Soulbound: Dual Cultivation

Chapter 262: Palace heist 2

The innkeeper nodded once and served the food. Lira began eating with polite restraint while Seraphina picked through her meal, all dignity and impatience woven together. Selene, however, was too busy glaring at the petite ice demoness sitting beside Lucas.

The Ice Belle’s wings fluttered as she daintily snatched a piece of roasted meat from Selene’s plate with her tiny claws, holding it up like a stolen trophy. Before Selene could reach for it, she coated the meat in a shimmer of frost, took a bite and made a satisfied crunching sound.

"That is the third time," Selene growled, eyes narrowing. "Eat your own food, you frigid little gremlin."

The Ice Belle looked up with an expression that says.... "yours tastes better." She chewed another piece, crunch sounding like she was eating ice cubes.

Selene slammed her fork onto the table. "I swear I will smack you next if you touch my plate again."

Lucas coughed into his sleeve, struggling not to smile. Nyx rubbed her temples like she was nursing a rapidly forming headache. "By the gods above, if you two start a fight right now, I will throw you both into the sewers first."

The Ice Belle pouted and hugged her plate closer, licking the frost off it in small circles as if marking her territory. Selene leaned across the table and hissed quietly, "Xavier, control your... creature."

Ice Belle froze mid-lick and slowly turned her head, eyes glowing with a tiny flash of mischief.

Lucas, Lira, Nyx and Mirielle nearly choked with laughter.

The innkeeper cleared his throat loudly, shortening their daughter. "Eat quickly. You will need strength for."

Selene growled but returned to eating, shielding her plate like a dragon with its hoard. Lucas finished first, then stood as the others hurried through their remaining food.

Seraphina tightened her cloak, all humor vanishing beneath urgency. "No more delays. We descend into the sewers now."

The innkeeper gestured toward the back door with a small nod. "Follow me. And mind your steps."

They descended into the sewer tunnels beneath Lechia. The stench hung heavy like a living thing, clawing at their throats and sinking deep into their lungs with every breath they forced themselves to take. Even the distant rumble of the city above could not hide the misery rising among them.

Selene pressed a cloth to her nose while glaring at Lucas as though he personally designed this place.

"I swear Xavier, if I die down here, I will come back as a ghost and haunt you in the most horrifying way imaginable," she groaned while side stepping a puddle that looked awful.

Nyx wore a deep frown while using her sleeve in a futile attempt to block the smell.

"This is tuly horrible ," she muttered.

Mirielle and Lira too looked a bit green as she kept her steps precise and tried to avoid touching anything at all.

"If we make it out of here," Lira whispered, "I never want to hear the word sewer again."

Only Seraphina walked without complaint, though her eyes hardened more and more with every reminder of what had been lost and what still needed to be saved. Her calm presence stood in contrast to the others and she refused to let discomfort distract her from their goal.

"This is the safer way inside," she stated steadily, "We must be grateful that we have even one path left that hasn’t been taken from us."

The Ice Belle, who had been resting comfortably in Lucas’s hood, suddenly popped out, sniffed the air once and then immediately retreated back into hiding with a tiny squeal of disgust. The little creature poked her head out only long enough for Lucas to hear a faint grumbling sound that matched perfectly with the scrunched expression on her tiny face.

Lucas glanced back with a strained smile, his voice gentle despite the discomfort twisting his insides.

"I know it is terrible. You can stay close to me. It will be alright."

The innkeeper, who led them forward with a torch in hand, laughed quietly although his voice was laced with a hint of pride as he spoke.

"You think this is bad? This is the clean route. The other passages are so filled with rot."

Selene gasped in horror and stumbled backward.

"There is something worse than this?" she demanded.

"Yes," he replied with eyes narrowed in a way that suggested experience, "So unless you want to find out, I suggest everyone keeps walking."

Lucas finally stopped and turned to face them, his expression compassionate.

"Everyone listen," he said while adjusting the Ice Belle who clung to him like a frightened child, "I know this is horrible, but the Empress is suffering because of what happened yesterday. We owe it to her to endure a little discomfort. So just hold on for a while longer. Once we reach the palace cellars, the smell will fade and the air will be cleaner."

Lira, clearly struggling but pushing herself to endure nodded and placed a supportive hand on Seraphina’s arm.

"As long as we get her back," she said, her voice trembling slightly, "I can endure anything."

Seraphina closed her eyes for a moment and breathed through the pain that never seemed to leave her chest since the betrayal. When she opened them again, determination replaced despair.

