Hello, is this a letter addressed to Demon Fortress?

Shia's command, "Come out, all of you!" echoed through the empty mine.

But apart from the faint sounds she made while holding Caesar hostage, there was no other response.

The shadows remained silent, as if the venomous snake and the black scorpion had never existed.

The assassination attempt just now was all an illusion.

Shea clicked her tongue, not surprised at all.

She knew the assassins' creed very well.

The mission is paramount; the lives of comrades are also dispensable once the mission is exposed.

A rescue attempt would only lead to greater losses, or even total annihilation.

They must be hiding in the shadows right now, like lurking venomous snakes.

Waiting for any possible opening to launch a fatal blow.

The forest ghost above saw this.

Just as he was about to use the [Night Veil] to shroud Shia and Caesar together again.

Isolate from potential attacks.

However, Caesar, with a dagger pressed against his throat, suddenly spoke.

He endured the excruciating pain from his severed arm and the force of Shia's energy blasting through his body.

His voice was hoarse, yet carried an unusual calmness.

He said to the surrounding shadows, "Come out, all of you."

They are preparing to gather strength and look for an opportunity to launch a second assassination.

The venomous snake and the black scorpion, who were trying to rescue the leader or at least retrieve the artifact, froze in their tracks.

The concealed auras were momentarily disrupted.

This is against the rules.

The assassins were exposed, especially their leader who was captured.

The best course of action is to evacuate immediately or find an opportunity to silence them; there is absolutely no reason for them to show themselves.

Assassins exposed to view can be easily dealt with by anyone except support classes like priests.

Caesar knew their doubts, took a breath, and emphasized his words.

"They have someone backing them! If they don't want to be wiped out, they'd better come out... and meet their guests!"

"Is there someone else behind this?"

The venomous snake and the black scorpion frowned.

But then, as if they had thought of something, their pupils contracted slightly.

This is not a simple command; it's a code.

The code to activate the "Final Plan," whose details even they didn't know, and which only Caesar and Lengmian knew.

Caesar had mentioned it cryptically.

Once this plan is launched, it will surely kill the saintess and turn the tide!

Although my heart was filled with doubt and unease.

However, their long-established habit of obedience and their almost blind trust in Caesar led them to choose to obey.

Two figures emerged from the shadows.

It was a poisonous snake and a black scorpion.

Their faces were grave, and their eyes scanned their surroundings warily.

Especially Shia and the empty space behind her.

Almost at the same time that the venomous snake and the black scorpion appeared.

Elvia's figure also appeared out of nowhere next to Shia.

She moved with lightning speed, snatching the black wooden box containing the so-called "divine artifact" from Shia's feet.

Elvia holds a wooden box in her hands.

She sneered and lightly kicked Caesar, who was kneeling on the ground, with the tip of her foot:

"Caesar, at this point, what tricks are you trying to pull? Where's the cold noodles? Tell him to come out here too!"

Caesar showed no fear whatsoever.

Instead, he forced a distorted smile and obediently said.

"Very well, as you wish, Princess Elvia."

His attitude sent a strong sense of unease through Elvia's heart.

Even though the artifact box has been taken away, why is he still so calm?

Without hesitation, she abruptly lifted the lid of the box!

There was no dagger inside, nor the one that was expected to be wreathed in runes and radiate terrifying energy.

There was only a small, unremarkable knife, even somewhat rusty.

The moment the lid was lifted, Caesar mustered all his strength and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Cold Noodles! Activate the [Soul-Slaying Blade] now!!"

"Sia! Kill him!"

Elvia realized she had fallen into a trap, her expression changed drastically, and she shouted angrily at Shea.

However, Shia's hand holding the dagger remained as steady as a rock.

There was absolutely no intention to cut it off.

Her gaze remained cold as she swept across her surroundings.

They seemed to be on guard against the "cold noodles" who had never shown up.

Shia's actions made Elvia both anxious and angry.

She couldn't help but push Xia, and said urgently in a low voice.

"What are you doing?! The artifact isn't with him! We've been tricked! Kill him quickly, let's hide and run!"

Although Elvia didn't know exactly what the [Soul-Slaying Blade] was.

However, as long as it is a divine artifact, its power is something they cannot withstand by brute force.

Shea remained unmoved, only replying indifferently.

"It's alright, Lin Gui anticipated this."

"Clam???"

Elvia's eyes widened in disbelief.

"He anticipated this? Why didn't I know? Why didn't he tell me?!"

Shea glanced at her speechlessly.

Why would you tell important information to someone who incites others to stab you in the back?

Elvia: "..."

She felt as if she had been stabbed in the chest without her noticing, and it took her a long time to finally speak out angrily.

"Has your trust in me reached its absolute lowest point?!"

Caesar, who was being held hostage, heard Shea say, "Lin Gui had foreseen this."

