Clearly, even if she screamed her lungs out, no one can respond. The other creature seemed to have perished, leaving only the black robe floating. It and she were the sole survivors in the hall.
Su Mei's hand slackened, and the item she held dropped to the ground, obscuring the light of the red pattern. She sensed that the black-robed figure was doing something to her because she suddenly experienced a strange sensation, as if her soul was about to leave her body and be drawn into the darkness beneath the robe.
This didn't mean that the black robe had made any attacking moves. In fact, it remained motionless, merely hovering. The two blood-red flames flickered as if on the verge of extinguishing. If it was indeed attacking her, this might be the attack manifestation.
She screamed a few times and then stopped. Strangely, the discomfort didn't last long. When it completely disappeared, a voice emanated from within the black robe. Just as she had imagined, this voice was slightly shrill and ominous.
In a frustrated tone, it said, "Oh, I see."
The tone of this sentence was filled with a high-pitched resentment and disappointment, which surprised Su Mei and left her momentarily stunned. Meanwhile, it indicated the failure of its intention.
Su Mei backed up five or six steps in one breath before standing still, probing, "Who... what are you?"
As soon as these words left her lips, she was greatly surprised. Her voice hadn't changed at all. However, the language she used felt completely off, inexplicably shifting into the same one they had used. It was as if her brain automatically translated her thoughts into their language.
The black robe suddenly swayed :"Your attitude should be more respectful. Address me as the esteemed Lord Hainham. I am the most powerful lich in mortal world. I can dust you with a flick of my finger!"
Su Mei had no idea how to respond, so she remained silent for the time being. The initial shock had passed, and she was now thinking more nervously and rationally.
Perhaps her question was stupid, but since she had the opportunity to ask, why would she drop that? She also noticed that the lich's voice was becoming lower and more subdued. It had a very arrogant attitude and appeared confident, but its tone betrayed it. She couldn't help but feel that it was on the verge of death.
"So... what is this place?" she asked.
"This place?" The black robe seemed somewhat surprised, and its voice suddenly grew harsher. "This is the Abyss, demons' lair."
Su Mei listened but didn't quite understand. She could only firmly remember the terms. However, the lich had no intention of providing further information or answering her questions. After these two questions, it began to show signs of annoyance towards this mortal. It no longer paid attention to her inquiries, only fixing its eyesight on her head and speaking in a resentful tone, "You're quite lucky, retard!"
"Lucky?" Su Mei blurted out, unable to believe it. Then, her anger suddenly surged, and she exclaimed, "How about we switch!? Wait, do you know the truth? Why am I here?"
The lich, on the brink of death, ignored her completely. In its scarlet eyes, Su Mei appeared very young, ignorant, and foolish, nothing more than an ordinary human being with no value. She was indeed quite beautiful, but she exuded an aura of fragility, clearly having never experienced hardships.
It had long lost any human desires. Su Mei's beauty, no matter how stunning, couldn't pique its interest. Its attention was focused entirely on her forehead, where a third eye was embedded, setting her apart from true humans. This third eye was perfectly round, slightly protruding, with a bright yellow iris and a narrow, slightly curved pupil that emitted a faint cold light.
Upon seeing it, the lich was immediately filled with envy and wished to pounce on her and bite her to death. This third eye was no ordinary item; it was the very reason it had ventured into the abyss. Once the summon was done, it and Lord Windertooth immediately attacked each other, trying to kill the other to claim it.
Just now, it had tried to make a desperate move to absorb Su Mei's soul to save its own life, but it was thwarted by this eye, completely eliminating any chance of its survival.
This eye was one of the remains left behind by an ancient god after its death, named the "Eye of Chaos." Whoever found it and merged with it could obtain power beyond mortal limits, inheriting a small portion of the god's divine power. For Lord Hainham, the esteemed Lord Hainham, it held more value than other remnants because it could directly perceive magical symbols, interpret arcane magic at its most fundamental level.
It obtained the clue from Lord Windertooth. They had conspired together, worked tirelessly, and paid a terrible price to build a high tower in living fire pit, all in order to evade the scrutiny of the demon lord. However, the ultimate outcome was that both sides perished at the same day.
