Chapter 475: Book of the Dead

As news of "possible alien presence" spread within the castle, the atmosphere in Gistanar Fort became shrouded in tension and fear.

Some even worried whether they might be driven by aliens like Jesus.

Fortunately, Elron conducted inspections repeatedly and found no suspicious points on any knights or servants.

Time passed swiftly, and soon it was late at night.

Perhaps due to the thin air on the plateau, the stars and the full moon in the sky appeared even brighter and more brilliant.

Even without using magical energy lamps, the castle could clearly discern the nighttime environment just by relying on starlight and moonlight.

"Alright, everyone disperse!"

Elron waved his hand somewhat fatigued, dismissing the last batch of people awaiting inspection.

He still had no findings.

"Perhaps, there are no aliens in the castle," he said.

Vargis frowned; he actually hoped to find one, so that the family crisis could be thoroughly resolved.

Now that nothing was found, where exactly was the source?

He restrained his inner anxiety. "Mr. Elron, it's already late today, and your magical power and mental energy consumption are quite significant. I think we should stop here."

Elron sighed. "That's all we can do."

After many hours of inspection, he was indeed somewhat tired.

Accompanied by Vargis, the two walked through the front courtyard toward the arranged residence.

However, as they passed a flower bed, Elron's footsteps abruptly halted.

He clearly sensed a special energy fluctuation in the center of the flower bed ahead.

This fluctuation was extremely subtle; if Elron weren't highly sensitive to alien energy, he truly wouldn't have noticed.

"What's wrong?" Vargis asked puzzled.

Elron didn't answer but instead released a probing light; immediately, eerie dark aura appeared in his vision.

That aura seemed to sense danger and abruptly retreated, everything returning to calm.

Elron's lips curled slightly. "Sir, I think I should have found the so-called source of the curse!"

Vargis felt a surge of energy, astonished yet delighted. "Really?"

Elron walked into the flower bed, pointing at the ground beneath his feet. "That eerie dark aura comes from the earth below."

Vargis was somewhat puzzled. "This flower bed..."

A memory flashed in his mind; it seemed indeed that after decorating this garden, his descendants began to encounter issues successively.

Most importantly, they all liked to come here to play and stroll.

"Damn!"

Vargis flashed with anger. "Guards, tell Yulan to bring knights here, dig up this ground!"

Elron originally intended to rest; now, it seemed he had to wait a bit longer.

He was very curious why this energy didn't target others, specifically targeting members of the Gistanar family.

From the spouse of Duke Vargis down to his grandchildren, all were core members.

Could it be someone deliberately targeting them?

Soon, Knight Yulan brought a team with tools like iron picks and shovels, removing all flowers from the flower bed and digging downward.

One meter, two meters, three meters...

Until they dug down a full six meters, eerie frantic fluctuations emerged from below.

Vargis snorted lightly, his aura erupting.

The might of a Silver Moon Knight directly calmed the agitation.

"Continue digging!"

The knights continued excavating.

When they dug to ten meters, the eerie creature below seemed to know it couldn't hide this time, emitting an extremely sharp roar that stunned all knights present, forgetting to wield their iron picks.

Even Golden Knight Yulan, commanding above, experienced a brief lapse of consciousness.

At that moment, a pale, enormous ethereal spirit burst from the soil, roaring and rushing toward outside the garden.

How could Vargis let it leave? With one large stride, he intercepted it.

"Almost causing my family to perish, and still thinking of escaping?"

He struck out with a palm, transforming fighting energy into a palm imprint that crushed onto the ethereal spirit, shattering it into pieces.

The ethereal spirit screamed but reassembled, attempting to escape from another direction.

"This is a wraith, a special creature formed of energy."

Elron performed a purification spell; light enveloped the wraith's entire body, instantly scorching it into powder, disappearing between heaven and earth.

"Wraith?"

Vargis was astonished. "Similar to the Soul Witch clan?"

"No, not exactly."

Elron explained. "When deceased souls don't completely dissipate, absorbing dark energy from the world, this special creature forms."

As he spoke, he went to the pit bottom, picked up an iron pick, stirred a couple of times; soon, a skeleton appeared before everyone's eyes.

Even as a skeleton, when everyone directly gazed upon it, they felt fear.

Vargis was stunned. "What exactly is this thing!"

His castle had existed for decades; this skeleton not only hadn't decayed but was preserved so perfectly, utterly unbelievable.

More critically, this thing could disturb his mind.

Elron didn't speak; he bent down and picked up the black book beside the skeleton. The skeleton pattern on the cover looked sinister and terrifying.

"Wraith Book!"

His memory began to surge.

"This is the corpse of the Lord of Wraiths, Creon, over a thousand years ago!"

Elron exclaimed. "He was one of the demon kings under the Demon God, with power reaching Sage level!"

Vargis gasped sharply. "How could he die here? Shouldn't he appear in the New Moon Continent Sofia mentioned?"

"The war a thousand years ago already affected both continents."

Elron used magic to purify the dark aura on the Wraith Book.

This book didn't record any textual information but six pages of summoning arrays. When activated with wraith magical power, they could summon skeleton warriors of Silver, Gold, Meteor, Silver Moon, Blazing Sun, and Legendary levels respectively.

This summoning was additional, not occupying the quota of a wraith magician.

"The lord is about to marry soon, and I haven't prepared any gifts. I can just give this Wraith Book to the lord's wife."

While thinking, Elron explained to Valgis: "Once there was a Flame Expeditionary Force, its founder, the Flame War God, came from the continent of Orlant. I heard that the Flame War God slew the Lord of the Undead—perhaps this is the battlefield from that battle a thousand years ago!"

The Flame War God, also known as Rydar's teacher.

The undead spirit that had just appeared resided in the corpse of a sage, giving it a certain degree of intelligence, hence why it targeted the castle's owner.

But its ability to control people was too crude; it failed to properly manipulate the puppet, causing one or two people to die in succession.

As for why Duke Valgis was unaffected,

the answer was simple: this old man was a Silver Moon Knight, possessing immense strength and willpower.

The undead spirit dared not even attempt to control him; likely, wherever Valgis appeared, it wouldn't dare to show itself at all.

Valgis was stunned—his castle was actually the battlefield of a divine war? Who would believe that if spoken?

But looking at the bones beneath his feet, it seemed only this explanation made sense?

"Lord Mage, in your opinion, can I still live here?"

Elron smiled: "In the next two days, I will continue inspecting the entire castle, and when I leave, I will also take this skeleton back to the Wu Bei territory for research. It should be no problem to continue using the castle."

A sage's remains—this was a treasure.

Though Elron was not deeply versed in its study, Sophia had abundant knowledge reserves; she could likely utilize it.

A necromancer's book, plus a sage-level remains—asking Elron to help in the Principality of Gistanar, this trip was certainly worthwhile.

Oh, right, a smile appeared on Elron's face.

The task entrusted by Roning to discuss cooperation with Valgis—it seemed absolutely certain to succeed.

Elron pondered, recalling another point mentioned during his conversation with Roning.

If a way could be devised to draw the Principality of Gistanar into Wu Bei territory's camp, they would have the power to intimidate the Principality of Feluns.

Thinking of this, Elron smiled: "Duke, regarding young Ganuo, I have a suggestion to offer you."

When it concerned his descendants, Valgis dared not be negligent at all. "Please speak!"