Chapter 2: The Puppet

Seeing the surprised and disdainful expressions on both men’s faces, Rebrí, who was usually known for ignoring others, also felt a bit embarrassed. Such shoddy work truly disrespected his reputation. A magician capable of creating puppets should be a scholar with considerable skill in painting, sculpture, literature, and art. These magical scholars had extremely high standards for their puppets and would never compromise on fundamental principles. Adhering to the principle of quality over quantity, even if some magicians could only create a few successful puppets in their entire lives, they would not sacrifice the standards of puppet magic for momentary pleasure. This showed just how high the demands were for puppets. Yet the thing before him was something he had put together in just a few days—not only was its material inferior to those of proper puppets, but its craftsmanship was also rushed, making it a source of ridicule. However, the exploration could not be delayed, and puppets were the best vanguard in such situations, leaving him in a difficult position.

As the mental command was given, the puppet stepped forward nimbly, looking around with the demeanor of a skilled thief. In its left hand was a small round shield with a lion’s head in the center, baring its fangs in a formidable stance. But Kemer doubted whether such a shield, made of the same material as the puppet’s body, could withstand external attacks. In its right hand was a bronze long sword that appeared menacing and imposing. The hand extending from its neck seemed rather awkward, and the short sword it wielded looked more like an ornament—though it was unclear if this design served some other purpose.

Entering the gate, the puppet acted very cautiously—actually, it was Rebrí’s control that made it so cautious. According to the rules of castle construction, there must be defensive mechanisms inside the gate to prevent unauthorized intruders. The puppet waved its round shield and long sword as if to boost its own courage, but to Kemer, it appeared oddly comical. He hadn’t expected Rebrí to endow this puppet with such a lively personality. While this could enhance the puppet’s adaptability and perception, it required extremely valuable magic crystals as the puppet’s mental core—only such things could store the magician’s infused mental traits.

As expected, just as the puppet was about to exit the doorway, two large sliding gates crashed to the ground, sealing the puppet inside the dark cave. The somewhat panicked puppet quickly calmed down under Lebri’s mental influence. The dark, gate-like barriers were clearly triggered by the puppet activating some mechanism, but such physical devices could not be detected by magic. Thus, at this point, the puppet took on the danger that should have fallen on the caster, especially since other attacks often followed once trapped—though no other means of attack seemed to exist this time.

The Dark Knight gently touched the gate barriers, carefully examining their material, then stepped back. A bright silver light flashed from the long sword at his waist, and with a loud noise, the gate barriers turned into ruins before the three of them.

Komer looked at the destroyed barriers with regret. If Puber were here, he would likely be pounding his chest in frustration. Everything in the castle, which was about to become his residence, would have been his property. Using violent means to destroy it certainly didn’t serve his interests. However, it seemed there was no other way to open these mechanisms, which could only be disengaged from the inside. Komer could only shrug in response.

Using the same method to clear another set of barriers ahead, the three and the puppet found themselves in a deep dark cave. Lebri created another light sphere to illuminate the area, instantly lighting up the entire cave. The cave was actually a zigzagging corridor that, if passed through, would likely lead to the legendary Archangel Square. Every three meters along the corridor’s walls, there was a cylindrical copper lamp. Due to age, the copper had turned green and black, and the dusty glass covers made them barely visible, yet they still allowed one to imagine the castle’s former glory.

The puppet swayed as it entered first, while Komer’s keen senses remained on high alert. Though he intuited that this expedition might yield nothing, intuition was hard to trust—perhaps a psychic premonition could change it. So he wouldn’t take chances, especially since this was a place known as the Cursed Land of Demons. The over ten-meter-long dark corridor finally came to an end, and even Komer could sense the relief in the hearts of the two people ahead. But just then, a sudden change occurred—countless dark shadows streaked through the air, emitting shrill screams. With his pupils constricted, Komer spotted the anomaly at once under the dim light, threw his head back, and felt a cold, foul wind sweep past his cheeks. The magic scroll at his waist instantly unfurled, and a massive magical shield appeared around his body.

The attacking shadows were immediately repelled by the shield—a defensive magic of light created by Komer to protect himself from sudden physical attacks. Since the complex incantations were troublesome, he simply turned it into a magic scroll, hanging its pull ring around his wrist for quick activation.

Thanks to the light from the shield, Komer saw clearly that the attacking shadows were blood-red bats the size of washbasins. Their shrill screams came from their mouths and vibrating wing membranes. Both the mage and the dark knight reacted swiftly—as their sleeves flared, countless Soul-Firing Flames poured out, forming a dense web of fire. The red bats immediately cried out in agony as they fell into the flames. The dark knight’s movements were even more concise and effective—his sword light transformed into countless sharp, shimmering blade waves. Silently, almost every strike sent a red bat to the ground. Even when his blade descended like still autumn water, not a single trace of blood remained.

“Red Ice Bats!” Rebrí showed a hint of delight as he closely examined the creatures falling under the dark knight’s sword—their huge fleshy wings, dim little eyes, sharp beaks, and vicious claws. Especially, their tail cones had thin, stinger-like bone spines, revealing their extraordinary aggressiveness.

