The Lord of Despair, Gulaier

The instant that black aura pierced his body, Wei En felt the entire space spin wildly around him as his body kept falling.

It was as if he had plunged into a dark abyss, endless and without bottom.

Wei En's eyes were open, but all he saw was darkness, not the slightest glimmer of light.

He opened his mouth to shout, but no sound came out.

All around him was deathly silence. He could only hear his own violent panting and the thudding of his heartbeat.

That state went on for a very long time, so long that he could no longer sense the passage of time.

Perhaps one day, two days, Perhaps one month, two months...

There was only boundless loneliness and despair, as if he had been trapped in endless nothingness.

After who knew how long, Wei En felt solid ground beneath his feet and murmured, "What the hell is going on? This place..."

He stared blankly around him. In this utterly empty, void-like, dim environment, an enormous eyeball floated in the air.

It flickered with a strange black light.

A cold, eerie green halo spread over the surface of the eyeball, giving off a sinister and uncanny atmosphere.

It kept changing shape and expression. At times, the whites of its eye twisted hideously; at times, its pupil became deep and bottomless.

And as it changed, the surrounding space also became distorted and unstable. The ground began to sway, as if everything was melting away.

Several shadows circled the "eyeball," drifting about and emitting a strange, sinister aura.

Wei En stared at the "eyeball," and it seemed to be staring back at him as well.

A cold, evil aura enveloped him, making his body tremble instinctively.

He wanted to turn around, or tilt his head away to avoid its gaze, but found that he seemed to be imprisoned by an invisible force, unable to move even an inch.

It seemed to want to plant a seed of fear and despair deep in his mind, making him sink forever like this.

Yet he could do nothing. He could only be forced to stare straight at that "eyeball" amid unease and terror.

Wei En smiled bitterly inwardly. Was this the so-called "one glance, ten thousand years"?

After who knew how much more time had passed, he suddenly felt that the eyeball was not that frightening after all.

Its eye was just a little bigger, taking up the entire space, that was all. It was about the same as the giant withered tree he had seen before.

No matter how it changed shape or expression, back and forth it was only hideous, mad, deep...

After staring at it for long enough, Wei En actually stopped feeling afraid. If you've got the ability, grow a few mouths and eat me.

At that moment, a line of twisted, shifting golden text in Gonzalez Language slowly emerged.

It seemed to be fighting against and breaking through this void-like, dim space, slowly turning from an illusion into something solid.

The content on it was shockingly—

[You have successfully endured the erosion of a trace of the Despair Origin of the Lord of Despair, Gulaier. Evaluation: The ignorant are fearless. Special reward: Spirit Level +2, Tenacity Level +2.]

[You have learned the name of the Lord of Despair, Gulaier. Gulaier's awakening progress +1. Current progress: 1226/100000. Special reward: Origin +1.]

Wei En stared blankly at those two lines of text, feeling that they were so very dear.

The panel had come to the rescue...

"Gonzalez!!"

Suddenly, a crazed roar echoed through this space, like a cry from an endless abyss, and like a howl after a violent storm had swept through.

At the same time, that enormous eyeball began to twist and change violently, merging as one with the surrounding darkness.

Immediately after, countless withered, twisted arms stretched out from the eyeball, carrying endless madness and despair as they reached toward Wei En, trying to bind him.

Damn it, this ghostly thing wanted to drag him down with it!

Wei En felt his body loosen and realized he could already move.

He hurriedly faced those arms head-on, raised his gun, and fired. "Fuck you, die for me!"

Boom!

Along with the gunshot, firelight engulfed everything before his eyes. The void-like dark space began to shatter, and then...

Bang!

Huh?

Wei En only felt the world spin around him, and a numb pain came from his face—it was the kind of feeling you got when someone shoulder-threw you and smashed your face into the ground.

"Wake up, Wei En, wake up!"

Mm-hmm?

Bang!

"Wei En... I told you the death rate for first missions is very high. How could you be so careless..."

Mm-hmm-hmm?

Bang!

After being slammed into the ground for the third time, Wain struggled and shouted, "I—I'm awake... ah—"

Bang!

"Wake up, Wain... hm?"

Marco was swinging him with gusto when he suddenly heard a voice and thought he was hallucinating.

"Wait, Marco, he's awake!" Lacy hurriedly reached out to stop him.

Marco quickly set Wain down. Seeing the light return to his eyes, he patted his chest and said, "I thought he wasn't going to wake up. Thank goodness, thank goodness..."

Wain looked at him resentfully, rubbing his left cheek, then his right cheek.

Thank goodness my ass. Why don't you try getting slammed around like that a few times?

"Well,"

Seeing his expression, Marco scratched his head awkwardly. "You weren't waking up, so I tried that method Old Jack taught me before..."

"Enough." Lacy raised a hand to cut him off, walked up to Wain, and looked at him with a grave expression. "Your name?"

"Hm?"

Wain looked at her in confusion. His name?

Marco and Ariana were both stunned for a moment, then frowned and stared at him, waiting for his answer.

As for Tina, the moment he woke up, she had already grabbed the corner of his clothes.

"What do you mean?"

Lacy raised the double-handed axe in her hands to her chest, stared at him, and asked again, "Name?"

"Wain Loft. Why are you—why are you asking that?"

Lacy let out a breath of relief and lowered the double-handed axe. "Nothing. Necessary procedure after being eroded by aberrant power."

Marco and Ariana relaxed as well, the same thought surfacing in their minds: it really had to be Lacy. Strict enough!

Looking at their expressions, Wain asked cautiously, "Then am I... all right now?"

"Of course. Congratulations on escaping Death's summons." Marco patted his shoulder and laughed heartily.

Wain pretended not to know and asked, "What was that black aura just now? It was way too terrifying."

At that moment, the panel in his mind still clearly displayed the words "Lord of Despair Gulaier," flickering with a strange black glow, dazzlingly conspicuous.

"See,"

Ariana pointed at the tentacles around him and said with a smile, "the power of despair. A kind of power of faith. It's something those scum from the Despair Cult cooked up."

"Huh?" Wain was startled when he saw his appearance. "There really are hands and mouths?"

The tentacles around him, which had originally only had eyes, had all grown claws and mouths, and were grabbing strands of fine black aura and chewing them in great mouthfuls.

Ariana: "..."

Although he knew his current appearance was a little frightening, wasn't that reaction a bit much?

"Wain, as long as you're fine,"

As she spoke, Lacy raised her hand and checked her watch, then continued, "this place needs to be reported to the higher-ups as soon as possible. Continue the mission."

PS: An extra chapter. The content was too packed, so it was a little slow to write.

PPS: Shamelessly asking for follow-up reads, follow-up reads, brothers.

I'm not even at 80,000 words yet, and I already have to compete with the big shots from the same period who have over a hundred thousand words in the third round. I need your support!!

For the sake of how hard I'm working, please support me a little more. Please, please.