Upon hearing the name Vil, the guard's face showed even more confusion, and he said in a baffled tone, "Vil? Who is that? You must have mistaken me for someone else. My name is Philip."

Evan Morton, already getting impatient, stepped forward and positioned himself between Ed and the guard, Philip. He looked at Ed irritably and said, "Let's discuss this later. There's no Hunter named Vil here."

Amelia seemed to recall something. She had reviewed the reports and knew that the creature responsible for the crisis in Dorey City was a Parasitic Serpent Monster named Vil, but Vil should have been dead by now.

Thinking back to the events in Dorey City, it was Ed who had first sensed the danger and successfully resolved it. Amelia hesitated slightly. She glanced at Finniel, who nodded at her, signaling to trust Ed.

Amelia hesitated for a moment before addressing Ed, "Can you prove that this guard was parasitized by a monster named Vil?"

Ed nodded and slowly replied, "Actually, there's something else that seems suspicious aside from his murderous intent toward me."

When Ed's Hunter abilities had increased, he had received the Killer Intent Perception reward. It hadn't been very useful until now, because the battles he faced were either predicted in advance or the enemy attacked suddenly.

But just now, a guard who Ed had never seen before was filled with a deep murderous intent toward him. It was the kind of killing intent as if Ed had ruined that person's life.

Ed couldn't think of anyone who would harbor such strong murderous feelings toward him. Arya could be a possibility, and if Karot were still alive, it would probably be him too.

The only other possibility was the Parasitic Serpent Monster Vil, whom he had killed.

Ed took a deep breath and slowly walked up to the guard. He inhaled deeply and then said, "You mentioned that the guards outside suffered heavy casualties, but there's not even the slightest trace of blood on you."

The guard hurriedly explained, "During the battle outside, I stayed in a corner, far from the enemies. I didn't engage with them directly, so how could I have any blood on me?"

Ed smiled slightly and extended his hand, pointing at the guard's clothing. A small, barely noticeable stain of blood appeared on the corner of his garment.

Immediately, the guard's expression changed, and he tried to flee.

Having already become a mid-tier Gold Hunter, Ed was more than prepared. He swiftly swung his golden longsword down toward the guard's legs.

"Thud!" The sound of the golden longsword cutting through flesh echoed.

The guard who had tried to flee collapsed to the ground, blood gushing from his legs.

Everyone present was stunned by the turn of events. The guard they had trusted, the one they had believed to be reliable, turned out to have a hidden agenda!

Evan Morton and Amelia quickly moved in, surrounding the fallen guard.

They exchanged a complex look with Ed, then began carefully inspecting the fallen guard.

At this point, Vil could no longer hide. His body trembled as his laughter grew from faint to overwhelming, mad and frenzied.

Vil laughed maniacally and said, "We meet again, Ed. How did you recognize me? That killing intent was just an excuse, wasn't it?"

Vil, the Parasitic Serpent Monster, truly hadn't expected Ed to recognize him so easily. Back in Dorey City, when he lost Delphilis' eye, he hadn't actually died.

In a small town outside Dorey City, a boy named Little Jack had given him the chance to survive. At that time, in order to keep his plans hidden, he had separated a small part of his body and parasitized the boy.

What he hadn't expected was that this small act would become Vil's last hope.

After killing the boy and his entire family, Vil had regained a small amount of power. His hatred for Ed had grown so intense that it seemed impossible to rid himself of it.

This time, he had returned for revenge, to reclaim Delphilis' eye, and to release the sealed Giant Hound Soth, causing destruction once again!

Vil slowly sat up and shouted into the gray sealed space, "Soth! I know you're here! The Moon Worship Sect has already taken control of the outside. Now, all we need is for you to cooperate, and we can completely break the seal!"

"Come out, Pale Death God, Giant Hound Soth, appear!"

"You will make the world tremble once more, filling it with fear, bringing destruction and death! Come forth, Giant Hound Soth!"

There was no response, only silence.

Vil froze. He was carrying an artifact that could temporarily weaken the seal and allow Giant Hound Soth to regain some of its power. Once Soth appeared, he could use Soth's strength to control the situation!

But where was Giant Hound Soth?

Nothing appeared.

