The Eldritch Files

This time, Han Su only chanted the Fishing Song.

It was as if the Spiritual Power seeping from his mind sensed his will and transformed directly into the Invisibility Spell.

This was something only a person extremely familiar with the Spell should be able to do—a manifestation of bypassing the incantation to directly command the Mysterious Power.

But the ”recording” ability inherent to the Fishing Song helped Han Su achieve it.

In an instant, it was like an underground river had suddenly broken through beneath a dried-up lake, and a torrent of Spiritual Power surged forth.

On the surrounding walls, countless Puppet Dolls had already swarmed above Han Su. They kicked off with their limbs, pouncing toward his head with vicious smiles, but in that same moment, Han Su’s figure abruptly vanished from their sight.

The space was empty, as if he had been suddenly erased.

Not only that, but even Li Manman, whom he was pulling by the hand, disappeared with him in the hallway.

’It worked!’

A thrill of excitement went through Han Su.

During his previous training with the Mysterious Power, Han Su had learned that the Zero Sequence Invisibility Spell could be extended to cover others.

It would consume more Spiritual Power and require the other person’s cooperation. It was effective in theory, but he never had the chance to test if this enhanced effect would work when he used the Fishing Song.

Now he had his answer.

But what Han Su didn’t know was that at this very moment, one floor above—on the fifth floor, a place filled with creations of copper...

...in a room full of Copper Armor Statues and dust, the coffin that had previously spoken with the old butler had already lifted open a crack the first time Han Su chanted the line from the Fishing Song: ”Mysterious Descent Prophecy.”

It had seemed uncertain, waiting in a state of confusion. Now, upon hearing Han Su chant the Spell a second time, it sat up from inside the Copper Coffin with a RUMBLE.

A pair of ancient eyes snapped open, revealing an uncanny copper color that seemed as deep as an abyss.

It felt the echo of the Fishing Song. It felt the two rows of Copper Armor Statues in the fifth-floor hallway begin to glow with an eerie red light.

One by one, copper snakes twisted and awakened.

The next moment, the copper gleam in its eyes suddenly faded, as if some will had flown out from the ancient husk.

It shot through the hallway, even rushing directly into the staircase leading from the fifth floor down to the fourth.

But the Ancient Castle had its own invisible restrictions. Its intrusion only caused the entire castle to tremble. The stairs, walls, and rooms all momentarily twisted as a bizarre tension filled the whole structure.

...

’Seven seconds!’

’When no one is watching, my limit is seven seconds. But with so many eyes around now, the drain on my Spiritual Power will increase!’

’Luckily, the Pale Giant is far away and has poor eyesight, so its effect on me is smaller...’

’Which means... three seconds!’

’...’

Feeling the Sea of Spiritual Power in his head rapidly depleting, Han Su gritted his teeth and focused only on rushing toward the door ahead.

Now, it was less than ten meters away.

His earlier ploy against the Pale Giant had bought him enough time. Combined with the Fishing Song’s effect on the Puppet Dolls, he had more than enough time.

Three seconds—no, two seconds would be enough.

Even if it meant getting injured, it would be enough for him to get her out of here.

He summoned every ounce of his strength, moving his own short legs while dragging the other pair of short legs beside him.

He felt the space around him compressing intensely. He watched the door get closer and closer, until it was nearly within reach.

Just one more step...

”So, you’re the most disobedient little child after all...”

But in that instant, a sudden voice spoke from his left, extremely close.

Han Su jolted in shock and saw a deathly pale face covered in cracks.

It was the old butler.

He stood ramrod straight at the turn of the staircase, hands clasped, leaning down slightly to look at Han Su with a stiff smile.

His eyes even seemed to glint with a ”finally got you” look.

’Damn it!’

Under such close scrutiny, Han Su’s Spiritual Power instantly bottomed out. His mind went so blank he nearly fainted, but his training with the Mysterious Power before entering the Ancient Castle had given him the experience to cope and maintain his ability to think.

He instinctively dragged Li Manman to the right, trying to dodge the old butler and rush for the door that was now within arm’s reach.

But the old butler, who had been looking at the empty end of the hallway from three meters away, suddenly appeared behind Han Su. He gently laid a hand on Li Manman.

The small, thin body that Han Su had been pulling along instantly became as heavy as a mountain. Han Su couldn’t budge her, and he staggered, nearly falling to the ground.

The next moment, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the withered vines entwined around the old butler’s body spring to life like nimble snakes.

One by one, strip by strip, they rapidly extended and grew, snaking toward Han Su.

’Son of a bitch...’

