Chapter 462, Section 461: The White Wall

The church's ships remained at a very far distance from the battlefield, carefully maintaining their distance to avoid being drawn into the chaotic fighting there.

At the bow of the ship, magic continuously gathered on Sophia's gloves, condensing into magical arrows. The bowstring vibrated incessantly, and with each tremor, a silver arrow would streak across the sky, traversing a great distance, and shooting towards the demons on the battlefield.

This terrifying, near-visual-range attack capability, combined with the exceptional maritime maneuverability granted to the ship by the [Ocean Scepter], was the biggest reason why Priest Samuel finally agreed to come and investigate.

Sophia's sneak attack was remarkably successful, crippling an arm of a Hall-level Demon and killing a Diamond-level vampire on the spot.

But this did not defeat the demons; their counterattack remained fierce.

Especially that Hall-of-Fame demon, whose strength far surpasses that of ordinary people.

Sophia only managed to wound him with her initial, unexpected arrow. All subsequent arrows aimed at him were either shattered by his fists or intercepted by his freezing air during the lulls in his fierce battle with the tentacles of Qis.

After several unsuccessful attempts, Sophia decisively changed her target, turning her deadly silver arrows towards the spellcasters of other demon officers and key units.

Each time a flash of silver light appeared, a member of the demon army in the distance would lose their fighting ability.

Apart from Samuel casting a full set of buff spells on Sophia before the battle began, most of them could only be bystanders at this moment.

This long-range sniping battle is a stage for the brave warrior alone.

Bella braced her hands on the edge of the boat, squinting her eyes, a faint silver glint in them, as she strained to see the blurry, chaotic battlefield in the distance. She couldn't help but say, "These colors are... truly unsettling. These insects give me a terrible feeling."

In her unique vision, the Qis and their creations, whether six-clawed, evil-eyed, or enormous tentacles, all appeared as an extremely pure and unadulterated black.

Even from a distance, Bella felt a chill.

At the bow of the ship, Sophia's gaze remained fixed on the distant battlefield, but she interjected between drawing her bow: "These insects called Qis seem to be under some kind of mind control. Is a mage manipulating them to attack the demons?"

In Sophia's view, all of Qis's panels had a status called "Mental Control".

“They are not sorcerers,” Priest Samuel explained. “They are controlled by ‘hearts,’ and their internal relationships are more like a swarm of bees. It is a special kind of monster that constantly devours and plunders in order to strengthen its own species.”

Upon hearing this, Bella turned around and asked worriedly, "What if it keeps eating more and more, and keeps expanding... wouldn't that become very dangerous?"

Samuel, however, was not particularly worried about this:

"No need to worry, this isn't the first time these insects have appeared. In the past few hundred years, there have only been three instances of this insects appearing on a truly large scale."

"Once, they appeared in the dwarves' molten dungeon. After assessing the cost of destroying them, the dwarves chose to seal the entrance to the dungeon."

"Unable to break through the dungeon's rules, Keith devoured all living beings in the dungeon except for elemental spirits during the ten years he was sealed off, and eventually starved to death on a large scale due to lack of food."

"Once the blockade was lifted, the dwarven legion easily wiped out the few remaining individuals who had survived by hibernation. Even the Heart of Qis became their spoils of war and is still kept in the dwarven treasury."

"On another occasion, it broke out in the heart of the Demon Empire. The vampire emperor Mortis personally took action, bringing divine artifacts and leading an elite army to annihilate it."

"Didn't you say there were three times?" Bella asked curiously. "What about the one more time?"

“Three hundred years ago, Keith attacked the ship that Link, the hero at the time, was on.” Samuel didn’t say more.

Then, he changed the subject, returning to Bella's initial concerns: "It is indeed dangerous, but its scope of harm is ultimately limited. Leaving aside its fatal weakness of 'heart,' the ability to mentally control an entire swarm is terrifying, but this power itself becomes its constraint. Even though the Qis species is exceptionally gifted in the mental realm, there is an upper limit to the size of the swarm it can maintain. According to past records, the limit is usually between several thousand and ten thousand; even if it grows larger, it will only be a regional disaster. Given its current location, its impact on the demon race is much greater."

