Evelyn's body plunged rapidly downward. The shadowed miasma churning beneath her grew ever thicker, as if a slumbering abyssal monster were opening its gaping maw, waiting for her to fall into its belly.

  She could clearly sense that once she was completely enveloped by that dense shadowed miasma, she would be corroded in an instant, her body and soul erased from existence.

  Evelyn slowly exhaled a breath of miasma. Her hands crossed swiftly, and she began to chant a protective spell. Her voice was clear, yet carried a trace of resolve.

  As the final words left her lips, a layer of soft light gradually seeped out from beneath the long dress clinging to her body. This was her protective garment.

  Though it could not be considered a supreme treasure, it was able to draw upon magic to resist the erosion of the miasma.

  The gentle glow wrapped lightly around Evelyn's body, temporarily isolating her from the surrounding miasma, but her downward momentum did not slow in the slightest.

  She closed her eyes, already prepared to accept her fate. Just then, a familiar voice suddenly rang clearly in her ears.

  "Evelyn!"

  Evelyn, whose heart had turned to ashes, froze. She slowly opened her eyes and gazed blankly toward the direction of the voice.

  A figure was breaking through the thick miasma, rushing toward her at high speed. That upright posture and those determined eyes could belong to no one but Allen.

  Tears instantly welled up in Evelyn's eyes. When she was expelled, when she was shut out by the elf race, when she was hunted by Marcus and driven into a dead end, no one had ever reached out a hand to her.

  Yet now, at the very moment she was about to die, this man had chased after her without hesitation.

  Her joy was fleeting. Evelyn looked at the approaching Allen and let out a soft sigh.

  She knew all too well how terrifying the abyssal miasma was. Even someone as powerful as Allen might not be able to withstand its erosion.

  Without further hesitation, she crossed her hands once more. The last remnants of her natural magic gathered at her fingertips, and a complex protective sigil took shape in an instant.

  Countless fragments of soft light fell away from the long dress around her, converging into a small suit of light armor. Carrying her final reserves of magic, it shot toward Allen at high speed.

  The radiance spread instantly around him, forming a resilient curtain of light that wrapped tightly around his body, temporarily shielding him from the erosion of the miasma.

  Allen no longer had any attention to spare for the changes around him. His gaze was locked on Evelyn. When he saw her figure finally fall below, his heart clenched violently.

  He hesitated no longer. Drawing upon the power of the Demon King within him, he accelerated again, his form like a bolt of black lightning as he leaped into the perilous sea of shadowed miasma.

  The shadowed miasma surged and roared. Thick, inky clouds rolled endlessly, and chains that glimmered with a ghostly light crisscrossed through them.

  They twisted and writhed within the clouds, constantly tearing apart any living being that dared to enter or escape this place, radiating a chilling killing intent.

  The moment Evelyn's body fell into the miasma, the soft light of her long dress was torn apart by the raging miasma. Countless cold forces of shadow pierced through her body like sharp needles.

  Piercing pain spread through her limbs and bones. Her consciousness began to blur and fade.

  She could clearly feel her life force draining away at a rapid pace, yet she still forced her eyes open, staring in the direction from which Allen was rushing, her heart holding onto one last fragile obsession, hoping that he could leave this place alive.

  Allen finally caught up. He held Evelyn's weakened body firmly in his arms, and the two of them drifted slowly down toward the bottom of the valley together.

  Strangely, the raging shadowed miasma and the soul devouring chains around them came to an abrupt halt the moment they touched the space around Allen, unable to draw even an inch closer.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Allen lowered his head and looked at the unconscious Evelyn in his arms. He let out a soft breath, his voice filled with barely concealed relief."Good. I made it in time."

  A faint black haze lingered around Evelyn's cheeks, and her brows were knit with pain.

  Fortunately, she had not been exposed to the miasma for long. It was only the violent shock to her mind and the complete exhaustion of her magic that had caused her to fall unconscious.

  Their figures passed through the heavy miasma and finally reached the true bottom of the valley.

  It was pitch black here. An angry and greedy roar rose from below.

  "Ah! Humans! I smell the scent of living humans!"

  "How many years has it been! At last, living creatures have delivered themselves to my door!"

  "Come! Into my mouth! Let me devour you!"

  Huge, black fur covered hands stretched out from cracks in the ground, lunging rapidly toward Allen and Evelyn.

  Allen lifted his gaze. Beneath him, a grotesque creature with three heads and six arms was crawling up from the earth. Each head had a gaping mouth full of fangs, and its eyes gleamed with bloodthirsty light.

