Where has Rose gone?

Of course, inside the lighthouse.

After crushing the demon that tried to separate Hilia and the others, Rose sensed the Lost Lighthouse attempting to use the fog to teleport Hilia and the others outside the lighthouse, so he deliberately concealed himself.

He always felt that this lighthouse was extraordinary, and now it seems that way indeed.

"This lighthouse is quite intriguing. Pure Spiritual Power can’t penetrate the mist inside, so there’s definitely an ’old friend’ in there."

Having barely entered the lighthouse, Rose thoughtfully looked up, gazing towards the top of the tower.

If he were here in person, Rose would definitely be able to easily pierce through the lighthouse and see every inch inside clearly.

But he could only utilize Hilia’s Spiritual Power to scan, and the image presented by the Spiritual Power was that the lighthouse was a massive pool of Demonic Qi, so dense that it seemed any detection method could not penetrate it to see the inside.

Even though he forced his way in, he could only reach the interior of the door and see the scene within the first layer.

The first layer harbored dozens of demons, waiting for adventurers to break in.

Besides demons, there were only various tools that had long been unusable, piled up haphazardly.

There had been more than one battle here in the past; Rose even saw some skeleton corpses with fragments of cloth nearby. As for weapons and equipment, they had already disappeared, possibly reclaimed by the lighthouse and transformed into demons.

After careful observation, Rose did not continue forward but left the lighthouse.

"I can’t go any further. Just reaching here has almost cut me off from Hilia. Going further would only lead to the sealed area."

"I must find a way to make Hilia go to the top of the lighthouse and see if some ’old friend’ is lurking up there, limiting Tier Four and above, thus preventing you from exerting Tier Four combat power, yet still able to fight."

Returning from the lighthouse, Rose did not immediately reveal himself but chose to hide.

Not for any other reason, just to see Hilia’s reaction.

At first, Hilia didn’t notice he had left and was still observing the lighthouse. It wasn’t until the lighthouse’s light shone down that she habitually prepared to ask Rose.

Rose could hear it, but he didn’t speak, nor did he allow Hilia to find him, to prevent that ’old friend’ from discovering him.

"So, afraid?"

Feeling Hilia’s intense fear, Rose was a bit surprised.

"Does she see me as her reliance or as the safest harbor, habitually seeking help when danger arises?"

Rose pondered.

He did not reveal himself and planned to see how Hilia would handle situations without him.

Although he hadn’t delved into the lighthouse’s interior, Rose had confirmed one thing—

"Doris hasn’t entered the lighthouse. She stopped at the entrance and then went towards..."

Rose looked towards the southern Golden Coast.

"Went that way."

After making this judgment, Rose rejoined Hilia.

At this moment, after experiencing a brief fluster, Hilia had regained her composure.

However, Rose’s disappearance left her without confidence.

It was like walking a tightrope, never feeling secure.

Benovia and the others had already seen her as the captain, waiting for her decision on whether to enter the lighthouse or find a way to leave.

Without Rose, Hilia did not even consider the first option.

After a brief discussion with Benovia and the other three, she made a decision—

"Find a way to leave here."

"But don’t move yet; there are hidden arrays around. Let me examine it first."

Hilia manipulated the magic puppet to squat down and dug into the sand.

Soon, she unearthed a slab with strange patterns.

She recognized the type of rune, "A space-type rune, this is likely the culprit for teleporting us here."

Encore exclaimed, "Can demons use arrays too?"

Benovia said, "Ordinary demons certainly can’t, but for the lighthouse to stand for so many years without being conquered and able to restrict high-tier mages from entering, it shows it has many unique features."

Encore mused, "Advanced demons inside the lighthouse can even draw teleportation arrays and restrict high-tier mages from entering, doesn’t that make it invincible?"

Hilia recalled Rose once saying that nothing can be perfect and flawless, and the stronger the thing, the greater the flaw, which can only be compensated through other ways, and cannot be improved.

This implies that the mysterious demon inside the lighthouse, despite limiting high-tier mages, cannot place itself in an invincible state, and must have some fatal flaw, or—

"With such high restrictions on high-tier, the demon controlling the lighthouse is highly likely also restricted, unable to wield high-tier power," Hilia said. "So we don’t need to worry too much about being defeated without any resistance."

Benovia agreed, "Yes, if it were that easy, it wouldn’t use spiritual suggestion to lure us into the lighthouse but would directly come out and kill us."

Hilia put the slab back, "This teleportation array has defensive mechanisms. It can’t be destroyed here; it might bring out hidden demons to attack us. It’s night now, and the demons are enhanced, we can’t do what we did during the day."

She looked towards the lighthouse: "I wonder if Doris has resisted the temptation; if she enters the lighthouse, we won’t be able to do anything and can only return during the day. Let’s head towards the north; we purified it during the day, and there are fewer demons along that path, relatively safer."

Saying this, she took the lead heading north, which was to the left of the lighthouse.

"Go south," Rose’s voice came through.

Hilia trembled, stopped, and was pleasantly surprised to see Rose reappear: "Master Rose! I thought..."

"Thought what?" Rose said with a half-smile.

"Thought you..."

Hilia’s cheeks flushed. Fortunately, no one could see it in the dark night.

Only Phil noticed Hilia’s sudden emotional fluctuation, but she didn’t know the situation and wasn’t interested in prying into others’ privacy.

After the joy subsided and the others were about to inquire, Hilia changed direction, "Head south."

The three were stunned, Benovia looked at Hilia in confusion.

Hilia said, "I just suddenly felt Doris’s whereabouts; she’s south of the lighthouse, in..."

The girl looked towards the darker cave in the black night: "That cave."

"Really?"

"Really." Hilia nodded.

With Master Rose’s confirmation, how could it be false?

"Okay, then let’s go!"

"Slow down, let me go ahead." Hilia moved to the front of everyone: "From here, there are hidden arrays under the sand everywhere. Careful not to trigger traps, be cautious."

This was told to her by Rose, which she conveyed to the others.

After conveying it, she circled around and quickly headed towards the southern cave, as if she had seen through all the arrays.

In reality, it was Rose guiding her.

A confident smile reappeared on Hilia’s face.