The blood moon hung in the sky, casting an ominous crimson veil over all of Fog City. The city trembled in an eerie silence punctuated by sporadic, frenzied howls, as the earth's energy seemed to be seized by invisible hands, twisting and flowing toward the Hunters Guild Headquarters. There, a soul-shuddering pressure was forming, like a black hole, devouring light and hope.

Ella and Camien stood in the shadows at the perimeter of the headquarters, gazing at the barrier that had been strengthened several times over, with holy light and dark energy intertwining in an uncanny manner.


"The energy is more violent than we anticipated," Camien's voice was low, carrying the hoarseness of unhealed severe wounds, his crimson eyes fixed on the patterns of energy flowing through the barrier, "Herman has gone all in, he's forcibly accelerating the ritual."

Ella gripped the Silver Dagger in her hand, her knuckles turning white from the pressure. Her father's notes overlapped with the scene before her eyes. "He's using the blood moon peak and the ley lines to resonate, forcibly activating the 'Eternal Night Core.' We must interrupt him before he fully controls the core energy." She turned to look at Camien, whose face was as pale as paper, and even through his clothes, she could sense the constantly eroding curse power contained in the wound on his left shoulder. "Your wound..."

"It's nothing." Camien interrupted her, his tone cold and unyielding, "Stick to the plan. You find the node, I'll create an opening." He handed her a small Amulet that emitted a dark luster, "This is the 'Shadow Walker,' it can briefly distort light and perception, helping you pass through the outer defenses. But once you enter the core area, its effect will be limited."


Ella took the Amulet, its cold sensation seeping into her skin. She didn't waste any more words, just nodded. "Take care."

In the next moment, she became like a shadow melting into the wall. Under the effect of the Amulet, her presence almost completely disappeared as she crept toward an abandoned ventilation shaft on the side of the headquarters, following a path that Camien had calculated in advance where energy monitoring was relatively weak.


Camien took a deep breath, suppressing the pain and weakness surging within his body. He closed his eyes, sensing the shadow power flowing through the air—an ancient inheritance of House Alcarte. Despite his body being at its limit, the pride of a prince and his duty to protect (and perhaps also his promise to that Hunter girl) drove him to extract every ounce of potential. A faint black mist began to spread around him, his form gradually blurring, transforming into an almost invisible flowing shadow. Like a night owl poised to strike, he lunged toward a critical node in the barrier's energy flow—not the strongest point, but a seemingly stable junction that had become slightly sluggish due to excessive energy drainage.

Meanwhile, Ella had successfully infiltrated the building. Unlike her previous infiltrations, the interior of the headquarters now resembled a demonic lair. Dark red energy patterns crawled across the walls, pulsating like living organisms. The air was filled with chaotic magical currents and whisper-like screams—the lamentations of consciousness fragments from those whose energy had been forcibly extracted. The patrolling Hunters had crimson eyes and moved stiffly like marionettes, completely controlled by Herman's will.

Relying on her familiarity with the terrain, guidance from her compass, and the Hunter's extraordinary stealth techniques, she moved through the shadows, avoiding waves of patrol teams, constantly descending toward the source of that immense pulling force.

Just as she approached the final gate leading to the deepest Forbidden Repository, something unexpected happened!

The dark red patterns on the walls on both sides of the gate suddenly lit up, coalescing into two guards wielding energy swords with no distinct faces! They were entirely composed of pure dark and holy light mixed energy, emitting a chaotic and dangerous aura—this was Herman's automatic defense mechanism set against unauthorized intruders!

Without warning, the energy guards launched their attack! Their swords swung with soul-rending shrieks!

Ella's pupils contracted as she instantly blocked with her Silver Dagger!

"Clang!"

The tremendous force numbed her arm as the silver light on her dagger collided with the energy sword, creating dazzling sparks.

These guards' strength far exceeded that of ordinary Hunters, and they had no physical form, making physical attacks minimally effective!

She immediately changed her strategy, moving like a specter, no longer engaging in direct confrontation, but instead using her nimble footwork and her father's notes about energy structure weaknesses to search for momentary vulnerabilities in the guardian's energy core. Her purple-gray eyes were sharp as an eagle's, each evasion was desperately perilous, and each probing attack precisely targeted the nodes of energy flow.

Outside, Camien's attack had begun!

He didn't charge at the barrier like a raging bull, but rather transformed his concentrated shadow power into countless hair-thin yet incredibly sharp needles of darkness, continuously crashing and eroding the selected node like a tide. This attack method required extremely high energy control and was mentally exhausting, but it created minimal disturbance and was also the most difficult to detect and repair immediately.

The barrier fluctuated violently. At the point of attack, the intertwined light of holy radiance and dark energy flickered unstably, emitting a faint "sizzling" sound like glass about to shatter. The stability of the entire barrier was affected, and the energy supply experienced a momentary disorder!

It was this momentary disorder that affected the two energy guardians inside! Their movements showed an extremely brief hesitation, and the light emanating from their bodies dimmed slightly!

Ella seized this fleeting opportunity!

