123: Fighting

Charles Manor.

Along the dark corridor of the castle, an ancient oil lamp hung before a wooden door.

Countless translucent corpses abruptly materialized in the air.

They carried a barely perceptible breeze, circling the oil lamp for a moment, then quietly slipped into the lamp.

“Creak…”

The wooden door slowly opened.

From a profound darkness, an aged hand reached out.

He gently gripped the handle of the oil lamp, taking it down from the wall.

Subsequently, Barton’s simple and rigid figure slowly emerged from the darkness behind the door.

“Have they arrived?”

Barton glanced at the wick of the oil lamp.

The countless tiny white figures continuously circling within it were like midges trapped in amber.

He murmured to himself, his voice sounding somewhat ethereal in the empty corridor.

“Scratch…”

A faint sound, like a match being struck.

The oil lamp in Barton’s hand was lit.

The dim yellow light slowly spread out.

The light flickered, illuminating the dark corridor erratically.

The flickering shadows cast grotesque shapes on the walls.

The oil paintings hanging on the walls also seemed to come alive amidst the interplay of light and shadow.

“Thump, thump, thump, thump…”

In the empty corridor,

The sound of children running suddenly echoed, yet no figures were visible.

An antique vase, as tall as a person, with blurred patterns depicted on its body, silently appeared at the end of the corridor.

On the wall, a humanoid outline with hands covering its face in pain emerged, slightly twisting, as if trying to break free from the wall.

Numerous demonic creatures in the castle began to awaken, emerging from various hidden corners.

“Let’s go, it’s time to meet our guests.”

Barton, holding the flickering oil lamp, slowly walked towards the outside of the castle.

The dim yellow light trailed a huge shadow behind him.

In a trance, behind his shadow,

It seemed as if countless indistinct figures stood, moving along with his footsteps.

…

“Grandpa Barton, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you come out.”

Above the main gate of Charles Manor.

Inside a wooden gatehouse,

Hatties was already standing there quietly.

His voice was as steady as ever, carrying a hint of concern.

“Such a small matter, we can’t trouble the master to handle it personally, can we?”

A benevolent smile appeared on Barton’s aged face.

Indeed, ever since he began to Cultivate the Spirit Sealing Demon Taming Art,

He had never stepped out of the manor’s confines, and rarely even left the castle that shared his life.

His power was deeply rooted in this castle, and also in this demon-infested land.

As long as he was within the castle, he could unleash terrifying power beyond imagination.

But once he left the castle,

His power would rapidly diminish.

The further he was from the castle, the less power he could command.

Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, he would not easily leave the castle.

Of course, Barton was willing to do so.

A butler should stay at home, shouldn’t he…

Barton thought silently, the expression on his face growing even more benevolent.

After a brief exchange of words.

Barton and Hatties both simultaneously looked up, gazing at the distant horizon beyond the manor.

They both clearly sensed that.

From that direction, a convergence of incredibly twisted and mad Qi was emanating.

Charles Manor was located on the southern side of Oak Tree Territory, quite close to the Whispering Forest itself.

Therefore, when the beast tide arrived this time, they were almost among the first to be affected.

“They’re here!”

On the distant horizon.

A writhing black line slowly appeared, approaching the manor at an astonishing speed.

The beast tide had finally arrived.

When the surging beast tide, like a breached dam, approached the manor.

As soon as it stepped into the huge shadow cast by the manor wall,

That large area covered by shadow suddenly collapsed,

Like a black abyss leading to the netherworld.

Countless roaring, twisted creatures fell into the shadow like dumplings,

And were quickly swallowed by the bottomless darkness, disappearing without a trace.

This suddenly appearing shadow abyss, like a moat, abruptly halted more than half of the momentum of the surging beast tide.

And in that pitch-black shadow,

A pale and tall figure could vaguely be seen, appearing and disappearing, emitting a terrifying and heart-pounding aura.

At this moment, below the wall,

The figures of more than twenty Black Flame Death Soldiers also transformed into rapidly rotating black vortices, fearlessly charging into the chaotic beast tide.

Their auras interconnected and intertwined, rising above their heads,

Forming an illusory Black Flame, firmly blocking some of the scattered twisted creatures.

“That one has already made a move.”

Hatties said in a low voice.

He took a deep look at the Silver Armor Corpse rampaging in the shadows.

The next moment, his figure vanished from the gatehouse.

Then he abruptly appeared in front of a giant ape-like twisted creature.

One of his palms, at some unknown point, had already pressed onto the creature’s furry head.

“Splatter!!!”

The ape creature’s body below the neck,

Seemed to be violently twisted by a pair of invisible, unseen giant hands.

It instantly underwent a terrifying contortion, its entire body twisted into a knot like a pretzel.

Crimson blood mixed with minced flesh splattered outwards like a fountain, and a strong smell of blood permeated the air.

Then, Hatties’s figure gradually faded.

What remained in place was an afterimage.

After his figure dissipated,

On the ape’s corpse,

A raging Black Flame suddenly ignited,

And in a blink of an eye, it turned into a pile of charred ashes.

“Puff, puff, puff!!!”

Hatties’s figure,

Flashed continuously within the chaotic beast tide.

Because his movement speed was too fast,

The previous afterimage had not yet completely disappeared,

A new figure had already appeared in another position.

From a distance, it seemed as if several of him were simultaneously present on the battlefield.

With the frenzied slaughter,

The Black Flame burning on him grew more intense,

His entire being was like a pitch-black fire person; any twisted creature he touched would instantly ignite.

Turning into a soaring black pillar of fire, instantly burning into ashes.

“Hiss, hiss…”

At this moment, at the rear of the beast tide,

There was a commotion and chaos within the twisted creature swarm.

An unusually large twisted creature, writhing its massive body, crushing its own kind, slowly crawled out.

Its entire body was a bizarre emerald green,

Like a giant caterpillar magnified countless times.

At the top of its head, there was actually a human-like face with vaguely discernible features.

Its body was covered in long, colorful fine hairs.

As it wriggled, any other twisted creatures touched by those hairs,

Would let out painful wails, and then their bodies would rapidly rot and die.