Hello, is this a letter addressed to Demon Fortress?

On the road.

Luo Youyou tried hard to recall the route leading to that hidden mine tunnel.

He quickly recounted the known distribution of demons along the way and the dangers they might encounter.

At the same time, her cat-like eyes looked around curiously, full of wonder.

After all, it was her first time sitting on a floating raft.

"I'm flying, meow... Is this what it feels like to fly?"

At this moment, she was firmly bound with strong ropes and placed at the very front of the raft to act as a guide.

Although Lin Gui accepted her commission, he had almost no trust in her.

To prevent this catgirl assassin from stabbing us in the back halfway through.

Shea and Elvia "politely" asked her to cooperate beforehand, and tied her up tightly.

Luo Youyou was very cooperative, and even added a professional remark while being tied up.

"When tying your wrists, you should tie them up like this, right, tie the knot here, so it's harder for me to break free, meow."

Below the withered rift valley, rafts swiftly and silently traverse the intricate network of ancient mine tunnels.

These are said to be a dense, bottomless network of mine tunnels.

It was originally built by the legendary "Digging Dwarves" or an even more ancient race that lived deep underground.

Later, during the Dark Ages, it was expanded and occupied by the hyena tribe.

During the Golden Age, countless adventurers came to the Rift Valley to explore and search for treasure.

Even the capital city sent troops to investigate several times.

Although the legendary underground city has never been discovered.

But one ancient site after another was unearthed.

Magical equipment, magical artifacts, rare materials, ancient scrolls, lost forging techniques... every discovery ignites a new wave of exploration.

Although most of the known relics had already been excavated by the pioneers of that era.

But there are always deeper, more hidden relics that have not yet been discovered.

Lorna was heading to such an unmarked site.

"Those exposed magic crystals are extremely pure. If they had been discovered during the Golden Age, they would never have survived until now," Luo Youyou added.

"Watch out! We're about to exit the mine tunnel and enter the area above the crevice!" Luo Youyou suddenly warned, her ears perking up alertly.

"Swarms of bloodthirsty bat demons are gathering on the cliff face of the rift valley!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the raft "whooshed" out of the dark mine tunnel, and the view suddenly opened up.

The sun blazed down, and below lay a bottomless abyss.

On the opposite cliff face, countless enormous, black, sac-like nests hang.

Countless bloodthirsty bats crawled and wriggled on it, emitting chilling hiss.

There are at least tens of thousands of them, forming a small-scale "black nest"!

The appearance of the raft instantly attracted the attention of the bat demon!

"Watch out, meow!!!"

Countless bat demons, like a swarm of bees startled, fluttered about instantly.

It transformed into a dark, ominous cloud and hurtled toward the raft!

Lin Gui's eyes narrowed, and he waved his staff.

Just as the raft was about to plunge into the opposite mine entrance.

[Floating Technique] Precisely grab a giant rock at the cave entrance and pull sharply after the raft enters!

"Boom!"

The boulder fell, temporarily blocking the cave entrance.

However, how can rocks stop someone with at least mid-level strength?

And such a terrifying number of bat demons?

Just a few breaths later.

It was accompanied by a deafening roar and flying debris.

The swarm of bats broke through the barriers and poured into the mine tunnel.

Like a black tide, it chased after the raft!

Luo Youyou turned around and saw the terrifying tide of demons, and screamed in fright.

A wooden cane tapped her on the head, neither too hard nor too soft.

"Watch the road! We've reached the fork in the road, which way to go!" Lin Gui's voice remained calm.

"Left! Left side!! Hey, Master Mage, hurry up and cast a concealment spell, meow!!" Luo Youyou's tail was trembling with anxiety.

"Need not."

Behind her, Elvia stood up.

Even on the floating raft, she remained as steady as a rock.

She drew her sword, and the energy of a high-ranking knight surged wildly into the blade, emitting a dazzling platinum-gold light.

"In the name of knights, sweep away the darkness!"

With a sharp cry, she unleashed a condensed golden sword aura that slashed out like a crescent moon!

It wasn't aimed at the bat demon, but rather struck the rock wall of the mine tunnel behind everyone!

"BOOM—!!!"

A deafening roar, ten times louder than the one from when the boulder blocked the way, rang out!

The incredibly powerful sword energy instantly destroyed the structural load-bearing points of the mine tunnel, triggering a chain reaction.

Large sections of the mine tunnel collapsed with a deafening roar, and rocks rained down, completely burying and isolating the pursuers!

Luo Youyou stared in shock at the scene, then burst into a tirade of curses:

"You've destroyed the only mine tunnel we can get back in! How are we going to get back, meow?!"

"Relax," Xia said with a smile, patting her head.

"Let Elvia help you clean up then; as a knight, she's incredibly strong."

Elvia sheathed her sword and retorted irritably.

"I don't have time to be a miner. Let Commander Rona handle the cleanup herself."

Guided by Luo Youyou, the raft continued to venture deeper into the dense network of mine tunnels.

For safety reasons, the Dream Weaver Group's temporary base was hidden very well.

As we descended, the surrounding temperature began to rise noticeably.

The air was filled with a faint smell of sulfur and a deeper, indescribable ancient aura.

Lin Gui frowned slightly.

It's too deep...

If a major battle in such a place causes a large-scale collapse of the mining network, it would be very troublesome.

As you descend, you'll occasionally encounter some low-level cave spiders and scattered hyena-men.

However, these cave-dwelling demons do not seem to be very aggressive.

Most of them merely observed cautiously and did not launch any proactive attacks.

About ten minutes later, they finally arrived at the temporary base that Luo Youyou had mentioned.

The base was somewhat messy.

There were also some scattered dry rations and discarded miscellaneous items.

These are clearly traces left behind during a hasty evacuation.

According to Luo Youyou, the entrance to the hidden ruins passage is at the end of a side road not far from here.

"In that case," Lin Gui said, bringing the raft to a stop.

"Take a one-hour break."

"We can't wait any longer, meow!!" Luo Youyou cried out anxiously.

"Sister Rona is waiting for me to rescue her!"

She struggled to twist her bound body and looked at Shia.

"And besides... cough cough, didn't this extraordinary ranger not seem to have consumed much energy?"

Shia chuckled as she lifted the bound catgirl, teasingly saying...

"I'm not a key player in the team~ The real star player is..."

"Cough cough cough!"

Several deliberate coughs came simultaneously from the direction of Elvia and Lin Gui.

Shea immediately stuck out her tongue and shut her mouth.

Lin Gui's special abilities are one of the team's biggest secrets.

Without absolute assurance of his strength, he must not easily reveal this to outsiders.

This is also why Lin Gui didn't use the [Night Veil] along the way.

"Take a break," Lin Gui said without room for argument.

He downed a bottle of magic potion, then sat cross-legged and entered a meditative state.

He didn't get up until he felt his magic power return to its full strength, and then he dusted off his robes.

"Set off."