Divine Luck: SSS-Rank Battle Maid Harem

"Master, I only sense underworld energy," Yanael confirmed Zach's guess as soon as Dukiel had left.

Zach nodded as he looked into the darkness of the tunnel.

If they could pump underworld energy to the surface through a hole wide enough that throwing a rock to the other side could be difficult, they could pump it through a person-sized tunnel. If they had one such pump, they would have another. It didn't matter that Zach had killed the one under the hole in the forest.

Because the tunnel was so much narrower than the hole in the forest, the pressure and force behind the underworld energy would be a lot higher. It would be like a jet stream of underworld energy that would flood the sewer system before catapulting into the city and the air through the few available manholes. It might even be powerful enough to break through the sealed manholes.

But that would only be a concern if Zach let it into the city in the first place. Enjoy exclusive content from empire

He extended his hands and placed a barrier right along the border between the tunnel and the sewers. It was in line with the talismans that would help weaken and offset the underworld energy, even if only slightly.

A single barrier wouldn't be enough.

Zach added several layers, mixing soft and hard barriers to create a barricade that was several strides long. The soft barriers would absorb the force, and the hard barriers would hamper the soft barriers' expansion rate and keep them from bursting too quickly.

Zach wasn't sure if it was better than just putting up one or several soft barriers. He trusted his instincts. It was too late to change anyway since it took minutes to set up that many barriers that would be powerful enough to block a torrent of underworld energy similar in force to what Zach had caused with his potion last year.

"Soara, do you sense anything?"

"No, Master, nothing detailed. There was a decent scent of death coming from down there earlier, but I couldn't tell how deep down or from what."

"And nothing now?"Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"Nothing now. Too much underworld energy."

"Got it."

The last time Soara had sensed a lot of death, it had been Sio. She hadn't mentioned anything specific about the source of the aura of death this time, which meant it could be anything from another powerhouse with a lot of blood on their hands to a cemetery.

The rumbling noise and tremor rapidly approached the surface through the tunnel.

Only a few minutes after Zach finished a last pair of barriers, smoky, sticky blackness burst out of the tunnel's darkness and rammed against the first barriers, breaking two in one go and another in two seconds.

The air swirled from the surge of underworld energy pushing on the barriers. The underworld energy's presence also tore at the talismans, making them flap and dance like wind chimes in a storm.

Another three seconds and the tsunami of underworld energy forced its way through yet another barrier. Zach clenched his fist.

He had put a lot of effort into all of the barriers. Three of them breaking in rapid succession made his guts twist and turn in displeasure. But it was not enough to do more than etch a single line in his brow.

The underworld energy had undoubtedly slowed down. But it still laid into the barriers with significant force. It wouldn't be that easy to stop it. Even if he managed to stop, it wouldn't be permanent. It would only last until the Underworld made another push.

Hopefully, they would come to check what was going on before they did that, though. It should have taken some effort to mimic the effects of Zach's potion when they had taken their time and used the tiger's death as a catalyst to slowly corrode the forest last time.

Back then, the Underworld had spent an entire break slowly encroaching upon the forest by using the underworld energy and the explosion from the tiger Zach and his friends killed after some underworlders turned it into an experiment.

Now, they didn't have anything like that. They didn't need to use an explosion to open a path to the surface, but they still had to push the underworld energy from the depths of the earth to the surface.

From what Zach knew, the underworld energy didn't like the surface very much. It would also be impossible to find this much underworld energy on the first layer or two of the Underworld.

Maybe that was why they gave such a long ceasefire. They had to gather enough underworld energy to shoot into the city and prepare a suitable battlefield for them.

Zach didn't know about all that the underworlders could do, but it sounded like it would be easier to gather the underworld energy in one of the higher layers and thus closer to the surface first before pushing it the final stretch instead of launching it from the bottom directly.

His eyes lit up.

If only he had a potion right now.

He had been doubtful about using one so soon since it could expose how easily they were willing to use them. But if it nullified the Underworld's efforts in hauling underworld energy up the layers and preparing to shoot it to the surface, it might be worth it. Mursoth and whatever he had been doing last year might also be close enough to be affected by the potion.

Mursoth probably wouldn't die to a potion. He wouldn't be a Named if he died to a glass bottle and some liquid.

But he would take damage if he was close enough. It would be a waste to use a potion if they didn't know it would hit Mursoth.

"I should have asked Dukiel to bring one with him when he returns."

The underworld energy broke through another barrier.

"...I also shouldn't have said I could hold it back for a day."

Zach threw up another barrier as he ignored his insides complaining.