The sun had already set, and there was only an extremely wide, slightly curved line of light on the horizon.
With the help of Amber's Shadow Interference, the group easily climbed over the eastern wall of the castle and reached the interior of Viscount Andrew's castle through the internal stairs of an old tower.
They hid in the shadows on a balcony on the second floor of the castle, looking down at the empty atrium and the corridor opposite the atrium.
The castle, like most aristocratic fortresses in the southern part of Ansu, had a roughly square and layered structure. The outermost layer was the wall, the inner layer was the area formed by the stables, servants' quarters, utility rooms, and the outer corridor. The inner layer was the living area formed by the inner corridor and the lord's mansion. The several areas were connected by a sturdy wall. There were sentries everywhere in the castle, and at the highest point of the four corners, there were arrow towers, early warning bell towers, and beacon towers.
This kind of residence was not comfortable. Most of the structure looked like a military fortress. This was because the southern part was the frontline against the demonic wave, and the old architectural style was passed down from generation to generation as a tradition. However, with the recent hundreds of years of peace, many places in the southern part of the border had begun to change. Even the less wealthy southern nobles had begun to learn to improve their living environment like the northerners, and they even preferred to live in comfortable and bright manors. But it was clear that Viscount Andrew was not a person who cared much about living conditions. His castle still maintained a considerable degree of "classical style".
But in such a military fortress, Gwen did not see many guards who were supposed to be patrolling and standing guard. Even the atrium in the center of the castle was empty.
"There's no one around?" Amber's eyes widened as she looked down curiously. Her Shadow Talent allowed her to see clearly in the dim environment. "And the courtyard looks like it hasn't been trimmed for months. The weeds and bushes are almost covering the road."
Just as Amber had said, not only was there no one in the castle's atrium, but the plants were flourishing everywhere. This place should have been in order until a few days ago, but now, Gawain felt as if the castle had been abandoned for months or even a year. Lush plants were growing wildly everywhere, covering the roads and walls. Some vines had even crawled to the door leading to the main building.
"Byron, you haven't fully recovered yet. Wait for us here." Gwen turned to the middle-aged Knight behind him and said, "I've left you three 'crystal grenades' for self-defense. Have you remembered how to use them?"
The gray-haired middle-aged Knight twisted his neck uncomfortably. "It's not a good feeling to be a burden."
Gwen smiled and patted the shoulder of the usually slightly off-key Knight. "You've done a great deed and fought bravely. I don't want my Knight to die because of recklessness."
Gwen's words were from the bottom of his heart. Although he had secretly complained about the somewhat unreliable behavior of this' non-mainstream Knight, Byron had indeed shown enough bravery and determination in this incident. There was no need for him to continue dragging his weak body into the adventure. Perhaps a Knight like Philip would stubbornly follow Gwen to the death, but Byron was not such a pedantic person.
So, the middle-aged Knight nodded and took the three grenades from Gwen. He looked at the exquisite 'magical industrial products' with a slightly complicated expression. "Tsk tsk … I'm afraid even children can learn to use these things …"
A moment later, Gwen and the rest had sneaked into the castle's atrium under the cover of the darkening sky.
Along the way, they did not see any guards, nor did they see any claws or magic traps of the cultists. The huge castle was empty, quiet, and eerie as if it had really been abandoned.
Knight Philip held his sword in his hand and quietly followed behind Gwen. But soon he wrinkled his nose and said in a low voice, "There's an evil breath here."
Amber couldn't help but glance at the young knight who usually looked a little dumb. "Don't tell me you're going to shout 'Holy Light, this evil is worth fighting!' and rush out to slash at it. You're not a holy knight, are you?"
"Shh," Gwen whispered and interrupted Amber. "Don't forget that Philip is a believer of Kehr."
Amber's eyes widened slightly, then she pursed her lips and did not say anything.
Kehr, the God of Warriors and Knights, was also a god of war. He was a powerful god in the orthodox pantheon, second only to the God of Holy Light. He protected all warriors and blessed all wars. Although he was not the God of Holy Light, his divine power also had the power to resist blasphemy and detect evil. His believers would be blessed when searching for the cultists. Although they were not as good as the orthodox priests of holy light or the Holy Knight, they were still much stronger than ordinary people.
And Philip was a devout believer of Kehr. Even if he was not a cleric, his piety made him more sensitive than others to sense the presence of the cultists in the castle.
Gawain did not believe in the gods, so naturally, he could not receive the blessings of the gods. However, his body was naturally sending out alarms. Holding the Pioneer's Sword, he stared at the lush flowers, shrubs, and decorative trees in the atrium warily. "These plants are too lush. There's probably something wrong."
