"The Dragon of Creation!"
Marei Rhine's furious roar reverberated through the soul space, and in that instant, Kurose Akira immediately understood—the Dragon of Creation Red Lotus had mentioned was the very same colossal dragon that had fought Marei Rhine in a world-shaking battle thousands of years ago.
One was creation.The other, destruction.
No wonder they had clashed.
But right now, Akira had no time to soothe her emotions.
"A little later, two more player guilds will be joining our team," Lu Bo said as he stroked his small mustache. "Compared to us, their overall strength is higher—they're rated C+."
"Yes," Shen Siqi added softly from the side. "They've already arrived near the Demon Lair. Once we head over, we'll be able to link up with them immediately."
"Of course," Lu Bo continued, his gaze casually sweeping past Red Lotus and the others, "no matter how strong they are, in this team they'll still only be playing a supporting role."
From the very beginning, their fate as tools had already been decided.
Akira asked, "So this time, how many guilds are participating in total, besides us?"
"Not many," Lu Bo replied after thinking for a moment. "About a dozen or so. Information about this Demon Lair wasn't widely circulated."
Then he paused, lowering his voice slightly.
"But this time, there's a very formidable character involved."
"A formidable character?"
"Yeah. The C+–rated guild currently ranked second on the contribution leaderboard," Lu Bo explained. "They were ranked first before, but early this morning, they were overtaken by a B-rank guild."
Hearing this, Akira fell into thought.
The competition in this event was truly brutal. Just last night, that C+ guild had still been sitting firmly at the top—yet overnight, the throne had already changed hands.
…
Not long after, the newly appointed Lord of Sunset City led several hundred Law Enforcement Knights toward the Demon Lair. The adventurers on site followed closely behind, riding horses provided by Sunset City as they made their way forward together.
"Are they your companions?"
Along the road, Roxia asked Akira curiously, naturally referring to Red Lotus and her group.
"Mm."Akira nodded, then reminded her, "Later on, stay close to us." As he spoke, he gestured toward Loserine, who was seated in front of him.
Because time was tight and there weren't enough horses to go around, some adventurers had no choice but to ride two to a horse. As for why they didn't simply teleport—there were no suitable teleportation coordinates within the Gloomshade Forest. Teleportation arrays couldn't be used just anywhere; they usually connected to cities. Of course, returning to the guild afterward would be much easier.
Naturally, Akira shared a horse with Loserine. Ivsha and Lucia each brought along an elf, while Alice reverted to her porcelain-doll form and was placed in his pocket.
He didn't really mind—though Loserine's armor was hard and unyielding to hold, and the constant jolting of the horse during the march left him a bit uncomfortable.
Looks like I really need to find a proper mount.
As the thought crossed his mind, Akira glanced to the side. The female mage Kairilin was currently riding on the back of the centaur warrior Azkman. That broad, flat back looked remarkably comfortable, and Akira couldn't help but feel tempted to try it himself…
Before long, the group arrived at the location of the Demon Lair.
Several adventurer guilds had already gathered there. Just as Lu Bo had said, the number of participating guilds this time was small—counting Akira's group, there were only around twenty in total.
"So he's the sixth-ranked player you mentioned?"
At that moment, two men walked toward Akira, followed by several adventurers with visibly formidable strength.
"Mm."Lu Bo nodded. "How are your preparations?"
"Everything's ready. Once the time comes, we can go deep into the Demon Lair."The man wearing a baseball cap spoke, then shifted his gaze to Akira. His attitude was cold and detached."You look weaker than I expected. Not even a C-rank evaluation. Since you're acquainted with the Xianfei Guild, I'll let it slide—just don't drag us down later."
With that, he turned around and walked back to his team.
"Don't take Fu Bin's words to heart," Shen Siqi explained to Akira. "He's always like that—cold and standoffish."
"It's fine," Akira replied calmly.
In games like this, first impressions were often tied to rank. Generally speaking, C+–ranked players were far stronger than D-ranked ones—but that was only generally.
He then turned his gaze toward the Demon Lair in the distance. At this moment, it was shrouded in a thin veil of blood mist.