My heart sank at first, followed by a surge of anger at being looked down upon.

He suddenly let out a hoarse, cold laugh.

"Was this anticipated?"

"Arrogant! You have no idea what the Soul-Slaying Blade is! You have no idea what kind of power it possesses!"

He tried to turn his head to look at Shia and Elvia.

His eyes were filled with mockery and an almost insane confidence.

"Do you know how that legendary duke who guarded Twilight Fortress was brought down?"

"It's all thanks to that! Just one strike!"

"A single strike shattered his legendary aura and severely damaged his soul!"

"Even if he's not dead now, he's a cripple clinging to life!"

"you……!"

Elvia was shocked by the information revealed in Caesar's words, and then she was filled with boundless rage.

"Do you know what you're doing?!"

"The Dusk Fortress guarded by that duke is a crucial gateway against the demonic tides of the northwest coast!"

"He's fallen, how long can the fortress hold out?"

"The demon horde is advancing unimpeded; it won't be long before they reach the outskirts of the capital!"

"How many people will die this time?! Do you even know?!"

"I know! Of course I know!"

Caesar seemed to have all his suppressed anger and despair ignited.

He stopped looking at Elvia and instead roared at the dim dome.

It's as if it's questioning this unjust world.

"But so what?!"

"Do you know what we've been through?! Do you know what true despair is?!"

"The feeling of starving to death! You high and mighty nobles will never understand!"

His voice was filled with tearful accusations.

"Ten years ago! That winter!"

"The Kuroshio Current tributary has just receded, and the remote region is now facing a drought unlike any other in a century!"

"Farms failed completely, and cannibalism was not just a legend!"

"My father, my sister... starved to death right before my eyes! They were just skin and bones!"

"And what about you?!" He glared at Elvia, his eyes like those of a demon.

"The capital's granaries are overflowing with grain, and even the leftover swill from noble banquets sells for a gold coin per pound!"

"Those knights riding tall horses, their swords are not pointed at demons, but at commoners begging for food!"

"The sewers were filled with the corpses of starved infants, and the refugees on the seventh floor were barely surviving by gnawing on tree bark and eating clay!"

"That's how it is; none of you are willing to share your full granaries!"

"Why? Because you're afraid!"

"I'm afraid this disaster will last for who knows how long, and I'm afraid that if the food is distributed, you yourselves won't have anything to eat!"

"You'd rather let the food rot in the warehouse than use it to save even a single life!"

"What's the harm in destroying such a capital city! Such nobles! Such a world?!"

Caesar roared as if he were in a frenzy.

"As long as we can tear these bloodsucking parasites apart, as long as we can make them taste the despair we have experienced."

"Even if it means the entire capital city is wiped out, I'm willing to do it!!"

Elvia was speechless, stunned by his bloody accusations.

That winter ten years ago... Of course she knew.

That was the most tragic year in the Kingdom of Carter in nearly a thousand years.

The wounds of war had not yet healed when natural disasters struck one after another.

The royal family and nobles chose self-preservation and indifference.

And it was at that time that she was.

With the limited resources at hand, some limited charity was carried out in the lower levels of the capital.

They gained fame and initial support, and established their own intelligence network.

At this moment, we listen to Caesar's accusations.

Recalling the scene from back then.

An unprecedented sense of shame overwhelmed her.

She had always known the ruthlessness of the aristocracy.

But never before have I felt so clearly and so deeply the despair and weight pressing down on the spines of ordinary people.

She could even imagine it.

If Lin Gui heard these things, how cold and disdainful would he look at her?

Dirty, filthy...

She seemed to be looking through a pair of invisible eyes that belonged to Lin Gui.

They saw beneath their glamorous exterior the deep-rooted, ugly essence belonging to the aristocratic class.

This made the seventh princess, who always considered herself the most beautiful woman in the capital, feel ashamed.

I felt a deep sense of fear and trembling.

Meanwhile, on the other side, listening to Caesar's frantic accusations against the viper and the scorpion, a deeper doubt crept into their hearts.

A single blow crippled the legendary duke?

If the Soul-Slaying Blade truly possesses such power.

What about Caesar's earlier statement that "the other brothers all died in the Duke's dying counterattack"?

Before they could figure out the contradiction,

A very faint, strange smell with a slightly sweet and fishy odor quietly entered their nasal cavity.

Followed by.

"puff!"

"Ugh!"

The venomous snake and the black scorpion almost simultaneously felt an unbearable pain in their chests.

It felt as if my heart was being gripped tightly by an invisible hand!

They suddenly knelt down and opened their mouths uncontrollably.

He vomited large mouthfuls of dark-colored blood!

The two clutched their chests, struggled to lift their heads, their faces filled with disbelief and horror.

It's poison! The poison in their bodies has erupted.

Was it Caesar who poisoned him?! But why did he choose this crucial moment...?