Hello, is this a letter addressed to Demon Fortress?

The next few days.

Lin Gui felt like he was back in his previous life, during his university final exam week.

That kind of despair, where I was overwhelmed by papers and exams, working day and night, and feeling like my soul was leaving my body, descended once again.

His daily routine became both bizarre and regular.

To accommodate these "special customers," the post office was remodeled by ghost craftsmen.

In front of the counter, there are several slightly recessed, polished stone tracks.

At that moment, a glass bead rolled "gurgle" to the edge of the counter on a track and came to a stop.

Lin Gui sighed and put down the pen that had been burning hot from writing.

A faint gray light flashed in his eyes, and [Eyes of the Underworld] was activated.

In front of the counter, the ghost of a middle-aged man dressed in tattered work clothes with a sorrowful face slowly appeared.

"Thank you, Master," he said timidly, his soul somewhat unstable.

"Where should it be sent? To whom? What should it say?"

Lin Gui picked up a new pen and paper, his tone practiced, even somewhat numb.

"Send it to... Ironforge in the north, to the third smelting district of the outer city, to my wife Trish."

"I should have been in Ironforge that day."

"But there is a nobleman in Blackwater who wants to build a mansion."

"For this job, the guild spent a lot of money to hire the Golden Adventurer Group to escort me and the other workers."

"We came here from Ironforge."

"But who knew, the Kuroshio Current would arrive."

The male ghost had a hoarse voice.

"We've been separated for over a decade."

"If you find her, Master."

"Just say...just say I've wronged her."

"I shouldn't have taken that long trip out of spite back then."

Tell her that I hid three silver coins under the third brick from the left under the bed, to buy her a new dress.

"And... tell her not to wait for me anymore, and to marry a good man she meets."

"Um... if she also becomes a ghost, it seems she won't be able to get married, cough cough."

"I'm sorry, Master, it's been too long since I've spoken to a living person."

"So I might be a bit of a chatterbox."

"Anyway, if she's still alive... ah, no, if she's dead... uh, no, that's not right."

"Anyway, you tell her for me."

"I love her."

He spoke slowly, while Lin Gui wrote very quickly.

After writing it down, read it aloud to check.

The male ghost nodded, his figure slowly fading away, and the glass bead silently rolled toward the collection track beside him.

It then slid down from the counter, rolled around on the tracks, and finally left the post office.

Lin Gui sealed the letter he had written, tossed it into the basket beside him, and pressed the bell next to him.

"bite."

A crisp bell rang.

The next glass bead immediately rolled onto the track with a "gurgling" sound.

Repeatedly.

During the day, we receive these spirits who are determined to deliver their last words.

That evening, with Eve's help and the assistance of several wandering spirits, they sorted, categorized, and packaged the backlog of letters.

The operation of the Blackwater City Post Office proceeded slowly in this absurd, quiet yet busy rhythm.

Meanwhile, in Lin Gui's system panel, the number of letters waiting to be sent was climbing at a dizzying speed.

The process is tedious, but not boring.

Lin Gui would often stop writing and listen quietly.

Listen to those fragments that have finally been told after more than a decade.

What truly moved him was not merely the longing expressed between the lines.

Rather, it was the longing that led to this longing, and even caused these residents to take on their current form.

That black tide was called "The End of Silence".

Akara's 12th Black Tide - The End of Silence.

Through the narratives of each spirit, the scene of despair from that day is gradually pieced together.

"...It looked like there was a hole in the sky, but there was no sound."

"A ghost who used to be a teahouse owner murmured."

"First there was silence, an eerie silence. Then, the fog rolled in."

"It's not ordinary fog... it's alive, it 'swallows' things."

"The city is in an uproar!" a young city defense soldier's spirit exclaimed excitedly.

"Wealthy gentlemen and nobles are crowding onto the transport fleet's airships like madmen!"

"One seat... 100,000 gold coins! Later... even a million wouldn't sell!"

