Hello, is this a letter addressed to Demon Fortress?

...In a daze, some deeply buried fragments flashed through Shia's mind.

It was a blurry image from long ago, imbued with the warmth of sunlight.

Her husband always had a gentle smile on his face.

Her demon father, who would clumsily weave flower wreaths for her.

There is also a beautiful and elegant fairy mother whose singing voice is like a clear spring in the forest.

They once lived in that small wooden cabin hidden in the mountain valley.

I spent a peaceful time away from worldly strife.

Until that day, a burning arrow pierced the sky.

A human man named "Hero".

She entered her homeland with teammates of different races and sharp eyes.

She still remembers the time her father hid her in the cellar.

In those eyes that were always smiling, the final expression of resolve and tenderness remained.

I also remember when my mother led me on a desperate escape through the forest.

The sensation of cold tears falling on her forehead.

The Elf Forest did not provide them with lasting protection.

My mother on a moonlit night.

After entrusting her to a trusted elf friend.

He then left alone and never returned.

In the Elf Forest, it took her a long time to slowly emerge from the shadows.

Trying to fit in, I made new "friends".

However, on the day of her coming-of-age ceremony...

The hidden power within him erupted uncontrollably.

His silver hair turned dark, and his eyes became bloodshot...

The once friendly companion's eyes were instantly filled with fear and disgust.

"A demon! She's a demon!"

"Kill her! We cannot allow her tainted blood to defile the sacred forest!"

Stones rained down on them.

Accompanied by curses that were once familiar but now sounded incredibly jarring.

She doesn't understand.

Why can one's identity so easily erase all the warmth of the past?

She could only flee, wandering between different city-states and wildernesses.

Like a ghost with nowhere to go.

Until that afternoon, a human boy suddenly appeared from the bushes.

……

"Hey, half-demon, you're awake? Want some water?"

Elvia's voice pulled Shia back to reality from her chaotic memories.

She took the water bag and gulped down several mouthfuls.

The cool water temporarily quelled the thirst in my throat and the burning sensation in my heart.

"Where are we?"

"At the seventh outpost in the Rift Valley, it's not far from the exit."

Elvia pointed outside the cave.

"You've been unconscious for five days now."

Five days?!

Shea clicked her tongue in surprise, and then a strong feeling of hunger swept over her.

Elvia handed over some jerky and bread.

Shea took it and quickly started eating.

Only when he felt a sense of peace in his stomach did he finally breathe a long sigh of relief.

"Where are Luo Youyou and the others?"

"They've already left," Elvia replied.

"Four days ago, after their condition stabilized, they decided to return to Karan City."

"I see..." Shia responded softly.

Her thoughts involuntarily drifted back to the moment before she lost consciousness, to the uncontrollable power that erupted.

Demonic energy, he awakened demonic energy on his own.

His eyes began to glaze over.

"Then...then..."

Lin Gui's voice came from the direction of the cave entrance, calm and undisturbed.

"Don't worry, only Elvia and I know about your awakening of demonic energy."

"Then...then...aren't you scared?" Shia looked up.

His bloodshot eyes held a hint of vulnerability and fear that was barely perceptible.

Lin Gui has not yet answered.

Elvia had her arms crossed, her tone heavy.

"Having demonic energy means you're no longer a half-demon, but a true demon."

"The terror and evil of the demons are well-known throughout the continent of Akara."

She paused, as if listing well-known crimes:

"To take a recent example, the 'Blood Moon Massacre' thirty-seven years ago, in which tens of thousands of people in an entire border city were sacrificed to the evil god by the demons."

"Fifteen years ago, the demon siege of the Southern Alliance capital was orchestrated by the demon race."

"Not to mention the rumors of spreading curses, creating plagues, and instigating wars..."

"Almost every time a large-scale black tide strikes, traces of demonic activity can be vaguely seen."

Elvia looked at Shia with a complicated expression.

"Sia, no matter how kind you were before."

"Once your mind is completely corrupted by demonic energy, no one can guarantee that you won't go insane."

"Will it turn into... a demon that only knows killing and destruction?"

