Imp to Demon King: A Journey of Conquest-Chapter 337: Facing the Underworld For a Friend

Dread’s icy fingers wrapped around Achilles’ heart as the name reverberated in his mind. Tartarus? The deepest and darkest dungeon of torment, a pit of suffering for the wicked, and the prison for the Titans? Surely, Adam must have misspoken or referred to a place from another culture that shared its name.

However, Adam’s broadening smirk said it all. He wanted to go to the Tartarus he knew of. That was why he kept smirking at him all along!

Without wasting a second, he gripped Behemoth and blurred to the Gate. "Send me to Mab. I’m not joining in this madness!"

Behemoth frowned under the warrior’s arms, his tanned face as pale as snow. He had wanted to show his goodwill and offer to accompany Adam on his expedition, but Tartarus... Somehow, he understood Achilles’ forceful reaction.

Adam’s cold laughter echoed. "You don’t want glory anymore?"

"Glory in the human realm! In battle! All because I knew I’d die young, not to throw my soul into the universe’s worst place!" Imagining the ethereal torments and Hades’ icy touch on his soul, he shuddered like a leaf. Nothing would convince him to go. In fact, only madmen would knowingly journey to Tartarus.

Before his roar faded, Adam’s eyes narrowed into slits. "Don’t come," he snorted, his voice dripping with ridicule and disillusionment. "I expected better from you. But it seems that two short days were all it took to forget your guilt."

He turned to Garduck, who trembled even more than Achilles but bit his lip to muffle his fears. Then, he gazed at Behemoth. "You can have him. I don’t need this bastard."

Behemoth’s eyes widened, disbelief causing his mouth to drop. Did Adam just discard a mythical figure as powerful as Achilles, the embodiment of the perfect warrior, or was he dreaming?

But upon seeing Adam walk away, Garduck stumbling behind him, and Achilles’ arm trembling around his shoulder, the shock struck him twice as hard. He was serious!

With a shy cough, he craned his neck to gaze at Achilles’ twitching face and tapped on his hand. "Let’s work well starting today, Achilles. I-I’m a fan of your legends. Heck, I know them like the back of my hand!"

Achilles glanced at him, his brow creasing into a deep furrow. He let the lord go, his right-hand raising.

PAH

In a beige and golden blur, it crashed down on Behemoth’s head as he snorted. "Dream on, you fool! My lord! Wait!"

Behemoth clutched his head with a wronged grimace as Achilles rushed behind Adam, his heart drumming in his chest.

There was no denying; he was scared. But who wouldn’t be? He had waltzed with death along a razor-thin edge for years. But the underworld and Tartarus? They were something else—places where cosmic forces could lock your soul in an eternity of torment. What use would glory have by then?

He clenched his jaw. He had vowed, not to Adam, but in his heart, that he would serve him to atone for his mistake. Breaking it would shatter his warrior’s pride. No, his identity would crumble because that’s not who he was.

"I’m the proud Achilles, who charged fearlessly against the Troyan’s armies to avenge Patroclus. I won’t let a friend risk his life alone!"

Determination overwhelmed his fears as he charged inside the mountain’s gallery. He saw Adam leaning against the wall, his arms crossed and smirking.

Behind him, Garduck slammed a gold coin in Adam’s palm, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes. "Less than a minute. You win this bet."

Adam put the coin away with a shrug. "He won, not me. That was all the patience I would have granted him."

Achilles sighed in relief. Adam’s words were clear: he would have really left had he not overcome his fear.

Now that they could depart, Garduck tucked his fingers around his chin. "Did you find a passage to the underworld? Asking Hestia might be a good start if you don’t."

"I don’t need her help." Adam’s eyes narrowed as he retrieved his express mail coupon and ripped it off.

He had brushed his items on the way to find Ifrit, and somehow, the coupon had caught his eye. Though the memories were old, he remembered something vague about the underworld.

’I hope I’m not wrong, though.’ A wry smile curled on his lips as a deep sound echoed. fгeewebnovёl.com

ZOOMB

Multicolored lights condensed in a frantic dance where the coupon landed. A circular crack coursed through the air, the scent of ozone and the cold of space filtering through its opening.

He watched the blue vortex in its center condense into a spatial gate and the creature returning his gaze from the other side.

Like the first time, its soft fur glistened as it hopped through the passage. When its short feet landed on the hard ground, it tumbled and fell on its adorable otter’s face.

Everyone watched it pick itself up, then dust its blue postman uniform with a cute smile. "Hello, good sirs. I’m Aqua, and I will handle your delivery today."

