Hello, is this a letter addressed to Demon Fortress?

Outside the mine, the faint light of dawn barely penetrated the thin clouds, scattering across the desolate mountain valley.

Half an hour had passed since Caesar led four assassins into the mine.

This abandoned iron ore mine has three main exits.

And several hidden ventilation openings that require climbing or crawling.

At this moment, every exit was heavily guarded by the rebels.

A simple wall was built in front of the main exit using large logs and stones.

Several rebels and superhuman warriors armed with alchemical muskets lay in ambush behind them.

The other two smaller exits were cleverly blocked with thorns, camouflage nets, and trigger alarms.

And those inconspicuous gaps.

It was also equipped with poisoned spikes and deadly tripwires.

Near all exits, high-end alchemical bombs imported from the Dwarf Kingdom were buried.

Once a chain reaction occurs, even extraordinary warriors will find it difficult to escape unscathed.

Despite being well-prepared, the mage Valk, who was leading the group, felt a vague unease.

He stood beside a group of mages maintaining the barrier, his brow furrowed.

As a lower-level mage, he was already among the top in this group of rebel mages.

"Boss Valker, why have you been looking so gloomy since last night?"

A wandering mage wearing a tattered robe leaned closer and asked in a low voice.

"Seriously, isn't the chief making a mountain out of a molehill?"

"They've brought in almost half of our savings, just to gamble on those three people inside?"

Valcke smiled bitterly to himself.

That's right, it's all for those three people.

They deployed over twenty extraordinary beings, over one hundred high-ranking warriors, and over one hundred archers skilled in using dwarven muskets.

His gaze swept over the hidden, deadly traps around him, and his heart grew heavier.

High-explosive alchemical bombs and trigger-activated binding arrays were buried near each exit.

These were originally prepared to deal with the Royal Knights.

They even activated the regional barrier that they had obtained from the ruins a year ago after sacrificing many brothers.

Why go to such lengths just to deal with a high-ranking knight, a mid-level mage, and a sleeping saintess?

At first, Valcke was just as puzzled as everyone else.

But after monitoring the sorcerer named Lin Gui inside the cave all night long...

An indescribable sense of unease shook him.

The feedback from Alchemy Biotech has been confirmed countless times.

The other party did not leave, nor did they send out any alchemical creations to investigate.

Everything seemed "normal," but for some reason, Valcke had a creepy feeling about it.

It was as if the black-haired mage was silently "watching" everything outside through the thick, cold rock walls.

No, to be more precise, he seemed to have been "watching" the movements of the leader, Caesar!

Valcke recalled the surveillance footage he had recorded the previous night.

A chilling synchronicity emerges.

Whenever Caesar moved to personally inspect an exit.

The movement trajectory of the forest ghost inside the cave will undergo subtle changes.

Move to the position closest to Caesar in a straight line.

On the most recent occasion, his figure could even be glimpsed from outside the cave entrance.

He was like someone on an invisible chessboard, adjusting his position according to his opponent's moves.

Valcke hesitated to report the discovery.

However, all the data and probes indicate that the other side did not use any known reconnaissance methods.

"Could it be... soul detection?"

An absurd thought flashed through his mind, which he immediately dismissed.

Soul magic is the most profound and difficult to learn of all magic.

How could a mid-level high-ranking mage possibly master it?

The opponent's levitation technique alone was enough to shock this group of mages.

Shake off unrealistic thoughts from your mind.

However, Valk simply couldn't explain the other party's strange behavior as a coincidence.

After pondering for a while without reaching a conclusion, Valcke had no choice but to put it aside for the time being.

We are preparing to send alchemical creatures again to probe the enemy's location.

Valck took out a sound transmission stone from his pocket.

A common communication tool that, although it has a short range, does not require the laying of cables like a telephone.

As long as the other party has a matching communication stone, they can make a call.

"Carlos, send out another set of gophers to check again."

He contacted his partner who was in charge of using gophers to search for the animals.

After a long pause, a brief reply came from the other end: "Okay."

Valck frowned; he had waited for almost two minutes before the other person spoke.

Something's not right.

"Where have you been? Did you desert your post again to harass your tiger-man slave?"

"...Yes." The person on the other end paused for a moment before coughing. "I'm not going to say anything more. I'll go investigate."

Valck called out a few more times, but found that the other party no longer responded.

Strange, why is Carlos so cold today?

Normally, he would have already boasted about his "extraordinary talent" in that area.

He switched to a different communication stone and contacted another mage in charge of tracking.

The other party's response was equally brief and indifferent.

The responses to the several communications varied slightly.

Yet they all carried the same sense of alienation that Valcke felt.

Anxiety spread through my heart.

Valk instructed the mage maintaining the barrier around him to keep an eye on it.

He then quickly climbed up, crossed a sloping earthen bank, and looked towards the entrances of the other mine pits.

Then he saw a scene that shocked him to the core.

The rebels who were supposed to be tightly surrounding the cave entrance had all disappeared.

All 200-plus brothers who were responsible for exporting have disappeared!

"????"

Just then, a specially marked sound transmission stone in his pocket lit up with a dazzling red light.

Caesar's anxious voice came from within.

"Valk! Tell me their location!"

"We turned it upside down, but we couldn't find a single person!"

"Didn't you assure me that the three of them never left your sight?!"

A voice exactly like his own rang out from behind him almost simultaneously, reporting clearly to the communication stone.

"Chief, they are indeed inside, right here... in Mine Area 3."

"Hurry up and surround them. They're hiding in a crevice in the rocks at the top of the mine. They're very well concealed."

Valck's pupils contracted sharply; he didn't utter a single word!

This is... a basic form of magic: voice changing!

A cold dagger was silently placed against his neck.

A deep voice sounded in his ear: "Don't make a sound."

The communication stone at his waist lit up, and Caesar's response came through.

"Okay, got it."

The light then went out.

The next second, a heavy force struck the back of his neck.

Valcke's vision went black, and he completely lost consciousness.