After leaving the Carter Royal Capital, a sense of urgency weighed heavily on the hearts of Lin Gui and Elvia.
They were now racing against death.
As soon as they were out of sight of the people behind them, Lin Gui took out the flying vessel from his storage space.
“Sit tight.”
He pulled Elvia up, infused it with mana, and the flying vessel shot forward instantly.
Elvia went completely stiff.
She had never ridden something like this before.
The speed was far beyond her imagination; the violent wind scraped against her face like a knife, and the surrounding landscape turned into blurry lines retreating behind them.
She clung tightly to Lin Gui, her face pressed against his back, not even daring to open her eyes.
Because of this, she didn't notice the direction the flying vessel was heading at all.
But Shadow Blade Lynn could not be fooled.
“You’re going the wrong way!!!”
Her voice exploded in Lin Gui’s mind, filled with obvious alarm and fury.
“This is the direction toward the very core of the Dark Tide!”
Shadow Blade Lynn was not familiar with the terrain of this region.
At the extreme speed of Lin Gui’s flying vessel, it was difficult for her to judge their exact location.
But she could see the sky.
She could see those densely packed sky demons flying in the same direction as them.
That was toward the Withered Rift.
That was the center of the Dark Tide.
“You’re crazy!”
Shadow Blade Lynn’s voice was practically a scream.
Lin Gui did not look back.
His voice was very calm.
“If we retreated along the original route, even with my mana, it would take at least two days to leave the impact zone of the Dark Tide.”
“If the third phase erupts midway, we are dead.”
The flying vessel accelerated even more.
“But if I can get close to the core position of the Dark Tide.”
He paused for a moment.
“Then we can escape without any risk.”
Shadow Blade Lynn was stunned.
What on earth was this guy saying?
The core of the Dark Tide was a place even she had never dared to approach!!
Then, she became even more furious.
“Escape without risk? Are you kidding me!!”
“Is it possible for you to travel over a thousand kilometers away from the impact zone in an instant?”
Lin Gui calmly countered:
“The impact zone is one thousand nine hundred and seventy-four kilometers.”
“If it were any shorter, I wouldn't need to go to the core location of the Dark Tide.”
This precise impact distance was something Lin Gui had confirmed through the [Messenger's Chart].
Lin Gui's physical map could not provide such a precise measurement.
And the method Lin Gui intended to use to escape was...
The Long-Distance Random Spatial Teleportation Scroll.
It could jump him to a location two thousand kilometers away in an instant.
This was the confidence that allowed him to venture deep into the Dark Tide to rescue Elvia.
It was also the trump card he had originally prepared to deal with Shadow Blade Lynn.
However.
He had confirmed with the System.
The teleportation destination for this item was completely random.
It would immediately transport Lin Gui to a location two thousand kilometers away.
Whether that was the desert to the east, the tundra to the north, or the ocean to the south depended entirely on luck.
And two thousand kilometers was a very awkward distance for the current situation.
If Lin Gui ran toward the edge of the impact zone...
If the third phase erupted midway, there would be two possible results after he activated the scroll.
One would be being transported out of the impact zone.
The other would be being sent even deeper inside.
In other words, luck would determine life or death.
But if he approached the core of the impact zone before activating the scroll...
Though it sounded extremely dangerous, it would be a hundred percent guarantee of escaping the Dark Tide’s impact zone.
No matter where the random direction led, a distance of two thousand kilometers was enough to send him out of this death zone.
Lin Gui’s voice was very steady.
“Trust me.”
“I won’t do anything I’m not sure of.”
“My life is tied to yours.”
“I won’t go looking for a way to die.”
Hearing this, Shadow Blade Lynn could only helplessly allow Lin Gui to fly toward the core of the Dark Tide.
The flying vessel raced through the night sky.
The ground below retreated rapidly, and those once-familiar landmarks now turned into blurred shadows.
Lin Gui concentrated on staring ahead, manically pouring mana into the flying vessel to push its speed to the limit.
Soon.
Eagle Fortress was reached.
That fortress that once stood on the cliffside was now nothing but a heap of rubble.
Among the broken walls and debris, one could still vaguely see the traces of where those banshees had once nested.
But at this moment, the place was deserted.
There were only crushed rocks and tiles, gleaming a deathly white under the moonlight.
The flying vessel swept past the fortress and continued forward.
Then, the mountain ridges came to an end.
Lin Gui saw the familiar Withered Rift.
It was a scar upon the earth.
A pitch-black, hideous, and bottomless scar.
At this time, inside and outside that scar, there was nothing but demons.
Densely packed.
Covering the sky and the earth.
From the bottom of the rift to the mountain walls on both sides, and even in the sky above the rift.
There were demons everywhere.
Like a tide, they surged from all directions, converging into this scar and racing toward its depths.
It was no longer a concept that could be described by "quantity."
It was a black ocean.
Lin Gui’s flying vessel above this ocean was as tiny as a speck of dust.
Their direction was deep into the scar.
And that direction...
Was the direction where the tomb of the Hero Reinhardt lay.