Vil could see nothing. His desperate call had been met with utter silence.

Ed looked at the direction of Vil's gaze with an expression full of anticipation.

Giant Hound Soth was, to Vil, an opportunity to quickly enhance his strength. He had hoped that Giant Hound Soth would appear.

Unfortunately, it seemed that the beast was hiding, offering no response at all.

At this point, a look of panic began to appear on Vil's face. He stared blankly at Ed, instinctively asking, "What exactly is going on?"

Ed thought for a moment before slowly replying, "I'm not entirely sure, but the Pale Death God you mentioned seems to have been scared off by me. It doesn't dare to show itself anymore."

"Maybe you should try another approach. I really hoped it would come out."

Upon hearing Ed's answer, Vil fell completely silent. A look of incomprehension appeared on his face as he just stared at Ed.

Ed sighed and said directly, "If I'm not mistaken, there's a trap waiting for Amelia outside. And your backup plan was to team up with Giant Hound Soth. Unfortunately, I've already ruined that."

Vil opened his mouth, as if about to say something, but Ed didn't give him the chance.

The energy within Ed's body surged, ready to activate the Blue Fire Seal and burn Vil—the damn monster—into ash once again. He didn't know why Vil hadn't died before, but he figured that as long as he had the chance, he'd kill him again.

However, Ed's actions were stopped by Evan Morton, who looked at him with concern.

From Evan Morton's perspective, they still didn't have enough information about the enemy outside and couldn't risk going out recklessly. Instead, they could force Vil to reveal more information.

Ed shook his head in response to Evan Morton's thoughts. He briefly explained that, in his opinion, Vil was just a madman, a monster. The information he spoke of couldn't be trusted at all.

However, Evan Morton could still torture Vil for information before killing him.

Around five or six minutes later, Ed looked at the slowly burning blue flames and fell into deep thought.

The situation was exactly as he had predicted—Vil hadn't provided any useful information. And after five or six minutes, the enemies outside would have realized something had gone wrong and would be even more on edge, waiting outside in greater caution.

They also had to leave eventually. They couldn't stay in the sealed land forever.

As these thoughts crossed his mind, a faint smile appeared on Ed's lips. He raised his head, looked into the distance of the sealed land, and softly said, "We'll meet again soon, Soth."

The next moment, Ed walked over to Amelia and Evan Morton, who were still discussing how to deal with the enemies outside.

Ed spoke directly, "I have a solution."

This time, neither Evan Morton nor Amelia doubted Ed's words. They both turned their attention to him, waiting for him to explain how to resolve the issue.

Ed's thinking was simple. The enemy had clearly conducted a thorough investigation before taking action, and they had timed it perfectly. As soon as Amelia entered, they began their attack, which meant the enemy was very well informed about their movements.

Given the presence of two Sun Level Hunters, Evan Morton and Amelia, it was clear the enemy would also deploy strong counterparts.

Sun Level combatants were exceedingly rare. In Holy City, only Amelia and Evan Morton held such power.

Ed spoke slowly, "It's simple. Help me find Giant Hound Soth, and make me a Sun Level Hunter."

Evan Morton and Amelia were momentarily stunned, then exchanged a glance. This was a solution they strongly resisted, as they hadn't yet investigated Ed's ability to absorb Specters.

What if something went wrong? They might not be able to control the situation!

Ed, however, seemed unfazed. He extended his hand, brushed off some nonexistent dust from his shoulder, and said casually, "If you have a better solution, that's fine too. But it needs to be quick. I don't know what the enemy will do next."

"But as time goes on, the situation will only get worse."

With that, Ed picked up his golden longsword and walked over to the ashes of Vil, which had already stopped burning. After a moment of thought, he found a glass bottle and carefully collected the ashes of Vil.

However, Ed was still uneasy. He used the golden longsword to dig into the ground, ensuring that there was nothing unusual beneath the surface. Once satisfied, he walked over to Finniel and began chatting with her casually, appearing completely relaxed.

A short time later, Amelia, looking somewhat troubled, walked over. She took a deep breath and said, "We'll go with your plan. We'll trust you."

A faint smile crept onto Ed's lips. He looked around at the gray sealed land, knowing that soon, he would become something far more powerful than a Gold level Hunter!

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