"Go!"

A low roar came from someone in the group, and the long-prepared Great Knights sprang into action.

Rotalia’s Iron Wall Imperial Guard Commander said nothing. His Black Armor-clad figure shot forward like a cannonball, the second to plunge into the passageway.

The highlander in the wolf skin let out a battle cry and followed close behind.

The Storm Twin Blades Brothers exchanged a look, their forms crossing like phantoms as they vanished into the light and shadow.

The representative from the Golden Coast took a deep breath and quickly followed suit.

The twenty-two Great Knights surged toward the sole objective, like a swift and orderly flood released from a dam.

As Knight Armand passed Murphy, he gave him a deep, indecipherable look, then resolutely charged in as well.

Murphy was positioned toward the rear of the group.

He took one last look at the three magnates on the stone platform, his gaze lingering on Ironspine Duke Hakon’s gray-blue eyes, as solid and unmoving as rock.

Then, without further hesitation, his body became a wisp of deep blue smoke, shooting with incredible speed into the churning entrance of the passageway.

The moment he stepped inside, the world seemed to turn completely upside down.

His sight and hearing were assaulted by an all-encompassing, deeply unsettling distortion.

It felt as if countless invisible hands were pulling and crushing his body, and his sense of direction was completely lost.

All around him were indescribable patches of color and fractured light flashing past. In his ears was the shrill screech of space and the roar of turbulent Energy.

A potent Otherworld aura tried to invade him through every pore.

The Holy Energy of the Temple Knights at the front formed a relatively stable guiding band of light within the passageway, like a lighthouse in a storm.

All who entered instinctively followed this band of light, desperately channeling the Life Energy within their bodies to resist the external tearing and corrosion as they struggled toward the completely unknown "other side."

Murphy was shrouded in a condensed white halo—his Qi, circulating at high speed.

His "God" was as high as 2.4, allowing him to maintain his consciousness and sense of direction better than the others in this extremely chaotic environment.

He could feel the passageway’s fragility and violent fluctuations, as if it could collapse at any moment and cast them into an eternal void or tear them to pieces.

Time seemed to have lost all meaning here. It could have been a few seconds, or an eternity.

Finally, the torrent of light and shadow ahead seemed to reach its end. The guiding band of light flared brightly.

BANG!

It was as if they had broken through a viscous membrane. All the discomfort and distortion vanished in an instant, replaced by the feeling of solid ground beneath their feet.

Murphy steadied himself, his eyes instantly sweeping over his surroundings.

They stood on an indescribable land.

The sky was a permanent tapestry of dark red and murky yellow. There were no sun, moon, or stars—only thick, roiling clouds that looked to be made of ash and molten rock, emitting a dull, constant red glow.

The air was scorching and dry, filled with the smell of sulfur, scorched earth, and a more pungent, bizarre odor like a mix of decaying metal and ozone.

The gravity seemed slightly greater than in the Main World, making their bodies feel a little heavy.

The ground was a sickly dark red and charred black, riddled with cracks from which streams of sparking air or viscous, dark-red bubbles would occasionally emerge.

In the distance stood twisted, bizarre structures resembling either jagged mountain ridges formed from cooled lava or a giant’s skeleton.

Even further away, massive shadows seemed to be moving slowly, emitting a low, heart-pounding hum.

The light here was dim and eerie, and all colors seemed to be coated in a layer of blood-colored rust.

This was the Deep Red Wilderness, an outer plane with different Laws, one filled with malice toward the Main World.

The Temple Knights who had arrived first had already formed a defensive perimeter, their weapons drawn as they vigilantly scanned the strange, treacherous wasteland.

The Great Knights who emerged from the passageway after them also closed ranks quickly, each taking a strategic position, their faces all filled with shock and solemnity.

Behind them, the passageway slowly closed and vanished, its last speck of holy light swallowed by the endless dark red.

They—twenty-two Great Knights at the Peak of Mortality and ten Temple Knights—were now completely stranded in the enemy’s home territory. Their retreat was cut off.

The mission, from this moment on, had truly begun.

However, just as the temporary path completely closed, disaster struck!

Near where they had landed, the seemingly solid, crack-covered, dark-red earth suddenly heaved upward and split open without any warning!

Not in one spot, but in at least four or five places at once!

Accompanied by the terrifying roar of rock being crushed by immense force, several behemoths burst from the ground!

Earth Rock Worms!

But they were at least thirty percent larger than their counterparts in the Main World!

Their thick, dark-red bodies were covered in even heavier and more fearsome rock-like armor. They spat out not just scorching toxic gas, but also a spray of fine, burning, dark-red crystal shards that shot toward the group like buckshot!

At the same time, from the shadows of the surrounding jagged rocks and ground fissures, dozens of dark-red figures darted out like phantoms.

They were medium-sized Scorching Beasts, but they were also larger and faster, their carapaces so red they were almost black, gleaming with a cold, metallic luster.

They could be called large Scorching Beasts.

Furthermore, they were more agile and cunning. As they moved, they subtly split into several small squads, flanking from different directions to block off any retreat. Their attacks clearly targeted the Great Knights who appeared to have weaker auras or were in isolated positions!

The attack was too fast, too ferocious, and too organized!

It was as if they had been lying in ambush all along, just waiting for this group of "prey" to walk into their trap!