This had infuriated it greatly, and Su Mei's complete cluelessness added fuel to the fire. The lich had lived for hundreds of years, encountering various individuals from different races. It could easily tell that Su Mei's ignorance was genuine. She had never heard of the Abyss, demons, or liches. Even now, she had not realized that she got a third eye.
The lich muttered to itself, "Stupid woman."
The stupid woman asked, "What did you say?"
It suddenly felt a sense of satisfaction. Therefore, driven by increasing malice, it let out a terrifying scream, "You will have a horrible death!"
Su Mei, in her daze, asked, "What did you say?"
The lich continued to ignore her reaction. As long as she remained stupid, it felt satisfied. Its speech rate increased each second, becoming chilling curses, "Don't you understand? This is the Bottomless Abyss, filled with countless terrifying monsters! If they find you, a human who inexplicably appeared here, your fate will be more gruesome than you can imagine! Your flesh will be torn apart piece by piece! You will be violated by the lowest-ranked demon! Finally, you'll become jerky dried by the lava!"
Fortunately, Su Mei heard every word clearly. Unfortunately, she was utterly terrified, standing motionless and staring as the black robe fell onto the ground, silently. In the center of the black cloth, there was a very noticeable bulge.
She expressed her feelings with two words, "Fucking shit!"
If there was anything scarier than a threat, it was that even the threater was now dead, leaving her alone to face the unknown. She glanced at the black cloth and then towards the other side of the hall. Golden armor Yao Ming had been blown to many pieces, completely dead.
Lord Hainham's judgment is right. She did indeed appear quite foolish. She stared helplessly at her surroundings. Ten seconds later, she squatted down again, carefully lifting the black robe.
The sensation was extremely comfortable, with a texture like good silk. It slipped through her fingers like flowing water, giving her a warm illusion. Underneath it lay the remains of Lord Hainham—a gold-inlaid, clean white skull, and an exquisitely shaped gold flat bottle.
She didn't dare to touch the skull and instead hesitantly picked up the black robe and the bottle, shook it off and stuffed it into her bag.
Just then, the stone hall suddenly began to shake, eliciting a scream from her.
The tremors didn't stop; they intensified, resembling a level nine earthquake, and in an instant, they shattered every stone in the tower.
At the same time, the stone platform split open with a shocking crack, swallowing her up. In the blink of an eye, she had no idea what had happened, and she plummeted down, heading for the unknown world outside the tall tower.
The explosion had a vast reach, affecting countless creatures and causing an earthquake within the living fire pit. Su Mei was initially thrown by the tremendous force, then experienced a rapid descent from a great height, ultimately ending up buried under rubble. In theory, her luck was abysmal. However, ironically, she was affected the least by the explosion.
The tower was usually concealed and invisible until they fully manifested in their location, and this sudden appearance had been witnessed by tens of thousands of demons. They had been closely monitoring this place, eager to know the lord's movements, but they never expected it to happen like this. In their complete ignorance, their lord had already died.
Wendelthorpe's territory had five commanders, followed by legion leaders and various captains. They lacked the camaraderie typically found among kin; all eyes were fixed on the lordship.
Before confirming Wendelthorpe's fate, these commanders began to act. They needed to communicate with each other, try to win over allies who supported them, and be on guard against colleagues plotting their assassinations. They also worried that capable legion leaders might seize the opportunity to rise. Of course, they had to put up a façade. If, by any chance, the lord was still alive, the more radically they acted, the heavier their punishment would be.
It was foreseeable that this chaos would continue for a long time, and it wouldn't face any suppression from higher-ups because this was the way of life for demons. In a sense, it could be considered one of the rules of the Abyss itself.
In reality, the living fire pit was just one layer of the Abyss, an incredibly vast realm consisting of countless volcanoes and lava seas, with high temperatures and a strong sulfuric odor. Magma fountains occasionally erupted, making it highly suitable for demons' tastes.
Its central region was a giant lake surrounded by peaks. They created massive fortresses and stone palaces in the central island. This place was closely guarded by high-ranking demons at all times because it was the residence of the Mistress of the living fire pit.