underworld" was truly "tight"…

Only now did he begin to ponder the black giant egg:

The creature within seemed connected to Eumibela!

From this, Lu Mi sensed that the "Great Mother" naming her divine child after Eumibela from ancient times wasn't merely about exploiting strong mystical symbolism to erode the "Earth Mother Goddess"'s authority—Eumibela, the long-dead "Goddess of Harvest," held significant secrets.

"But Eumibela wasn't one of the Eight Ancient Gods who ruled sky and earth—she was merely the queen and lesser deity of the Giant King among the Ancients, equivalent to a modern Angel. Why could her secrets influence the current age?"

"Ah, many critical details are buried beneath the mists of history—only a few high beings who survived from the Second Era know anything…"

As Lu Mi sighed, he watched the deep-black land of the Underworld recede farther and farther until his vision was filled only with the illusory, dark waters of the Ming River.

He suddenly felt this chapter of events was truly over.

(End of Chapter)