The flying vessel slowly ventured deeper.
The surrounding oppression suddenly changed in nature.
Even the 【Clarity】 buff Lin Gui had cast could not completely drown out that sense of mental derangement.
Chaotic whispers directly germinated in their minds.
“So cold...”
“Stay here...”
“Together...”
The mist as far as they could see was dyed a thick, dark red, as viscous as blood.
Unlike the outer regions, the number of spectral demons within this domain was far greater.
They drifted aimlessly like floating will-o'-the-wisps.
They seemed to particularly “enjoy” this domain where the spirit was distorted at will.
Lin Gui did not look up from beginning to end.
His 【Eyes of the Netherworld】 were locked onto the ground just a short distance beneath the flying vessel.
He had intentionally restricted his field of vision to a tiny range.
He didn't dare to “look” at them.
Visual contact might trigger unnecessary “interest.”
However, precisely because of his lowered gaze and completely retracted presence.
Some of the surrounding wandering specters began to slowly close in on the flying vessel.
They maintained a certain distance, spectating as if observing some novel but harmless inanimate object.
Theia's breathing became rapid and shallow.
She heard countless overlapping sighs and murmurs pressing in from all directions.
“Look... a living thing...”
“Hee... such tender skin and fine flesh... hehehe...”
“Wooo... hungry... so hungry...”
Those voices were clammy and cold, drilling directly into her mind and causing a chill to surge up her spine.
Eve's arms tightened around Theia's waist.
Her eyes were closed, her lips trembling slightly, and her face was pale.
She was silently fighting against the bizarre echoes eroding her mind.
Oddly enough, although the eerie sounds were drawing closer and closer.
Not a single spectral demon actually stepped forward to attack.
Within the absolute domain of this Epic lord.
All demons maintained a fragile, tacitly understood “peace.”
Even though they were in the very heart of the most dangerous nest.
The atmosphere presented a bizarre, brittle “eerie silence.”
It was as if all sworn enemies were sitting together on a keg filled with gunpowder.
None of them dared, or was willing, to be the first to create even a single spark.
Just at that moment!
Suddenly!
Those omnipresent, bizarre sighs and murmurs stopped abruptly.
It was as if they had been severed by a blade.
Silence.
An absolute silence descended.
At the edge of Lin Gui's limited vision with the 【Eyes of the Netherworld】, he could “see” it.
The surrounding wandering spectral demons, whether they were Low-tier Hero Rank, Mid-tier, or even Low-tier Legendary.
Every single one was now prostrating on the ground in a nearly subservient posture.
Some, shaped like multi-legged monitor lizards, buried their heads deep into rock crevices.
Others, looking like distorted humanoids, curled into balls and shivered uncontrollably.
There were even those that were just masses of thick black shadows, clinging to the ground, not even daring to maintain a clear outline.
Lin Gui immediately stopped the flying vessel.
He controlled it to silently touch the earth, hovering at a height of less than one chi from the ground.
His eyes narrowed into extremely thin slits as his gaze moved upward with extreme caution and agonizing slowness.
Subsequently, he saw it.
Several massive, translucent dark purple tentacles.
They were descending from the high mist above, swaying slowly.
Approaching from afar.
The diameter of each tentacle exceeded the width of the flying vessel, and their surfaces shimmered with a viscous, soul-like light.
Lin Gui did not dare look up to see the full body of the tentacles' owner.
At the final moment, he silently closed his eyes.
At the same time, he completely relaxed his body, suppressing all mana fluctuations to their absolute minimum.
His right hand reached back, accurately grabbing Theia's hand as it trembled while reaching for the dagger at her waist.
He pressed it down firmly and forcefully.
Meanwhile, his left index finger was already resting lightly on the launch button of the wind pressure cannon.
Every muscle in his body was tensed like a fully drawn bowstring.
He was prepared for any... tiniest accident.
Time was stretched infinitely at this moment.
Lin Gui could even clearly hear the sound of Theia's heart beating behind him, as heavy as a war drum.
“Thump... thump... thump...”
Slow, heavy, and carrying a resonance of fear.
The surrounding mist instantly became as thick as blood.
A viscous dark red filled every inch of space.
One after another, unutterable and bizarre sounds that felt as if they were directly rubbing against the soul approached from the distance.
“Vrrrrrmmmmm...”
It wasn't a sound, but more like a low-frequency vibration that caused space itself to tremble.
Accompanied by an absolute pressure sufficient to crush an ordinary person's spirit, it slowly rolled over this domain.
All the prostrating spectral demons trembled even more violently.
Even the pale blue or grayish-white soul shimmers on their bodies flickered unsteadily under this pressure, as if they might be extinguished at any moment.
That terrifying existence was passing above them...
Slowly.
Then...
That suffocating sense of pressure and the soul-grating low hum gradually receded.
Eventually, they disappeared completely.
It was as if a giant deep-sea whale had just slowly swum beneath a tiny boat.
It hadn't lingered, nor had it even cast a single glance.
The thick red mist began to fade, reverting to its original grayish-white.
The chaotic whispers and fine murmurs began to seep back into the silent domain.
The prostrating spectral demons were like creatures on a beach after the tide had gone out.
Slowly and tentatively, they stretched their bodies again.
They resumed their wandering, but their movements seemed stiffer and more terrified than before.
On the flying vessel, Lin Gui remained with his eyes closed. Only after several seconds had passed did he slowly exhale a breath of hot air.
His grip on Theia's hand loosened slightly.
“It's gone...” his voice was raspy and almost inaudible.
Theia felt almost physically drained, her back drenched in cold sweat.
“W-what... what exactly was that thing?” she asked with a trembling voice, her heart still racing.
Lin Gui was silent for a moment, a complex light flickering in his gray eyes.
A name surfaced in his mind, accompanied by the yellowed illustrations and scribbled notes of an old, tattered book.
“If the records in that fragment of the 《Chronicles of Annihilation》 are correct...”
He spoke in a low voice, his tone carrying a nearly absurd gravity.
“What just passed by us...”
“Was ‘Soul-Devouring Sovereign Apophis.’ ”
“A spectral demon that exists only in ancient legends.”
“One of the few confirmed Innate Spectral Demon Lords nourished by pure ‘grudge’ and ‘death’...”
“It has possessed Mid-tier Epic strength since its birth.”
“...”
Lin Gui went silent for a while, his expression looking somewhat strange.
He spoke softly, as if reminiscing:
“That fragment excavated from an ancient tomb... it says...”
Both Theia and Eve looked toward him.
“Soul-Devouring Sovereign Apophis...”
Lin Gui paused, his tone carrying a sense of unbelievable absurdity.
“...has an extremely gentle disposition.”
“In a distant era, it was once the ‘guardian’ of a certain village.”
“It fed by devouring the evil spirits and grudges that wandered around the village.”
“It protected the living of that land, sleeping peacefully for hundreds of years.”
Theia's eyes instantly bulged, and her mouth fell open.
“G-guardian?”
She turned her head to look back at the silent domain where the red mist had not yet completely dispersed.
Then she turned back to look at Lin Gui, her face clearly saying, “You've got to be kidding me.”
“You're telling me... that monster that almost crushed our spirits just now...”
“Used to be a... ‘gentle village guardian’?!”
Her voice rose slightly, filled with a sense of the ridiculous.
“That book... it's probably fake, isn't it?”
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