As soon as Shi Feng finished speaking, Gu Jiuji, Jing Wuming, and Yan Ya—the three remaining nearby—no longer tried to draw Todelia's attention. Instead, they immediately charged at full speed toward Shi Feng's position.
At this point, only Shi Feng had any means of holding Todelia back. If they scattered to other locations, Todelia would simply pursue and crush them without hesitation.
In the blink of an eye, Todelia began striding toward Shi Feng, one earth-shaking step at a time.
Each step sent tremors through the ground, and the mental assault pressing against their minds grew ever more intense. Even Qingyi Duxing and the others resting at a distance couldn't help but clutch their heads.
"Do we really want to keep fighting?" Huanyu's delicate brows furrowed slightly.
She simply couldn't envision any possible way to defeat Todelia. The creature boasted over twenty billion HP, its combat level far surpassing even ordinary Perfection-realm experts. Its reaction speed was so blindingly fast that even a Domain master like herself could barely catch a single glimpse of its movements.
That kind of speed was simply beyond what any Tier 3 Class could contend with. Even Shi Feng at Tier 4 could only match it at best.
Todelia's terrifying physical strength was something only a Tier 4 Guardian Class could hope to withstand head-on. For an offensive Class like Shi Feng, taking hits directly would be devastating. Without activating a burst mode and proper healing, even dedicated restoration probably couldn't compensate for the HP losses he'd sustain from tanking those blows.
Todelia was now less than a hundred yards from Shi Feng—just two or three more steps before it would reach him.
"Link complete!" Shi Feng closed the Book of Darkness and looked up at Todelia with a smile. "Now, let's begin round two!"
The moment Shi Feng shut the Book of Darkness, the lightning-torn sky above the entire valley shattered. It transformed into a vast expanse of darkness that blanketed a radius of several thousand yards, plunging the already dim valley into absolute night.
Within this dark space, one could faintly make out a passage leading to an ancient and terrifying place. The aura that leaked out from within alone was enough to send the magic throughout the entire valley into violent turmoil, dispersing it like mist.
A colossal stone gate, hundreds of meters tall, descended from the dark space and crashed into the ground with a thunderous impact. The earth shook violently. Even Todelia couldn't help but turn its gaze toward the ancient gate, deep suspicion and wariness flickering in its profound eyes.
"How can such a terrifying existence exist in this world?"
Bumie Zhanxin stared at the towering gate before him, his mind gripped by utter disbelief.
This stone gate was without question the most terrifying thing he had ever witnessed in the Divine Realm. One only needed to look at it to instinctively grasp its horrifying nature—as though it embodied some dreadful forbidden taboo. The magic runes, divine inscriptions, and arcane symbols carved across its surface all served one purpose: to seal away the power contained within.
Even if a mere wisp of that power leaked out, it could easily grind him into countless fragments.
He even had a gut instinct—that opening this gate would mark the beginning of all catastrophe.
"She wouldn't be planning to open this gate, would she?" Huanyu couldn't suppress her growing anxiety.
The gate before them radiated such profound unease that simply looking at it—without even trying to sense it—made the mind recoil with an indescribable revulsion and dread, a fear a hundredfold more intense than what Todelia inspired.
But before Huanyu could dwell on the thought further, the massive stone gate began to open on its own, slowly swinging outward.
Darkness. Silence. Despair.
As if every negative emotion in existence came pouring through that gate in a single overwhelming flood, even Shi Feng felt a wave of discomfort wash through his mind. The others present—even Bumie Zhanxin, who had fought countless battles—couldn't help but drop to one knee, their faces drained of all color, unable to so much as glance at the gate directly.
"Human... creature?"
"That is not... you are not..."
A halting, guttural voice in demonic tongue emanated from beyond the gate. None of the people present understood demonic speech, yet they all understood its meaning with perfect clarity.
They exchanged bewildered glances.
"Never thought that after all these years, the ones to summon this gate once more would be creatures like you."
As the voice spoke, a humanoid demon stepped through the gate. It stood over ten meters tall, barefoot, with three eyes, and was clad in black-patterned armor.
The instant they laid eyes on this demon, Todelia—the towering monster—shuddered with visible terror, as though it were staring death itself in the face.
It wasn't just Todelia. Even Shi Feng felt a chill crawl down his spine.
He had never expected to summon this particular demon...
In the endless depths of the Abyss, there existed 108 Great Demons who reigned at its absolute pinnacle. Each one was a being second only to the Demon Kings—a half-step into that supreme realm. The one before them was none other than the 21st ranked among them: the Demon Lord of Death, Flobeiro.
"So weak... truly so weak!" The Demon Lord of Death, Flobeiro, examined himself and murmured, his tone dripping with dissatisfaction. Then he turned his three eyes toward Shi Feng, who held the Book of Darkness, and spoke in a frigid voice: "You ought to know what you have done. That book is not something you are qualified to possess. Hand it over—that is your only path forward. Otherwise, what awaits you is nothing less than eternal oblivion!"
As Flobeiro spoke, an unprecedented wave of oppressive pressure descended immediately upon the area. Shi Feng felt it press against him with suffocating force, his expression turning grim.
"Truly worthy of being among the top-ranking of the 108 Demon Lords. This spiritual pressure alone probably rivals that of Tier 5 Classes," Shi Feng couldn't help but marvel.
He had long known that the gap between Tier 4 and Tier 5 Classes was enormous, but actually facing a half-step Demon King in person still left him feeling a profound sense of powerlessness.