She held nothing back, fully unleashing the Hunter's power within her. A layer of pure glow imbued with the power of order ignited on her Silver Dagger—this was the manifestation of her will, a blade to counter chaos! Like an arrow released from a bow, she cut in from an impossible angle. The dagger didn't stab but traced a profound arc, precisely severing the connection between the energy core in one guardian's chest and the pathways to its limbs!

"Puff!" Like a balloon being punctured, that energy guard instantly dissolved into disordered points of light.

The other guard's attack was already at the back of her head! Ella had no time to completely dodge, she could only barely turn sideways, the energy sword grazed past her shoulder, drawing a streak of blood, sending searing pain through her body.

But she didn't pause at all, using her forward momentum, her body spun like a top, the Silver Dagger reversed in her hand and slashed upward, stabbing directly at the most concentrated area of the second guard's energy core!

"Crack!" The core shattered instantly!

The two energy guards vanished into nothingness. Ella knelt on one knee, breathing slightly heavily, blood seeping from the wound on her shoulder. She dared not delay, quickly stood up, and used the runic key given to her earlier by Camien (a product of their early collaborative research that contained a trace of vampire power and could deceive certain ancient seals) to laboriously open that heavy final gate.

Behind the door was not the warehouse she had imagined, but a massive natural dome that exceeded all expectations. The sight before her almost froze the blood in her veins.

At the center of the dome, an enormous and complex device composed of countless gears, conduits, and runic metal plates glowing with an eerie light was thunderously operating—that was the "Eternal Night Core."

Dark red energy surged and roared through it like blood, emitting a deafening rumble. Above the core, the light of the blood moon was concentrated into a gigantic beam, continuously pouring into it.

Below, countless energy conduits, like the roots of a giant tree, plunged deep into the ground, frantically drawing power from the earth's veins and the life force of countless infected individuals.

And Grand Master Herman was floating directly above the core.

He was no longer the imposing leader; his bare upper body was covered with jagged patterns of the same origin as those metal plates, writhing and flickering as if alive, seemingly resonating with the core.

His eyes were filled with chaos, emitting only pure energy of white light, his face bearing an expression that mixed extreme agony with manic ecstasy. His hands were held out, guiding the overwhelming energy, and at the central core, an unstable dark energy sphere emanating an aura of destruction was slowly rotating and expanding.

"You finally came, Ella." Herman's voice resounded directly in Ella's mind, carrying an inhuman echo, as if countless voices were overlapping, "Look! This power! This is true purification! This is the cornerstone of eternal order! How ridiculous is House Vein's weak theory of coexistence!"

Ella endured the discomfort brought by the energy pressure, moving forward step by step, her purple-gray eyes fixed intently on the core, searching for the "balance node" mentioned in her father's notes that exists in any forced energy device.

"You're insane, Herman! You're using countless lives as fuel, this isn't order, it's slaughter!"

"Necessary sacrifice!" Herman roared, causing the core's energy to fluctuate violently, "For the greater good! For humanity's pure future! All aberrations, all the impure, must be eliminated! Including you, my poor contaminated child!"

He spoke no more, his hovering body turning slightly toward Ella, and a giant hand composed of pure chaotic energy appeared out of nowhere, carrying an aura of total annihilation, slamming down toward her! This strike covered an extremely wide area and moved with incredible speed, far beyond comparison to the previous energy guardians!

Ella pushed her speed to the extreme, diving sideways while simultaneously swinging the Silver Dagger multiple times, sending several concentrated silver light beams shooting like arrows toward the energy hand, attempting to weaken it.

"Boom boom boom!"
The silver light collided with the giant energy hand, erupting in a series of tremendous booms, but it only slightly slowed its descent, completely unable to fully counter it! The dispersed energy shockwave violently flung Ella away, slamming her hard against the cold rock wall. Her throat filled with a sweet taste as she spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.

The gap in strength was like an unbridgeable chasm!

And at that moment, another impact from outside resounded, more violent and more desperate than before!
"BOOM——!!!"

The entire vault shook violently, with debris from the ceiling raining down! The barrier, torn by Camien's all-out attack that concentrated his final essence without regard for consequences, finally had a larger breach that could not heal temporarily!

Herman's movements maintaining the core suddenly faltered, and for the first time, a look of angry surprise appeared on his face! He had to divert his attention to stabilize the barrier, otherwise the energy backlash would undo all previous efforts!

An opportunity!

A fierce glint flashed in Ella's eyes as she endured the excruciating pain of her internal organs shifting and charged toward the core once more! Her gaze, like the most precise instrument, rapidly scanned the incredibly complex structure!

There it is! At the bottom of the core, a mithril converter covered by layers of energy conduits and protective armor, constantly flickering with overclocked power as it attempted to harmonize the violent energy! That was the balance node!

She pushed her Hunter's potential to the absolute limit, her figure transforming into a streak of light, thrusting directly toward the node!

"Death wish!" Herman roared in fury, abandoning the complete repair of the barrier to recall most of his power. From the central dark energy sphere in the core, a thick tendril of energy shot out like a tentacle, moving with greater speed to overtake her, lunging toward Ella's back! This strike, imbued with his manic will and the power of the core itself, was enough to vaporize her instantly!

The shadow of death loomed overhead.

Ella could even feel the stinging pain on her skin about to be torn apart by the destructive energy behind her.

Could she succeed?