"I will not fail her again," she whispered, "No matter what waits ahead."

Nearly two grueling hours passed with the group forcing their way through the labyrinth of tunnels.

Eventually, the innkeeper raised one hand to signal a halt.

"This is it," he whispered with a breath of relief, "the last barrier before the palace cellars. Stay close and keep quiet from here on."

Lucas nodded silently, though his eyes revealed exhaustion. The Ice Belle peeked out once more, only to retreat immediately when the air shifted from foul to somehow even more atrocious. What lay ahead was not merely foul water or stagnant waste, but something far more unpleasant. Their access point into the palace was an old, muck-filled runoff channel that forced them down to their hands and knees as they crawled.

Selene froze in disbelief when she realized what they were expected to pass through.

"Oh no," she whispered with absolute horror gripping her entire being, "Xavier, please tell me we are not about to crawl through that."

Lucas sighed, his expression apologetic.

"Just a little more. I promise this is the worst part."

Nyx stared straight ahead with the expression of someone preparing for death.

"If anyone ever asks how the great Nyx infiltrated a royal palace," she muttered through clenched teeth, "I will deny this day ever existed."

Mirielle gagged without meaning to and covered her mouth with a trembling hand.

"I cannot believe royalty designs anything so revolting," she murmured.

Seraphina, though clearly displeased, simply lowered herself without a word, her devotion to the Empress outweighing every discomfort imaginable.

"I would walk through fire if it meant reaching her," she whispered, more to herself than anyone else.

Lucas followed next, making sure the Ice Belle clung safely to his shoulder, then the others slid in behind him. What followed was a long moment of humiliation they all prayed would never be spoken of again. Their hands sank into mire so foul it felt as though the walls of the tunnel itself wished to spit them out. And yet they kept moving, inch by inch, for there was no other choice left to them.

Then, light broke through the darkness.

A small metal grate, old and rusted, hung loosely above them. The innkeeper pushed it upward as quietly as he could. A soft creak answered, then fresh air slipped into the confined crawlspace like a gift from the heavens.

"Welcome to the palace," the innkeeper whispered while he pulled himself up first into a dark and spacious wine cellar.

The others followed quickly, breathing greedily as if they had just surfaced from drowning. The Ice Belle hopped down and shook herself vigorously, as if determined to rid her fur of every possible trace of filth. Selene immediately collapsed to her knees, tears in her eyes as she searched desperately for a clean spot on her clothing.

"That was the most degrading experience of my life," she moaned.

The wine cellar around them was lined with dust-coated bottles and thick wooden casks, silent witnesses to countless illicit trades. A single lantern hung from a distant wall, barely illuminating the smuggler’s hidden passageway they had just emerged from.

Seraphina finally stood tall, brushing dirt from her garments with slow motions.

"This is where the real challenge begins. We are in the heart of their stronghold now and the enemy is everywhere around us."

Lucas raised his head and steadied his breathing while looking toward the stone stairs that led upward into the palace proper.

"We rescue the Empress," he said quietly but with unshakable conviction.

"Whatever comes next, we face it together."

Lucas and the others pressed forward once the innkeeper had sealed the cellar entrance behind them. His nervous smile lingered for only a fleeting moment before he whispered a final wish for their success.

"Good luck to you all," he murmured quietly. "Bring our Empress back."

Then he retreated behind a drum of wine...he would hide there till they’re back.

Seraphina took the lead, her movements silent and precise as she guided them through the palace . Every corner they turned carried a risk, every distant footstep forced them to hold their breath.

Lucas walked close behind her, keeping the Ice Belle tucked carefully inside his cloak so that her soft glow would not reveal them. Nyx, Lira, Selene, and Mirielle followed in a tight formation, visibly tense and ready to spring into a fight at a moment’s notice.

The palace looked different from their last visit. It felt colder now, as if life had been drained from every hall and chamber. The grand tapestries that once spoke of Lechia’s glory now hung like faded reminders of a kingdom stripped of its pride. Guards patrolled heavily in the distance, all of them wearing the emblem of the invaders.

Seraphina stopped abruptly and raised her hand...not a sound escaped the group. She pointed silently toward a downward staircase lit by a single torch on the wall. That corridor led to a heavy iron door reinforced with runes.

It was unmistakable.

Seraphina’s eyes hardened with resolve as she turned her head slightly toward the others and mouthed a single word.

"Dungeons."

They had reached the place where the Empress was being held.