It is a mutated creature that lies between demons and ordinary beings. It wouldn’t be wrong to classify it as a demon, as such creatures did not exist on the Land of Azure hundreds of years ago. Later, with the arrival of various demons, this mutated creature—resulting from a hybrid between ordinary bats and the demonic Hell Giant Bats—emerged. It possesses considerable ice magic energy, though in low amounts, and retains its habit of sucking the blood of warm-blooded creatures. The presence of this creature in the darkness here proves that the Eye of Darkness indeed lies beneath this castle; otherwise, creatures like the Red Ice Bat would not dwell here.

“It seems our judgment was correct. This is indeed where the Eye of Darkness is. Red Ice Bats generally cannot survive in the warm southern regions and can only thrive in certain special areas. From what we can see, aside from being somewhat old, there’s nothing unusual about this castle, which only confirms this.” Rebrí smacked his lips excitedly. The Eye of Darkness is originally a sacred place for practicing dark and ice magic, and given its existence, who knows how many dark undead or exotic creatures reside here? Just thinking about the possible underground palaces beneath the castle made Rebrí tremble with excitement.

Komer wasn’t so interested in this so-called Eye of Darkness place. What concerned him was whether he could have this castle safely for himself and live there without worries. The Dark Heavenly Dao still seemed distant to him; stabilizing his rule in the Caucasus and preventing threats from the north were the realities he needed to face right now.

While the three were discussing, the puppet jumped out of the corridor. Under Rebrí’s powerful Soul-Firing Flame, the Red Ice Bats either fled or died. Their eyes lit up as they were stunned by the magnificent sight before them—a truly grand square!

The square, over a hundred meters long and about eighty meters wide, was breathtaking at first glance. At its center stood a towering obelisk, adorned with sculptural groups at various points. From afar, the somewhat blurred figures in the sculptures appeared even more fluid and lively in their lines. The slightly raised area in the middle was likely the central zone of the square.

Surrounding that central area was a grassy strip several meters wide, likely used to separate different zones. The thick, dense weeds were already half a person’s height, giving the place a desolate appearance. The other areas were paved with wide, flat bluestone floors, with tightly fitted and orderly gaps, though many seeds still stubbornly pushed their way out from some of those gaps.

The warm sunlight shone over the square, but the three of them couldn’t feel any warmth at all. The aura emanating from the center of the square made them realize that this place resembled a prehistoric ruin, with seemingly many more mysteries waiting to be explored. Komer scanned the surroundings of the castle, but the cold aura that had confronted him outside the castle that day never reappeared. Whether it was because the combined strength of the three of them was too great or for some other reason, that mysterious presence hadn’t shown up since they entered the castle. No matter how Komer tried to search, he couldn’t uncover that aura.

The circular colonnade was the main feature along the entire perimeter of the castle. Starting from the entrance of the passage, circular stone columns stood every six meters, supporting the entire structure. The oval-shaped colonnade formed the outer hall on the first floor of the castle, with various rooms and halls behind it, along with spiral staircases leading to the second floor. Komer examined everything carefully, but aside from the somewhat gloomy staircases, there didn’t seem to be anything noteworthy. Almost every column was adorned with a set of bronze wall sconces, each with a unique design. Their luxury amazed Komer, showing how wealthy the builders must have been back then.

The puppet accelerated and ran around the square. Rebrí probably wanted it to take on all the risks for the three of them, so he deliberately had it go to every corner or suspicious-looking spot. The three of them gradually shifted their attention from the colonnades and sunlit corridors around the castle back to the obelisk in the central area.

The obelisk had a unique design. Its base wasn’t large, shaped like a slender pyramid that became more elongated as it rose, with sharp edges. At the top, it turned into a gourd-shaped support, and at the very highest point was a statue of an angel soaring into the sky. However, due to the passage of time and years of weathering, the statue seemed a bit worn, yet if you stood beneath the obelisk and looked up, you could still clearly see the statue’s spiritual posture as it spread its wings and took flight.

Rebri walked solemnly along the slightly raised central area, occasionally checking the ground. Surrounding the sculpture group was a ring of not very deep depressions, likely intended as a pool or fountain area. This ring covered a considerable area, encompassing not only the obelisks and sculptures but also extending outward to form a vast core zone. Rebri seemed uninterested in the structures within this area; instead, he paid close attention to what was hidden on the ground along the edges of the depressions, constantly bending down to search.

“Mr. Rebri, it seems you hope to discover something, doesn’t it?” Comer, somewhat bored, had already narrowed the range of his Dark Eye to around the three of them to conserve his magic. Meanwhile, the puppet diligently carried out the instructions given to it, walking step by step along the colonnade, visiting almost every corner personally and pausing briefly at suspicious spots to detect any potential danger.

Slowly lifting his head, Rebri’s thoughtful expression seemed to convey something to Comer and the Dark Knight. However, he seemed reluctant to answer Comer’s question. After a long while, he replied grumpily, “It seems this is a huge ancient magic teleportation array. I can sense that powerful magic was once released here, though it’s been a very long time since then.”

“Oh? A magic teleportation array? Could this place have once been the residence of magicians?” Comer raised his eyebrows and glanced sideways at the Dark Knight, who had remained silent until then.

“It’s hard to say. This castle seems full of oddities and secrets. Some of the symbols engraved here are likely ancient magic scripts that I can’t decipher. Look, this obelisk seems to be exactly at the midpoint of the castle’s central axis, and beneath it must be the core of the Eye of Darkness. If this is indeed an ancient magic array, it means both the designer and builder knew well the wonders of the Eye of Darkness. According to records, no one other than the lord himself was involved in its construction, which is rather strange.”