  "Get lost."

  A vast pressure of Demon King power burst out around Allen and slammed down on the creature.

  The savage expression on its face froze instantly. All three heads showed terror at the same time. The outstretched giant hands snapped back, and the massive body dropped flat to the ground with a heavy thud that made the earth tremble.

  "Demon King!" The creature's voice quivered as all six arms pressed against the ground, bowing again and again.

  "I was wrong! I did not know it was you who had arrived. I deserve death! Please spare me! Please spare me!"

  Allen ignored its wailing. Holding Evelyn carefully, he set her down against a relatively flat protruding stone platform.

  A thread of pure source magic gathered at his fingertip, and he gently touched it to Evelyn's forehead.

  The magic flowed slowly from his finger, drawing out the remaining shadowed miasma within her little by little.

  As the black haze was pulled free, it dissipated instantly in Allen's palm. The tight furrow of Evelyn's brows gradually relaxed, and a hint of color returned to her face.

  Only then did Allen truly let out a breath of relief. He sat down beside Evelyn and turned his gaze toward the creature still prostrated on the ground.

  The creature was extraordinarily tall. Even lying flat, its shoulders and back still rose two head lengths higher than Allen.

  "Who are you, and why are you imprisoned here?" Allen asked.

  He could sense the aura of the Demon Tribe from the creature, but the Demon Tribe had countless clans and many different forms. He had never seen one with three heads and six arms.

  The creature did not dare to lift its head. It kept bowing, its voice filled with sobs.

  "In reply to the Demon King, I am from the Ossified Demon Tribe."

  "When I was young and ignorant a hundred years ago, I violated a military order and was sentenced to imprisonment, which is why I was confined here."

  It paused, its tone heavy with sorrow."This place is the prison where the Demon Tribe locks away those who have committed grave crimes. I have been imprisoned here for a hundred years."

  "There were originally twelve others from my Tribe imprisoned with me. They could not endure it and died one after another. Only I remain, barely clinging to life."

  Allen nodded slowly, his gaze sweeping across the bottom of the valley. There were no metal cages here as he had imagined, only dense clusters of jagged, scattered rocks.

  Irregular stone platforms jutted out from the cliff walls, like isolated islands suspended in the air.

  He could clearly see that on some of these platforms sat corpses in many different forms.

  They were evidently Demons from different Tribes, long dead after enduring endless imprisonment, their remains growing ever more withered under the erosion of time.

  "What is your name, and what did you do to be imprisoned here for a hundred years?" Allen asked, his eyes falling on the three headed, six armed creature prostrated on the ground.

  The creature immediately burst into tears. All three heads shed streams of tears, and its six arms clenched the gravel of the ground tightly. Its voice was choked and sorrowful.

  "In reply to the Demon King, my name is Moloch. I was responsible for searching the Godfall Battlefield for relics left behind by the ancestors of my Tribe."

  "But a hundred years ago, I accidentally discovered an extremely strange ruin. The energy fluctuations there belonged neither to the human race, nor to the Demon Tribe, nor to the elf Tribe."

  "I reported this matter to my Tribe at once, but I received a prohibition order telling me to stop investigating immediately and never touch that ruin again."

  "At the time, I was eager to earn merit and unwilling to miss such an opportunity, so I secretly led a team of one hundred elite brothers into the ruin to investigate."

  "But that ruin was extraordinarily dangerous. In the end, only I managed to survive and escape."

  His voice grew even more desolate."Hundreds of brothers perished, and we did not even manage to touch the gate of the ruin."

  "According to the military law of the Demon Tribe, I was imprisoned here for greed and recklessness that caused heavy losses to my Tribe, and now a full hundred years have passed."

  After hearing this, Allen nodded slowly and said,"Rise. I will assign you a task. If you carry it out properly, I will pardon you and let you leave this place."

  At these words, Moloch trembled with excitement. All three heads struck the ground repeatedly, the sound echoing through the empty valley.

  "I obey the Demon King's command! Even if I must be shattered to dust, I will carry out the Demon King's order to perfection!"

  Allen waved a hand. A thread of shadow magic gathered at his fingertips as he produced a map and tossed it over.

  "There is no need to be shattered to dust. I cannot leave at the moment, so I need you to go out in my stead."

  "I will send you out of here. After you reach the city states of the Demon Tribe, take out this map."

  "On the back of the map is a list of names. Take your Tribesmen and follow that list to the human city states and demand those people."

  Moloch hurriedly accepted the map with both hands and held it tightly against his chest.