According to Lu Bo, this blood mist was highly corrosive—it could erode the skin, causing severe ulceration. However, every day at exactly noon, when the sun burned at its hottest, the mist would naturally dissipate. That moment would be the perfect opportunity to infiltrate the Demon Lair.
"Later on, all of you must stay close to me," Lucia instructed Frilly and the others—Akira included.
"Have you sensed something?" Akira asked Lucia quietly.
"Yes."Lucia nodded lightly. "Compared to the vampires, there's something far more troublesome inside the Demon Lair. This blood mist is something it released."
"?"
Akira's eyes narrowed slightly. Anything that could make Lucia this wary was definitely no simple threat.
Soon, the bell signaling noon rang out. The sun hung high in the sky, pouring down scorching light.
At that moment, the blood mist surrounding the Demon Lair began to gradually dissipate, revealing a massive gate constructed entirely of congealed blood—the entrance to the depths of the lair.
"The blood mist has dispersed. Move out!"
With the Lord of Sunset City's command, everyone surged forward into the Demon Lair.
The instant they stepped inside, the environment changed dramatically. The once-lush Gloomshade Forest vanished, replaced by an eerie, lightless world. At the far edge of their vision stood an ancient castle, towering and imposing. Above it hung a blood-red sun, radiating a sinister crimson glow.
"What a heavy stench of blood!"
Shen Siqi frowned deeply, nausea rising in her throat. The suffocating scent of blood in the air made everyone extremely uncomfortable.
However, the members of Akira's guild were largely unaffected.
The moment they entered the Demon Lair, Lucia lightly tapped the Staff of the Sun in her hand. A faint golden radiance immediately bloomed around the guild members, not only dispelling the blood stench from their nostrils but also significantly boosting all their attributes.
"That sun…"
The moment Akira entered the Demon Lair, his gaze had already locked onto the blood-red sun in the distance.
Deep within him, a powerful intuition screamed that the crimson "sun" was no natural phenomenon—it was a living, malevolent existence.
"I…"
Lucia's expression suddenly changed. Her brows knitted together as discomfort washed over her face.
Her body swayed, strength draining away, and she collapsed weakly into Akira's arms.
"Lucia?"Akira frowned and immediately checked her status panel.
A negative effect was clearly displayed:
[Crimson Withering]This unit has incurred the hostility of blood. Strength, Constitution, and Agility are reduced to 10. The unit enters a weakened state.
Seeing this, Akira's expression darkened.
He quickly realized that this status was closely tied to that blood-red sun.
But why was Lucia the only one affected?
"I'll take you out of here first."Akira prepared to carry Lucia away. As the guild leader, he had a responsibility to protect her.
"I'm fine," Lucia shook her head gently, forcing herself to remain standing. "My mobility is restricted, but chanting spells isn't affected."
From the status effect, aside from Mana, all of Lucia's attributes had been heavily suppressed, greatly limiting her movement.
But as long as she could still cast magic, her combat effectiveness wouldn't drop too drastically.
"How about this," Lucia thought for a moment, then said to Akira, "You carry me on your back."
"?"
Well…
After a brief consideration, Akira felt that this plan was indeed workable.
Especially since in his half-dragon transformation, his mobility was definitely no worse than Lucia's usual state.
"Alright."Akira nodded and gently lifted Lucia up.
"?"Lucia looked slightly confused. She had clearly said carry me on your back—so how did it turn into carrying her in his arms?
…Well, the difference wasn't that big.
It was just that—
Lucia's cheeks flushed faintly, because at this moment, Akira's large hand was holding her waist, his palm pressing into her soft flesh.
This intimate contact caused the effects of her Sensitive Authority to flare intensely. Her body trembled slightly, though not enough for anyone else to notice.
Ahem~The Saintess really is too sensitive.Looks like I'll need to properly "train" her sometime, so she can at least endure a simple hug.
As these thoughts passed through his mind, Akira adjusted their positions and shifted Lucia onto his back.
But during the switch, he accidentally brushed against Lucia's snow-white, delicate bare foot—
"!"