Just like its name, the surroundings of Ash Lake are all covered in pale ash.

Under the observation of the Eye of the Soul, beneath the black space, the pale color reflects a strange glimmer.

The closer one gets to the center of the lake, the more apparent this glimmer becomes.

The area of Ash Lake covers more than twenty thousand square yards, and the lake itself extends over a thousand square yards.

It is a pool of black, stagnant water, without the slightest ripple or wave, like a gigantic black maw leading to the Abyss, chilling to behold.

The Ancient Dragon King rests beneath this black water, a powerful King Level Monster. Its origin lies in the ancient dragon royalty of bygone eras, one of the legendary three Genesis Dragon Kings, rumored to have been born alongside the Material World, an ancient creature called a "legendary" species, also one of the powerful beings first to face destruction after the Black Fog's descent.

This Ancient Dragon King retains only half its body, with just one of its nine heads remaining. Its body is severely decayed, yet it still poses enough threat that Trolian dares not easily challenge this King Level Monster.

Royal City devised tactics to first clear the surrounding areas, then use this twenty thousand square yard region as the main battlefield, initiating the battle to slay the king, taking down the Ancient Dragon King to pave the way forward.

So far, the tactics have been executed successfully.

But Rod has failed; he neither deeply engaged in battle nor profited much. To turn the tide, he stepped into uncleared territories ahead of others.

Anna once again showcased her astonishing speed, leaving the Special Level Battle Group far behind.

As they entered the depths of the Dark World, a thick Black Fog rushed towards them, causing a slight prickling sensation on their skin. Anna quickly added more Fuel Element to the lantern, the firelight brightening, blocking the erosion of the Black Fog.

Kashan's petite body trembled slightly, and her voice involuntarily lowered:

"Why has the pollution here suddenly become so severe?"

Rod responded in a deep voice: "Because the monsters here have not been cleared, the Black Fog and the monsters are mutually influential. Where powerful monsters reside, the Black Fog will be dense, and where the Black Fog is dense, the monsters are bound to be very powerful."

"This is also why it gets more dangerous the farther from Royal City you go."

He looked around quickly, soon spotting a peculiar monster.

It had a hunched back, a head disproportionately large for its body, with a twisted and menacing face. It had six pairs of eyes glowing red, and greasy black long hair covered its head and back, resembling a deformed spider, extremely disturbing.

This was a Spawn of the Demon, a standard Abyss Monster, extremely malevolent, adept at stealth and ambush, with swift speed and fierce attacks, catching people off guard.

The presence of numerous Spawns of the Demon in the Ash Lake area indicated it had been polluted by the Abyss.

Though Rod couldn't find any traces indicative of an Abyss Rift existing here.

"Perhaps it's related to the mechanisms of the Abyss,"

Rod thought.

The Abyss is the shadow of the Spirit Realm, the dark side of the Material World, not a space in the ordinary sense.

It existed since the chaotic era of the origins of all things, emerging alongside the Three Realms, an Ancient Land filled with countless secrets. In Royal City, there are schools whose lifelong mission is to find the real Abyss—the Abyss entrance beneath Trolian is one of their discoveries.

There are also unproven rumors suggesting that in ancient times, a human released a great horror from the Abyss due to personal greed, causing irremovable pollution in the world.

This is one of the hypotheses regarding the origin of the Black Fog.

Although there is no substantial evidence, many hold high hopes for it, and Royal City has invested considerable manpower and resources.

Unfortunately, to date, there's been no progress in either the origin hypothesis or Abyss research.

Though Trolian often suffers from Abyss Rift attacks, the Abyss Rifts are merely fragments of the Abyss's outer derivatives, like ripples caused by fish swimming in water; studying the ripples alone can't reveal the structure of the fish.

The Abyss entrance beneath Royal City is too dangerous, and no one dares to venture deep within.

As for this Ash Lake, the possibilities are numerous; it might have been once affected by the Abyss, a powerful Abyss creation might have fallen here, or there might be some phenomenon Royal City doesn't currently understand.

Rod pushed aside his complex thoughts; now he simply needed to kill the monsters.

"A six-eyed Spawn of the Demon… move in straight on, Anna you're on first, Kashan use a regular punch, and Mephit just freeze it a bit if needed."

Rod quickly arranged a battle plan; there are advantages to a smaller Black Battle Group.

The strength of a Spawn of the Demon can be determined by the number of its eyes; the more eyes, the stronger it is.

A six-eyed Spawn of the Demon isn't very strong, so standard combat will suffice.

One with eight eyes requires caution, and a ten-eyed one demands full effort.

If it has more than ten eyes, it's no longer a Spawn of the Demon, but a Great Demon, and Rod must activate the Red War God mode.

The armored Centaur stepped forward, took a spear from its waist, and Anna grasped the spear single-handedly, took a deep breath, and forcefully hurled it.

The spear's aim was off by a huge margin, but a Spirit Spear never misses; if the distance is enough, it never fails to hit.

Indeed, the spear followed a strange arc mid-air and struck the Spawn of the Demon from the side.

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