Hello, is this a letter addressed to Demon Fortress?

Unbeknownst to her, Lillian curled up in her soft blanket and fell into a deep sleep.

Her breathing became even and long.

Its tiny body curled up in a ball on the downy bed, like a young animal that had finally let down its guard.

The only sound in the passageway was the crackling of the campfire.

The flames danced on the pile of firewood.

The warm glow was cast onto the stone wall, only to be quickly swallowed up by the darkness at the edges.

Elvia sat by the campfire.

He rested his chin on one hand, his gaze fixed on the direction where the flames were flickering.

The firelight illuminated half of her face, while the other half remained hidden in shadow.

Her eyelids drooped slightly, but a clear light remained deep within her pupils.

This wasn't her first time keeping watch.

From Baiya City until now, she and Lin Gui have been taking turns resting in the wilderness.

But back then, there was Shadow Blade Lin, that ghost who never needed to sleep, to keep him company.

Although Shadow Blade Lin has lost all her strength, her intuition for danger is far more absurd than Lin Gui's.

The existence of her spirit also allows her to see enemies clearly from a great distance.

And now-

Elvia glanced instinctively at the box inside the messenger bag.

The small, dark box lay quietly at the bottom of the bag, its surface completely still.

To this day, Shadow Blade Lin shows no signs of waking up.

Lin Gui said it would take at least six months.

Half a year.

Elvia silently repeated the number to herself before turning her gaze back to the present.

Her gaze fell on the ground in front of her.

On the stone brick in front of her toes.

They only felt that oppressive aura after stepping over that brick.

Crossing that brick means entering the red soil desert.

I recalled the information I had gathered about the red desert along the way.

The Red Earth Desert is a complex forbidden zone composed of dozens of forbidden areas.

The Sea of ​​Boiling Sands, the Bone Demon's Lair, the Rotten Moss Swamp, the Weeping Blood Hills, the Skullcrushing Pass, the Sand-Beneath Corridor, the Thousand Needles Graveyard, the Blood Prison, the Worm Abyss, the Shadow Abyss, the Ash Rift...

Any one of these names taken out individually.

That alone is enough to make even the most seasoned transport team turn pale.

And they are all crammed onto the same piece of land.

It has the largest number of demons among the forbidden areas explored by Akara.

It is also the result of the convergence of two Kuroshio Currents.

The demons inside are ferocious and bloodthirsty, and almost every month there are demonic uprisings that can alter the terrain.

The scale of those riots was so great that it is said that one could see the sand and dust churning like a tsunami from the red walls.

The alliance discovered its existence ten years ago.

After the omniscient astrolabe made its judgment, it directly established the Red Wall as an outpost of the Red Earth Desert.

As for what kind of demons are inside, no one knows.

Because no one has ever returned alive from that desolate place.

Yesterday, I arrived at Red Earth Territory.

This place is separated from the red soil desert by only one wall.

She had inquired about the place from the adventurers who carried the letter and the old man.

Almost everyone's face turns pale when they hear the words "red desert".

Some people silently shook their heads, while others waved and walked away.

Someone lowered their voice and said, "Don't go there," and then fell silent.

They were very secretive, as if they were talking about a name that shouldn't be mentioned.

Just like a spark.

Despite Elvia's repeated questioning and the lure of money, they only obtained one piece of information.

Two years ago.

The Alliance's exploration team, led by the Eye of a Thousand Paths, once returned here with the artifact, the Omniscient Astrolabe.

But in the end, he didn't even step out of the red wall.

It is said that, under the exploration of the omniscient astrolabe...

The entire red desert contains more than three hundred epic poems.

At the pinnacle of epic status, there are a total of thirty-nine deities.

As for the legendary ones, there are nearly seven thousand.

Years have passed, and the number of powerful demons in the red desert has increased even more.

This number exceeded Elvia's expectations.

She didn't even realize it, because it was so outrageous.

What is the concept of an epic with three hundred heads?

The number of known epic-level powerhouses in the entire Akara Alliance can be counted on one hand.

And on that red land.

Just as Lin Gui said.

Each mountain peak is ruled by a demon.

If this is true, then how exactly did Lin Gui manage to cross this insurmountable predicament?

Elvia couldn't understand it.

The campfire burned quietly in front of her.

The firelight cast her shadow on the stone wall behind her.

Over time.

The orange-red light gradually dimmed.

Finally, the last flame flickered twice and went out.

The entire passageway was plunged into complete darkness.

A deathly silence enveloped everything.

Elvia's fingertips touched the switch of the magic lamp at her waist.

Just as she was about to turn on the lights, a hand landed on her shoulder.

Her heart leaped into her throat, and her blood seemed to freeze for a moment.

The fingers remained frozen on the magic lamp, not moving.

That hand was warm and strong, with a familiar feel.

"Don't make a sound."

A voice rang in her ear.

It's Lin Gui.

He woke up at some point.

At that moment, his voice was extremely low, almost whispered into her ear.

In the darkness, Lin Gui's eyes were fixed on the depths of the tunnel.

Those eyes gleamed with an extremely faint light in the darkness.

His pupils contracted slightly, like a hunter locking onto something.

He remained completely still, even his breathing was at its shallowest.

Elvia held her breath.

Time ticked by in the deathly silence.

She could hear her own heartbeat, thump, thump, thump, heavy and rapid, like a drum beating in her eardrums.

Elvia's fingers tightened little by little, gripping the hilt of the sword.

A thin layer of sweat appeared on her palms, and the lines on the sword hilt pressed against her fingertips, causing a slight stinging sensation.

Just as she was about to ask the question.

She caught it.

A voice came from the thick darkness deep within the passageway.

thump.

She held her breath.

thump.

Another sound.

thump.

Is that the sound of a demon's footsteps?

The pace was neither hurried nor slow, but carried a certain unhurried rhythm.

Each step was firm and resonant, creating a soft echo in the empty passageway.

Elvia suddenly raised her head, her pupils dilating abruptly.

No, this is not the sound of a demon's footsteps.

This is...

Human.

How is that possible!

That's a red desert!

Her gaze pierced the darkness and fell upon Lin Gui.

Lin Gui's eyes were filled with the same shock.

He knew better than Elvia that there could be no one in this ancient ruin passageway.

He was the only one who knew about this secret passage buried deep underground.

The four members of the exploration team.

Three years ago, to protect the secret of this place, to cover his departure, right before his eyes...

He committed suicide.