“Moreover,” Samuel’s gaze returned to the distant demon warships, sensing the energy fluctuations that, though carefully concealed, still emanated like beacons in the darkness, “such a massive amount of energy, whatever it may be, should not be allowed to reach the demon front lines smoothly. The situation there is already difficult enough…”

The battle was far from over. The demonic descendant named Hess displayed terrifying strength. Even with his right arm severely injured by the silver arrow, he was still able to forcefully kill the last remaining Evil Eye in a struggle with the Tentacle Beast, and use his chilling aura to firmly suppress the enormous Tentacle Beast on the ice.

However, as Sophia, as if summoned by Death itself, sniped one by one the core officers and spellcasters in the demon army, the demon's resistance was rapidly crumbling.

It seemed only a matter of time before the ship sank and everyone on board perished.

Bella, who had been straining to see the battlefield, suddenly frowned, her voice filled with confusion: "Strange... Are we moving away? Why do I feel like the ships over there are getting blurrier and blurrier?"

The captain of the helmsman responded from behind: "The course remains stable and has not deviated."

"Then why..."

Before Bella could finish speaking, Priest Samuel's expression changed drastically, and he rushed to the ship's side: "It's not that we're too far away, it's fog! Fog has rolled in at sea!"

The fog was initially very thin; if it weren't for the distant outline of the demon warship as a reference, it would be almost impossible to detect the subtle changes in light.

Before anyone could react, Samuel swiftly raised his right hand, instantly conjuring a ball of basic illumination magic in his palm.

"It's too bright!" The orb of light emitted a blinding orange-yellow light, forcing Bella to turn her head and close her eyes. "Priest, what are you doing?!"

However, Samuel, bathed in the intense light he had created, was filled with fear.

He knew all too well that the magic he had just injected was merely the amount needed for a standard illumination spell!

This only proves one thing.

"It's fog!" he practically shouted. "Quick! Turn east, maximum speed!"

Without hesitation, the captain of the guard exerted tremendous force with both arms, instantly pushing the helm to its limit. With the divine power of the [Ocean Scepter], the entire ship turned eastward recklessly, leaving the still-unfinished battle behind.

Only then did everyone see clearly that on the western horizon, an endless, thick, pure white wall of mist was spreading towards them at an extremely fast speed, and soon engulfed the battle-bound Qis and the demon fleet.

"How is this possible?" Sophia stared in disbelief at the white expanse that seemed to swallow the heavens and earth. "This is the near-shore waters close to the mainland! If the mist appears here, what about the archipelago?"

Samuel stared intently at the fog wall, quickly assessing that given its rate of spread, they probably wouldn't be able to escape!

Before being swallowed by the thick fog, he raised his staff, abandoning the need to protect himself and others, and concentrated all his magic and spirit, layering brilliant rays of blessing upon Sophia.

At the same time, he spoke rapidly, urging, "Hero! The fog during the expansion phase is unusual; it can be repelled! A temporary core will form within it, and I will try to deal with it! Until then, please, under no circumstances, ensure your own safety and do not trust..."

A thick fog swept in.

“Samuel!” Sophia instinctively took a step forward, reaching out to grab the spot where the old priest had been standing, but her fingertips only grasped emptiness.

She looked around, her voice unusually clear in the deathly silence: "Bella? Captain? Everyone?!"

As far as the eye could see, there was only endless pure white; the ships, companions, and the sound of the waves all seemed to have been erased by this eerie mist.

This was the first time she had been swallowed by the mist; before, she had only been hunting down lost souls on the edge.

She instinctively wanted to explore further, but remembering Priest Samuel's last warning, she forcibly suppressed her anxiety and unease, stopped, and instead half-raised her longbow, a silver arrow nocked on the bowstring, watching for any unusual movements around her.

Time flowed slowly in absolute silence and the unknown, as if centuries had passed, yet also as if it were just a moment.

Finally, the suffocatingly thick fog seemed to have dissipated somewhat.

However, as her vision gradually cleared, Sofia's pupils suddenly contracted, her face filled with disbelief.

She found herself not on the deck, but in a small room of about ten square meters!

A soft but unfamiliar bed, next to a bedside table with an alarm clock, and against the wall a desk with a black-screened computer on it, with a few books with fancy covers scattered around.

The layout and items all conveyed a sense of distant yet familiar strangeness.

She almost stumbled to the window and abruptly pulled back the curtains.

Outside the window, the fog was still there, but it was much thinner than before when it was so thick that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, enough for her to see the outside scenery clearly.

Familiar red-brick buildings, narrow streets, and the distant, faint outline of a church with onion-shaped domes...

"St. Petersburg...I'm...back?"

(End of this chapter)