The Daughter of Cursed Steel Chapter 27: Chapter 27: The Hunter in the Dark

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Chapter 27: The Hunter in the Dark Rachel and the maids rushed down the hall toward the safe room where the other maids and servants should have been. The castle quaked and shook from the ongoing battles outside. As they continued down the hall, they could also hear the castle behind them slowly collapsing into the chasm as more and more of the structure began to come apart. Once they reached the end of the hallway, they turned right around the corner. There, they saw a demon guard fighting an angel. Rachel immediately sped up, drawing her battle axes from her sides. The angel was completely preoccupied with the guard. Rachel easily came up behind him, choking up on the handles of her weapons before thrusting both axes into the angel's ribs. The angel screamed in pain, dropping his guard. At that exact moment, the demon guard's hammer came crashing down onto the angel's head, crushing it like a watermelon. Blood and brain matter burst outward as the angel fell lifelessly to the ground. “Thanks,” the demon guard said as he wiped the blood from his brow. Then he noticed who had saved him. “Princess! You're all right?” “Yeah, I'm fine,” Rachel replied. “I'm here with the maids. We're escorting them to the safe room.” The demon guard frowned. “But what about you, Princess?” Rachel shook her head. “I'm just escorting them there. I have no intention of staying in the safe room. It's extremely chaotic up there, and we need all the help we can get.” Her expression became serious. “And I still need to find Elyndra. We got separated.” “All right,” the guard said. “But I'm sticking by your side, Princess. We can't have you wandering around alone.” He glanced toward the dead end. “But first, let's get these maids into the safe room.” The demon guard turned from the area he had been guarding and walked toward a magical sconce mounted on the wall. Grabbing hold of it, he rotated it clockwise until a click echoed through the hallway. The dead-end wall ahead shifted slightly. A hidden passage opened, revealing another hallway that continued deeper into the castle toward the safe room. The demon guard immediately turned back toward the group. “Everybody inside!” One by one, the maids entered the passage while Rachel and the guard kept watch for any more angels. Once the last maid had entered, Rachel and the guard followed after them. About ten seconds later, a loud click echoed from behind. The magical sconce returned to its original position as the secret passage slowly closed, sealing itself behind them. Rachel and the group continued down the secret passage that connected to the safe room. They finally reached a door. The first maid opened it and walked in, only for Rachel to hear a loud scream a moment later. Rachel and the guard immediately took action, raising their weapons as they rushed to the head of the group. The moment Rachel reached the door, a strong smell of copper and rot filled her nose as her stomach turned. The moment she stepped in, her foot splashed into a puddle of blood. In front of her, the entire room was covered in dead guards, dead maids, and dead servants. Some had gigantic wounds with their innards hanging out. Some were missing arms. Some legs. Some were cut in half. Some were headless. They seemed to have all been butchered one at a time, as the looks of horror were still frozen on the maids' faces. Rachel then turned to the left and braced her hand against the wall as she started to vomit, emptying her stomach onto the bloody floor. The unfazed guard spoke. “Princess, are you all right?” She wiped her mouth as she looked toward him. “Yeah, I'm fine.” She then stood up and walked around the safe room, avoiding the corpses as she constantly stepped on puddles of blood and organs that covered the ground while she and the guard investigated. Then they noticed that the secret passage behind the throne room was open. Whoever did this had come down from behind the throne and slaughtered everyone here. The maid who had