With the palace already in sight, Caspian and the group increased their speed.
They had already reached the palace gate when they heard a large explosion coming from the direction they had just escaped from.
They didn't need anyone to tell them that the cause of the explosion was Sia and that she was most likely dead!
She had probably sacrificed herself to take down the zombie and buy them some time.
Seeing their relaxed expression, Caspian urged them, "Keep moving. The zombie lord is definitely not dead. The durability of zombie lords, alone, is able to guarantee its life, but I'm sure that it would be massively injured right now."
One of them asked the king, "If it is injured, can't we take advantage of that and end it, once and for all?"
He was reputed by Caspian, "No, we wouldn't survive any type of attack from it. The zombie was merely playing with us. Also, even if we managed to kill it, we would surely be surrounded by a horde of zombies."
Caspian had also thought of that. However, he knew it would be a mere wish as there were still other zombies in the vicinity.
Getting to the palace entrance, Caspian spotted his brother who had hand-signaled for him to remain quiet.
"What is it?" Caspian whispered as he walked closer to Conan.
He noticed that Conan had brought a large group of survivors and was even happier when he saw that they were normal citizens.
All sorts of individuals filled Conan's group; babies, mothers, fathers, kids, teenagers, and young adults.
Judging by the trail of blood on his armor, it seemed that Conan had gone through great lengths to safeguard them.
Communicating with Caspian, Conan whispered back, "There are zombies in the palace hall. I don't know how to proceed without jeopardizing their safety."
In his group, Caspian was the strongest one. However, he couldn't duplicate himself into multiple copies.
If he advanced, there were sure to be at least two people dying in his group.
He had only managed to rally old veteran soldiers who were still at [Realm-2]. So, it wouldn't help much in the grand scheme of things.
Everyone knew this!
Someone would die in the quest to enter the palace hall.
The problem was whether it was worth the risk or not. The death would be random, so, they didn't know whether they would be the ones to die.
After everything they had sacrificed to get here, it might all prove for naught.
This caused the combined group to descend into chaos.
They were selfish, rightfully selfish. They had followed the king and his brother all the way here, without knowing anything and now, they were still viable to death!
Understanding the reason for the disorder, Caspian tried to calm them down.
Right now, what they needed was a leader, a king to guide them.
"Silence. I'm sure you are all thinking of leaving. However, I can assure you that this is our best chance of success." Caspian shouted at them, knowing fully well that his voice might be heard by the zombies.
"So, what if some of us die? At least, we die fighting, rather than wasting our time here."
He continued, "Some of you might be wondering what my--our plan is. It is quite simple. We are leaving Aztec today! Taking an emergency route out of the kingdom!"
His words only further fueled the chaos, but it was what he wanted.
In a kingly manner, Caspian berated them, "Aztec is lost!"
His slack expression managed to convey his emotional state to all of them.
He, too, didn't want to leave the home of his ancestors. He didn't want to abandon it, but it was necessary for survival.
"I'm sure that they are still many people fighting out there. Our soldiers are still at the battlefront, trying to give us enough time to evacuate. We can't waste it!"
"We can't also risk going back there. We have to survive so that in the future, we can always remember the brave soldiers that laid down their lives for our survival. We have to salvage what is left!" shouted Caspian.
His speech calmed down everyone and made them think of the present!
Following him and his brother's lead, the combined group strode into the palace hall where the zombies were expecting them.
After munching and converting all of the nobles and servants in the palace, they traced their way to the palace hall, where they felt a strong connection to the [Nether Rift] directly beneath it.
However, they were not smart enough to find the entrance to the tunnel.
All sorts of screams were heard as the survivors ran into the zombies.
They fought with all their might and waited for further instruction from the king.
Pointing at the center of the hall, where a ruffled expensive carpet was, Caspian ordered, "There. Form a circle formation around it."
The cultivators and the soldiers went to the carpet and did as ordered.
They let the regular citizen stay in their circle, while they continued fighting the zombies.
Caspian gave further instruction, "Remove the carpet!"
He ordered the regulars to roll away the carpet.
After that, a smooth floor was revealed, but Caspian told them to trim their fingers on the uneven edges and pull the door.
If not for their current situation, the citizens would not have believed that there was a tunnel entrance in the palace hall, all along.
They swiftly lifted the cover and entered inside, obeying the instructions of Caspian.
Meanwhile, the cultivators were already getting overwhelmed.
They had to wait as the regular citizens slowly entered the tunnel due to its small entrance.
After the regulars entered, Caspian ordered the young soldiers to go in, opening a hole in their formation.
The zombies increased, and the soldiers couldn't keep up.
They gradually entered the tunnel until it was only the old soldiers left.
The soldiers, while fighting, shouted loudly for the king who was already in the tunnel to hear, "For Aztec!"
Being experienced, they understood that the zombies would chase them if they entered the tunnel.
Even if they closed the cover, the zombies had already seen it.
Sacrifices had to be made, and they were the right people for the job!
"Are you sure?" asked the king.
"Yes!" responded the old soldiers.
"We are the only people that can do this. You can't, as a king, you have to lead your people. We are old, we wouldn't be able to contribute much later on," explained the soldiers.
They finished their speech with touching words and a piece of advice to the young king, "Aztec is not a place. It is not a kingdom. It is the people. It lives in all our hearts and can be rebuilt at any time. Do it!"
In the tunnel, Conan looked at his distraught brother.
He decided to lessen the burden on him!.
Transforming only his right hand to a wolf form, Conan fueled it with energy and struck the entrance, "[Wolf Claw]!"
He unleashed a powerful wind that pierced through all solid substances and buried the hole. Now, the zombies couldn't come down!
The people in the tunnels kept quiet as they listened to what was happening above.
When they heard the last clash of weapons, they knew it marked the end of the soldiers.
*Boom!*
Clenching his fist, Caspian an attack technique to blow up the tunnel more.
He proceeded to face the survival group, "Let's continue. Our destination is the Dark Forest!"