It was also the place Lin Gui had ventured deep into before.
The speed of the flying vessel suddenly slowed down.
Lin Gui turned off the wind pressure cannons.
The current density of demons had already far exceeded the demons he had faced at Shield City.
Almost all the demons within several thousand kilometers of the borderlands had gathered here.
Lin Gui could no longer rely on his exquisite techniques to weave through them at such high speeds.
Once a collision and crash occurred, and they were swept into the tide of migrating demons, it would be impossible to come out alive.
The speed of the flying vessel grew slower and slower.
It slowed down enough for Elvia to finally catch her breath.
She was just about to ask Lin Gui what on earth this small boat-like vehicle was and how it could reach such an astounding speed.
However, the moment she opened her eyes...
She was completely dumbfounded.
All around them were demons.
On both sides of the flying vessel were densely packed flying demons.
Some had wingspans exceeding twenty meters, and the wind generated by their flapping wings almost flipped the flying vessel over.
Some were covered in black scales, their eyes glowing with an eerie green light in the darkness.
Some were slender as phantoms, hanging upside down from the edges of the clouds, brushing past them.
Below, the mountain walls on both sides of the rift were covered in demons.
Like ants.
No, even more dense than ants.
That was a black waterfall, a black torrent, a black sea.
Through the blurry moonlight, Elvia saw the prominent crack.
That bottomless crack that spanned across the earth.
The Withered Rift.
Her pupils constricted violently.
Her entire body felt as if it had been struck by lightning, and she froze in place.
Then, she instinctively asked:
“Where is this?”
Lin Gui’s voice was very calm.
“The Withered Rift.”
Elvia: “...”
She opened her mouth.
And opened it again.
But nothing came out.
She turned her head and stared fixedly at Lin Gui.
Her gaze was like she was looking at a madman.
“You mother...”
Her voice shifted in tone.
“You’ve got to be kidding me, right???”
“The Withered Rift???”
“Isn’t this the center of the Dark Tide???”
“We finally escaped from that godforsaken Royal Capital, and you’ve brought me to the center of the Dark Tide???”
Her voice grew higher and sharper, more and more tremulous.
“Are you insane???”
“Do you want to die???”
“If you want to die, don't drag me with you!!!”
“I was actually about to fall for you because you came to rescue me!!”
“Is this how you treat me?!!”
Lin Gui did not answer.
He just stared ahead.
Elvia was still shouting.
But her voice suddenly got stuck.
Because a massive black shadow swept over the top of the flying vessel.
It was a sky demon.
Its size was staggering, with a wingspan of at least twenty meters.
It flew past Elvia, so close that she could clearly see the scales on its body.
Those scales were dark red, like coagulated blood.
Its head turned slightly toward her, giving her a look.
There was no madness in those eyes.
No desire for slaughter.
Only a hollow emptiness.
Only a manipulated obedience.
It looked at her for a moment.
Then, it withdrew its gaze.
It continued flying forward.
Heading deeper into the rift.
Elvia went completely stiff.
Even her breathing stopped.
Elvia recognized this demon.
That sky demon with the staggering size, a wingspan of at least twenty meters, and covered in dark red scales like coagulated blood.
Its head was triangular, with three curved horns growing from the top; the longest one in the middle was half a meter long, its tip glinting with a cold light.
Its eyes were gold-colored slit pupils, shining like two lamps in the darkness.
But at this moment, it was not looking at anyone.
It only stared hollowly forward.
Elvia recognized it.
She had seen its illustration in the top-secret files of the Transport Guild.
In the mountains to the east of Giant's Canyon, north of Twilight Fortress, that was its territory.
It had been entrenched in those mountains for at least thirty years.
The Transport Guild had once lost seven teams that tried to bypass that mountain area.
They finally managed to map its range of activity and categorized it as the highest-level forbidden zone.
And the reason Selene, that Epic Banshee Queen, had left those mountains was not only to preserve her race but mainly because of it!
Selene had been hunted by it in those mountains for three whole years.
Finally, she had to lead her clan to migrate to Eagle Fortress.
That was a defeat of one Epic rank by another.
As Elvia watched that massive figure sweep past them, her whole world felt wrong.
Her lips were trembling.
Her teeth were chattering.
Her legs were turning to jelly.
She wanted to run, but she couldn't move at all.
That was a fear coming from the depths of her soul.
It was an instinctive reaction etched into her bones.
Like a mouse that had suddenly encountered a sleeping cat.
No.
It was even more terrifying than that.
It was like encountering a dragon that was currently waking up.
She was about to pee herself in fear.
Truly about to pee herself.
However.
Right before her eyes.
Lin Gui, who should have been fleeing as quickly as possible...
Steered the flying vessel directly onto the back of that demon.
And then.
He stopped.
Stopped???
Elvia’s pupils constricted violently.
Fear instantly turned into a blank void.
Her mind went completely blank.
Not only her, even Shadow Blade Lynn, who was shrinking inside Lin Gui’s mage robes, was dumbfounded.
“?????”
Elvia’s mouth hung open.
She looked at the dark red scales beneath her, like coagulated blood.
