Elvia looked at Bob's cooling corpse a short distance away.
Recalling everything that had happened in that flash, she felt a chill run down her spine.
Previously, while sitting on Lin Gui's raft and enjoying the comfort provided by his absurd concealment magic, she had only felt a sense of relief.
Only now, experiencing the terrifying power of those sneak attacks firsthand, did she truly feel a sense of bone-chilling dread.
In a head-on confrontation, Theia might not necessarily be a match for the battle-hardened Bob.
However, under the cover of Lin Gui's elusive magic, they had been able to sneak behind a Transcendent expert without anyone noticing, with an arrow pointed directly at the back of his head.
In such an assassination combination, even a High-tier Transcendent expert might risk being instantly killed with a single oversight.
And this was while Lin Gui's mana was almost completely exhausted.
If his mana had been full, he could have taken Bob out with Theia and then vanished back into concealment again.
In that case, probably not one of those six Defense Force soldiers would have been able to escape.
An Intermediate-tier Transcendent Ranger and a Low-tier High Rank mage had achieved such an overwhelming effect by joining forces; it was simply incredible.
It seemed they weren't entirely without certainty in their plan to cross the Forbidden Zone.
Elvia's eyes flickered as her mind began to race.
If this ability were used for assassination...
Just as she was making her own plans, Theia's emerald eyes suddenly narrowed as she drew her bow once more.
Elvia's eyes also flickered as she quickly picked up her saber from the ground.
Taking a step across, she stood side-by-side with Theia.
The two of them firmly shielded the unconscious Lin Gui between them.
...
Amidst a slight swaying, Lin Gui awoke from the deep darkness.
He rubbed his throbbing forehead and sat up, stunned to find himself in a dim, man-made cave.
The raft beneath him had been lifted off the ground and was slowly moving forward.
He immediately checked the wooden boxes beside him, and after seeing that the letters were intact, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Then, he looked with confusion at Theia and Elvia, who were carrying the raft at the front and back.
He also looked at the several unfamiliar figures leading the way ahead.
Who are they?
Hearing the movement, Theia turned her head, a happy smile appearing on her face.
"Lin Gui! You're awake! How are you feeling? Are you alright?"
Lin Gui rubbed the bridge of his nose, feeling the empty soreness and mental fatigue within his body as he replied.
"I'm fine, it's just mana exhaustion. Where are we?"
Elvia, who was carrying a corner of the raft on her shoulder at the front, answered without turning her head.
"We've already entered the Withered Rift."
"This ancient man-made road is said to be a mining tunnel dug by gnolls a long time ago."
"Then who are those people in front?"
"They're from the Caran Gold Rank adventure group, Dreamweaver, which means they're the targets of your Special Commission."
"Is that so?"
Lin Gui raised an eyebrow slightly; he had not felt the system notification for the completion of the task, nor had his mana increased.
"Was the letter not given to them?"
"How should I put it..."
Elvia's tone was somewhat subtle.
"You'd better ask them yourself; things are a bit complicated."
At Elvia's indication, a capable-looking woman dressed in a mage robe from the Dreamweaver adventure group walked over.
With a practiced smile on her face, she extended her hand toward Lin Gui, who was sitting on the raft.
"Hello, I am the Vice Leader of the Dreamweaver party, Catherine, a High-tier High Rank mage."
Lin Gui jumped down from the raft and gave her hand a light shake.
"I heard about the guild commission from my teammate."
Catherine subconsciously glanced at Theia, a flicker of guardedness and repulsion flashing deep in her eyes, though she quickly masked it with her smile.
"Thank you for traveling thousands of miles to deliver the guild's Emergency Recall Order. Please give the letter to me, so the commission can be considered complete."
Lin Gui did not immediately produce the letter, but instead asked.
"Where is your leader, Rona? The commission states that the letter must be delivered personally to the leader of Dreamweaver."
Catherine's brow furrowed imperceptibly, clearly unwilling to answer the question, but under Lin Gui's calm and persistent gaze, she remained silent for a few seconds before finally speaking in a deliberately flat tone.
"The leader... has sacrificed herself."
She paused for a moment, seemingly organizing her thoughts, as a hint of deep sorrow entered her voice.
"Not long ago, a fierce battle broke out between Demon Lords within the rift."
"The aftershocks of the battle were terrifying, altering the surrounding terrain and revealing many undiscovered ancient mining tunnels and ruins."
"Leader Rona, a veteran Transcendent Assassin of the guild, had been stuck at a bottleneck in her strength for a long time."
"She believed this was a rare opportunity and, ignoring our dissuasion, insisted on venturing deep into the newly appeared ruin area to find a chance for a breakthrough."
Catherine's voice lowered, filled with regret and helplessness.
"As it turned out... she never came back."
She lifted her head and looked at Lin Gui, her eyes carrying a perfectly judged amount of sorrow and determination.
