How could one describe the hellish scene in front of them?

Inside the cave, there stood an enormous bronze gate.

Not far in front of the bronze gate, white skeletons, still carrying some remnants of flesh, were arranged in a bizarre pattern, forming a circle.

In the center of the circular pattern was a platform made from piles of still-warm flesh, and atop the platform lay several human skins, spread out like carpets.

Alice's mother clung tightly to Alice, her body trembling. In front of them stood Alice's father, his face twisted with madness.

Besides these three, there were also three black monsters, each over two meters tall, wandering restlessly. In one corner, a mysterious figure wearing a black robe was idly playing with a green flute.

Toronto looked at the scene in the cave, his teeth clenched tightly as he fought to suppress his urge to scream. His body trembled, his stomach spasming, and he felt the overwhelming need to vomit.

Ed, too, was disturbed. The gruesome and strange sight before them was enough to shock anyone who witnessed it.

At that moment, Alice's father suddenly turned his head, looking directly in the direction of Ed and Toronto. With a smile, he said, "Tsk tsk tsk, I didn't expect this Hunter to be so clever. You actually found your way here."

"Well, just in time. This ritual was missing an audience, and you're just perfect for the role."

Toronto instinctively turned his head to look at Ed, but Ed's expression remained unchanged as he listened to Alice's father.

When the monster in the village had chosen to end its own life by throwing itself onto Ed's steel sword, Ed had known it was a sign that things had been exposed.

Now, there was no more room for words. Ed signaled to Toronto not to move, and then slowly stepped out from the shadows of the corner.

As he moved, Ed could now see the full scale of the cave. It was an enormous hall, filled with all sorts of strange bronze artifacts. At the far end, there stood a towering bronze gate, more than ten meters high.

Alice sat on the platform made of villagers' flesh, her eyes lifeless, resembling a corpse, as she repeatedly muttered, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…"

Her mother clung desperately to Alice, her face filled with despair as she looked at Ed and begged, "Hunter, please, save my daughter, save her."

Meanwhile, Alice's father wore a look of helplessness, his face showing a slight trace of apology as he said to Ed, "I'm sorry. How should I put it? This ritual... well, it's not exactly perfect. There are quite a few flaws."

"Sigh, it's all because of you, Ed Hunter. I'm a bit curious—where exactly did things go wrong? Didn't you already return to Dorey City?"

The mysterious figure in the corner, idly playing with the green flute, yawned. Alice's father immediately turned his head and glared angrily at the figure, shouting, "Are you that bored?"

The mysterious figure's voice echoed, "Sorry, yes, it's a bit boring. How about you hurry up?"

Neither of them seemed to care at all about Ed, the Hunter. Ed took a deep breath and tightened his grip on his steel sword. He couldn't quite figure it out—was the creature inhabiting Alice's father going to be like the black monsters? And what exactly was the mysterious figure in the black robe? What kind of monster was he?

What was the purpose behind all of this?

It seemed like Alice's father had seen the confusion on Ed's face. He slowly walked over to Alice and gently stroked her hair with extreme tenderness.

He clapped his hands, and immediately, one of the black monsters appeared, holding a red flesh-like object, roughly the same size as Alice, and walked up to the platform.

Ed quickly guessed that the red object the black monster was carrying was likely what had been missing from the large tree behind the village's warehouse.

Alice's father took the red flesh piece with some regret, looking at it with an obsessive reverence, as if it were a priceless treasure.

At this moment, Alice's mother placed herself protectively behind Alice. Her fear quickly turned into rage as she stared fiercely ahead and shouted, "You monster! What do you want to do?!"

"A monster? That's not very polite. I have a name, please call me Mr. Vil," said Alice's father, or rather, the creature inhabiting his body. He spoke in a soft, gentle tone, seemingly unaffected by Alice's mother's anger.

The creature, Vil, carefully placed the red flesh piece on the ground, then looked at Ed, who was slowly approaching. A sneer spread across his face as he spoke, "Hunter, your actions are a bit foolish. An excellent audience should applaud at the most exciting moments. Please be patient."

