Summoned with an SSS-Rank Portal Skill
Chapter 268 - 268: Royal Demon Palace (1) - Finding a Way In

"How come you used to work there?" William asked, visibly surprised.

Now that was unexpected. Sure, he already knew Jhen had served in the demon kingdom's army.

She'd probably worked all over the island at different times—that was normal for someone of her rank. High-ranking soldiers were constantly reassigned to hotspots where their skills were needed most.

But the royal palace? That was something else entirely. Only the strongest and most trusted soldiers ever got posted there.

And the most impressive part wasn't even that. It was the position she held.

"I was the prince's personal guard," Jhen said, flashing a small grin. "Cool, right? Anyway, we wait until nightfall. That should help a little."

While they waited, William couldn't resist asking more about that former position. But Jhen quickly shut it down.

"Since it involved the royal family, I can't really talk about it here," she said. "I'm sorry."

A part of William wanted to blurt out right then that he technically was part of the royal family—which meant she could tell him. But Victoria didn't know about his demonic bloodline yet, and they intended to keep it that way for now.

Judging by the way Jhen glanced at him as she spoke, it was clear she wanted to say more—but not in front of Victoria. Her expression, her tone, even the way her eyes lingered on him—it all made that perfectly clear.

Waiting like that made time crawl painfully slow. The hours dragged on like days. Just sitting there, staring at the palace in silence, was maddening.

William still couldn't quite believe it. They'd finally made it. They were actually here.

Would he really find a way to further awaken his bloodline?

When the night finally fell, it was time. They moved out—Jhen leading the way.

The palace was built right at the edge of a mountain. Actually, not just at the edge—there was a sheer cliff right behind it, dropping straight down.

Around it, dense forest and thick vegetation provided cover, and a river snaked quietly nearby. For a place crawling with soldiers, it was… surprisingly beautiful.

"We need to go around… and climb down the cliff," Jhen explained.

"You're kidding, right?" William asked, groaning.

"Nope," she said, smirking. "There's an abandoned mine down there. Well hidden. More importantly… there's a tunnel that leads straight into the palace. They have no idea it even exists."

The hardest part was circling all the way around and finding a safe spot to descend the cliff. Soldiers were everywhere, making the task an absolute nightmare.

When they reached the dense vegetation near the cliffside, Jhen spotted something.

"There's an old path here that leads to the mine," she said. "Let's follow it."

It had been a long time since the royal family had lost control of the island. The path was completely overgrown by now. Finding the right way through that thick forest was a serious challenge.

Jhen had to draw her sword and hack through the vegetation to make any progress toward the other side—closer to the cliff's edge.

When they finally reached it, William looked down and felt a wave of unease. It was high. Even with his absurdly strong body, jumping from that height would cause serious damage. Definitely not something he wanted to try.

Jhen started walking along the cliff, scanning the area like she was searching for something. William asked what it was, but she didn't answer. Her focus was completely locked onto whatever she was looking for.

Then, after a few minutes, she suddenly crouched down.

"Finally. Found it," she said.

She pulled at a rope—an old one, worn and discolored by time. It was tied around a thick tree trunk at the top of the cliff and stretched all the way down.

Apparently… this was how they were going to descend.

"You've gotta be kidding," William said, staring at the rope. "That thing looks older than me."

Jhen chuckled. "It is. This rope's probably been here for a hundred years at least. So… who's going first?"

No one really wanted the honor of going first with that rope. In the end, William decided to take the lead. Like it or not, out of the three of them, he had the highest healing rate in his body.

If something went wrong—like that old rope snapping or anything like that—he'd be the one most likely to recover quickly. William was basically the rope tester.

"Good luck," Jhen said.

"Don't say that. Makes it sound like something bad's gonna happen. This damn rope's gonna hold just fine," William replied.

He grabbed the rope and started making his way down, using the cliffside as support for his feet. The descent was long and required some focus, but nothing too extreme.

If William were still a regular human without magic, he would've been terrified to try something this stupid. But with a body as powerful as his and an absurd healing factor, he knew that worst case scenario, he'd spend a few days recovering—nothing more.

Dying from that fall was practically impossible for him now. That thought made the whole thing a lot less stressful.

He kept going down… and down. At no point did the rope show any signs of weakness or look like it was about to snap. Honestly, it was impressive how something so old could still be this reliable.

"This thing's probably made from some kind of magic material," William thought. "No way it looks this old and still holds like that."

Once he reached the bottom safely, it was Victoria's turn.

Unlike William, she was really nervous. Even so, she went for it anyway. Her descent was even slower because of how cautious she was. But when she finally touched the ground, both feet steady, she let out a massive sigh of relief.

"Thank god that worked," she mumbled.

Jhen came down right after, moving way faster than the other two. And just like that, the three of them were now standing at the bottom of the cliff.

"Follow me," Jhen said.

Now, all they had to do was find the entrance to the mine that would lead them into the palace.

But when they arrived at the spot where the mine was supposed to be... they found something completely unexpected.

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