"There's nothing here." Stellan had also thoroughly scanned the basement before shaking his head in disappointment. The layout was plain—just a worn-out table and a few dusty jars in the corner. Nothing else.
After a careful inspection, Stellan lost interest and moved on to search elsewhere.
Ethan shrugged as well. They had all been drawn over by Kael's earlier commotion, but now that it seemed like a dead end, they dispersed to explore other areas.
Only Amelia remained. She knew Kael's every mannerism too well. Though he had deliberately masked his emotions from the others, he couldn't hide them from her.
Kael met her gaze with a reassuring smile, warmth blooming in his chest. This girl always seemed to understand him perfectly, no matter the situation. He couldn't help but feel grateful.
The spatial ring on his left hand continued to pulse with intense spiritual energy, as if it had developed a will of its own, brimming with excitement.
Seeing that no one else was around except Amelia, Kael finally let his guard down and stepped further into the room.
"Here."
The ring's soul resonance grew stronger, guiding his focus to the table.
Scattered across its surface were what looked like stone shavings—and among them lay the ring's missing fragment!
Kael sifted through the debris until his fingers closed around a small, unremarkable black shard, no larger than half a fingernail. This was it.
"This…" Suppressing his exhilaration, he carefully placed the fragment into his spatial ring.
"What is it?" Amelia asked, puzzled by his unusual behavior.
"Found something good—a missing piece of the ring I've been wearing." Kael smiled but didn't elaborate further. Now wasn't the time to reattach the fragment, not with the Holy Temple members nearby.
"If this triggers any unusual energy fluctuations, it'll raise their suspicions." Kael wasn't about to let his guard down around them.
"Kael!"
Just as he was about to explain the situation to Amelia, Ethan's voice rang out from a distance—unusually urgent.
Both Kael and Amelia immediately sensed something was wrong. Without hesitation, they rushed outside.
The three Holy Temple members, led by Stellan, stood frozen inside the castle. While Stellan himself maintained his composure, the two behind him paled, taking involuntary steps back as if confronted by something terrifying.
"What's going on?" Kael asked, immediately sensing the shift in atmosphere.
"Damn it... undead."
Stellan's voice was low, his expression grim. Shadows flickered in his eyes.
Undead?
Kael stiffened before quickly following Amelia to the raised platform where Ethan stood. There, on the distant horizon beyond the castle, dark specks emerged—hundreds of them—swarming toward them with alarming speed. A chill ran down Kael's spine.
Those black dots were the undead.
The so-called undead were beings transformed after death, their souls imprisoned within lifeless husks, enslaved by demonic will. They had no breath, no heartbeat, no peace—only a grotesque semblance of movement driven by residual instinct and sheer brutality...
No one on the Southern Jialand Continent could forget the Great Undead Calamity three thousand years ago. It had been a nightmare carved into history.
But why were undead appearing here?
Suppressing his shock, Kael focused on the approaching horde. Each creature radiated a miasma of death—remnants of ferocious beasts that had perished in these ancient ruins. Among them were skeletal Snow Bear Beasts and other monstrous entities Kael couldn't even identify.
"It really is the undead." Kael's gaze hardened as he exchanged a glance with Amelia.
Hundreds of them.
The undead fanned out, their advance methodical. Though slow, their numbers were already encircling the castle, cutting off all escape.
"Damn it, why are there undead here? And so many of them! These are all transformed from the corpses of ancient beasts—they retain their original combat strength!" Ethan frowned, his expression grim.
Kael suddenly thought of something and quickly communicated with the Snow Bear Beast in his spatial ring: "Snow Bear Beast! We've spotted numerous undead outside the castle, including many transformed from your kind. Do you know what's happening?"
"Undead? My kind turned into undead?" The beast sounded dazed.
"It's likely the corpses of your fallen companions, tampered with by the Darkwing Mage Leif..."Kael voiced his suspicion.
"It must be! That bastard Leif did something to their bodies—turned them all into undead! Damn him, after everything we've suffered!" The Snow Bear Beast wailed loudly.
Among the dark magic mastered by the Darkwing Mage, necromancy was undoubtedly a possibility.
Just what is that damned Leif planning?
Kael narrowed his eyes. The Darkwing Mage certainly had the capability. Could Leif's purpose in coming to these ancient ruins be... conducting some kind of undead experiment?
The thought sent a chill down his spine, as if he could already envision the entire ruins transformed into a playground for the undead.
Even imagining it made his scalp prickle.
"These undead are likely connected to the Darkwing Mage Leif we're hunting," Kael said. "Don't forget—he may very well be skilled in necromancy..."
Stellan and his two companions fell silent. After a moment, Stellan nodded slowly. "I share your suspicion. I've already alerted other members of the Holy Temple. Reinforcements will arrive soon. Until then... we'll have to hold our ground against these hundreds of undead."
The Holy Temple's members were evidently more united than those of the Sacred Council. Stellan had some special means to summon his allies.
And the undead were already upon them!
The first creature burst into the castle—a monstrous, bipedal skeleton, its bones rattling menacingly. Behind it poured more undead of various forms, though Snow Bear Beast variants dominated the horde. After all, this had once been their territory.
"It's a ghoul! We've encountered these before—a Level 6 beast!" Stellan exclaimed, momentarily setting aside their rivalry in the face of danger.
A Level 6 beast! That meant even after transforming into undead, these creatures retained their original strength.
Kael snorted coldly. With a flick of his staff, silver starlight flashed as a colossal Flaming Hand of the Inferno descended from above. Frostfire coalesced, and explosive flames erupted.
The massive fiery palm slammed down onto the ghoul with crushing force!
The undead creature shrieked as its skull shattered under the impact, its entire body reduced to ashes.
Against the undead, only complete destruction of the head or purification through holy magic could ensure their permanent demise.
"Impressive." Stellan's eyes flickered with surprise as he instantly recognized Kael's formidable power. No wonder even Ethan seems to defer to him despite being part of their trio.
That devastating frostfire, that terrifying spellcraft—Kael had abruptly seized Stellan's attention. And this young man appeared even younger than Ethan. Since when did such a prodigy emerge on the continent?
Without hesitation, Stellan and his two Holy Temple companions charged into the fray. All three wielded holy magic—a specialty of their order.
The Holy Temple's mastery of radiant spells lent them an almost divine aura in battle, that very "charlatan charm" which had won them countless followers over the years.
And holy magic was, without question, the bane of the undead.
As Stellan's group unleashed their spells, a flicker of fear flashed in the hollow, bloodthirsty eyes of the advancing corpses. But the hesitation lasted only a moment—against hundreds of undead, three holy mages simply couldn't tip the scales.
"Damn it, there are too many!" More and more corpses swarmed forward, flooding the castle with their deathly miasma. All six fighters grimaced in unison.
Though individually far stronger than any single undead, the sheer numbers made even them shudder.