As soon as the Solar Halo unfolded, the Despair Hound let out a miserable howl, its spirit power backfiring under the light. Ebner seized the opportunity and fired two anti-magic bullets. However, the hound's hide proved tough; it merely turned its head, letting the bullets strike its body, causing spurts of blood but no fatal damage.
Undeterred by the gunshots, the Despair Hound leapt away, attempting to escape. It was far wilier than the Misty Pigeon they had faced earlier. But Xio had already moved to block its path, evading its lunges with ease thanks to her Ring of Premonition. She fired repeatedly at its head, forcing the hound back to its starting point.
Before it could regain its footing, a holy fire descended from above, setting its fur ablaze.
The golden, ethereal flames radiated a formidable solar energy that overwhelmed the hound's corruption. Snarling in pain, the creature released a cloud of black smoke from its mouth, barely managing to extinguish the holy flames.
But by then, Ebner was already upon it, propelled by a gust of wind at his feet. With both hands, he raised his cane sword and struck fiercely at the creature's neck, where the holy flames had done the most damage.
Exhausted and unable to dodge, the Despair Hound activated its last-resort ability in a panic—sacrificing one of its vertical pupils as a substitute for its life.
As Ebner's strike connected, the hound's head rolled far across the ground. Its hide and bones, battered by successive blows, could no longer withstand the supernatural-cleaving power of the cane sword.
Thick black smoke poured from the creature's severed body, which then collapsed lifelessly to the ground.
Yet Ebner, knowing the creature's abilities from his research, didn't let his guard down and waited for Mr. Gaston's confirmation.
As a pure, gentle ray of light descended, the Despair Hound's corpse swiftly disintegrated, leaving only a single, cold vertical pupil behind.
"As expected, the Despair Hound used its demonic eye as a decoy," Ebner sighed, lowering his cane sword.
"Although we didn't kill it completely, it won't be able to cause any more harm for at least fifteen years. Without its eye, the Despair Hound will have to sleep and recover," Mr. Gaston said, lightly touching the stone in his hand to close the Solar Halo.
Just then, a powerful, soul-deep tremor surged through the area, filling them all with paralyzing fear. Moving felt as if pushing against an impossible weight, each step a struggle.
"Another enemy nearby?!" Ebner's mind raced as he activated his Pure White Eye without hesitation.
The moment his vision turned pure white, the pressure lifted, freeing him from the immobilizing fear. He turned toward the source of the terror, where a massive black worm over a meter high and four to five meters long had emerged from the ground. It loomed over Xio, mouth open, ready to swallow her whole!
The creature had been drawn by the fighting, but the Solar Halo had previously kept it at bay, nullifying its fear magic. Once the halo dissipated, it immediately seized the chance to ambush its prey, targeting Xio as the most spiritually "appetizing" individual.
Ebner acted without hesitation, casting wind blades to impede the worm while gusts beneath his feet lifted him atop the creature.
He retracted his cane sword, turning it back into a cane, and swung it downward with all his strength.
With a resounding thud, the cane pinned the giant worm to the ground, immobilizing it completely. No matter how hard it thrashed, the cane remained unmoving.
"The cane sword's downside is how incredibly heavy it is when swung as a cane," Ebner thought wryly as he fired six bullets directly into the worm's head.
At that moment, Xio and Mr. Gaston finally shook off the effects of the fear magic. They watched in awe as Ebner dispatched the fearsome creature with a series of headshots.
"It was a Fear Worm, hiding underground all along," Mr. Gaston muttered, once again activating the Solar Halo to remain vigilant.
Satisfied the worm was truly dead, Ebner pried out a pair of its eyes and smiled at Xio. "If you want these, the other spoils are mine." He said this lightly to Xio, but it was also a clear message to Mr. Gaston, making it understood that the Fear Worm's eyes were indeed for Xio's use.
Knowing the eyes were essential for Xio's next potion, Mr. Gaston graciously stepped back, allowing her to claim them. Grateful, Xio accepted the eyes with a sincere "thank you."
Just then, the door to the second-floor balcony opened, and Annie Gwen stepped out, stunned by the sight below. She'd witnessed the entire fight, and, recognizing the familiar movements and skills, realized that Ebner and Xio were the same people she had contracted with at the gathering.
