While Irving and the others were resting, in another area of the abyss, Elder Astra slowly awakened.


    Although Elder Astra was an ally of the Abyssal Demon, he still experienced a severe impact when the Ruins of the Abyss of Death copsed. Astra had never anticipated that he would one day face an attack from the power of the abyss, so his injuries were more severe than those of Irving and hispanions.


    Astra took longer to regain consciousness than Irving did. When he finally awoke, he found himself in apletely dark area.


    Elder Astra did not act hastily. He held his breath and used his dark powers to probe the surroundings. After confirming that there were no powerful monsters nearby, he finally cast a light spell. Antern emanating a faint yellow glow appeared in his hand.


    "It seems that the next time I coborate with powerful monsters, I must consider everything thoroughly," Elder Astra mused to himself. He felt a twinge of regret.


    Initially, Astra believed that his alliance with the Abyssal Demon would lead to quick sess. Even if he didn''t obtain the powerful artifacts that the Abyssal Demon sought, he thought the demon would still help him defeat Irving. However, after the battle deep within the Ruins of the Abyss of Death, Elder Astra had lost his trust in the Abyssal Demon.


    With the dimntern in hand, Elder Astra cautiously made his way along a narrow path. After about half an hour of progress, he suddenly spotted a tower-like structure ahead.


    Upon seeing the tower, Astra recalled information mentioned in the internal documents of the Night des. Long ago, the Night des had discovered simr tower-like structures in the world of the shelter game. These towers seemed to have been used by some very powerful monsters.


    Within these tower-like buildings lingered some strange powers. The Night des members who discovered these towers did not know what these strange powers truly were, so they referred to them simply as "strange powers" in their records.


    Elder Astra now understood that these strange powers were, in fact, just the powers of the abyss.


    "It seems that the forces of the abyss infiltrated the world of the shelter game long ago. However, these forces of the abyss appear to have faced attacks from other powers. They have not been able to establish a foothold in the world of the shelter game."


    Elder Astra muttered to himself and quickly made his way toward the tower. As he reached the edge of the tower, he suddenly sensed a tremendous threat. Instinctively, he took a step back, and in the next moment, a massive arrow struck the spot where he had been standing.


    "Is someone watching my every move from the top of the tower?" Astra considered many possibilities in that instant. He began to manipte his dark powers for defense while looking up at the top of the tower.


    Sure enough, at the pinnacle, a blurry figure was wielding a gigantic bow. A massive arrow was speeding through the air toward Elder Astra.


    In a split second, Astra melded into the darkness. The faint yellowntern quickly vanished from view. The indistinct figure at the top of the tower seemed puzzled. It scanned the area where Astra had been standing, and upon finding no trace of him, it had no choice but to cease its attack.


    However, in the next moment, Astra appeared right behind the figure. He raised his hand, and powerful dark energy coalesced into an invisible shackle, restraining the figure wielding the enormous bow.


    "Looks like you''re not a very clever ambusher! If you were, you''d know to be extremely vignt when your target suddenly disappears," Elder Astra said slowly to the blurry figure before him.


    In his view, this indistinct figure should be capable ofmunication. Therefore, before extracting any information from it, he needed to apply enough pressure.


    What Astra did not expect was that the blurry figure was notpletely subdued by the dark energy shackles. Instead, it transformed into a cloud of smoke and vanished.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Astra was taken aback by this scene. "This is impossible! Even a Shadow Celestial could not easily escape the control of dark shackles!"


    The dark shackles skill that Astra had employed was immensely powerful, drawing its strength from darkness itself. Even if Astra''s current power was not formidable, the shackles should still hold.


    Though Astra was deeply shocked, he quickly regained hisposure. "This serves as a reminder to me: I must proceed with caution in the abyss. There are still many dangers lurking here."


    Elder Astra did not want to linger at the top of the tower any longer. In his opinion, staying there would expose him to significant risks.


    Just as he was about to turn and leave, the corner of his eye caught sight of the enormous bow that the blurry figure had used. Although the figure had vanished, the massive bow remained. It seemed to hold some information about the blurry figure.


    Elder Astra walked up to the gigantic bow. He discovered that the bow itself was imbued with an incredibly powerful abyssal energy.


    "It seems I can use this bow as a tool. Aside from being unwieldy due to its size, it doesn''t appear to have any other drawbacks," Astra mused. He reached out and touched the enormous bow. He could feel the strong abyssal energy, but it did not attack him. It was as if this abyssal power waspletely bound within the bow.


    Elder Astra had never encountered such a situation before. The Night des had previously attempted to retain dark energy within their items, but that energy would always leak out over time. In fact, the power of any item would diminish as time passed.


    The enormous bow before him seemed to have employed some method to prevent the loss of its power. If the Night des possessed a simr technique, they would be able to create powerful items. Every elder of the Night des could manipte strong dark energy, but they were unable to retain it. If the Night des had ess to such technology, each elder could summon powerful dark energy and then infuse it into their items.


    Elder Astra considered his newfound discovery to be of utmost importance. "Even if I cannot eliminate Irving, finding a way topletely seal power within an item is still a good thing!" he said to himself.


    As Elder Astra carefully examined the bow, arge number of monsters began to appear around him. These monsters did not attack him; they were merely observing his every move.


    Although Astra had initially not noticed these creatures, he would inevitably be aware of their presence as time went on.


    "When did these monsters gather here? What do they intend to do? Do they really think they can eliminate me?" Elder Astra found the situation somewhat strange.


    Under normal circumstances, these monsters should have immediately chosen to attack him. Unable to take the enormous bow with him, Elder Astra could only opt to leave the top of the tower for the time being. As he moved forward, he kept a close eye on the monsters around him.


    He noticed that these creatures seemed to be driven by some sort of power. They appeared to be merely observing his every move. This led Elder Astra to think of the Abyssal Demon. He called out to the monsters surrounding him, "Who sent you here? If you are acting on the orders of the Abyssal Demon, then hurry and bring the Abyssal Demon to me. Although we did not achieve victory in our battle deep within the Abyss of Death, we can still coborate. In the abyss, we would have a greater advantage against Irving."


    Elder Astra did not expect his attempt to seed; he was merely trying his luck. However, to his astonishment, no sooner had he finished speaking than the Abyssal Demon appeared not far away.


    At that moment, the form of the Abyssal Demon had be quite strange. It had sprouted numerous twisted limbs, and on those contorted appendages, there were flickering lights. Upon closer inspection, Astra realized that these glowing points were actually eyes. The Abyssal Demon now looked even more grotesque than any of the hideous monsters he had seen before.


    "You''ve finally decided to stop hiding from me. Are we going to cooperate again? How are you holding up? Can you still fight?" Elder Astra fired off several questions in one breath.


    The strangely altered Abyssal Demon opened its mouth. It seemed like it wanted to say something, but Astra didn''t hear any sound. He grew increasingly wary. He sensed that the appearance of the Abyssal Demon here was not a good sign.


    Astra slowly took a few steps back. "Have you been taken over by other, more powerful monsters?" he asked cautiously.


    The Abyssal Demon disyed a look of deep pain on its face and slowly nodded. Almost simultaneously, Elder Astra suddenly felt the abyssal energy around him intensifying. He could hear heavy footsteps in the distance, suggesting that a massive creature was approaching him.