The closer you get to the ancient castle, the heavier the ominous and oppressive atmosphere becomes.

It is a cluster of stone buildings on a hill, barely resembling its once towering and majestic form.

But after thousands of years, even stone castles fall into decay and collapse.

Currently, Dorguldu lacks a proper roof; only vertical walls and remnants of collapsed floors remain.

The trees of the Dark Forest become more sinister as they near this place.

Dried and twisted branches seem to reach out as if longing for something, all the monstrous trees extending towards Dorguldu.

Though part of the same forest, the area around Dorguldu is eternally shrouded in a heavy, impenetrable cloud.

Upon reaching the base of the hill where Dorguldu lies, even Lann feels an inexplicable anxiety and unease.

"We..." Radagast swallows, gripping his Magic Staff tightly. "We should leave the car and Qilin here, so that, when necessary, we can make a quick, swift escape."

Although his voice trembles with tension, he insists on entering this chilling ancient castle.

Lann nods.

"Rong Buqiu, you stay too."

"Meow?"

Lann explains, "Protect the rabbits with Qilin; anything might come out at any time to devour them."

The little cat, upon receiving its mission, proudly raises its Plundering Saber over its head, showing loyalty to its leader.

Radagast and Lann exchange a glance, saying no more, as Radagast cautiously leads the way with his Magic Staff toward Dorguldu.

The entrance to the ancient castle is a solid, heavy stone bridge, devoid of railings, just wide enough for two people to walk side by side, with a dark abyss below.

The malevolence of the structure reminds Lann of the dark world of flames.

Venturing further, the extensive roof collapses have transformed the structure into a strange spectacle of randomly interwoven staircases.

Every corner has steel spikes, and the vines on the walls resemble thorns, ensuring that even a passing brush without armor would strip away skin.

...It’s as if the entire ancient castle couldn’t wait to harm every living creature that dares approach.

The closer one gets inside, the stronger the malice and psychological pressure become.

Lann observes Radagast’s once agile and vigorous legs, now trembling slightly.

The Demon Hunter holds no contempt for Radagast’s display.

As one of the five Wizards on Middle-earth Continent, if he senses deeper layers than the Demon Hunter, thus experiencing greater shock and impact, Lann has no reason to disbelieve.

"I’m right behind you."

Lann says solemnly from behind, his steady and rational voice offering Radagast a semblance of support.

His steps become more assured.

Just then, they cross a suspended staircase.

Lann’s ears twitch slightly, then instantly he turns back on high alert!

On the landing in the middle of the staircase stands a humanoid sculpture about four meters high.

The sculpture depicts a somber human warrior, both hands clad in gauntlets gripping a sword hilt, his Longsword planted before him.

But amidst the auditory perceptions, Lann hears the sound of gauntlets tightening on the sword hilt.

The Demon Hunter doesn’t make the mistake of horror movie protagonists by dismissing such auditory signals as delusions or hallucinations.

Objective dangers don’t vanish with foolish actions akin to burying one’s head in the sand; ignoring them with wishful thinking only ensures a worse demise.

’Image analysis in progress...’

The synchrony between Mentos and the subject is unspoken; when Lann turns to look, Mentos already starts retrieving memory images.

In an instant, the analysis outcome is clear.

The ’statue’s’ grip strength on the sword hilt has indeed changed!

It’s capable of movement!

Turning the head along with biochemically enhanced cognitive confirmation occurs almost simultaneously; as Lann’s peripheral vision glances over, Mentos completes its image analysis.

Externally, Lann appears to react reflexively, yet each of his actions is logical and tactically planned.

Immediately after passing the statue, he turns around decisively!

"Clang!"

A sharp explosion of sound!

From his waist, a fierce silver light spills forth as he executes a diagonal Iaido slash, cutting through stone and cleaving the iron sword presented by the statue!

The cut is impeccably smooth, clean, and crisp, nearly severing the statue’s upper half from its whole!

Yet, Lann remains vigilant after this slash.

For a chilling coldness from another direction is making his hair stand on end!

The moving statue is merely a feint! The true malevolence comes from elsewhere!