"You two are this powerful?" Awe shone in Gwen's eyes. The creatures that had nearly taken her life were dispatched effortlessly, and even a Despair Hound had been forced to sacrifice its eye to escape, making her believe Ebner must be a high-ranked Beyonder.
Ebner also recognized her by her distinctive height and the holy fire arrow she'd used, identifying her as the woman who had received his 30 pounds to gather sailors for their expedition.
As she approached, he was momentarily taken aback by her striking features—clearly of Feysac descent. Without thinking, he blurted out, "Miss Annie Gwen?"
Gwen was about to thank him when she paused, surprised. "Sir, do you know me?"
"I've seen your file. Your parents have been looking for you!" Ebner recalled the record that showed she had been slipping away frequently even before her disappearance, possibly to save for a ship and potions, indicating this escape was long planned.
"Are you the detective they hired to drag me back to marry some fallen noble I don't know?" Gwen's expression darkened. She knew she stood no chance against him if he intended to capture her.
Ebner shook his head. "Relax, I'm not here to take you back. I just happened to read your file."
Seeing the area was still unsafe, Gwen refrained from asking further questions and instead requested to join their group, offering her strength to combat the monsters.
Ebner and the others noted she was mainly seeking the safety of their numbers. However, since she was at least a Sequence 9, they accepted her offer.
Soon after, the group encountered a shadow creature, but with four Beyonders and several powerful items, the creature was quickly slain under the holy light.
Finally, Mandated Punisher teams arrived and took over the hunt and containment of the remaining monsters.
---
On a safe route through the Furious Sea, a 30-meter-long schooner with spotless sails glided through the waves, its golden hues gleaming under the sun.
Compared to similar ships, this one was remarkably unique, featuring a main cannon aligned along its central axis. Runes and symbols covered its barrel, faintly glowing with a pure, soft light, giving the schooner the appearance of a modern warship.
A beautiful woman stepped out from the captain's quarters. Her oval face, high nose, and thin lips framed her calm blue eyes like crystal-clear spring water. She wore her chestnut hair in a simple, elegant knot, flowing freely down her back.
With no hat to obscure her features, she wore a waist-fitted beige coat adorned with lace flowers and dark pants paired with sturdy boots, giving her a graceful yet formidable look.
She approached a man in his thirties with sandy-yellow brows, bright blue eyes, and modest features, and instructed him, "Danitz, inform Bruce: the Golden Dream is returning immediately. We'll set sail for the waters southeast of Damir Port in three days."
"Aye, Captain, but weren't we heading to West Byron in search of a Bryonian relic?" Danitz replied out of habit, not to question her orders but to gain clarification.
The captain paused briefly before answering, "With your current knowledge, you wouldn't understand. Just consider this a divine directive."
"A divine directive… what exactly?" Danitz swallowed nervously.
"We're to intercept an Aurora Order vessel and recover a significant artifact from a cave on an island," she replied.
---
Meanwhile, aboard a ship in the fleet under "Admiral of Dusk," a striking woman with waist-length crimson hair and lake-blue eyes listened to a pirate's report.
"Miss, as you predicted, the Aurora Order fanatics have indeed broken the forest's seal north of Damir! Mandated Punisher teams are arriving from nearby ports as well," the pirate reported, his head lowered, not daring to glance at the enchanting woman before him. The last person to make that mistake had bound himself and leaped into the sea.
"Ha! The Aurora Order is full of brainless fools. This time, I've even done them a favor. I still don't know why the organization even cares…" The red-haired woman sneered before adding, "If they start questioning us, just apologize and give them the actual coordinates of the island southeast of here. Make sure to delay them a day or two, though." She knew telling them immediately would reveal the deception even to lunatics.
Visibly relieved, the pirate left, happy to have a concrete answer.
Stretching lazily, the red-haired woman mused to herself, "Once this job is done, I'll finally have the contribution points for my Hypnotist formula. With that, I'll have a clear path to Sequence 5… then it's back to Feysac for me!"
---
On the evening of July 7th, at six o'clock, Ebner and Xio arrived at the western "stone platform" of Damir as planned to meet Miss Gwen.