Shea gave a bitter smile.

She lowered her head, her silver hair falling down and obscuring her expression.

"Is that so...then...are we parting ways?"

Her voice was soft, tinged with a resigned weariness.

Lin Gui glanced at Xia speechlessly.

"You believe what nobles say?"

Shea was stunned.

Elvia retorted, disgruntled, "Hey! This is a universally acknowledged fact on the continent of Akara!"

Lin Gui chuckled.

He then cleared his throat and began to imitate it in an extremely exaggerated, affected aristocratic tone:

"Ahhh... how could so many lowly people have died in my house overnight? It must be the work of those evil, omnipresent demons!"

Then he changed to a panicked tone:

"Ah! Because the city defense commander accepted a bribe and neglected his duties, the demons were almost at the city walls before they were discovered!"

"This...this must be a spy sent by the demons who corrupted our officials!! Yes, that must be it!"

He imitated it perfectly.

The hypocrisy and evasiveness in his tone.

It was as if he had personally stood in those magnificent banquet halls, observing them coldly countless times.

He turned his head to look at the embarrassed Elvia, a mocking smile on his face:

"El, don't think I don't know."

"What you wanted to do back in Karan City using Shia's identity."

Shia frowned and looked at Elvia: "What method?"

Lin Gui was about to speak.

Elvia rushed forward and covered his mouth tightly, her voice low and almost pleading.

"My ancestors! I beg you, don't tell! Give me some face!"

She then turned to Xia and gave her a bright smile.

"Haha, no, no, half-demon, he's just talking nonsense!"

Lin Gui looked at Elvia's appearance and smiled faintly.

They didn't press the issue further.

He looked at Shia again, his tone returning to its usual calm.

Yet it carried an undeniable seriousness:

"It's rare for demonic energy to awaken; remember to cultivate and control it diligently."

"It can imbue arrows of lower-level extraordinary power with destructive power approaching that of higher-level extraordinary power."

"This is an ability that can be considered a divine skill in actual combat."

There was not a trace of a joke in his words.

Elvia listened intently, swallowing hard.

She is the seventh princess of the Kingdom of Carter.

She was taught from a young age that "demons are evil and demonic energy is a curse."

She wanted to argue.

But her intuition told her that as soon as she opened her mouth...

Lin Gui could definitely shut her up.

Shea hesitated for a long time.

A struggle flickered in his bloodshot eyes.

"Is...is it really possible? To cultivate demonic energy?"

Lin Gui, on the contrary, showed a puzzled expression.

"Isn't that obvious? To be honest, I'm quite envious of you. I also want to possess demonic energy."

Elvia's eyelids twitched violently.

This guy! If those lunatics from the Holy Light Cult heard this...

He absolutely has to be tied to the stake.

Under Lin Gui's repeated, and seemingly "reasonable" persuasion.

A glimmer of light finally returned to Shia's eyes.

She took a deep breath and looked at Lin Gui with utmost seriousness.

It revealed the deepest fear in my heart:

"Lin Gui... if I cultivate demonic energy, you really... won't abandon me, won't drive me away?"

"Hmm." Lin Gui nodded, then added as if he had thought of something.

"By the way, if possible, let me also experience the demonic energy. Maybe I can squeeze some out of my body."

Shia, Elvia: "..."

Shia was silent for a moment, then asked, "Then... Elvia said that demonic energy can affect the mind and drive people insane..."

Lin Gui chuckled, his tone filled with undisguised contempt:

"Heh, you actually believe what nobles say?"

He pointed to Elvia, who looked aggrieved, standing to the side.

"The pigs in the sty say more reliable things than the rhetoric she just recited."

"Moreover, I believe that at least four-fifths of the horrifying facts he just mentioned were committed by the nobility."

"..."

Elvia did not refute.

Because that's indeed the case.

If we're really counting the number of lives murdered, demons are nothing compared to nobles.

But the Kuroshio Current is different.

No nobles have absolutely no ability to control, let alone lead, the Black Tide.

But demons can.

Elvia's eyelids twitched as she thought of the so-called guardians she had encountered in the tomb.