Hello, is this a letter addressed to Demon Fortress?

Shea's voice echoed through the quiet street.

Meeting the gazes that were either astonished or still wary, she took a deep breath and began to speak.

"I come from the Forest of Elves."

Her voice trembled slightly, yet remained clear.

"On my 25th birthday..."

"My bloodline... has awakened unexpectedly."

She seemed to see that day's scene again before her eyes.

A grand ceremony, surrounded by family and friends, bathed in moonlight like a veil.

Then, without warning.

A burning, stinging pain shot through my eyes.

Everything in sight was instantly shrouded in a lingering crimson hue.

All the surrounding congratulations and laughter came to an abrupt halt.

It turned into a terrified gasp, and an undisguised disgust.

"My eyes... are right under everyone's gaze."

"It changed from emerald green to its current red color."

The days that followed were like falling into an ice cave.

Former close friends kept their distance, looking at them as if they were monsters.

The respected mentor's eyes held only cold scrutiny, which eventually transformed into a chilling killing intent.

"They say I have defiled the noble blood of the elves."

"It's a stain that must be removed."

She pursed her pale lips.

"No trial, no chance to defend oneself."

"I was stripped of all honors and my weapons were confiscated."

"Like a stray dog... I was driven out of the Elf Forest in a sorry state."

Her voice grew softer and softer, each word imbued with the despair she had once felt.

"After that... I was a wanderer."

"In human city-states, half-demons are worse than wild dogs."

"They were spitting at, driven away, and stoned...nowhere would take them in."

"It seems like there's nowhere for me in the whole world."

Shia raised her head, her bloodshot eyes churning with deep pain and loneliness.

She paused for a moment, as if recalling a small but crucial instant.

"Until one day... at the entrance of a dirty alley in a human city-state."

"I heard several human children playing and singing a nursery rhyme."

She closed her eyes, and her ethereal voice softly rang out.

The song drifted softly in the cool morning air:

"Beneath the crown untouched by moonlight, blood drenches the branches of power."

"Legend has it that on the other side there is a city called Avalon, where there is no oppression, and no distinction between the poor and the lowly."

"The shadow of evil cannot reach, the bells of freedom toll day and night..."

Her singing voice was soft, yet it possessed a strange penetrating power, as if it could penetrate into people's hearts.

The tense atmosphere around us gradually relaxed.

The residents, carrying farm tools, gradually replaced their wary expressions with a look of bewilderment and reminiscence.

Many of them seemed to be touched by these familiar words.

The singing stopped.

Shea opened her eyes, a hint of self-mockery and bitterness in them.

"It was just a nursery rhyme that a child sang unintentionally..."

"But I grasped at it like a lifeline and memorized it firmly."

"I feel ridiculous at the same time, but I can't help but fantasize..."

"Could such a city-state... really exist?"

Her voice was choked with emotion.

"It's just a children's rhyme!"

"Yet it became my... greatest wish."

She took a deep breath and slowly scanned the area in front of her.

She glanced at the human woman who was protecting her behind her.

He swept his gaze across the orc holding a pitchfork and sporting ram horns on his head.

He glanced at the goblin who stood nervously in front of him.

He swept over each resident, subtly protecting Winnie with their bodies or weapons.

Finally, her gaze fell back on the green-haired, timid half-demon forest elf.

The pain and loneliness in his bloodshot eyes receded like the tide.

Instead, there was a shimmering, almost scorching light.

The residents across the street don't know.

Their unintentional act greatly shocked Shea.

"I always thought Avalon only existed in fantasy."

"but……"

Her voice was soft, yet incredibly clear, carrying a sense of certainty that everything had finally settled.

"But it really exists."

Winnie, protected by a large group of residents, stared blankly at Shea.

Every word Xia said was like a pebble thrown into the still lake of her heart.

The pain of being driven away, the suffering of being homeless, the despair of being rejected by no one...

How similar it is to her own past.

However, I seem to be... much luckier.

Winnie couldn't help but take a small step forward, her fingers curling nervously.

She looked at Shia and asked softly, her voice gentle yet clear:

"That poem... was written by Miss Hannah a long time ago when she traveled across the continent."

"Could it be that you are also...?"

A cautious glimmer of expectation appeared in her eyes.

