Chapter 40: Abyss of Darkness

The black light came with a speed so swift that Murong Yun and the others on the other side of the battlefield had no time to react, nor probably the ability to rescue. Yuan Hong, his expression grave, tightened his grip on his long staff, seemingly prepared to block this terrifying demonic light that he absolutely could not withstand, even if it meant risking his life.

However, that Qilin, which had been lying on the ground with its eyes half-closed, finally displayed its immense power as a sacred beast, far surpassing that of everyone present.

It lifted one of its hoof-like front limbs, and astonishingly, a completely identical enlarged shadow swept out. It seemed slow, yet was quicker to block the impending black light before Yuan Hong and Yuan Zhi.

*“Bang!!!”*

*“Boom, boom, boom, boom!!!!”*

The shadow solidified, colliding head-on with the deep black demonic light. The two overwhelming forces violently clashed in the air, sending shockwaves that caused everyone, including the demons, to stumble backward uncontrollably. The entire space of the underground sea shook violently once again.

Oh…

So this is the source of that explosive sound just now. No wonder the Qilin just let those intruders jump around in front of it without action; it seems there is another formidable enemy lurking around, demanding constant focus.

It’s quite the hardship for it to deal with so much in such poor condition.

But at this rate, the Qilin might collapse.

The clash just now seemed evenly matched, but while the situation remained unclear, the Qilin was clearly at the end of its strength. If similar attacks came just a few more times, it would surely fail to hold on.

The Priestess lowered her head, glancing at the whirlpool that was gradually dissipating on the surface of the sea.

It seemed unwise to sit idly by as the situation worsened, so she decided to investigate what kind of divine being lurked beneath the water.

With her white wings fluttering, she changed direction and dived down toward the location of the whirlpool that had just appeared. Before the people on the island could even catch a glimpse of her trace, she plunged into the sea with a splash.

*“Glub, glub, glub…”*

The sound of her body displacing the seawater filled her ears. The [Feather of the God] didn’t get wet when it met water, and the powerful thrust helped the Priestess descend rapidly.

Although someone couldn’t swim—one might even say they were quite poor at it—it didn’t matter much anyway.

As a divine artifact, [Feather of Glarya] easily kept the seawater at bay, and as Vilyric was part of the divine race, she didn’t particularly need to breathe; one cannot view her from the perspective of an ordinary person.

Except for an unsettling feeling of buoyancy that she wasn’t quite used to, the experience was quite similar to flying in the sky.

She had occasionally dived into water during her travels on another continent, but this underground sea… how should she put it? It felt entirely different.

Chilly, intensely chilly.

She felt it the moment she entered the water.

This water was colder than ordinary river or sea water, but it wasn’t merely a temperature change; rather, it sent a shiver down her spine, reminiscent of descending into an abyss.

If she had to choose a descriptor, Vilyric would call it “Water of Darkness,” the true culprit behind the significant presence of evil demons thriving in the tidal abyss below.

Of course, to put it simply, it meant that the water’s yin energy concentration was off the charts.

Exceeding limits, far beyond what a normal person could withstand. Forget drinking it; just prolonged exposure, or living near such lakes or seas, would severely affect one’s body.

As for the specific effects…

Though it was merely a guess, Vilyric suspected that the reason the villagers of Once Village could give birth to demons was probably due to that certain Seven-Day Demon Lord messing with their food and water, transforming it into something like this.

Demons seem to appear anywhere as long as the yin energy is sufficiently strong, like a special rule of the world… a rule that’s rather unfriendly to living beings.

And this underground sea was no exception.

There were indeed creatures in the sea, though technically they might not fall into the category of “living beings.” They existed, and they were unfriendly.

*“Swish!”*

At the end of her holy staff, a nearly hundred-meter-long sword of light swept through, slicing a grotesque fish entirely made of pale skeletal fragments, entangled with large amounts of seaweed and mud but clearly not resembling any form of life that Vilyric recognized, into two. The Priestess, who could never accept such extreme ugliness, couldn’t help but wipe her forehead in dismay.

*“Ugh… I can’t take this! Could this thing also be a demon?!”*

As she complained, Vilyric floated deeper into the ever-darkening sea, scanning her surroundings.

More and more monstrous things, attracted by the battle, were approaching from around.

Among them, some appeared as the same kind of bone-fragmented fish she had just sliced, while others were zombie-like humanoids with decayed bodies wielding tattered fishing spears. There were even entities that bore fish fins but whose body shapes resembled land-dwelling beasts.

It seemed these were remnants of beings that had perished over the centuries after accidentally falling into the tidal abyss and drowned or were devoured by the nearby demons, all evolving in the heavily yin-tainted environment surrounding them.

Seemingly, because Vilyric envied the flashy moves of a certain Holy Knight, she imitated them and conjured this hundred-meter-long sword of light that emitted a magnificent glow. To these creatures that had long pondered in the dark sea, it was something akin to a nemesis they both loathed and feared; they surged forward to attack her like moths to a flame.

While they weren’t exactly formidable foes, the incessant entanglement would lead to an endless fight.

Resolving herself, two pairs of white wings unfurled behind the girl.

*“Bang!!!!!!!!”*

The reaction of the tremendous force even caused a hundred-meter high wave to erupt on the sea surface that was already several thousand meters away. In the next moment, Vilyric’s body dove down like an arrow released from a bow, countering the buoyancy’s obstruction and plunging rapidly toward the deeper seabed!

However, more bizarre demons surged from the depths of the inner sea, rushing to bite and kill her!

*“Purifying Rain.”*

*“Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!!!!!!!”*

Countless brilliant swords of light suddenly manifested around the rapidly descending girl, forming golden hummingbirds that darted down faster, raining down like shards of light, cutting down all the demon entities that tried to impede the Priestess.

Though demons likely possessed no fear or similar emotions, they continued to surge wave after wave, but that was utterly meaningless against the overwhelming crushing force. Occasionally, even the particularly large demons were sliced apart by the hundred-meter-long “laser pen” that Vilyric waved casually.

With the path cleared by the rain of light swords, aided by the fully powered [Feather of the God], her progress faced no obstacles. In just half a minute, she was firmly standing on the seabed of this inner sea.

*“… ”*

The Priestess looked up.

Despite having been cut to pieces earlier and continuing to pursue her desperately, once she truly entered the deepest layer of the underground sea, those demons ceased their attacks.

Not that they didn’t want to; they simply didn’t dare.

Here, there seemed to be a certain entity closely resembling them but of a level and status far above their own. Vilyric even had reason to suspect that the reason the yin energy was so concentrated in this inner sea was perhaps due to the aura released by that entity over the years.

It was right in front of her.

Vilyric shifted her gaze to the ground beneath her feet. Surrounded by bizarre corals and rocky formations at the bottom of this deep sea, directly beneath the surface island…

There stood a magnificent crystal palace.

   

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