Fortunately... Lann never sees the world’s evil as mindless monsters either.

His actions are a feint too!

The diagonal upward Iaido slash hasn’t even had time to be retracted.

But the Demon Hunter’s cat eyes have already shifted in another direction.

His free left hand reaches back without looking!

"Uh?"

Radagast’s ragged brown robe collar was grabbed, turning him around with the force.

Lann’s earlier series of actions were so quick that Radagast hadn’t yet reacted.

Already tense, Radagast was even more confused and unresponsive after being tugged by Lann from behind.

Almost instinctively, the magic staff he held cautiously in front of him emitted a white light as his power burst forth!

"Ah!!!"

A bone-chilling scream.

Lann didn’t quite know the essence of a wizard, but the white light emitted from Radagast’s staff carried an ethereal and distant sacred aura.

Completely contrary to the persona of this eccentric, animal-loving, mushroom-eating messy old man.

But for the attacking entity, it was perfect!

The attacker was entirely like green mist, with only its upper body forming into human shape.

It was a skeletal, decaying figure with sparse hair clinging to its scalp, wearing a crown.

Holding a short sword in its hand.

Lann’s chill earlier stemmed from its approach!

Not only did it look like a green mist, but its agile movements, unaffected by inertia, were also like drifting smoke.

The white light from Radagast’s magic staff head pushed the mist away as if possessing solid force.

In mid-air, the humanoid green mist instantly lunged again without any inertia.

Lann extended his left hand, which was clutching Radagast’s collar, forward, unleashing a shockwave with a hand sign.

[Alder’s Rune]!

A "boom" of air surged; given Lann’s body, strengthened multiple times with Valerian steel wire embedded in his muscle layers for better magic conduction,

his rune’s power should have been enough to lift a layer of earth in front of him!

But immediately after, the stone bricks paving Dorguldu’s ground compressed with a ’crackling’ sound.

Yet the humanoid green mist seemed utterly unaffected by [Alder’s Rune]’s force!

Not even the slightest hindrance!

Demon Hunter’s vertical pupils sharply contracted into slits.

Quickly, his excellent adaptability prevented him from panic and confusion.

His right hand swung the longsword, taking advantage of the moment the figure lunged at him...

"Boom!"

The pale red aura exploded around his body!

[Spear Technique·Enhanced Defense]!

Hunters of the New Continent claim to use spears, but it is actually a spear and tower shield combo, top-tier defensive among fourteen hunting weapons!

Moreover...

"Dang!"

Sparks flew between the short sword and the longsword.

The demon hunter’s eyes flashed with a knowing look.

Aron Dite could hit this entity!

Though it felt strangely insubstantial, as long as it made contact...

"Boom!"

The pale red aura around his body turned white instantly as it absorbed the attack!

[Spear Technique·Defensive Counter]!

The enemy’s strength was harnessed by the precisely operated aura, enhancing his next attack.

The key to this technique was timing.

The longsword initially blocking the short sword suddenly retracted, then attacked again with speed and power far beyond the ordinary!

The humanoid green mist was struck on the side waist by the Lake Lady’s sword, a force so mighty it almost pressed it, slashing it away!

If a solid hit had landed, this strike would be enough to end the fight.

Unfortunately, it still felt insubstantial and force-avoiding.

The opponent’s inertia-less and flexible movement left Lann unwilling to let it catch a breath.

As the opponent was slashed away, Lann dashed forward.

The Lake Lady’s sword held at his chest, the blade tip pressing against the opponent’s neck, forcing forward!

Yet even so, the entity showed no signs of physical harm.

Finally, Radagast snapped out of the brief chaos, hurriedly raising his magic staff, following Lann’s lead.

Lann pressed against the opponent with the Lake Lady’s sword, while Radagast took the chance to unleash the white light from his staff onto the green mist.

"Ah!!!"

The scream from the green mist was not of this world.

Radagast and Lann both recoiled as their eardrums hurt.

But the ragged wizard grimaced and intensified the white light from his staff.

Eventually, after more screams, with a series of clangs, the green mist vanished entirely, leaving only a pitch-black short sword lying on the stone brick ground.