Achilles and Garduck pointed their fingers at her, frowning as they whispered. "What’s that creature?"

Ignoring them and wondering if it was the same otter he had met in the past, Adam walked to Aqua. "Can you transport us to the underworld?"

His words immediately caused Aqua to pale and shake her head. "No, no, no, sir. I can go anywhere but the devil realm, netherworld, and underworld."

"Is the devil realm what we now call the abyss?" He watched her nod and continued. "Understandable since it’s cursed and sealed. But why can’t you go to the underworld?"

"Sir..." Aqua knitted her trembling brows and bowed in apology. "Hades forbids external interference. Please understand that my hands are tied."

Adam leaned forward, pushing for more answers. "Can’t you help us reached the Acheron’s bank? It can’t be considered the underworld since we wouldn’t have crossed its gates yet."

Aqua’s eyes slipped to the sides as she fidgeted with her fingers. "Sir, please step back... I’m a little shy."

’What is she imagining?!’ Adam’s words caught in his throat as he remembered that sentence. It was the same otter!

As he clicked his tongue and stepped back, Aqua shook her head again. "I can’t, sir."

He sighed. "Drop us as close as possible to the underworld, then."

Aqua’s eyes brightened as she nodded. "That’s possible! I know of a cave leading to the Acheron."

She waved her hand, adjusting the spatial portal’s coordinates. "Please step through, sirs. I don’t know what business you have in the underworld but let me give you a word of advice: don’t create trouble."

"Thank you, Aqua." Delighted by the solution, Adam gestured to Garduck and Achilles. Together, they stepped through the portal, landing in a somber, damp cave.

From its depth, Adam felt a soul-chilling wind ruffle his hair and carry the scent of decay to his nostrils.

He condensed a bright ball of photons on his palm, revealing Garduck and Achilles’ pale faces and trembling legs. Though he couldn’t reveal the expedition’s ultimate goal, he had to reassure them.

"Before you do something stupid and to relax your minds a little, let me emphasise our goals." He raised a finger, the light casting dancing shadows on his stern face. "We’re not here to fight. We go in, infiltrate Tartarus and get out. Don’t fight, attract attention, or create trouble... after we knock out a few people along the way, that is."

Reassured they hadn’t come to infuriate Hades, Achilles gave a solemn nod.

Garduck followed a second later, his voice cracking. "The longer we wait, the wilder my imagination grows. Let’s go!"

Just like that, they ventured deeper and deeper into the cave. With each kilometer crossed, the ominous feeling pressing on their shoulders increased. A dense mist shrouded their visions, and biting whispers began to echo.

But Adam gripped his companions’ shoulders firmly as he took determined steps forward. "Begone with your temptations!"

However, Garduck began to tremble as if a terrifying sight met his eyes. "I trust Adam. I trust Adam. I trust Adam..." He repeated, his voice barely a whisper.

Simultaneously, Achilles’ hands reached for his spear and shield before he took a deep breath. His eyes shone with bravery tempered in the horrors of wars the next second as he yelled. "Illusions! I can’t see you, Adam, but if you’re still holding us, don’t let go!"

Finally understanding their reactions, Adam’s grip tightened on their shoulders as he bolted through the mist. After all, his bright blue eye protected him from illusions, while his left hand dissipitad mental corruption.

After half an hour, he saw a pale light filter in the distance. He couldn’t see what was beyond yet, but the mist seemed to thin with each step, and Garduck’s trembling slightly calmed down.

Achilles, however, hadn’t moved since his warning. Instead, sweat cascaded down his forehead and marred his torso in an incredible show of trust. Even if he saw wraiths rip his limbs, devour his guts, and drink his blood with horrifying smiles, he wouldn’t move.

Trust your comrades with your back. That’s the first thing he taught in the academy. A single warrior couldn’t form a phalanx—he couldn’t escape the illusion alone.

And his trust paid off. The wraiths vanished into swirling gas one after another as a pale glow pierced through the darkness.

When he reopened his eyes, he saw Garduck huffing like a one-century-old man, Adam pat their shoulders with a soft smile, and before him... a shadowed and dim river rushing along a desolate bank. The dead’s lamentations thundered in his ears, and the unbearable scent of decay caused his nose to scrunch.

They had made it. They were in the underworld.

End of second book: The Forsaken Lord’s Return.

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AN: Extra long Chapter :D. I hope you enjoyed this part of the story and will stay for the next: the journey to Tartarus and the war against Oberon!