Philoctetes' gloomy gaze instantly locked onto Leon, and with a swift motion, he swung his massive sword with one hand. The blade descended rapidly towards Leon.

A stream of black crescent-shaped mist erupted from the sword, cutting a deep crack in the ground as it sped toward Leon.

Leon hadn't expected that his casual words would provoke Philoctetes into attacking immediately.

In a panic, Leon could only raise his sword, which was glowing with golden light, trying to block the strike.

However, as soon as the black crescent-shaped mist made contact with Leon's sword, his body was sent flying uncontrollably, tumbling backward.

"Pfft!" A large mouthful of blood spat from Leon's mouth. His right hand trembled violently, and he looked utterly miserable.

With a single strike, Philoctetes—who had high-tier Silver strength—wounded Leon severely. This scene left the Hunters of Dorey City wide-eyed, and many of them instinctively began to retreat.

Eng and the other three Morton Family guards immediately chose to take action, surrounding Philoctetes in the center.

However, in addition to Philoctetes, the Elf Undead, there were many other powerful Undead Monsters nearby. Naturally, they couldn't just watch the four Morton Family guards battle Philoctetes, so they quickly joined the fray.

Leon's words had sparked a flame, igniting the chaos of battle.

Eng shouted loudly, "Hunter! You can only safely leave after dealing with the Undead Monsters here! So don't try to escape, fight!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Philoctetes' massive sword came crashing toward him with a roar!

The four Morton Family guards worked together seamlessly. Whenever Philoctetes attacked one of them, the remaining three quickly seized the opportunity to counterattack.

However, with the interference of the other Undead Monsters, the four guards couldn't quickly defeat Philoctetes, and both sides were locked in a deadlock, with neither gaining the upper hand.

At this moment, Leon had shaken off the effects of his earlier injury. He glared at Philoctetes with hatred, tightly gripping his sword.

Leon didn't act recklessly, as he knew that without Finniel's blessing, he couldn't shield himself from the intense moonlight energy here, and his condition was still affected. Now, after being struck by Philoctetes' attack, his injuries were severe.

He realized that he was no longer in a position to contribute much to this battle. He could only focus on clearing the weaker Undead Monsters around him first.

Meanwhile, Ed was also forced into combat mode. Positioned further back, he faced fewer Undead Monsters, and their strength was relatively weak, incapable of causing him any harm.

[Distance to high-tier Silver breakthrough: 30%]

[Distance to high-tier Silver breakthrough: 31%]

...

The information before Ed's eyes was constantly changing, and a smile unconsciously appeared at the corner of his mouth. He observed the situation clearly—Eng and the others were gradually gaining control of the situation and gaining the upper hand.

One couldn't help but admit that the coordinated attack techniques of the Morton Family guards were indeed strong. Philoctetes was unable to inflict severe injuries on the guards, while they kept wearing him down with continuous attacks.

This was exactly the outcome Ed had hoped for. It would speed up progress while ensuring that no dangerous situations arose.

Time passed little by little, and Philoctetes began to show signs of injury. The speed at which he wielded his enormous greatsword slowed down gradually.

Ed wasn't sure if, when Philoctetes died and Eng obtained the Undead Crystal, the moonlight energy here would change.

At that moment, he hadn't yet broken through to the high-tier Silver Hunter level.

[Distance to high-tier Silver breakthrough: 39%]

The rate of improvement was something Ed never even dared to imagine in his dreams. It might be due to the dense moonlight energy around him, or perhaps the result of merging with the Eye of Delphilis.

Just then, Eng managed to sever Philoctetes' right arm, which had been gripping the massive sword. The arm fell to the ground.

There was no blood, and no agonized screams of pain. Philoctetes merely glanced at his fallen arm and smiled faintly.

That smile instantly sent a surge of danger through Eng's heart. He warily surveyed the surroundings, fearing something unexpected might happen.

To ensure that he could secure the Undead Crystal, Eng said, "Philoctetes, hand over the Undead Crystal now, and you still have a chance!"

The smile on Philoctetes' face grew wider, tinged with madness, and he replied with a question of his own: "What chance?"

"The chance to live?" he added.

"But I've already died," he said. "I've been dead for a long time."

