Death Knight

Arthur, clad in Death Knight armor as dark as a black hole, appeared before the three of them.

Even Allen, whose temperament had been tempered into steel, could not help but collapse onto the ground when he saw this.

"How is that possible?"

Avilan paid no attention to what was happening before him. More of his gaze and thoughts were focused on Myth's skills and magical items. This world was actually identical to everything in Myth; he simply could not yet gauge the power of its spells and combat.

Arthur sensed Avilan gradually walking away. He did not understand why Avilan had resurrected three lowly humans, but since his master had revived them, his master naturally had his reasons.

"Despair Fortress is short on manpower right now. If you don't want to die, work properly. Don't try to run away, or it would be a shame if your village got dragged into this." As Arthur spoke, terrifying blue light burst from beneath his helmet.

Allen and the other two prostrated themselves on the ground and hurriedly agreed.

They might truly not fear death, but they feared implicating the people in their village. The villagers were their weakness.

Allen's team quickly gathered again, but they did not dare harbor even the slightest intention of resisting. The master here was too strong—so strong that he drove them to despair.

Over the following days, they were assigned to the Horned Demons' search parties, following them around to scour for gold coins. As they watched chest after chest of gold being unearthed from the ruins every day, their greedy envy gradually turned into numbness.

Despair Fortress guild leader's room.

The dressing room next to Avilan's quarters was piled chaotically with all sorts of items, to the point that there was almost nowhere to stand. There were capes and other equipment Avilan could wear, as well as full suits of plate armor he had no use for at all. It was not just armor, either. Weapons ranged from staffs to greatswords, with everything one could want.

These were all weapons and equipment Avilan had transferred from the guild warehouse. Most were gold-quality, while the silver-quality gear mostly possessed special attributes. There was not a single piece below that grade.

"Gu Tianzhen's subordinates were really thorough. They truly didn't leave me a single piece of equipment above gold quality." As Avilan looked over the dazzling array of equipment in the room, a cold gleam flashed through his eyes.

From among the various weapons in the room, Avilan casually picked out a level-one-hundred gold-quality staff. Its design was ancient and simple, its dark green shaft gleaming brilliantly in the light. Symbols resembling writing were carved into the staff, and the reflected light made them clearly visible.

Avilan picked up the staff and swung it up and down. It was extremely light, like a feather. After all, his usual class was Demon Lord, a warrior class.

Most of the time, he used heavy weapons such as two-handed greatswords or long spears. The weightless staff felt somewhat unfamiliar instead.

Although Avilan was a warrior class and had relatively poor intelligence-based spell attack growth, after reaching level one hundred, the intelligence he had accumulated through training was still not to be underestimated. Even a level-zero Fireball could easily wipe out low-level monsters. That was the advantage of level.

Just as a mage wearing knight gear could still, after reaching max level, use spells to effortlessly one-shot the children in a beginner village.

He took out a staff called the Light Spear Staff and changed into a white mage robe symbolizing holiness and purity. The hem of the robe was edged in gold, and a silver cross representing light and justice hung on his back.

With just one set of equipment, Avilan transformed from a terrifying, evil Demon Lord into a holy, righteous light mage.

Yet the demon tail behind him swayed with his emotions, filling Avilan with immense frustration.

A demon tail in the game had merely been decoration, completely useless. But in this world, it was real, and even reacted differently depending on fluctuations in his emotions.

Avilan had even considered cutting off his tail, but this seemingly useless appendage was actually what balanced and regulated the demonic essence within his body. If it were removed, his strength would drop by at least half, leaving him both angry and helpless.

In the end, he could only wrap the tail around his waist like a belt. Still worried, he found a buckle to fasten it down so it would not slip free at a critical moment.

Avilan jumped directly from the open-air balcony. A simple Falling Feather Spell let him drift down from the more than one-hundred-meter-tall building like a feather. This sensation had not existed in the game in his previous life; it was as thrilling as skydiving.

Looking at the towering, majestic Despair Fortress, a surge of pride rose within Avilan.

Despair Fortress itself had been built using Neuschwanstein Castle as its model. Its builder possessed a romantic, fairy-tale view of life, and Shen Jiecōng was precisely that sort of person. Back then, it had taken no small effort for the others to force someone like him to design Despair Fortress in this fashion.

He was a top-tier architectural designer. He had enlarged Neuschwanstein Castle's design as the basis for the construction, except the main body was black. Despair Fortress's location had been covered by dark clouds year-round, and the black walls gave it an air of mystery, majesty, and inviolability.

It could be said that all the mechanisms, traps, and urban structures within Despair Fortress had been completed by him alone.

All because Shen Jiecōng had a dream: a city entirely designed and built under his direction.

Unfortunately, that dream had ultimately been shattered. The magnificent castle was blotched black and white, covered in scars. Several towers had even collapsed, leaving it steeped in decay.

The castle was still in comparatively good condition. In the city district, there was not even a single decent building left; broken walls and ruins filled the landscape.

Avilan clenched his fists tightly. He swore that he would fulfill this dream once more, to comfort Shen Jiecōng's spirit in heaven.

The central courtyard was strewn with rubble and fallen wreckage. Each step produced an endless crunching sound as stones struck against one another. Soon, he saw the gatehouse, so damaged it was nearly on the verge of total collapse.

All he had to do was take another step to walk outside. Though the space beyond was exceptionally wide, Avilan's foot never crossed over.

Because he had encountered something far too unexpected.

Avilan saw several strange figures. It was that Horned Demon leader, now fully armed and leading a four-man Horned Demon squad as they guarded and cleared the gatehouse.

The instant Aslan appeared.

Every Horned Demon turned its gaze toward Avilan. Yet none of them moved afterward; they merely stared without blinking. Their stern expressions were oppressive.

They were monsters around level twenty to thirty, placed here by Arthur to handle the security duties in the surrounding area.

In the enormous Despair Fortress, there were only a handful of guards. It was clear just how shabby Despair Fortress had become.