Hello, is this a letter addressed to Demon Fortress?

The airship slowly ventured deeper into the water.

The oppressive atmosphere suddenly changed.

Even the [Clarity Spell] enhanced by Lin Gui couldn't completely mask the feeling of mental derangement.

Chaotic whispers sprouted directly in my mind.

"It's so cold..."

"Stay..."

"Together……"

The fog in sight was tinged with a thick, blood-red hue.

Unlike the outer areas, this realm contains a greater number of spirit demons.

They float aimlessly like drifting phosphorescent lights.

They seem to particularly "enjoy" this realm where the spirit is wantonly distorted.

Lin Gui never looked up from beginning to end.

His [Eyes of the Underworld] were locked tightly on the ground just inches below the flying boat.

The field of vision was deliberately limited to a very small area.

He dared not "look" at them.

Eye contact may spark unnecessary "interest".

However, it was precisely because of his lowered gaze and completely restrained aura.

Some wandering spirits began to slowly gather around the flying boat.

They kept a distance, as if observing some novel but harmless inanimate object.

Shia's breathing became rapid and shallow.

She heard countless overlapping sighs and murmurs coming from all directions.

"Look...a living thing..."

"Hehe...skin and flesh so delicate...hehe..."

"Waaah... I'm so hungry..."

The voice was sticky and cold, drilling straight into her brain and sending chills down her spine.

Eve tightened her arms around Shia.

Her eyes were closed, her lips trembled slightly, and her face was pale.

Silently fighting against the eerie echoes that are eroding my mind.

Strangely, the eerie sound was getting closer and closer.

But not a single spirit actually stepped forward to attack.

Within the absolute domain of this epic lord.

All demons maintain a fragile, tacit "calm".

They were clearly in the most dangerous center of the nest.

The atmosphere, however, presented an eerie, fragile "dead silence and peace."

It was as if all mortal enemies were sitting together on a barrel full of gunpowder.

No one dared, nor was willing, to be the first to ignite a spark.

Right at that moment!

suddenly!

Those eerie sighs and murmurs that had permeated every nook and cranny came to an abrupt halt.

It was as if it had been cut in two by a single stroke.

Dead silence.

Absolute silence descended.

At the edge of Lin Gui's [Eye of the Netherworld] limited field of vision, he could "see".

The surrounding spirits and demons, whether they were low-ranking heroes, mid-ranking heroes, or even low-ranking legends, were all present.

At this moment, they were all prostrate on the ground in an almost humble posture.

Some resemble monitor lizards with many legs, burying their heads deep into rock crevices.

Some resembled twisted human figures, curled up in a ball, trembling.

Others were just thick black shadows, clinging to the ground, their outlines barely discernible.

Lin Gui immediately stopped the flying boat.

Maneuver it to touch the ground silently and hover at a height of less than a foot above the ground.

He narrowed his eyes to a very thin slit, his gaze moving upwards cautiously and extremely slowly.

Then he saw it.

Several enormous, translucent, dark purple tentacles.

It was falling slowly from the thick fog high above.

From far to near.

Each tentacle was larger than the width of the airship, and its surface was covered with a viscous, soul-like shimmer.

Lin Gui didn't dare to look up and see the complete body of the man with the whiskers.

At the last moment, he silently closed his eyes.

At the same time, completely relax your body and suppress all magical fluctuations to the minimum.

His right hand reached back and accurately caught Shia's trembling hand as she reached for the dagger at her waist.

He pressed down hard, forcefully.

At the same time, his left index finger was already gently resting on the start button of the wind pressure cannon.

All the muscles in his body were tense, like a fully drawn bowstring.

Be prepared to deal with any... even the smallest unexpected event.

Time seemed to stretch out infinitely at that moment.

Lin Gui could even clearly hear the violent, drum-like pounding of Xia's heart behind him.

"Thump...thump...thump..."

Slow, heavy, with a resonance of fear.

The surrounding fog instantly became as thick as blood.

A viscous, dark red color filled every inch of the space.

A series of indescribable, eerie sounds, seemingly rubbing directly against the soul, approached from afar.

"Buzz………………"

That wasn't a sound; it was more like a low-frequency vibration that caused space to tremble.

Accompanied by an absolute pressure powerful enough to crush the spirit of ordinary people, it slowly rolled across this area.

All the prostrate demons and spirits trembled even more violently.

Even the faint blue or grayish-white spiritual light on their bodies flickered and waned under this oppression, as if it might be extinguished at any moment.

That terrifying being was above them...

I passed by slowly.

Then...

The suffocating sense of oppression and the low murmur that rubbed against the soul gradually faded away.

Ultimately, it disappeared completely.

It looked as if a giant deep-sea whale was slowly swimming beneath a small boat.

They didn't stop, not even glance at us.

The thick red fog began to fade, turning back to its original grayish-white color.

The surrounding deathly silence was once again permeated by those subtle, chaotic whispers.

Those prostrate, demonic spirits were like creatures on a beach after the tide has receded.

Slowly and tentatively, I stretched my body out again.

They resumed wandering, but their movements seemed stiffer and more frightened than before.

On the airship, Lin Gui kept his eyes closed, and after several seconds, he slowly exhaled a hot breath.

He held Xia's hand down, loosening his grip slightly.

"It's gone..." His voice was hoarse and barely audible.

Shea was almost completely exhausted, her back covered in cold sweat.

"What...what exactly is that?" she asked in a trembling voice, her heart still pounding.

Lin Gui remained silent for a moment, a complex glint flashing in his gray eyes.

A name, accompanied by yellowed illustrations and scribbled notes on a worn-out book, came to mind.

"If the fragments of that 'Annihilation Chronicles' are correct..."

He spoke in a low voice, his tone carrying an almost absurd solemnity.

"We just passed by..."

"It's 'Soul Eater Apophis'."

"A spirit demon that only exists in ancient legends."

"They are among the few confirmed to have been nurtured solely by 'resentment' and 'death'..."

"Innate Soul Demon Lord".

"It possessed epic-level strength from the moment it was born."

"......"

Lin Gui remained silent for a while, his expression somewhat strange.

He spoke in a low voice, as if recalling something:

"That fragment of a book unearthed from an ancient tomb... it says..."

Shea and Eve both looked at him.

"Soul Devourer Apophis..."

Lin Gui paused, his tone carrying an unbelievable absurdity.

"...has a very gentle temperament."

"In a distant era, it was once the 'guardian' of a certain village."

"It feeds on the evil spirits and resentment that linger around the village."

"The living who guarded that land have been sleeping peacefully for hundreds of years."

Upon hearing this, Xia's eyes widened instantly, and her mouth opened slightly.

"Guardians...?"

She turned her head to look at the desolate area where the red mist had not yet completely dissipated.

He turned back to look at Lin Gui, his face clearly saying, "Are you kidding me?"

"Tell me... about that monster that almost crushed our spirits..."

"He used to be... a 'gentle village guardian'?!"

Her voice unconsciously rose slightly, filled with a sense of absurdity.

"That book...it's probably fake, isn't it?"