Pitman held a handful of ironwood seeds in his hand, but he did not dare to cast any Druil spells to check the surroundings. Just as he could easily sense the cultists of the Apocalypse, the cultists of the Druil could also sense him the moment he cast a spell. Unless there was a direct confrontation, he would not dare to take the risk.
They began to cross the courtyard and moved closer to the main building of Viscount Andrew's castle. That was the place where the cultists were most likely hiding.
A faint layer of dim 'veil' shrouded the four of them. Amber walked in the middle of the group, using her ghostly Shadow Affinity to create a group stealth effect for everyone. If not for her, Gwen would not have chosen to take the risk of sneaking into the castle to save time.
The sun had completely set below the horizon, and the remaining light in the sky was gradually being swallowed by darkness. Stars began to appear, and when the stars first appeared, a cool night breeze blew through the courtyard.
The lush plants, which seemed to have been growing without restraint for a year, swayed in the night breeze, making a rustling sound. And in the rustling sound, there seemed to be countless low murmurs.
Amber instantly had goosebumps, and as the power of the Shadow grew stronger as the night fell, her vision began to change in the direction of 'Transcendent', and some things that were ignored during the day suddenly came into her vision.
The half-elf was so scared that she almost screamed, but before she could speak, Gwen had already covered her mouth.
"I see it too," Gwen whispered.
There was something in the atrium, under the lush vegetation, between the wantonly spreading roots and vines.
The nearest shrub swayed in the night wind, and a pale hand emerged from its roots. The hand was buried in the soil, and it was slightly convulsing. A half-buried face poked out from the weeds beside it. The eyes on the face were half-closed, and the cracked lips were still moving. A half-dead old oak tree was leaning against the road, and there was a bump on its roots. The bump was shaped like a head, and a pair of eyes peeked out from between the cracks in the bark. They were yellow and stiff, and they were half-dead like the oak tree.
Under all the plants in the courtyard, there were buried human limbs, and the owners of those limbs were obviously still alive!
"In the name of the God of War!" Knight Philip suppressed his voice and shouted in a low voice. "What a perverse act!"
"These people … are they alive or dead?" Amber took two deep breaths and pried Gwen's hand away. She whispered with a trace of horror.
"Most of them are still alive, but it's hard to say how long they can live." Pitman clenched the seed in his hand that he was going to use as a spellcasting material. "No wonder we can't see any guards or attendants … they are all buried in the courtyard!"
"Be careful not to touch these plants," the old Druil added. "They are the eyes of the cultists!"
"Why did the cultists bury these people here?" Amber frowned and said, trying to suppress her disgust. "To extract their vitality?"
"… I'm afraid not." Pitman shook his head. "There's no need for such a troublesome ritual to extract vitality. The cultists kept these people half-alive and half-dead, and kept them in a trance … I suspect they are extracting their thoughts. "
"Extracting their thoughts?" Amber was shocked. "The Cult of All Things End can even do this?!"
"Of course it would not be so easy to deal with a transcendent, but these are ordinary people who have no resistance to magic. Sigh." Pitman sighed softly. "Looks like the cultists did not just want to kill a few people here. They have a purpose, they are collecting information …"
As they spoke, they had already carefully passed through the atrium which was covered with crazy plants and came to the front of the porch leading to the main hall of the castle. In front of them was a half-closed oak gate which was engraved with the emblem of the Leslie clan.
The crest looked like it was flowing with blood, dark red and glowing.
Gwen did not touch the obviously abnormal door directly with his hand, but used the Pioneer's Sword to push the door open slowly and silently. Then, he was on full alert and took the lead to step through the door.
The moment he stepped through the door, a burst of unbearably noisy and chaotic noises suddenly swept over from an unknown source!
It felt as if there were ten thousand voices exploding in his ears at the same time, ten thousand people shouting in his ears at the same time, ten thousand chaotic and absurd musical instruments playing in his ears at the same time, or perhaps there were two drunken ambers chattering in his ears at the same time …
Gawain felt as if his body had become rusty, and even turning his head became extremely slow and difficult. He soon found that the noise did not come from the outside world, but from his own mind. In the maddening noise, he saw the dark red carpeted corridor in front of him suddenly elongate, and the walls with portraits of the ancestors of the Leslie Family on both sides retreated to infinity. The surroundings suddenly became extremely wide, and the dark starry sky replaced the original scene in the castle.
The chaotic noise finally blended into a clear voice, and it kept roaring. "All things will perish! All things will perish! All things will perish! "
But even though Gwen was shrouded in noise and illusion, he found that his mind was unusually clear. The roar came clearly, and he could not help but have a clear thought in his mind. "Yes, it's because of the increase in entropy. What's wrong?"
"All things will perish …"
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