An ominous silence engulfed the forest, making it feel like a ferocious beast ready to devour its prey.

Stepping into the forest, Felix experienced a peculiar sensation. Although his shadow power was gone, his sensitivity to magical elements remained. The natural elements in the forest were all in a dormant state, as if suppressed by the negative energy from the abyss. Felix tried to conjure a magical trick, but in this low-level domain-like space created by the negative energy, the small flame in his palm fizzled out.

"There are restrictions." Felix intended to extend his psychic network to scour the forest but hesitated and eventually refrained. Strong psychic vibrations might alert the dark entities within. Until the Arbitrators from the cathedral arrived, he couldn't afford to act rashly.

The mere presence of negative energy couldn't weaken magical effects to such an extent. Deeper within the forest, a magic circle likely existed, designed to suppress other magical elements' vitality.

The canopy of leaves shielded the sunlight, and the occasional rustling of leaves as the wind passed through added an eerie feel to the forest.

The soil underfoot was particularly muddy. Felix touched a bit of the black, paste-like substance with his finger and brought it to his nose for a sniff, then rubbed it between his fingers. He instantly knew what it was.

Decomposed leaves, and they had decayed within just a few days.

The negative energy's corrosive nature had begun to erode the trees here. If eroding living creatures signified an energy intensity of 10, then the ability to corrode plants indicated an intensity of at least 30.

Even if the dark entities hidden here were eradicated, this forest would likely have to be sealed off due to the residual corrosive energy's significant harm to living beings. While professionals like Felix, with power above the Silver Domain, wouldn't be affected, ordinary mercenaries and lumberjacks couldn't withstand this energy's erosion.

For a long time to come, no sign of life would exist in this forest.

Venturing deeper, Felix started to come across insect carcasses, though they were so decayed that their forms were barely discernible. This suggested that the dark entities had been here for a while.

Large wild animals usually flee when sensing danger. Felix hadn't encountered any animals on his way, pondering why the hunted giant wolf hadn’t left the area.

The further he went, the denser and more active the negative energy became.

After about three kilometers into the forest, a grey mist began to spread among the vegetation.

"Toxic." As a former Gamma master, Felix's analysis of elemental energy was top-notch. The fog, serving as a barrier within the forest, was incredibly corrosive and poisonous. Not just ordinary creatures, but even some professionals, couldn't withstand the erosion of this fog.

The Power of Pestilence effortlessly devoured the fog, and as a Death Knight, Felix’s Frost Power was absolutely immune to this level of corrosion.

Without hesitation, Felix crossed the toxic barrier and continued deeper into the forest.

Such an endeavor indicated that the dark entities entrenched here were no ordinary creatures. From the elemental-suppressing magic circle to the creation of a circumferential toxic barrier, everything pointed to an organized group of dark entities in the forest.

The deeper he went, the thinner the fog became, but the signs of decay in the flora became more pronounced.

Many large trees had turned grey, and their bark crumbled easily, clearly decayed by the negative energy. Soon, these trees would completely decompose, turning the forest into a vast dark zone. The decayed matter would gather death energy and mixed turbid air, both highly toxic to living beings.

Proceeding cautiously, Felix found something unexpected on the ground—footprints of the giant wolf.

Curious, Felix followed the tracks, and after circumventing a polluted pond, he came to a place that made his skin crawl.

Scattered bones covered the ground, numbering over a hundred, and many showed signs of gnawing.

Felix finally understood why the giant wolf lingered here and why it underwent such drastic mutations. The human skeletons laid out here were key. The giant wolf had mutated after consuming the flesh of these corpses.

At the edge of the pit where the skeletons lay, Felix spotted two fresh bodies.

These bodies belonged to robust men, fatally wounded by gashes on their necks—gory and jagged, as if ripped open by a ferocious beast rather than a weapon.

These bodies still emanated a strong, lingering negative energy.

Turning the bodies over, Felix found something interesting, an item he had seen in a town outside elven territory.

It was a badge, bearing the image of a broken sword, different from the ones he had seen before—this time, there was a dagger symbol beneath the broken sword.

Members of the Oath of the Shattered Blade.

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Felix couldn’t help but recall the defilers he had slain before, including the leader who had transformed into a defiler form.

Is this the place where the Oath of the Shattered Blade mass-produces abyssal demons? The abyssal aura on these corpses was clearly left when they were used as seeds. And the wounds on their necks, Felix surmised, were likely made by one who successfully mutated into an abyssal demon. Those who turned into demons, seemingly devoid of reason, killing their companions wasn't surprising.

Felix still remembered the grotesque form of the Oath of the Shattered Blade member after the mutation.

"Mist Veil Technique."

Felix wasn't content to leave things as they were, and he figured that with caution, he shouldn't encounter any major problems.

The short meditations since regaining his memory weren't enough for Felix to gather sufficient magic power. He couldn't perform high-level spells like Invisibility, which required elemental power over level forty. However, he could manage a weaker version, the Mist Veil Technique. A hazy mist enveloped his body, then dissipated, making Felix's figure blur into obscurity, leaving only a faint silhouette. Unless someone had exceptionally sharp vision or was assisted by the hawkeye spell, they wouldn't notice Felix's presence from twenty meters away.

Concealing his aura, Felix also cast a traceless spell on himself.

As he ventured deeper, Felix noticed the tight security.