The next moment, three of the wandering black monsters quickly charged toward Ed. Naturally, Ed didn't back down. He didn't hesitate to engage but instead quickened his own pace.

The steel sword sliced through the air in a graceful arc. His mastery of swordsmanship allowed him to land a precise strike to one of the black monster's necks. In an instant, the creature's head was sent flying high into the air, then crashed heavily to the ground.

With only two monsters remaining, Ed had no intention of using the Moonstone Seal just yet. There was still Vil, the creature possessing Alice's father, and the mysterious figure. He intended to save the Moonstone Seal for them.

Luckily, the two remaining monsters weren't too difficult to handle. After severing the first monster's head, Ed quickly crouched down, narrowly dodging one monster's arm as it swiped past his head. The other monster, faster than the first, rushed toward him.

Ed had just gotten back on his feet and now had to face the black monster's charge. He quickly raised his steel sword to block, using it as a temporary shield, and simultaneously used the monster's momentum to propel himself toward the flesh platform.

At times like this, wasting too much time on the black monsters wasn't ideal. The best tactic was to eliminate the creature Vil on the flesh platform directly.

However, just as Ed was closing in on Vil, he suddenly heard a strange sound near his ear.

Turning his head, he saw the mysterious figure, who had been standing in the corner, now playing the green flute.

Immediately, Ed felt a sharp headache, his body freezing up. Under the influence of the flute's sound, he began to lose control of his movements.

Taking advantage of this, the remaining two black monsters quickly closed in on Ed.

Vil, watching Ed fall into danger, sneered. He had been planning to continue with the ritual but didn't expect another mishap to occur with Ed.

From the shadows, Toronto, wielding a steel sword, suddenly appeared behind one of the black monsters. He thrust the sword forcefully into the monster's back. Unfortunately, Toronto's sword wasn't sharp enough and only managed to pierce the monster's surface armor.

However, thanks to Toronto's interference, Ed only had to face one black monster now.

Fighting through the pain in his head, Ed waited until the remaining black monster was almost upon him. Then, with a powerful thrust, he drove his steel sword into the monster's heart. The two-meter-tall creature immediately lost all strength and collapsed to the ground.

Vil's expression darkened as he looked at the scene. He shouted at the mysterious figure, "Enough! Show me some real skill. If I don't succeed in this, you'll never get what I promised you."

The mysterious figure sighed, stopped playing the green flute, and opened a small cloth bag he had been carrying. Countless rats poured out of the bag like a flood, instantly engulfing the space around the figure.

Seizing the opportunity, Ed quickly moved to Toronto's side and dealt with the last remaining black monster.

The reason Ed didn't let Toronto appear right away was to make the enemy think he had come alone. He had originally planned to let Toronto play a larger role, but he hadn't expected the mysterious figure's flute sound to be so strange, it had caused Ed to lose control of his body for a moment.

Vil, and the mysterious flute player—what were they really?

The flute began to play again, but this time, Ed felt no effect on his body. He glanced at Toronto, who didn't seem to be suffering any discomfort either.

Around the mysterious figure, countless rats with blood-red eyes were advancing in an orderly fashion.

Each of these rats was the size of a wildcat, and their numbers were so vast they seemed almost unimaginable. They surged forward like a mudslide, with unstoppable momentum, charging straight at Toronto and Ed.

Ed's steel sword swung continuously, slicing through each rat that leaped toward him, cutting them in half.

But soon, Ed froze for a moment. The dead rats began to emit green smoke. As the smoke dissipated, Ed's pupils contracted sharply.

A human corpse had appeared where the rats had just died.

Those were not rats at all, but humans!

The person playing the flute had somehow turned humans into giant rats and was controlling them!

Toronto also saw the human corpses on the ground. His hands began to shake as he hesitated, facing the rats that were still attacking.

Toronto looked at Ed, panicked, and said, "Captain Ed, these rats are actually living humans! What should we do?"

Ed turned around, only to realize that at some point, some of the rats had completely blocked their retreat.

There was no way to back out!

What else could they do? They could only keep fighting!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.