Lin Gui hovered in the air, carefully observing the middle-aged man.
He looked to be in his thirties, with a gentle and handsome appearance.
He didn't emit a particularly powerful pressure.
But judging by how Jesse and her group instantly tensed up, their hands instinctively moving toward their weapons,
And how those gray-robed figures unhesitatingly abandoned their blockade to rush back and defend,
Lin Gui knew this man was anything but simple.
Simple enough to make a group like Jesse's—who had just captured a Legendary Demon Hunter—so wary.
Gero... Roger. If you reverse the name, isn't it "Roger"?
His age, appearance, and strength all perfectly matched the description Fal had once given.
Lin Gui looked up at an unguarded, broken window where sunlight streamed in.
He temporarily suppressed the thought of escaping immediately.
If this man truly was Roger...
Then he might not have to struggle so hard to forge a path to Avalon himself.
He could simply follow him quietly.
As long as the other party wasn't an Epic expert specialized in perception, they shouldn't be able to find him.
As he pondered, the situation below changed silently.
The expected violent clash did not erupt.
Jesse stood in a silent standoff with the middle-aged man for a moment.
Then, she simply waved her hand.
Leading all the gray-robed figures and guarding Cass and Maren,
She turned and quickly retreated through the exit that had just been torn open.
It was clean and efficient, with no hesitation.
In the corner, Rosa watched helplessly as her father and brother were taken away.
Her teeth bit down hard on her lower lip, and fire practically leaped from her eyes.
Not until Jesse and the others had completely vanished from sight did Rosa suddenly charge out from the shadows of a pillar.
She stumbled for a step before finding her footing, then shouted at all the hunters in the cathedral:
"Everyone! Listen to me!"
"Those people just now were demons! Vampires and their lackeys!"
"They are plotting a terrifying conspiracy within the Wall of Sighs!"
"If we don't stop them, all the city-states around the Wall will face utter destruction!"
She took a deep breath, suppressing her injuries, her voice carrying a sense of desperate determination.
"Blackwood! Your squad is good at pinning enemies. Cut in from the left flank later!"
"Iron Fist! Take your men and block their retreat on the right!"
"I've already figured out their weaknesses and patterns!"
"As long as we coordinate well, we can definitely keep them all here!"
However, her passionate rallying cry received no response.
The hunters, whether sitting or standing, remained cold and indifferent, some even looking on with a hint of mockery.
A male Night Elf leaning against the wall even let out a scoff.
He toyed with the dagger in his hand and retorted heartlessly:
"That sounds nice."
"But who knows if what you're saying is true or not?"
"And even if it is all true—"
He looked up, his gaze as sharp as a blade.
"Why should we risk ourselves for your 'noble cause'?"
"Even if there is a conspiracy, what does it have to do with us?"
"This isn't some Hero's legend from a bard's poem."
"No one is going to throw their life away for free to 'save the world.'"
He paused, his voice turning even colder.
"If you really want to save your family, find a way yourself."
"Want to use us as your swords? Give it a rest."
Although the surrounding hunters didn't speak up in agreement, their gazes said everything.
They were all slick veterans who lived on the edge of a blade.
Everyone could see through Rosa’s little scheme to use the crowd to rescue her family.
The atmosphere turned completely cold.
Rosa looked around with a grim expression.
Her heavily injured body trembled slightly from agitation, and she rasped in a hoarse voice:
"You have no idea how serious this is!"
"The people hunting us are after 'Gusion'!"
"The Eleventh Pillar Demon King, Gusion!"
She gasped for air, her eyes bloodshot.
"For eight years, my father has been tracking him within the Wall."
"And Gusion has always been hiding deep within the Wailing Corridor."
At the mention of that name, the expressions of several old hunters changed slightly.
The Wailing Corridor was where Shadow Blade Lynn and two other Epic experts had suffered severe injuries during their second attempt.
The Barbarian King and the Blood Butcher, both Low-tier Epic Rank, had died there.
"Everything my father has prepared over these years was for the purpose of crossing the Corridor."
"To find Gusion and... kill him."
Rosa’s voice distorted with pain.
"But just two months ago, Gusion suddenly moved."
"He left the Wailing Corridor and headed north."
"Toward the direction of the Voiceless Abyss."
Several suppressed intakes of breath sounded within the cathedral.
The Voiceless Abyss...
A forbidden zone that had never been pioneered, existing only in rumors.
"And that place..."
Rosa’s gaze swept over every face, emphasizing each word.
"Is very likely the source of 'The Silent End' from over a decade ago."
"It is the resting place of the Demigod demon who triggered that Dark Tide."
"Why would a Demon King suddenly head to such a place?"
"I don't think I need to say more, do I?"
She looked at the group, whose expressions were beginning to freeze, and her tone became mocking and hopeless.
"Those demons captured my father precisely to make him lead the way."
"They are in a hurry to find Gusion because something must have happened on his end."
"If we just let them go and they awaken or join forces with that Demigod..."
Rosa let out a cold laugh, the sound echoing in the empty cathedral.
"Once The Silent End erupts from the Wall of Sighs again,"
"Not a single living thing in the Blackwater Corridor will survive!"
"The Elven Forest, the Dwarven Royal City..."
Her gaze swept over the hardened faces of the hunters.
"And you—bounty hunters who are gambling your lives here just to save enough money to send your families to the Central City-States."
"Transcendent... hah, Transcendent truly is an awkward rank."
"You can cross the wilderness yourselves, but you have absolutely no ability to bring along family members who lack combat strength through countless threats to reach the Central City-States."
"If the lands outside the Wall become a wasteland like the Wall of Sighs, your families, your reasons for living..."
"All of it will vanish."
As Rosa finished speaking,
The atmosphere inside the cathedral suddenly became stagnant and oppressive.
The coldness and mockery on the hunters' faces gradually faded away.
In their place were suspicion, calculation, and deep-seated fear.
Several hunters sitting by the bonfire exchanged looks, their fingers unconsciously stroking their weapons.
Someone cursed under their breath, while others looked at the sunlight outside the door, their faces turning pale.
"The Silent End."
A nightmare known to everyone in the Blackwater Corridor.
If it truly happened again, everything outside the Wall would be silenced.
It wouldn't just be a disaster for dwarves or elves.
It would be an absolute dead end for these people who risked their lives inside the Wall just to find a way for their families outside of it.
Meanwhile, in the corner, the bard had put away her lute at some point.
She quietly retreated to the wall and stood beside Roger.
Their eyes met, exchanging a lightning-fast look.
Then, they both looked toward the center at Rosa, who was gasping with agitation, her injuries flaring up to the point she could barely stand.
In their gazes, there was none of the suspicion or fear seen in the other hunters.
Instead, there was a clear, unmistakable trace of anxiety.
Rate on N.U.
