Shadow Blade Lynn's words were very likely true.
But as for "no one can come out of the Voiceless Abyss"...
Lin Gui felt that was very likely false.
At the very least, Gusion should have some means to get out.
He had gone there at the risk of Avalon's safety.
It was impossible that he didn't know the dangers inside and just barged right in.
Even if he truly lost his sense of direction inside, one thing was certain: he was still alive.
Otherwise, Hannah would have long since become a Demon King.
Of course, Lin Gui was not entirely certain about the specific details.
So he needed to find one of the involved parties to ask and get a clear picture.
Only then would he decide whether to enter the rift to rescue them.
Lin Gui turned around and walked toward the flying vessel.
Shadow Blade Lynn floated beside him, saying nothing more.
The flying vessel started up.
In less than a minute, they returned to the temple.
Back then, choosing the theater was precisely because of its location at almost the complete opposite end from the temple.
It would allow him to catch Modo—who knew nothing about his flying vessel...
...completely off guard.
Lin Gui jumped down from the flying vessel.
Shadow Blade Lynn had already shrunk into the glass bead, silently hiding inside his mage robes.
She seemed to have no intention of showing herself.
Inside the temple, moonlight spilled down through the damaged dome.
Hugh leaned against the wall, his wounds having been roughly treated.
Yet his face remained deathly pale, his aura weak.
Hannah lay beside him, her eyes tightly closed.
Her face looked even gaunter than before.
The damage from having her Demon King's blood drained was not something simple magic healing could make up for.
Eve sat between the two of them.
Her staff lay across her knees, her purple eyes lowered.
Her face was also terribly pale.
The aftereffects of mana overdraft were manifesting.
Lin Gui walked over.
"How is everyone doing?"
Eve raised her eyes.
Her voice was very soft, tinged with exhaustion:
"Won't die."
"But to recover..."
She paused.
"It will take time."
Lin Gui nodded.
Eve looked at him.
"What about on your end?"
"Did you kill him?"
Lin Gui subconsciously raised his eyes slightly.
His gaze swept across the inside of his robe, where the hidden glass bead lay.
Then he retracted his gaze.
"Yeah."
His voice was flat.
"I threw that undead Vampire's corpse into a spectral demon nest."
"I watched with my own eyes as he was torn to shreds."
"I waited a long time, and he didn't regenerate."
He paused.
"He probably won't revive."
He didn't tell them that he had killed him using Soul Attachment.
Because Shadow Blade Lynn was right on his body, he couldn't reveal Soul Attachment.
That was the spell capable of dispelling the soul bomb.
Beside them, Hugh raised his head weakly.
A glint of thought flashed in his weary eyes.
"Soul..."
He murmured.
"No wonder that guy didn't consume any mana, yet managed to achieve a revival effect."
"So he used soul energy."
He paused, his brows knotting slightly.
"To be able to use soul energy to achieve revival, a feat near miraculous..."
"And to single-handedly bring out the Vampires' most important sacred relic."
"It seems that Vampire is a God-Favored."
"His level shouldn't be very high, as there are no traces of divine power."
"However... it's enough for his clansmen to view him as their future."
His voice grew deep.
"This is going to be trouble."
"The Vampires will go wild over that undead kid."
Lin Gui looked at him.
"What is a God-Favored?"
Hugh leaned against the wall and caught his breath.
"A servant favored by a god."
"A god?"
Lin Gui's brows furrowed slightly.
He looked at Hugh, then turned to look at Eve.
There was a strange sense of confusion in his tone.
"In this world... do gods really exist?"
As soon as the words left his mouth,
Hugh's expression froze.
He stared at Lin Gui, clear astonishment in his eyes.
"Of course they exist."
He paused.
"Little mage, you couldn't have forgotten..."
"...what happened forty years ago, could you?"
Lin Gui froze.
"Forty years ago?"
He murmured.
The descent of the Demon God?
He had always thought that was just an exaggeration.
The world-ending rain of blood, the demon tides...
In his mind, those were more like dramatic descriptions of a supernatural disaster.
As for the "Demon God" himself,
he had always assumed it was merely a symbolic title.
Like how ancients on Earth personified natural disasters.
Lin Gui cleared his throat softly.
"I thought..."
His voice held a trace of embarrassment.
"...that was just a dramatic story of the world-ending rain of blood."
"I thought the Demon God didn't actually exist."
Eve looked at him.
A strange glint flashed in her purple eyes.
"Of course the Demon God exists."
She paused.
"Otherwise, what were the Hero's Expeditions over generations..."
"...supposedly subduing?"
Lin Gui looked at her.
"Wasn't that just created to divert internal conflicts caused by the Dark Tide?"
"A campaign cooked up for that purpose?"
He paused.
"Besides, during the Hero's Expeditions throughout history,"
"I remember the chosen candidates were never higher than High-tier Transcendent."
"Relying on geniuses who haven't even reached Legendary to subdue a god..."
"...does that make any sense?"
Eve stared at him for a few seconds.
Then, she let out a soft sigh.
Her expression looked as if she were looking at a child who knew nothing of common knowledge.
"First of all,"
her voice softened.
"the reason the chosen Heroes are required to be no higher than High-tier Transcendent..."
"...is because the Demon God's fortress possesses its own inherent laws inside."
She paused.
"Just as the Silent Sea guarantees sinking,"
"its law is..."
"...that only those not exceeding the Demon God's rank can enter."
Lin Gui listened.
His brows furrowed tighter and tighter.
Those not exceeding the Demon God's rank?
High-tier Transcendent?
He spoke hesitantly:
"As a god, the Demon God..."
"...is only at High-tier Transcendent?"
"Even though the Demon God's personal strength is weak,"
Eve looked at him, a trace of helplessness in her tone.
"the law of his domain—the Demon God's fortress—"
"...can instantly kill anyone higher than his rank who steps into his domain."
"Instantly kill them."
She paused.
"Whether Legendary or Epic."
"Now, Mr. Lin Gui,"
"do you think he qualifies as a god?"
Lin Gui remained silent for a few seconds.
He did not answer.
Eve continued:
"Furthermore, the Demon God's strength increases with every appearance of the Dark Tide..."
"...it is constantly rising."
Her voice grew softer.
"And next year's Hero's Expedition will be the very last time his strength remains at High-tier Transcendent."
"Next time, the Heroes of the Hero's Expedition..."
"...will need to be chosen from the Legendary rank."
Lin Gui's brows furrowed slightly.
"And the most terrifying part is,"
Eve looked at him.
A trace of solemnity flashed in her purple eyes.
"the speed at which he restores his strength is accelerating."
"Before long, once he truly crosses Epic to reach Demigod..."
"...or even a true god,"
she paused.
"what this demon who brought the Dark Tide to the Akara Continent will do..."
"...is something no one wants to find out."
As her words fell,
a brief silence fell inside the temple.
Lin Gui did not reply.
He was processing this information.
To the side, Hugh's expression was somewhat strange.
He opened his mouth.
It looked as though he wanted to say something.
But in the end, he merely gave Lin Gui a look.
Then he closed his mouth.
Hannah, however, had no such reservations.
She had opened her eyes at some point.
Leaning weakly against the wall, she looked toward Eve and Lin Gui.
A faint smile actually appeared in those crimson eyes.
"If you were to pick the most wronged person in the world..."
She paused.
Her voice was so soft it was barely audible.
"...it would be Lord Demon God."
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