The ghostly blue flames burned within the glazed soul lantern, casting a strange black and white world around them.

The soul lantern, this magic item allows ordinary people to observe nearby souls and has a certain repelling effect on the undead without a body.

Finn followed closely on the flank of the team, his muscles tensed under the scarlet cloak, ready at any moment.

As the newly-minted Blood Knight, this was his first time performing fieldwork alongside Duke Sigmund, and he had not expected to face a task involving undead.

He was confident enough in his own skills and did not fear battle.

But against these undead enemies, who could directly harm the living soul, where conventional magic only interfered with their actions, and his skilled swordsmanship couldn’t inflict any damage, this was an enemy he truly didn’t want to face.

Due to the distance between their territory and Urbik’s, the other lords had already followed the huge signal flare tearing the sky while Sigmund’s team had just reached the edge of the sacrifice area.

Unlike the desolate, dying domain Finn expected, the natural life here seemed rather ordinary.

Wildflowers swayed in the breeze, tree crowns lush with moisture, and demons could even be seen running in the distance.

Everything as lively as usual, except for the Demon Race that originally lived here.

The village they were in, with corpses in various postures scattered on the stone paths, under eaves, in courtyards.

Finn’s gaze swept across a half-demon fallen by the roadside, curled up by her home’s doorstep, her furry face even showed a hint of relaxation, with no sign of struggle, as if she had suddenly died in a beautiful dream.

These unfortunates, probably hadn’t even realized what was happening before they were gone.

Just then, he vaguely heard a blurred whistling sound.

At first, Finn thought it was just the wind in the distance, but the next second, the ghostly flame in the soul lantern suddenly tilted to the left, rising sharply with a hissing sound!

At the edge of the black and white world illuminated by the soul lantern, a constantly twisting and stretching gray-white silhouette swept past, charging towards the only figure in the team that didn’t have a soul lantern lit.

"Sir, watch out for the soul!" Finn shouted his warning, disregarding his own safety, and forcefully threw the soul lantern in his hand forward.

However, the unbound soul was still quicker by a fraction, and as the soul lantern flew out to illuminate it again, the undead had already crashed headlong into the round body of Duke Sigmund.

It’s over!

Being directly impacted by a stray spirit body without protection, even a high-tier demon couldn’t avoid heavy damage.

Finn’s mind went blank, as if he could already see the Duke wavering and falling to the ground.

As he walked, "Sigmund," who was having a drink, reached out to scratch his back where the undead had just collided. Though he knew the itching sensation was a soul impact illusion, not real physical itch, Lin Jun couldn’t help but scratch.

How many has it been now?

The larger area sacrifice by the Hand of Death had driven all the souls from their bodies within the range, but it seemed not all souls were taken for sacrifice, at least at the edge zone where Fat Xi was, there were many souls wandering around.

They seemed instinctively wanting to return to their bodies, but the bodies on the ground had truly died soon after their souls left, so they rushed at Fat Xi when they encountered him.

However, sadly, this was only their wishful thinking.

If ramming the soul back in could occupy the body, Lin Jun wouldn’t need to have an agreement of "half a day per person" with Fat Xi.

The only outcome of them ramming in was to be shattered, dissipated, leaving the struck person with a soul injury.

Fortunately, Lin Jun didn’t have to worry about the issue of soul consumption.

Lin Jun turned back, looking at Finn and the rest of the subordinates who had both surprise and confusion on their faces: "Why are you standing there? Keep moving forward!"

"Yes!"

Picking up his soul lantern, looking at the great figure ahead.

Finn was full of aspiration!

Truly worthy of the Duke, his means unfathomable!

He also wanted to become a powerful figure like the Duke in the future!

Well... he took another look at the wobbling back as he walked... no need to be like that in shape...

...

By the time they caught up with the other lords’ team, it was already Sigmund’s turn to control the body, and the battle had long ended.

The soldiers were busy using heavy hammers to violently dismantle the cruel altar, stacking the bodies in different armor styles separately.

If not for the distinctions in these garment crests, the wreckage of demon corpses scattered all over could easily resemble the aftermath of a brutal Empire civil war just concluded here.

Sigmund came distantly, now the body was under the control of the Duke himself.

A marquis wearing a cloak of deep green with gold trimmings, armor with fresh scratches and blackened marks, approached quickly.

He stopped a few steps from Sigmund, placed his right hand on his chest in salute, with a tone of fitting respect mixed with a hint of barely concealed astonishment: "Your Grace, I didn’t expect you to come in person."

After all, the nearby other dukes had only sent their subordinates over.

The more practical ones sent a lieutenant like him to lead the team, while the perfunctory ones, like Duke Eleanor, merely dispatched a regular force for show.

Sigmund nodded slightly, acknowledging the courtesy: "How are things?"

"Most of the low-tier cultists involved in setting up the ritual have been wiped out, but the core of the sacrificial group forcibly broke out," He pointed gravely at the distant barren path drained of life, "Marquis Ravenclaw led a chase but faced a counterattack from the high-tier members. According to his statement before passing out, there was a girl in plain white sacrificial robes, using a kind of... pure black unknown magic. Marquis Ravenclaw was heavily injured even though he was only grazed by the edge of that power and barely held on with an ancestral protective item before his trusted aides fought to retrieve him, now he’s been urgently sent back for treatment."

"Black magic..." Sigmund recalled any related skills or magic, seemingly none matched the description, "Where did they flee to?"

The marquis pointed in a direction, then said, "We’ve already dispatched troops to intercept potential escape routes at Three Wheel Valley, Giant Beast Bone Field, and Thunder Beast Plains. Thank you, Your Grace, for your support this time, but we can handle the follow-up by ourselves."

Clearly, the other dukes did not want Sigmund marching into their territory unrestrained, so the marquis politely declined Sigmund’s help while giving due face.

Thankfully, Sigmund didn’t mind this either and naturally agreed.

Fighting the cult and broadening the roommate’s knowledge were all just pretexts.

The real purpose of this trip was already achieved!

The roommate probably hadn’t even realized, its soul, compared to when they first met last year, had weakened significantly!

This was obvious, given that the roommate’s soul state was like a rootless tree or water without a source, naturally dissipating every moment, and had only maintained an upper hand due to its exceptional volume.

However, even the largest volume would gradually diminish under the wear of time.

And on this trip, Sigmund deliberately avoided bringing a soul lantern, letting those ramming undead further weaken the roommate’s soul.

The moment to finally break free from shackles... is not far away!