The next morning, the entire team, including Ash and Jagu, stood at the edge of the small castle's courtyard, where the abominations were expected to appear if they ventured into the center of the field.
Jagu sniffed the air and let out a low growl. Ash gently stroked his head, signaling him to calm down.
Milo turned to Ash and asked, "Are you sure about this, Ash? Yesterday, the number of abominations was overwhelming."
Ash gazed at the field, which was covered in rotting leaves, and replied calmly, "Of course."
But deep down, fear gripped him. 'She is right. There were so many abominations. What if I can't handle them?'
Yesterday, he was only able to summon five undead and return them to the spirit world.
But now, they were facing dozens of abominations.
Dwayne chimed in, "If you feel you're not ready, it's okay, Ash. We can wait until you are prepared."
Ash took a deep breath. He had already decided that he must accomplish this today. "No. I must be able to do this."
"Why? There's always tomorrow," Mia said, confused.
Luca chimed in, "Let him try. It's a matter of male pride."
Ash glanced at Luca, who had uttered those ridiculous words, with an expression that hinted at suppressed laughter.
"It's okay, guys. Besides, I don't have to walk into the center to do it. Can we start now?" he asked.
Milo responded, "We're ready when you are."
The rest of the team also voiced their agreement, affirming that they were prepared as well.
"Alright," Ash said as he walked over and sat down on a flat stone not far from where they were standing.
He crossed his legs and closed his eyes. Jagu approached him and sat directly in front of him, while the rest of the team stood around to guard him.
Ash focused his mind on the crescent moon symbol with an eye inside it, guiding himself back into the state he had entered the day before.
In the spirit world, he saw the small castle with its wide courtyard in front of it. Now, it was mingled with an array of colorful, shifting shadows.
Then he saw dozens of spirits with a reddish-black hue, a color starkly different from any other spirits he had encountered before.
Recognizing the distinct coloration, he realized which among them were the spirits of the abominations, standing out from the rest.
He tried to command the reddish-black spirits wandering in the courtyard to obey him, but they refused to comply with his will.
'Damn!' he cursed internally.
He tried to focus even harder, and the spirits began to still, aligning themselves in rows before him. Their translucent forms passed through everything in the area, including the bodies of the team members.
However, the reddish-black spirits still refused to obey.
Frustrated, he commanded the rebellious spirits by visualizing himself shouting at them.
"Obey!"
The reddish-black spirits seemed to turn toward him and then slowly joined the others in formation.
Once the spirits obediently formed rows, Ash stood up and walked toward the center of the courtyard.
The team members initially considered stopping him but decided against it when they noticed that his eyes remained closed.
They followed him with their weapons firmly in hand. Jagu followed close behind them.
In the middle of the courtyard, Ash came to a halt. His spirit form continued to monitor the reddish-black spirits carefully.
The spirits appeared as though they were trying to flee, seeking to inhabit the decaying corpses nearby, drawn by the scent of human flesh emanating from those standing in the center of the courtyard.
He tried to maintain his focus, refusing to let the reddish-black spirits escape.
The spirits seemed conflicted, torn between obeying Ash's command or reverting to becoming abominations once more.
Realizing that he might not be able to hold them for much longer, he began walking toward the small castle, followed by the rest of the team.
And sure enough, just as they reached the castle floor, the reddish-black spirits broke free from Ash's command and started sinking into the ground.
In an instant, he shouted, "Run!" and, with his eyes still closed, sprinted toward the castle.
The reddish-black spirits, now absorbed into the earth, began to rise again, animating with skulls, corpses, or other rotting materials.
They began chasing the humans, and the team members ran as fast as they could.
The abominations nearly caught up to them, but just as the team reached the castle, they dove inside, collapsing onto the castle floor.
Ash leapt in as well, rolling to safety while keeping his eyes firmly shut.
Quickly regaining his composure, he stood up and faced the abominations, still with his eyes closed.
They were unable to enter the castle, instead piling up against an invisible barrier that blocked their path.
The team stared at the grotesque scene in horror, while Jagu, still outside on the castle grounds, growled menacingly. None of the corpses paid him any attention, as he was not a living creature.
He refocused on the crescent moon symbol with the eye inside it, leaving the spirit world and returning to the real one.
As he opened his eyes, he said weakly, "Sorry, I couldn't make them go away."
Hank responded, "What are you talking about? Thanks to you, we made it past them safely."
Luca handed Ash a potion to restore his magic stat and said, "Drink this first. Your magic stat must have dropped significantly."
Ash accepted the potion and drank it all in one go.
Milo, now standing, added, "Alright. Now we need to find the item assigned to us as quickly as possible."
The entire team agreed, and they began to move deeper into the castle, followed by Jagu. Behind them, the abominations remained crowded against the invisible barrier outside the castle walls.
***
Inside the castle, they found the area overrun with creeping plants. The roof was largely collapsed, allowing sunlight to pour freely into the spacious hall.
Broken stone staircases could be seen in various spots, along with scattered remnants of small structures that looked like houses within the inner courtyard.
In the center of the courtyard stood a human-shaped statue attached to a fountain, though it was completely broken and no longer functional.
The place had the eerie feel of a haunted house. Unlike the outside of the castle, where life seemed abundant, there were no birds or small animals in sight.
Milo instructed all team members to spread out across the vast castle to search for an item.
The item, called The Energy Crystal, was a gemstone. While the Finders within The Unveilers' group had informed the team of the castle's location, they couldn't provide an exact description of the item's appearance.
The only clear detail was that it was a large gemstone. However, the Finders couldn't specify its exact color or shape.
As a result, the team had to manually search for The Energy Crystal. They scattered throughout the castle, inspecting every house, lifting debris, and even digging through the roots of the vines that clung to the far walls of the castle.
Ash and Jagu entered a large building, presumed to have been a hall where swordsmen gathered in ancient times.
Inside, there were several long tables and benches that were almost unrecognizable, reduced to piles of rotting wood overgrown with moss and fungi.
Large windows lined the walls, allowing Ash to clearly see the interior of the room.
At the far end of the hall stood a long table with several chairs arranged behind it. In the center of those chairs, a single throne-like seat stood out, facing the long tables and benches scattered across the hall.
Without wasting any more time, Ash began lifting the scattered wooden debris, with Jagu eagerly joined him, enthusiastically digging through the pieces of wood with his paws.
After thoroughly searching through all the wooden debris, inspecting the throne chair, and even dismantling it, he still couldn't find the gemstone.
Defeated, he turned his attention to Jagu, who was sniffing a long flag hanging down from above. The fabric was tattered and torn in several places, its colors faded with time.
He was about to call Jagu to leave the room when his eyes suddenly caught sight of a door hidden behind the flag.
He walked over to Jagu and the door, pulling aside the flag to reveal a hidden door behind it.
After stripped off the flag away completely, he inspected the door. It was made of wood and still intact, though the material was clearly starting to decay.
The door had a simple iron ring for a handle, and there was no lock. He tried pushing it open, but the door didn't budge. He also tried pulling the door open, but it was in vain.
Finally, he decided to step back, and told Jagu to step back, then kicked the door hard enough to break it down. Inside, there was a dark room, with nothing immediately visible in the pitch-black space.