"They only brought their own family members, leaving even the butler and servants behind..."

"I was holding my child, trying to squeeze onto the North Wind Caravan's ground-going ship..."

A spirit resembling a mother was weeping softly.

"They hit my hands with sticks...the child cried..."

"As the ship's doors closed, I saw a noble lady inside, holding a dog in her arms..."

Her voice gradually faded, turning into a sob.

"The magic tower lit up for a while, then went completely dark."

An elderly, ghostly sorcerer said in a low voice.

"The legendary mages tried to raise the barrier... but it shattered like glass as soon as it rose."

"He fell from the top of the tower, coughing up blood... and never got up again."

"The mage on the tower seemed to have seen some kind of monster, and was so frightened that he died on the spot."

"Run? Where to run?"

An old, lame craftsman smiled bitterly.

"It was foggy on all sides. The city gates? They were packed with people; more people were trampled to death than were swallowed by the fog."

"I hid in the cellar... and when I woke up, this was it."

Lin Gui silently took notes.

The pen tip scratched across the paper, making a soft, rustling sound.

He seemed to see how that once prosperous hub city-state would fall into madness and despair in an instant.

Seeing the privileged use money to pave their way to survival, while abandoning the vast majority of people in a spreading desolation.

They saw that magic and power were utterly powerless in the face of beings on a higher level.

To see how ordinary lives, as insignificant as dust, are crushed, before even a cry can be uttered.

This is not a natural disaster.

This is a naked, apocalyptic selection process concerning class, resources, and power.

After the selection process, what remains are the countless souls wandering in the ruins, lacking even the strength to write.

Their letters were not just expressions of longing.

It is an accusation.

It was the final, unuttered lament.

ironnically.

Those who ultimately "survived"...

On the contrary, it was these ordinary residents who were abandoned in the city back then and had no way to escape.

Those who, through their power, wealth, and strength, were the first to board the escape vehicles.

"They all turned into things that roam outside."

The spirit of an old soldier who had guarded the city gates in his previous life spoke with unwavering resolve.

"Those 'Soulless Demons'... they are the ones who transformed."

When Lin Gui first heard these words, his pen stopped, and he froze on the spot.

He thought it was just a delusion or a rumor born of despair.

Regarding the origin of demons, there is indeed a hypothesis in academia that they originated from "the transformation of devoured living beings".

But the numbers don't match up at all.

The total number of beings in the Golden Age was only a little over three billion, while the number of demons in the wild today is conservatively estimated to be in the tens of billions.

How is that possible?

However, there was more than one "witness".

"I saw it with my own eyes!"

A ghost who used to be a roof repairman gestured excitedly to the name.

"The luxury airship from the 'Silverwing' Chamber of Commerce to the north has barely crossed three miles from the city walls!"

"They were pulled down by an invisible 'hand' that reached out from the gray fog!"

"The boat shattered, and the people who crawled out... their bodies began to melt and elongate..."

"Finally, it turned into a floating, faceless shadow!"

"Then it disappeared!!"

His voice was trembling.

"Yes! The West Gate too!"

A woman's spirit spoke up, her tone urgent.

"The Baron Rodel family, with more than a dozen carts of treasure, intend to use the Knights to clear a path and break through."

"As soon as we entered the fog, people, horses, and carriages... melted away like candles."

"Then... from that puddle of stuff, several semi-transparent monsters wielding swords stood up..."

"They turned back and began to slaughter those who had escaped through the city gates..."

More and more spirits are joining the narrative.

Every detail corroborates the previous one.

They witnessed it firsthand:

The airship that escaped the city walls crashed, and the convoy disappeared.

How the people inside twisted and mutated in the mist, eventually turning into mindless, hunting-driven demonic spirits.

And the first thing these newly born demons often do is...

He turned and lunged at his compatriots who were fleeing Blackwater City.

Strangely, not a single demon crawled into the city.