Eng furrowed his brows, his unease growing stronger as he looked at the increasingly unhinged Philoctetes.

Leon's voice suddenly rang out, shouting, "Stop wasting time talking to this monster! Kill him, and all the problems will be solved!"

The other Hunters agreed with Leon. The advantage was no longer with the Undead Monsters.

Philoctetes merely swept his gaze over the surroundings and then said to Eng, "The one without a chance is you."

In the next moment, the Mountains of Bones behind Philoctetes suddenly began to tremble. Countless bones rained down, crashing toward them like a mudslide.

Eng's first reaction was to look toward the place where the Throne of Bones had been. The key item for this mission, the Undead Crystal, was located there.

The other Hunters immediately grew uneasy, lifting their gazes to the collapsing Mountains of Bones. Amidst the sea of bones, a sudden flash of bright red appeared.

It was a red spherical object, about thirty meters in diameter, floating in mid-air, with the Undead Crystal positioned just above it.

A strong, rancid smell of blood filled the air. Eng's pupils dilated, and he said in shock, "This is flesh... and blood?"

But that wasn't all—Eng could sharply sense that the moonlight energy, which had previously been isolated from his body, was now beginning to invade him, as though the protection Finniel had placed on him had lost its effect.

Eng shouted, "Be careful! The moonlight energy here is becoming denser, and the protection can no longer block the surrounding moonlight energy!"

The Hunters from Dorey City, along with Leon, looked grim as their expressions shifted.

The intense moonlight energy was not a good thing for the Hunters, but for the surrounding Undead Monsters, it was like a boon that would enhance and strengthen them.

At the same time, for Ed, this was both a good and a bad thing.

His progress was increasing at a faster rate.

[Distance to high-tier Silver breakthrough: 48%]

[Distance to high-tier Silver breakthrough: 49%]

...

However, he could see thin red threads splitting off from the blood and flesh sphere, wrapping around Philoctetes, who had lost his right arm.

From the spot where Philoctetes' arm had been severed, blood began to flow again.

Eng and the other three Morton Family guards, their faces serious, immediately attacked Philoctetes.

Normally, having lost an arm and with no greatsword, Philoctetes should not have been able to offer any effective resistance.

However, the red threads wrapping around him seemed to strengthen him, allowing him to continue defending and even seize an opportunity to kick one of the Morton Family guards flying.

Philoctetes grinned and said, "You all have no chance now. Do you feel your bodies growing colder? Even a Gold-level Hunter can't escape the effects of this environment."

"And I will become an even more powerful Blood Elf!"

"You all... will die here!"

His gaze slowly swept over the other, weaker Hunters, and many of them began to tremble, some even unable to lift their weapons.

Eng took a deep breath and immediately shouted, "Don't listen to him! We just need to destroy that blood sphere, and we can..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Philoctetes' mad laughter rang out, and he said, "Ignorant fools. The place where the blood sphere is located is where the moonlight energy is densest. All the moonlight energy in the Underground Undead Cavern flows out from there."

"Even a high-tier Gold-level Hunter cannot withstand the moonlight energy there. You won't be able to stop death from coming!"

Upon hearing Philoctetes' words, the Hunters from Dorey City instantly fell into despair. Their bodies trembled, their eyes filled with the fear of death and deep regret.

One person broke down, shouting, "How did this happen? Didn't they say there wouldn't be any accidents on this mission?"

"Leon, do something! Don't you have a sword that can restrain Undead Monsters?"

"Sigh, I should have listened to Ed. From the beginning, he said there was a high chance of danger, but I didn't listen to him. I even belittled him!"

"Yeah, I'm such an idiot. Why did I trust Leon's words? Now, he can't do anything!"

Hearing his name, Leon, who was gasping for breath and desperately trying to resist the overwhelming moonlight energy around him, could no longer hold back.

Compared to the others, he was in a worse state because he lacked Finniel's blessing.

He was a high-tier Silver Hunter, much stronger than Ed. He should be in a better situation than Ed now!

So, Leon shouted angrily, "A bunch of useless fools! What can Ed do now? Isn't he just like me? He…"

Leon didn't finish his sentence because he was stunned. He was staring at Ed in shock. To his astonishment, Ed seemed completely unaffected, even sporting a faintly pleased expression on his face.

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