"Following the song of Avalon, and guided by Miss Hannah..."

"Have you found any new residents here?"

Since Mr. Rogge, Avalon has not had any new members join for a long time.

Hannah stopped traveling and returned with new residents.

If possible, Winnie would also like Shia to join in.

Because their experiences are so similar.

"No."

A cold, dry voice suddenly broke in.

"They are not."

The owner of the voice slowly walked out from behind the automatically parting crowd.

That was a standard, pure-blooded demon.

He was tall and thin, with a sickly pale complexion.

Two curved, dark-screwed horns on its head.

His eyes were pure blood red, cold and sharp.

The exposed skin on the cheeks and arms was covered with a layer of dark, armor-like natural keratin.

Behind it, a pair of folded leather bat wings, their edges gleaming with a metallic dark red sheen.

His arrival immediately drew respect from the surrounding residents, along with... a barely perceptible hint of fear.

The crowd silently parted to the sides, making way for a path.

Behind the demon man were several well-equipped warriors dressed in simple leather armor.

There were humans, orcs, and even a tall goblin.

Their eyes were sharp, their steps were synchronized, and they were clearly well-trained and exceptionally skilled.

Even the weakest among them possessed extraordinary lower-level strength, making them completely different from the ordinary residents around them who carried farm tools.

The demon man walked straight up to Winnie.

His blood-red eyes seemed to soften for a moment when he looked at the green-haired forest elf.

He reached out and gently ruffled Winnie's hair with his calloused fingers.

"Winnie, step back."

His voice remained cold, but he softened his tone considerably when speaking to Winnie.

"Don't go near them."

Winnie shrank back slightly, nodded obediently, and retreated behind the demon man.

Immediately afterwards, the soldiers who had followed them stepped forward and quickly and orderly replaced the original residents.

"Clang," "Clang"

The crisp sound of metal being drawn from its sheath rang out one after another.

They drew their longswords and battle axes from their waists or backs with clean and swift movements.

In an instant, a much tighter and more menacing encirclement was formed.

The cold blade, reflecting a chilling light in the gradually brightening morning light, locked onto Lin Gui and his two companions in the center.

The demon man in the lead targeted the strongest one, Shia.

His blood-red pupils contracted slightly, as if he were carefully sensing something.

Then, a cold, emotionless smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

"A half-demon elf?"

His voice reached everyone's ears clearly, carrying an undeniable certainty.

"The pure demonic energy emanating from you..."

"It's not something that just anyone of mixed race can have."

He raised his hand and pointed at Shia, his fingertips seemingly gleaming with a cold, sharp edge.

"You're not a half-demon at all."

"You are someone who has awakened the power of your bloodline..."

"The demon prince's heir."

"A direct descendant of the Seventy-Two Demon Kings."

The moment the words fell.

The entire street fell into a deathly silence.

The residents who had previously shown sympathy and lowered their guard because of Shia's story...

The expression on his face froze instantly.

Immediately, it was replaced by a stronger shock, disbelief, and a rapidly spreading, deep-seated fear and rejection.

"A demon...a demon king's...offspring?"

The middle-aged woman holding the hoe let go of it, and the farm tool fell to the ground with a "clatter".

The horned beastman half-demon's eyes widened, and he unconsciously took a half step back.

Even the husky werewolf who was always clueless.

At that moment, it let out a low "woof" sound and tucked its tail between its legs.

Winnie covered her mouth, her eyes filled with confusion and panic.

She looked at Shia, then at the demon man in front of her, at a loss for what to do.

The warmth and expectation of shared suffering had just begun to rise.

The words "Demon Prince's Heir" seemed to have been doused with a bucket of ice water.

Instead, there is an instinctive alienation and fear when facing a higher level and a purer "other".

The demon man slowly drew his weapon from his waist.

The blade gleamed with an ominous dark light, aimed directly at Shia.

"Now, tell me."

Who exactly are you?

"What exactly do you want to do in Avalon?"

His strength is truly extraordinary.

He was clearly superior to the other three in terms of rank.

But... the demon man's hands were already sweating profusely.

No one has ever come to Avalon without a lord leading the way.

Those enemies who tried to cross the Hall of Wailing, whether legendary or epic, all perished outside!

How the hell did they get through this?!