Warning! All spoilers for previous books in the Cradle Series are UNMARKED!
A great competition is coming. The Uncrowned King tournament is an event where the Monarch factions, the greatest powers of the world, sponsor their younger generations to compete on a world stage, demonstrating their might and ability.
This time, however, things are a little different. With the unexpected early rise of the Bleeding Phoenix, no one is content to sit idly by. The tournament will be bigger than ever, and that means that even minor vassal states like the Blackflame Empire will be forced to participate. Akura Charity, the Sage of the Silver Heart, will select three promising young Underlords to make up one of the Akura teams. To that end, she has opened up the Nightwheel Valley, her personal garden, for training.
The Nightwheel Valley is a treasure in and of itself. Not only is it so thick with aura that cycling is far more beneficial, but it is bursting with natural treasures, enough to fill vaults upon vaults back in the Blackflame Empire. Even if the Empire does not raise a single Underlord, entering the valley will make them rich beyond their wildest dreams.
But she has not given this opportunity to the Blackflame Empire alone. The Seishen Kingdom, the Empire's southern rivals, are also in the valley. They will be competing, trying to raise up their own Underlords while preventing the Empire from doing the same. Lethal combat is discouraged, but only honor binds the factions.
And Charity has given the most promising sacred artists of the Seishen Kingdom a specific task. She has not forgotten the death of her nephew. She has told the young princes to find Wei Shi Lindon and punish him for defying the Akura.
He will either survive and gain in power—whereupon she can put him to use—or he will die.
Underlord is the sixth novel in the Cradle Series by Will Wight. It is the third of the Path of Gold collection.
This novel provides examples of:
- BFG: With Dross' help, Lindon makes a pair of resonance cannons that are so powerful that they can only be fired a few times before ripping themselves apart.
- Bait-and-Switch: Charity explicitly tells Lindon he will not be on the Blackflame Empire team... because he will be on the main Akura team with Mercy.
- Hypocrite: Seishen Daji believes in Might Makes Right, where the strong have the right to do what they wish... except when that's happening to him. Since he's The Unfavorite with a stronger father, a stronger older brother, and regularly loses to his brother's gardener, he's got a big chip on his shoulder.
- Moral Myopia: Averted, finally. Charity does not actually have a problem with Lindon killing Harmony; Harmony had every advantage, so if he lost, then it was due to his own weakness. Not to mention that she is well aware of his personality. But Lindon cannot be seen to defy the Akura without punishment. Her solution is to send the Seishen Kingdom after him. If he wins, he will be strong enough to repay his debt. If he dies, he will be seen to have been punished.