She looked at those three curved horns just inches away.
She looked at those gold-colored slit pupils just a few meters ahead, still staring hollowly forward.
She couldn't say a word.
Only one thought echoed repeatedly in her mind:
“?????”
Meanwhile, Lin Gui was far more composed than Elvia.
Sitting in the pilot's seat, he waved his hand, and mana surged.
Novice Magic—[Grass Growth].
Several thick vines grew manically from the bottom of the flying vessel.
Like snakes coming to life, they wound tightly around the roots of the sharp feathers on the demon’s back.
The edges of those feathers were as sharp as blades.
But under the binding of the vines, the flying vessel was firmly fixed onto the demon's back.
Lin Gui tested it and confirmed it was tied securely.
Then, he leaned back against the pilot's seat.
He closed his eyes.
And began to calmly restore his mana.
The reason he stopped on the demon's back was simply because he wanted to hitch a ride.
The speed of an Epic sky demon was not slower than his flying vessel.
A single flap of its wings covered a distance of over a hundred meters.
It could carry him into the core area much faster.
And while he had the chance, he needed to quickly restore his mana.
Even if they teleported out, they would most likely still be in the wilderness.
And as long as it was the wilderness, it would surely be filled with dangers.
He needed to maintain an excellent state to deal with whatever demon threats might exist after the jump.
He might have been calm.
But Elvia could not stay calm!
The softness behind him suddenly vanished.
Before Lin Gui could turn his head, he heard Elvia’s cursing:
“Holy mother of...!!”
Lin Gui asked.
“Where are you going?”
Elvia had already stood up, her face deathly pale and her lips trembling.
“I’m going back to the Carter Royal Capital!”
Her voice was shrilly sharp.
“Compared to those lunatics who appeared out of nowhere, you’re the biggest lunatic of them all!!”
“Did you come back to save me just to take me to meet the boss of the Dark Tide?!”
“Madman!!”
Lin Gui did not turn back.
He only gave a faint reply:
“Then go.”
“Remember to watch your step.”
Elvia’s movement froze.
She instinctively looked down beneath her feet.
Through the edge of the flying vessel, she could see below.
Hundreds of meters in the air.
Densely packed demons were plowing through the land like locusts.
A black torrent, a black ocean.
Anyone who fell would be instantly torn into pieces.
Elvia’s legs went soft.
Slowly, very slowly, she sat back down.
Then, she silently reached out.
She hugged Lin Gui.
Hugging him very tightly.
So tight that Lin Gui felt like his ribs were about to break.
Her face was buried in his back, her voice muffled:
“...Madman.”
Lin Gui didn't speak.
He just continued to keep his eyes closed, restoring his mana.
At the same time, he also opened the Messenger's Chart.
That semi-transparent virtual map floated in his mind, with all the routes they had traveled marked on it.
A red dot represented themselves, moving slowly across the map.
That was the speed of the demon’s flight.
Lin Gui stared at the map, constantly using the scale to calculate the most optimal position for him to use the scroll.
As the sky demon continued to accelerate, that red dot drew closer and closer to the target position he had preset.
At the current speed, it would only take three hours to arrive.
Three hours.
Lin Gui silently calculated the time.
More than three days had passed since the start of the second phase.
And the shortest record for the eruption of the Dark Tide's third phase was four days.
In other words, he still had nearly a day.
Time was plentiful.
Lin Gui breathed a small sigh of relief.
However.
At the very instant he let down his guard...
Everything suddenly went quiet around his ears.
That kind of quiet was not ordinary silence.
It was as if all sounds had disappeared.
The wind.
The sound of demon wings flapping.
The roars coming from the distance.
Everything was gone.
It was as if someone had turned the world’s volume to zero.
Lin Gui’s pupils constricted violently.
A bone-chilling killing intent, like a needle, stabbed into his soul from behind.
He snapped his eyes open.
He found himself staring into a pair of blood-red eyes.
Those eyes were right above his head.
Massive.
Blood-red.
Slit pupils.
There was no emptiness inside them.
No manipulated obedience.
There was only...
Madness.
There was only...
The desire for slaughter.
That triangular, massive head it had turned around almost occupied Lin Gui's entire field of vision.
The three curved horns, with the longest one in the middle, were less than two meters above the flying vessel.
The horn's tip glinted with a cold light.
It was staring at these two tiny lives on the flying vessel.
Staring at this insect that dared to perch on its back.
Then, it opened its mouth.
In that instant, Lin Gui saw the rows upon rows of sharp teeth inside its mouth.
He saw the dark red light surging deep within its throat.
He saw death.
There was no more time.
Lin Gui’s hand suddenly yanked out the spatial scroll.
Mana was manically poured in.
The runes on the scroll lit up instantly.
A piercing white light exploded from between his fingers.
At the same instant, a pillar of dark red fire erupted from the demon’s throat.
The temperature of that fire was absurdly high; before it even touched them, the exterior of the flying vessel had already begun to char and crack.
Lin Gui turned and hugged Elvia tightly.
Then, the white light completely swallowed them.
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