"So, I am currently acting as the interim leader. Giving the guild letter to me is the same thing."
Lin Gui noticed that when Catherine said the word "sacrificed," a petite female assassin in the Dreamweaver team suddenly clenched her fists.
She bit her lower lip tightly, a flash of indignation and frustration in her eyes as if she wanted to rush forward to say something.
However, she was held firmly by another member beside her, who shook their head slightly.
Lin Gui understood the situation, but he maintained a neutral expression and shook his head regretfully.
"Ah... I'm sorry, but that Emergency Recall Order letter was unfortunately destroyed during the attack just now."
His tone was sincere, carrying a well-judged hint of regret.
"However, the content of the letter was roughly to urge you to return to Caran City as soon as possible to stabilize the situation in the guild. This shouldn't prevent you from withdrawing now."
Catherine's gaze instantly sharpened as she scanned back and forth between Lin Gui's face and the perfectly intact wooden boxes on the raft.
"I see that your wooden boxes are not damaged at all. Furthermore, according to our scout who was monitoring Bob's group earlier, no damage to the boxes was observed during the battle."
Her tone was clearly filled with suspicion.
However, no matter how much Catherine probed and hinted, Lin Gui always found a plausible reason to brush her off.
His tone remained flat and watertight throughout.
Catherine's face gradually darkened as her patience wore thin.
She took a step forward, her tone becoming forceful.
"Since you say the letter is destroyed, then let us inspect the wooden boxes to confirm that no other guild items have been missed; that should be fine, right?"
Lin Gui said nothing, but simply gave a light wave of his hand.
Faint light swirled as the massive raft, along with the wooden boxes on top, instantly levitated half a foot off the ground.
This precise and stable display of Levitation caused Catherine's pupils to shrink as she subconsciously halted her steps.
As a mage, she knew all too well how difficult it was to master this novice spell to such a degree.
Lin Gui, his hands now free, simply looked at her calmly.
Theia and Elvia took a step forward in sync, shielding Lin Gui's sides.
Theia's fingers rested seemingly carelessly on her bowstring, and while Elvia's saber remained sheathed, the oppressive aura of a High-tier High Rank knight already permeated the air.
In particular, Theia's cold, blood-red eyes made Catherine feel a very real threat.
"Hmph!"
Catherine let out a cold snort, knowing she would not get her way today.
She glared fiercely at Lin Gui before tossing out a sentence.
"In that case, suit yourselves. The Dreamweaver outpost is a secret, so we won't be hosting you outsiders!"
With that, she turned with a face full of displeasure and led the other members to quickly vanish into the dark fork of the mining tunnel.
Only after they were far away did Lin Gui control the raft to slowly descend.
He looked at Theia and Elvia.
"What exactly happened while I was unconscious?"
Theia gave a brief explanation.
It turned out that after scaring away the remnants of the Defense Force, Theia had keenly spotted the scout hiding nearby.
Under the threat of her bow, the other party appeared and identified themselves as members of the Caran Dreamweaver adventure group.
Theia had heard of this predominantly female Gold Rank adventure group when she was in Caran, so she mentioned that she had urgent guild mail to deliver to their leader, Rona.
The other party then brought them into this ancient mining tunnel in the rift.
"Originally, the plan was to take us to their outpost to rest for a bit."
Theia shrugged, her tone carrying a hint of expectation.
"But now... we can only camp out in the wild."
As she spoke, her emerald eyes were sparkling, clearly showing that she would much rather miss out on the hard and dry military rations at the Dreamweaver outpost for Lin Gui's cooking.
Elvia also subconsciously swallowed, clearly filled with anticipation for Lin Gui's culinary skills as well.
Lin Gui looked at the faint light occasionally seeping in from outside the mining tunnel and the multiple complex forks ahead, letting out a helpless sigh.
The mental throbbing from mana exhaustion had not yet fully subsided; he truly did need to rest.
"Fine then, let's find a suitable place nearby to rest."
He rubbed his still-throbbing temples.
"While we're still not far from the forest boundary and demon tracks are scarce."
"You got it!"
Theia responded, her figure darting out like a nimble cat as she began to move through the various tunnel forks to find a suitable temporary outpost.
As an experienced ranger, her skills in this area were already fully mastered.
After Theia left, Elvia sat on the edge of the raft next to Lin Gui, staring at him without blinking.
Lin Gui felt somewhat puzzled by her gaze.
"What is it?"
Elvia remained silent for a few seconds before speaking in a low voice.
"Earlier... when we were surrounded by those Defense Force soldiers, I thought you would truly abandon me."
Lin Gui replied flatly.
"How could I? So many of my letters are still in those wooden boxes."
Elvia looked at Lin Gui's expressionless profile and suddenly said very softly.
"Thank you."
This word of thanks caused Lin Gui to pause, and he pointed at himself with a sense of absurdity.
