It felt so good to be close to the witch!

On Roy's hand, several wisps of black mist were surging wildly. However, unlike the ferocious intent they had when they arrived, these gray mists now gave people a sense of panic and a desire to flee.

Under Latie's astonished gaze, the wisps of black mist finally merged into Roy's palm and vanished without a trace.

Feeling the black mist stored within his body, Roy could no longer suppress the smile on his lips—just as he had predicted, although the black mist in the Black Mist Forbidden Zone had an extremely strong energy-corroding nature, in the end, it was also a kind of energy. And as long as it was energy, it would be restrained and absorbed by [Infinite Desire God], and then transformed into other forms of energy.

Knowing this, Roy prepared to proceed with the second step of the test.

He took a step forward, crashing into the magical shield and being completely exposed to the black mist.

In an instant, huge plumes of black mist surged toward him.

Surrounded by the black mist, a thin, dark purple film appeared on Roy's body. Any black mist that tried to approach him was sucked into his body the moment it touched the film.

Gradually, the surging black fog began to subside.

The inner black mist tried to move away, while the outer black mist wanted to move closer, creating a strange balance.

About ten minutes later, the black mist no longer seemed to regard him as "prey" and tacitly allowed Roy to become one of them. There was not a trace of black mist within a three-meter radius around his body.

Such a bizarre situation made Latie's eyes widen in disbelief.

She tentatively stepped into the three-meter-wide blank space and deactivated the magic shield. Even so, the black mist outside showed no intention of intruding, as if it regarded Roy's three-meter space as his territory and dared not offend it at will.

"this?!"

Latie was confused.

Is this still the terrifying black mist that even demigods fear in her mind?

On the other side, Roy looked at the churning black mist three meters away, a thoughtful expression on his face.

The black fog felt less like a natural phenomenon and more like some kind of "microorganism" with a certain consciousness that knew how to seek advantage and avoid harm.

"interesting……"

Unfortunately, no matter how Roy scanned, he couldn't make out the exact shape of the black mist, so he had to put aside his observation for the time being.

After a moment's thought, Roy looked at Latie and said, "I'm planning to sneak a little deeper. Wait here for me."

"Take this with you." Latie nodded, took out a necklace from her bosom, and handed it to Roy: "A tracking necklace. If anything seems wrong, crush it immediately, and I will teleport you there to get you out of there."

Latie knew very well that although Roy had shown the ability to make the black mist "give way", this was only the outermost edge of the black mist forbidden zone, and no one could guarantee what they would encounter if they went deeper.

In this situation, given her lack of resistance to the black mist, it was not suitable for her to go deeper with Roy.

If anything unexpected happens, she will become the biggest burden.

Rather than doing that, it would be better to wait outside and provide support.

Roy took the positioning necklace and nodded to Latie: "Don't worry, I'll do what I can."

After saying this, he turned around and headed into the depths of the black fog.

As Roy departed, the previously empty area was once again filled with black mist. Lati raised a magical shield, transformed into a stream of light, and retreated away from the black mist into the gray mist area.

The deep black mist was like an abyss. Lati gazed in the direction where Roy's figure had disappeared and whispered, "You must be safe..."

……

Roy advanced unhurriedly within the black fog restricted area.

As he moved forward, the surrounding black mist spontaneously cleared a three-meter radius clear zone.

Thanks to this, Roy could clearly see what was under his feet.

The rocky ground, untouched by the black fog, appeared a lifeless gray-white.

Roy bent down, picked up a small grayish-white pebble, and gently pinched it.

Surprisingly, these seemingly weathered stones were extremely hard.

Despite its rock-like appearance, it possesses a strength that surpasses that of metal.

He used a little force to crush the pebbles into powder, and as he watched them fall through his fingers, a thoughtful look flashed in Roy's eyes.

If the ground of the entire Black Mist Forbidden Zone were made of such a material, even the battle fluctuations at the demigod level would likely be difficult to shake.

Such an environment is sufficient to withstand battles at the level of gods!

Realizing this, Roy felt even more alarmed.

Admittedly, the current environment of the continent of Leitel cannot support the birth of gods, but this does not mean that beings who have become gods cannot survive in it. The harsh environment will cause gods to either die or degenerate into small fish that can live in shallow waters, just like whales after the tide has receded.

Even the "little fish," which is a degenerate deity, is stronger than a senior demigod, no matter how weak it may be.

That's a difference in dimensions.

As a perilous place that has remained since the Blood Moon War, the Black Mist Forbidden Zone has a very high probability of harboring such degenerate deities.

"We must be more careful..."

Roy said this to himself.

The presence of the black fog severely obscured visibility, making it impossible for Roy to see anything more than a few meters away.