Endless hatred filled Han Su’s heart. He twisted his body, kicked off the nearby staircase railing, and leaped into the air to dodge the vines coiling around his feet. With a sudden swing of his arm, he threw the kitchen knife he had taken from the first-floor kitchen.

He threw it with all his might. The target of the flying knife was...

...Li Manman!

The sharp knife flew straight toward the little girl held captive by the old butler, thrown with a rare viciousness.

At this range, even without any special training, it was very dangerous.

Even the old butler’s expression changed slightly. He couldn’t figure out the intentions of this little rat scurrying all over the place.

His figure Flashed, and he instantly moved three to five meters away with Li Manman. The kitchen knife hit the wall, falling weakly.

But using this opportunity, Han Su had already pressed his back against the door and quickly inserted the key into the keyhole.

With a CLICK, the ”door” opened.

It was only then that the old butler seemed to notice the door’s existence.

To him, that spot had just been a wall, so he hadn’t understood what Han Su was doing at all.

But as the key turned, he seemed to see the shape of the door, or perhaps he sensed something was wrong there.

A cold fury flashed across his stiff face. With a casual wave of his hand, he tossed Li Manman, whom he had been holding, toward the Puppet Dolls charging madly from behind. He then narrowed his eyes, his gaze focusing on Han Su like a physical weight.

The next moment, he raised his palm and clapped gently.

CLAP. CLAP.

It was just a simple combination of staring and clapping, yet it produced a bizarre power.

A kind of binding force in the air instantly converged on Han Su.

The air from all directions seemed to come alive, squeezing the space around him.

It was impossible to resist, like trying to imprison an ant with an entire jail.

But at that same moment, just behind him, from above the turn in the staircase, a shrill cat’s cry suddenly rang out.

The old butler’s hair stood on end.

He spun around abruptly and saw a proud, black silhouette squatting on the stairs, its two blue eyes seeming to exude a distorting power.

The force generated by his clapping was instantly diverted under the gaze of those blue eyes. About twenty centimeters from Han Su’s body, the air suddenly compressed, and a large section of the wall peeled away.

Seizing the opportunity, Han Su had already thrown half his body through the doorway, feeling the rush of fresh air on his face.

The old butler’s expression changed drastically. The withered vines at his feet shot up, coiling toward Han Su’s legs, which were still inside the Ancient Castle.

But just then, the entire castle suddenly trembled and distorted for a moment.

”Bronze... reflection... history... world...”

It was the will that had flown from the fifth-floor coffin. Bound by the castle’s own restrictions, it had failed to reach the fourth floor directly.

The restrictions within the Ancient Castle forced it back to its own room, and an invisible force was even trying to compel it back into the coffin.

But it was not resigned. It could feel the source of that Fishing Song disappearing.

So, as it was returning to the Copper Coffin, the ancient body suddenly propped itself up with a hand on the coffin’s edge.

Then, it struggled to speak, and a strange, indistinct phrase was rapidly uttered.

Carried by the vibrations of the Copper Coffin and the castle itself, this Spell spread quickly through the solid structures.

A deep and strange sound, like the grinding of metal.

It was coarse, yet carried a sense of mystery.

The sound pierced through layers of walls, echoed around the turn in the staircase, and seeped directly from the fifth floor into the domain of the fourth.

The old butler had never expected the one on the fifth floor to be so impatient. This act of overstepping its bounds affected him.

He planted his feet firmly and looked up, his expression exceptionally grave.

Even the Puppet Dolls, which had been hopping about gleefully in the hallway, seemed terrified the moment the copper sound seeped into the fourth floor. They all covered their eyes, hugged their heads, and curled up into small balls along the corridor.

Meanwhile, the slow-moving Pale Giant had just rushed near. Sensing the invasion of power from the floor above, it became enraged and roared loudly toward the fifth floor.

THUMP. THUMP.

The Pale Giant’s roars and the sound seeping down from the fifth floor intertwined, creating a bizarre sense of collision.

Caught in the middle, the old butler stood stock-still, unmoving.

CRACK...

Imperceptibly, accompanied by a faint sound, another fresh crack slowly appeared on his already fractured face.

On the other side, Han Su was oblivious to all this. He didn’t even pay attention to the sudden sound that had appeared in his ears.

After finally bursting through the door, as his body fell suspended into empty space, he turned back. He stared deathly hard at the door—or rather, at the Ancient Castle behind it, and at the old butler who guarded it.

He gritted his teeth, feeling an unprecedented rage. ”You old bastard, you stopped me this time, but I’ve already proven the route is safe. I will succeed...”

”Next time, you won’t be able to stop me...”