About every hundred meters, there was a small, alert-type magic circle. These circles, linked together, enveloped the entire camp. The camp, surrounded by wooden fences, spanned over four hundred meters in width, though its exact size was unclear. There were guards at each corner of the camp walls, but from a distance, Felix couldn't discern what they were.

As he approached, Felix finally saw what stood on the camp walls.

Skeleton Warriors.

Twelve Skeleton Warriors stood on one side of the fence.

Skeleton Warriors, unlike regular skeletons, were summoned from the complete bodies of warriors. These summoned Skeleton Warriors retained some of their combat skills from life. Their innate strength, coupled with some ability to wield the power of death after becoming undead, made them formidable foes.

Could there be a powerful necromancer inside?

Undead make the best guards as they never tire, don't slack off, and most importantly, the presence of the living cannot hide from them.

But Felix was an exception.

When he activated his Frost Power, covering his entire body, his life essence began to fade. Frost Power, a force of Death Knights, would gradually turn a mortal into a Death Knight, a true undead, under its domineering erosion.

Thanks to the goddess Pestilence's divine suppression, Felix hadn't been fully transformed into an undead creature by the Frost Power. However, using the Frost Power to temporarily mask his vitality and become a moving 'dead' was still feasible.

Many undead lack eyes and sense life through the soul fire, identifying friends and foes. Skeleton Warriors are among them.

With his life essence concealed by Frost Power, Felix appeared to these Skeleton Warriors as just a humanoid object. Their limited intelligence, capable of executing simple commands, couldn't detect Felix’s presence.

Carefully bypassing the Skeleton Warriors, Felix's expression grew solemn as he entered the camp.

The situation was far graver than he had imagined.

The camp wasn't spacious, with simple, crude wooden houses built at the four corners. However, at the center of the camp, a grand and majestic altar was constructed from neatly arranged marble blocks.

The altar, about fifty meters in length and width, towered over twenty meters high. Marble steps led to the altar's central area, a mere dozen square meters in size, with a stone platform at its heart.

Grooves the size of a palm ran down the sides of the altar, filled with a slowly flowing dark red liquid, extending to the base of the altar.

Blood sacrifice.

That was Felix's immediate thought upon seeing the altar.

Clearly, the people of the Oath of the Shattered Blade were conducting blood sacrifice rituals here, a favorite of abyssal demons and certain malevolent deities.

Felix stealthily infiltrated a wooden house and, just as he expected, saw a group of imprisoned young girls. Their faces were numb, each sitting desolately in a corner, silent and not eating, simply staring blankly.

It seemed these girls had been captive for quite some time, or they wouldn't have adopted such a vacant demeanor.

Many demons have vampiric tendencies, craving the pure blood of virgins. However, these girls, despite their lifeless expressions, hadn't been harmed.

The robust men's corpses and these girls as offerings.

What kind of demon are the people of the Oath of the Shattered Blade summoning here?

Human demonization usually involves summoning parasitic Abyssal Fiendish Monsters, then forcibly infesting them into human bodies. This process often leads to human death, but if the fusion is successful, the demonized human gains tremendous power.

However, as a cost, the lifespan of humans who become defilers gradually diminishes. Eventually, their reasoning is devoured by the Fiendish Monster, turning them into true demonic creatures.

A defiler fused with a parasite, unless they break through and advance to a defiler status, doesn't live long. Once they do advance, their bodies undergo full demonization, no longer part of humanity. However, the prerequisite for advancement is overcoming the parasite Fiendish Monster's consciousness within.

Otherwise, they end up as mere monstrous beings devoid of any rationality.

Of the four houses, two had restrictions preventing entry without alerting the dark entities inside.

In the second wooden house, however, Felix encountered a surprising scene.

The second house held men, strong men, each bearing the Oath of the Shattered Blade insignia, similar to what Felix had seen outside. These men seemed to be treated slightly better than the imprisoned girls but were also confined to their rooms, guarded by more formidable Skeleton Warriors.

Suddenly, Felix sensed a dangerous presence – the power of the Golden Dominion.

Alarmed, Felix quickly hid in a nearby wooden house, carefully concealing his presence and observing the figure emerging from the farthest house.

It was a lich, cloaked in a black robe. Its skull was covered only by a layer of dried, wrinkled skin, and its left hand, clutching a staff, was nothing but ghastly white bone. Surprisingly, this lich bore the Oath of the Shattered Blade insignia, but unlike the others, its badge was of pure silver, with a scepter carved beneath a broken sword.

Following the lich were two defilers, emitting a strong abyssal aura. They seemed far more dangerous than those Felix had encountered before, having lost most of their human traits.

These defilers had skin like fish scales, with sharp, black claws on their hands. Their limbs were bulky, their legs like those of a standing lizard, and their faces covered with fine scales, barely recognizable as once human.

The lich led a vacant-faced girl under its spell to the highest point of the altar. There, she picked up a pure gold dagger and plunged it into her own heart.

Crimson blood gushed forth.

A faint red glow began to gather above the altar. The girl collapsed lifelessly onto it, her blood trickling down the altar's grooves and disappearing beneath it. As her blood flowed into the altar, Felix thought he heard a monstrous roar from below, but when he listened intently, there was silence.

The girl's cold body was dragged away by the two defilers, out of the camp, while the lich, accompanied by three trembling men, passed through a hidden door to the space beneath the altar.

Felix was certain that something monstrous, perhaps an Abyssal Demon, was concealed beneath that altar.