The corridor ahead was filled with pink mist, everything beyond it unknown.
"Hiss hiss~~"
Lin Lei's earth-yellow robe only covered most of his body, but now a thin layer of earth-yellow membrane also coated his hands. His neck and even his face were covered with a layer of earth-yellow membrane.
This was all 'Pulse Armor'.
The only thing left exposed was a pair of eyes.
It wasn't just Lin Lei—after experiencing the dense volley of God-Slaying Arrows moments ago, every mid-tier god in their group understood that such a barrage covered every possible position, and the arrows were so fast they left virtually no time to react.
So there was no choice but full-body defense!
Head, both hands, both feet, neck... every part of the body had to be protected!
Though the group numbered a full eighty people, they moved through the corridor in absolute silence, not a sound to be heard. Only occasionally would Crumpton's annoying bark ring out: "Up front, move it!" But those shouts echoing through the corridors only deepened the deathly stillness of the entire castle.
"Ahh!" A chorus of screams carried from the distance, along with chaotic shouts and curses.
Lin Lei and the others instinctively halted.
"Another squad has been attacked," they all understood.
"So that's why the castle's master released the pink poisonous mist." Lin Lei suddenly realized. It was precisely because the pink mist permeated everything that they didn't dare extend their divine sense—even the slightest contact would affect the soul.
Even without going mad, their combat effectiveness would drop.
They didn't dare use their divine sense, and neither did the enemy. But the enemy knew the castle's layout intimately, along with all its hidden mechanisms and secret passages. This put Lin Lei and the others at an absolute disadvantage.
"Move it up front!" another demon behind them bellowed. "What's wrong with all of you? Legs gone soft from fear?"
Those at the front seethed with silent fury. Being at the head of the formation was already the most dangerous position, and now they were being told to move faster—wasn't that just forcing them to their deaths? Yet none dared defy these demons. After all, every demon present was a high-tier god.
"We're turning!"
The group reached a bend and everyone turned into another passage.
Inside the dim passage, ten Golden-Robed Guards stood waiting with divine bows.
"They've turned—now's the time!" the Golden-Robed Guard squad leader whispered. "Everyone, get ready!"
"Understood, Captain." The Golden-Robed Guards' eyes gleamed as they gripped their divine bows, loading five arrows each. Firing five arrows at once might affect their accuracy somewhat, but—
This was blind firing. The corridor was straight—all they had to do was shoot straight down it.
"You lot are such a waste," the captain remarked, loading only a single arrow.
"Whoever catches your arrow, Captain, is as good as dead."
The captain smiled faintly.
In fact, the intelligence on the Demon Castle had some errors. It was true that Moon Lake Castle had two tiers of guards—the 'Black-Robed Guards' and the 'Golden-Robed Guards.' The Black-Robed Guards were all formidable high-tier gods, that much was correct. But the Golden-Robed Guards...
were not all mid-tier gods.
To be precise, the vast majority were mid-tier gods, but a very small number were high-tier gods. Those who hadn't become 'Black-Robed Guards' were assigned as squad leaders among the Golden-Robed Guards.
Within the Golden-Robed Guards, there were only two ranks: ordinary members and squad leaders. The squad leaders took orders from the Black-Robed Guards. Ten Black-Robed Guards oversaw the entire Golden-Robed Guard force. And the captain of this particular squad—the one preparing to ambush Lin Lei and the others—was a high-tier god!
Though one who had become a god only by refining a divine spark.
"Once I open the wall, fire on my command!"
"Hiss!" Without warning, the stone wall at the front of the passage slid aside in a flash, revealing the ten Golden-Robed Guards behind it.
But because the pink mist shrouded everything, Lin Lei and the others couldn't see—at the end of their corridor stood ten Golden-Robed Guards.
The Golden-Robed Guard captain gazed coldly into the pink mist ahead.
"Fire!" The captain transmitted his command via divine sense, though he himself was the last to shoot, having been the one to open the wall.
"Thud!" "Thud!" "Thud!"...
In an instant, like a downpour, forty-six arrows blanketed every section of the corridor. The moment the volley ended, the stone wall slammed shut. From the outside, there was no way to tell it was a movable wall at all.
Lin Lei and the others were moving forward cautiously.
They peered carefully ahead, but Lin Lei's pupils suddenly contracted, his expression changing drastically—
Dense arrows tore through the space in an instant, striking ruthlessly into Lin Lei and the others, or threading through gaps between them to hit those further back. The arrows were simply too fast—by the time Lin Lei and the others even saw them, they were already only dozens of meters away.
At a distance of mere dozens of meters, there was no way to dodge.
"Dilia!"
In that fleeting instant, Lin Lei had time for only one action—he spread his arms wide, desperately positioning himself in front of Dilia, trying to shield her completely behind his body.
"Thud!" "Thud!"
Even though Lin Lei wasn't the foremost person, at least two arrows struck him. They hit his body like lightning, but the earth-yellow robe on his surface was in truth composed of countless divine force ripples, instantly neutralizing the terrifying penetrating power entirely.
An arrow also struck Bei Bei.
"Clang!" With the sound of metal impact, the arrowhead shattered to pieces and fell to the ground.
"Too weak." Bei Bei grinned smugly.
"Everyone's fine." Lin Lei instantly realized that both Dilia and Bei Bei were unharmed. He couldn't help but feel a wave of relief.
But Lin Lei's expression suddenly changed again—in his line of sight, only that one terrifying arrow remained, hurtling toward him from afar!
"There's still one more!"
This was the last arrow to arrive!
But it was also the most terrifying one. It was the Golden-Robed Guard captain's arrow! The tip of the God-Slaying Arrow flickered with a cold, sinister black light, piercing through space in an instant and leaving rippling trails in its wake. It gave Lin Lei no time to react at all, striking him directly in the chest.