The decision was made. If the Under-Realm King wanted to play "Hostile Takeover," I wasn't going to crawl into his office through a ventilation duct like a common thief.
I was going to march through the front door as the CEO of Agro-Northern Operations, carrying a portfolio of divine assets and a backup team that looked like they belonged on a recruitment poster for "Heroes Who Mean Business."
The journey through the southern mine wasn't a mere hike; it was a transition between physical laws.
We bypassed the bubbling magma pools, the "surface-level plumbing" and used my father's ancestral key on a shimmering, obsidian gate just deeper into the old mines.
Earlier, Sir Alex used his amazing strength and his divine sword combined with my hulk superhuman strength to open the fallen mine, then we entered, and hid behind a waterfall of liquid fire.
As the gate ground opened, the air didn't get hotter. It got colder. A bone-deep, unnatural chill that smelled of ancient ink and ozone.