"I'm the one who poisoned you, threatened your life, made you act as bait just now, and even forbade you from running away."
"The main reason I saved you wasn't even because of you personally, but because of these letters. You're actually thanking me for that?"
Elvia smiled and did not explain.
She sat cross-legged on the raft, stretching lazily without any concern for her image, showing off her curves.
Then she asked casually.
"When you leave the Royal Capital to go to Avalon... will you take me with you?"
She tilted her head, her golden hair falling down.
"I don't know the Golden Route to that place."
"And you probably don't think much of my strength, right?"
"With the coordination between you and that half-demon, as long as you're not facing something above the Transcendent Rank, basically no one can do anything to you."
She paused, her tone carrying a hint of confusion.
"Other adventure groups focus on completing guild commissions: exploring ruins, subjugating demons, collecting alchemical items, guarding nobles, participating in wars... all of it is to make money and get stronger."
"But your adventure group... no, more accurately, your post office, only delivers letters."
"Collecting meager copper coins while risking your life to cross the demon-infested wilderness just to help those commoners convey their thoughts..."
Elvia shook her head.
"This is simply one of the most foolish behaviors in the City-State Era."
"But if you truly intend to keep walking this path..."
Her gaze became somewhat distant.
"Actually, assassins, rangers, scouts, diviners, scholars, cartographers, or special mages like you who excel in perception, investigation, and escape are better suited for your team."
"Rather than someone like me, a more clumsy knight."
Lin Gui listened quietly until she finished before speaking calmly.
"There are many reasons for choosing you."
"The most direct one is that you know the Golden Route from Caran to the Royal Capital."
"Secondly, you're a member of the royal family who has long moved within the center of power, skilled in dealing with and networking among nobles and the powerful, and you possess a keen political eye."
"It's inevitable that I'll have to deal with those people in the future, and you can provide a lot of information and help."
He looked at the dim light outside the mining tunnel.
"The Caran Royal Capital is a transportation hub for the borderlands and an important transit point for the City-State Alliance in the southwest."
"Setting off from the Royal Capital, it's relatively convenient to reach other city-states in the borderlands."
"If I want to establish a foothold there and build a node for the post office, your help is indispensable."
He paused, his voice lowering slightly.
"Furthermore, once we reach Avalon and confirm that the city-state is truly the legendary City of Equality that Theia spoke of..."
"Theia and I will part ways."
Elvia's eyes widened in surprise.
Lin Gui continued.
"The main purpose of going to Avalon this time is to help Theia find a place where she can truly be accepted."
"When that time comes, my team will be missing an important combat unit."
What Lin Gui didn't say was that, at least until he completed the system's advancement tasks and improved his proficiency in Mid Rank spells, his own frontal combat strength was indeed limited.
As a mage, he had put almost all his effort into perception, concealment, and escape.
While he knew a few offensive spells, his proficiency was average, and their power was insufficient to handle strong enemies.
Shroud of the Gloomy Night was not invincible, especially at his most vulnerable moment when his mana was exhausted.
He needed a sufficiently strong and trustworthy guardian.
Elvia nodded thoughtfully as she listened.
"So that's how it is..."
She repeated that phrase in a low voice, her gaze somewhat distant.
"City of Equality... Avalon..."
As if remembering something, she began to softly hum an ancient ballad that circulated among the lower-tier commoners, her voice ethereal and filled with a trace of longing.
"Beneath the crown where the moonlight cannot reach, blood waters the branches of power."
"Legend says there is a city called Avalon on the other shore, where there is no oppression and no distinction between the poor and the lowly."
"The shadows of demons cannot reach it, and the bells of freedom ring day and night..."
Her singing echoed softly in the deep mining tunnel, carrying an indescribable and complex emotion.
As her singing stopped, Elvia smiled.
"Oh... Avalon. I remember now; it's the place mentioned in that poem."
"Does it... really exist?"
Lin Gui nodded, his tone very certain.
"It exists."
Elvia was silent for a moment, the unknown darkness in the depths of the mining tunnel reflected in her golden eyes as if she were recalling the beautiful images depicted in the poem.
She suddenly turned her head to look at Lin Gui, her face carrying an almost innocent curiosity.
"Is that so... then I really do want to see for myself what this so-called City of Equality actually looks like."
Just then, Theia's figure silently emerged from the shadows at the side of the cave.
With a relaxed smile at having finished her task, she jumped back onto the edge of the raft and pointed toward a fork deep in the mining tunnel.
"Right over there, there's an abandoned gnoll storage room. There's enough space, and it's very secluded."
"I've already scouted the surrounding area and cleared out a few tunnel imps that were hiding inside."
Having said that, she sat down at the back of the raft, hugging her knees with her sharp chin resting on them, her eyes staring into the void as she thought of something unknown.
Rate on N.U.
