The procession stretched out long, a cacophony of complaints, coughs, and clanging metal echoing through the narrow tunnel.
At the head of the line, Lord Bone glanced back at the rift exit, now a receding sliver of light. When he saw no strange Slimes in pursuit, his body relaxed slightly.
A goblin Shaman in a grimy, feathered cloak sidled up to him, a fawning smile plastered on his face. "It’s all thanks to Lord Bone’s brilliant leadership that we managed to escape early and avoid those terrifying Slimes," he snickered.
Lord Bone was in a good mood and even hummed a little tune, horribly off-key. He didn’t impatiently shoo the Shaman away as he usually would.
That damned Filth Demon had just molted into a High-tier Demon. Everyone had expected a big move from him, but then he heard the Slimes had broken through the human fortress. He was so scared he pissed himself, abandoned them all, and scurried back to Golden Glow Valley.
Aias had fled, so he, Lord Bone, naturally became the new legion commander. He led the Goblin Army out of the damned Snowfield and through the rift to the south.
Lord Bone took a deep breath, imagining he could already smell the warm, humid air of the south and feel the long-awaited sun on his skin.
As long as they left that monster-infested swamp and no longer had to face those bizarre Slimes, they could find a suitable habitat in the south—maybe even move into an Underground City. Under his hand, the Goblin Army would quickly grow strong and glorious once more.
He could already picture it: standing on a high stone platform, waving to the dense sea of Green Skins below as every goblin roared in response, respectfully crying, "Long live Legion Commander Bone!"
As he strode forward, lost in this beautiful vision for the future, a goblin in front of him suddenly stopped dead in its tracks.
Caught off guard, Lord Bone nearly tripped over it. He shot the goblin an angry glare, but before he could let out a curse, he saw it pointing ahead in terror, its voice trembling. "L-Lord Bone... F-fire, it’s torches! So many torches!"
Lord Bone snapped his head up and looked ahead.
High above in the pitch-black cavern, torches ignited one by one. Their numbers swelled, and the orange-red flames quickly merged into a continuous line, bathing the entire wide cavern in brilliant light.
The firelight revealed the silhouettes of fully armed human soldiers. They held spears and shields, Longswords hanging at their waists, and they stared down at the panicked goblin procession below.
At their head, a Knight in gleaming iron armor with a bright feather in his helmet turned slightly. He spoke respectfully to an old man beside him, who was wrapped in a luxurious fur coat. "Your Majesty," the Knight said, "the intelligence from the Adventurers was correct. These filthy Green Skins were trying to sneak into the Kingdom through the rift deep within this cave."
The old man, the King, glanced over the chaotic mob of goblins below and simply waved his hand.
"Capture them!"
"The Mages of the Holy Silver Kingdom need some ’live’ goblins for their experiments."
Lord Bone’s eyes flew wide, his pupils reflecting the sea of torches and cold steel above. He finally realized they had walked right into a human trap!
’He never expected these weak little southern kingdoms to lay an ambush for them.’
"Loose arrows!" a human officer commanded coldly from above.
FWOOSH! FWOOSH! FWOOSH!
A dense volley of flaming arrows, like a downpour of Fire Rain, instantly filled Lord Bone’s wide eyes.
...
「Late at night.」
「Eternal Night Territory. The ruins of an old vampire castle.」
Under the command of Arthur and Count Brand, the Demon Legion had fully assembled. A dense, dark mass stood silently in the clearing before the old castle, ready to advance at a moment’s notice. Their mission: to cross the Felder line, enter the rift, and crush the Demons and the remnants of the Goblin Army entrenched within.
They were waiting for the Stone Assassins to return with the latest news from the front.
Count Brand grew bored with waiting. He dropped to the ground and began pawing at the dirt with his claws, trying to dig up some tasty bugs for a snack.
He muttered under his breath, "These vampires had no taste. This dump doesn’t even have a single decent worm. How did they ever stand living here?"
Suddenly, he remembered something and quickly prayed. "Oh, Lady of Defiance, please don’t let His Majesty grant a godsforsaken dump like this to me..."
"The next time I return to the Shadow Mountain Range, I’ll be sure to bring you the most delicious insects as an offering."
Nearby, Arthur sat on the stone steps of the ruins, quietly polishing his lance. He looked up, his soul-fire flickering slightly, and said earnestly, "Perhaps... the Lady doesn’t care for insects?"
"You have a point." Count Brand’s little eyes lit up. "Gemstones! She must like Gemstones!"
"In that case, I’ll pick the... ahem, the most perfectly shaped Gray Gravel Crystal from my hoard for her. The Lady will definitely love it!"
He had wanted to say the *largest* Gray Gravel Crystal, but he just couldn’t bring himself to part with it.
Count Brand puffed out his chest smugly, as if he could already see the Lady of Defiance’s look of approval. He turned to Arthur, his beady little eyes twinkling with expectation.
"Right, Arthur?"
Arthur was about to nod when his soul-fire suddenly stilled. He sensed living creatures approaching rapidly from a distance. There were many of them, and their movements were exceptionally swift and stealthy.
He lifted his head and gazed deeper into the Eternal Night Territory. Though his sight was obstructed, he could almost see blurred shadows flitting through the darkness, racing toward their position.
’The Stone Race are back.’
Sure enough, a few moments later, dozens of figures emerged from the shadows on all sides. It was the Assassin scout team, led by Nili.
The intelligence they carried had already been relayed ahead of them through the Gel network covering the battlefield.
"The fortress is empty... The goblins fled?"
"The mysterious castle in the rift is active? And its gates are open?"
By the time Chen Yu received the intelligence, his avatar was already using Sword Flight, having just entered the Eternal Night Territory.
’He wasn’t too concerned about the whereabouts of the Filth Demon and the Goblin Army. He had already broken through to the Gold rank and could capture a level-eleven High-tier Demon alive. It would be stranger if they *hadn’t* run after hearing the news.’
He was more interested in the Stone Assassins’ discovery: the mysterious castle within the Elemental Rift was showing signs of activity. Its main gate had actually swung open.
Faced with this unexpected development, the experienced Stone Assassins didn’t rush in to explore. Instead, they chose to fall back and report first.
’A wise decision,’ he thought. ’After all, who knew what was inside that castle? If they had rushed in blindly, they might never have come out.’
Before long, Chen Yu rendezvoused with the Demon Legion, and together they entered the rift passage leading to the Ice Elemental Plane.
The journey to the castle across the Snowfield was long and cold. After what felt like an eternity of walking, the Demon Legion finally arrived at the foot of the mysterious castle.
It looked different up close than it had from a distance. Now, they could see that the entire majestic castle was seemingly enveloped in a translucent Crystal Ball.
Outside the barrier, the icy plain remained a scene of howling winds and swirling snow, but inside was a completely different world.
A golden light, as warm as a spring afternoon, emanated from within the castle, illuminating the space inside the barrier. They could clearly see lush green trees and vibrant flowers growing around the castle grounds.
Chen Yu looked up the ancient stone steps, half-buried in snow. The castle gate, bathed in a warm, flowing halo of light, stood wide open, as if silently welcoming the arriving travelers.
However, Chen Yu’s attention wasn’t on the Light Gate. After carefully sensing his surroundings, his eyes shot wide open.
’Pure... so pure!’
’This was the first time in Zeyarira he had ever sensed Spiritual Qi so pure and dense.’
’This had to be some kind of sacred ground.’
He suddenly recalled something Violet had mentioned—this castle might be the alchemical creation of that mysterious Golden Core Alchemist.
’Looking at it now, it could only be his masterpiece.’