He had tried using his battle aura for illumination, but unfortunately, the black mist was so strange that ordinary firelight could not penetrate it at all.

Exploring in a vast, pitch-black expanse is undoubtedly an extremely difficult task.

The most serious problem is the lack of a sense of direction.

Without a point of reference, what you perceive as a straight line of progress may eventually turn into a large circle.

After traveling for about ten minutes through the indistinct black fog, Roy stopped.

He decided to leave this place first.

The Black Mist Forbidden Zone should have a lighting system. He came in too much of a hurry this time and hadn't asked Finage and the Border Duke about it yet. Rather than continuing to wander aimlessly, he should go back and ask before coming back.

Just as Roy was about to crush the positioning necklace, a faint rustling sound came from afar.

It was a buzzing sound similar to the flapping of flies, and there were so many of them, approaching him from all directions.

Roy paused slightly as he was about to crush the positioning necklace.

Having been in the Black Mist Forbidden Zone for so long, we have finally encountered something unusual.

He decided to see for himself.

A second later, the buzzing became extremely intense, and the surrounding black mist churned and rippled due to the buzzing.

Roy stood still, and armor resembling magma crystal emerged from his body.

Faced with the unknown, he immediately entered his strongest state under normal conditions.

He slowly drew the longsword, which was burning with crimson-gold flames. It was an epic-grade longsword borrowed from the border duke's mansion. His Starfire Blade was currently being reforged by Toni and the master craftsman, so he could only use this weapon temporarily.

The buzzing grew stronger and stronger; it was not merely a physical effect, but also permeated the soul.

The thick black fog became the best cover for this "unknown entity".

Deep within Roy's eyes, a dark purple light flickered. The extraordinary energy perception granted by [Infinite Desire - God] allowed him to precisely lock onto an extremely unique energy source amidst the swirling black mist.

Without hesitation, he slashed out with his longsword, the chilling blade energy splitting the black mist in two.

"Om-!"

The buzzing sound suddenly became more rapid, as if the entity hidden in the black mist had been injured.

Roy's expression changed.

In his perception, that special energy source had split into thousands upon thousands of streams at that moment.

"call out--!"

A sharp whooshing sound rang out, and a dark red mosquito, about the size of a fist, emerged from the black mist, its sharp proboscis aimed straight at Roy's forehead.

With a flash of sword light, the large, dark red mosquito was instantly cleaved in two, killing the attacking enemy. However, Roy showed no joy, because the next moment, thousands upon thousands of such dark red mosquitoes shot out from the black mist and attacked him simultaneously.

Seeing this, Roy took a deep breath, and a surge of crimson-gold battle aura erupted from his body.

Wherever the firelight passed, the dark red mosquitoes melted into blood and fell to the ground, and even the surrounding black mist was briefly cleared away, leaving a blank space.

"Whoosh..."

The churning black mist poured back into the empty area, but the dark red mosquitoes that had been burned to blood did not die.

One after another, dark red drops of blood rose into the air and gathered together in mid-air, forming a large, strange mosquito that was entirely black with dark red markings.

It is only about ten meters long, but at the tip of each of its tentacles is a sharp mouthpart, the cold light of which gives people an instinctive feeling of stinging.

What a huge needle!

The giant mosquito's body has a faint black ring that spreads outwards in a regular pattern, and it has a pair of tiny eyes that look like scarlet rubies.

Roy's expression hardened.

He sensed a threat from this giant mosquito.

This is a terrifying black mist monster whose strength has reached the level of a demigod.

"Is this what 'black aberration' is?"

Roy narrowed his eyes slightly.

At that moment, he didn't know whether to feel lucky or unlucky.

After a brief standoff, the giant mosquito could no longer contain itself and launched the first attack.

The black circle spreading around it suddenly contracted inward, and the black mist within a radius of a hundred meters seemed to be drawn by some force, spinning wildly and forming a huge whirlwind that trapped Roy inside.

Above the dark, misty whirlwind, a dark red lightning bolt refracted continuously.

Roy remained in a ready-to-draw stance, his mind highly focused.

The rapidly flowing black mist severely interfered with his perception, while the dark red lightning transformed from the giant mosquito was ridiculously fast. Roy realized that he was far inferior to it in his normal state.

In this situation, launching a rash attack is by no means the best course of action.

The giant mosquito seems to be affected by "blackening," making it irritable, easily angered, and impatient. The best way to deal with this monster is to remain calm and observe.

As expected, after a period of standoff, the giant mosquito that had transformed into a dark red lightning bolt could no longer endure it and, after a turn, shot towards Roy's back of the heart.

"coming!"

The giant mosquito was very fast, and Roy didn't notice it until it was within ten meters of him.

And that is enough.