Divine Luck: SSS-Rank Battle Maid Harem-Chapter 592: Ice Wall

The Zach of just a few months ago would not have even considered the possibility of their failure. He would have confidently stormed on ahead and, against all odds, succeeded.

But now, Zach wasn't just considering the possibility of failure. He was planning for it.

"What…?" Zach asked, noticing the weird looks his so-called friends were giving him.

"Nothing."

"Just didn't think you knew what a back-up plan or caution meant."

"Like, since when did you believe in some bullshit like not doing the impossible?"

"Yeah, what happened to you, Zach?"

"..." Zach's jaw almost dropped to the ground at the verbal assault. Dukiel was kind enough to stay silent at first, but after the other two shot their attacks, he also fired one. They did not hold back.

Zach sighed.

He kind of understood where they were coming from. Certainly, he wouldn't have bothered considering informing the principal should they fail if it had been before the war in the east.

But the war had taught him two things. He knew when to take things seriously. This wasn't something that would affect just the few of them. It would impact countless lives and, if they were unlucky, harvest just as many.

Secondly, the encounter with the Hydra had shown him what absolute strength was.

There was coming face-to-face with the impossible and overcoming it.

Then there was coming face-to-face with the impossible, where the impossible grabbed that face and rammed it hard into the ground.

An important part of how to do the impossible was learning how to differentiate the two.

Right now, Zach didn't have enough information about what they were up against. There was at least one figure on the other side of the ice wall strong enough to defeat Zoe. That meant their opponents were capable. But that was a simple kind of impossible.

However, if the ones trying to break through the ice wall were just the scouts, and someone equal to the principal stood behind them, they would have encountered the second kind of impossible.

Until they defeated the first batch, they wouldn't know if there was anyone else behind them.

Who knows, maybe they were lucky. The 'continent' on the other side of the tunnel was a tiny island. This Apostle, who beat up Zoe, was their ace and all they had. This whole invasion could be a desperate conquest for resources and expansion.

If that were the case, they would hardly need to inform the old-timers on the surface.

But it was extremely unlikely, considering the Apostle's name.

Rarely was an apostle the highest in the hierarchy.

After a while, Monolith joined the conversation. He wanted to hold firm that they should not inform anyone on the surface for the sake of protecting Zoe and the cornerstone.

But the principal and the Emperor already knew about the cornerstone. There was no way they didn't know about it.

And in the worst case, they had two choices with similar outcomes. Either they could tell people on the surface and reveal Zoe's condition and expose the temporary weakness of the one protecting the cornerstone, or they could not do that and experience the downfall of the Underworld and see the cornerstone slip into the hands of their invaders.

If they could not handle it themselves, Zoe and the cornerstone would end up in the hands of hostiles regardless.

Monolith had to admit that they had a point. But in exchange for telling parts of the surface, he wanted additional security for Zoe.

Fortunately, they had people to spare now that Zach had joined them. They could rotate shifts between resting, watching Zoe, and watching the ice wall.

Zach was interested in checking up on Julius and Zoe, but he wanted to stay by the wall for a while first. The others didn't mind. It was both the most boring and stressful place to keep watch. They couldn't relax, but it was also difficult to stay focused when nothing else was happening. There also wasn't really much to talk about if one was lucky enough to do it with someone else.

Nessa stayed with Zach for a little to double-check that he was feeling up for it. He was still suffering from the backlash of Surge, after all. But she had done a shift before heading to the surface to pick up Zach.

She hadn't slept in a couple of days. Considering they could technically break through the ice wall at any moment, she should catch up on rest as much as possible while she could. The others were in similar positions or in charge of watching Zoe or something else.

Zach was soon left alone in front of the wall.

He sat down cross-legged and stared up at Violina's silhouette while his familiars stood behind them.

He wasn't the only one who had been through a rough time. It was fine that they hadn't come to help him. He just had to show them how it was done.

Without looking away, Zach spoke to his familiars.

"The four of you didn't just sit still and fiddle with your thumbs while I was out cold, right?" He asked curiously. He already knew that Yanael at least had made some improvements. He wanted to know what they had been up to while he was unconscious.

Yanael, Alzara, Soara, and Mandra glanced at each other, deciding who to go first.

"I've just been working on my alchemy, Master." She hadn't made any groundbreaking breakthroughs, but she had further solidified the guild's hold on the market and prepared a few things for Zach.

"I've been reliving the past, Master." Soara had gone around doing things she did a long time ago when she first became a deity and started playing around with death. It wasn't much of an answer. She had improved, but she had mostly just stabilized the power she got from taking the Hydra's head of Death.

"I think I'm on the verge of developing something…extraordinary, Master," Mandra said, her eyes brimming with excited light.