High-60 floating island, a partially developed floating landmass, was lush with verdant forests covering its surface.
Along a narrow path through the forest, the Inspectorate team advanced.
They were less than 500 meters away from their target now—a watchtower constructed amidst the trees.
The entire structure, built from stone blocks and massive timbers, was cloaked in perpetual shadow, causing moss to thrive on its surface.
The path was rugged.
Following Nathan were two Inspectorate members under Lam's command, with Luna and two new warrior recruits leading the way.
Sophia had been assigned to remain behind at the Inspectorate Department.
Daniel and Lam, trailing the group, had already pinpointed the objective.
In the basement of the watchtower was Professor Palin, a high-ranking magus charged with summoning dark creatures.
"Advance in silence for the next 500 meters!" Daniel commanded in a low tone.
The team members each pulled out a silencing scroll and crushed it.
A silvery-gray light enveloped them, making their movements through the air appear as mere subtle distortions from afar.
One minute before the magic was set to expire, the team, guided by their magic lanterns, entered the watchtower.
Daniel and Lam stayed outside.
"It's time these youngsters got a taste of the real world," Lam chuckled.
"If they don't emerge in five minutes, we'll take action. Let's avoid any accidents," Daniel said, glancing at his pocket watch, eager to wrap things up quickly.
This lead had come from a freshman's report five days earlier, who noticed Professor Palin covertly collecting students' blood samples during a potion class.
Surveillance through a magic eye revealed Palin's secret summonings of dark creatures, leading to Nathan being tasked with the investigation.
Incidents like this were, in fact, an annual occurrence.
The resolution was straightforward: destroy all summoning apparatus and levy a hefty fine in credits.
The newcomers had been in the Inspectorate Department for half a month now, with no significant cases arising.
This situation presented an ideal opportunity for them to get some hands-on experience and adjust to what their future roles would entail.
Inside the watchtower on the first floor, the lighting was dim.
In a corner of the empty hall, hay and grains were piled up.
A spiral staircase led to the observation tower, but no downward passage was apparent.
The six-person team began to search separately.
Nathan ran his hands along the stone walls, feeling uncomfortable with the fine dust and cobwebs.
He paused at a spot where the adjacent walls felt noticeably different in temperature.
Luna, searching along another wall, noticed the anomaly as well.
"The side that's warmer!" Nathan gestured with his hand.
Luna cast a detection spell.
Bright white light cascaded from mid-air, illuminating the wall.
The wall began to appear ethereal, gradually becoming transparent.
To everyone's eyes, that portion of the wall vanished, revealing a staircase leading downward.
The stairs were clean, unlike the first floor.
Two warriors led the way, with the rest following slowly behind.
After turning a corner, a wooden door appeared in front of the group.
The warriors kicked the door open, and a musty smell assaulted their senses.
Ahead lay a circular basement, its floor seemingly paved with cobblestones.
Rats scurried underfoot.
In the center of the room stood a solitary chair, upon which leaned a skeletal figure in tattered robes.
At the foot of the chair was a blurry magic array.
Spider webs covered everything.
Dim mana crystals embedded in the walls around the room provided just enough light to maintain visibility.
Aside from the rats, there seemed to be no other living thing in the room.
Nathan had just observed the old professor in the magic eye, who was feeding a malevolent hand.
But now, only a skeleton remained.
There had to be something amiss here.
He released a detect spell, but it found no anomalies.
Nathan felt a sense of unease and whispered to everyone to keep their distance for the moment.
One of Lam's experienced team members casually cast a spell to detect evil beings.
Instantly, the magic turned a dark red color, indicating the presence of something extremely malevolent in the vicinity.
The group instantly tensed up.
At that moment, for reasons unknown, a new warrior walked forward alone.
"Come back!" his companion urgently called out to him.
But the new warrior turned back with a smile and continued to stride into the center of the magic array.
Then, mimicking the skeleton, he sat down on the chair, nearly on top of the skeleton itself.
Nathan frowned, his heart lifting with apprehension.
This man was too daring.
With a clatter, the skeleton was dislodged from the chair by the touch and fell to the floor.
Now, the new warrior was sitting directly on the chair.
"Get down!" one of the veteran team members shouted.
But the man, still smiling, acted as if he hadn't heard and remained seated.
Nathan stepped back, and the next moment, he bumped into the cold brick wall behind him.
Nathan turned around—the door had vanished!
"Where's the door?" Luna timely released another detect spell, but this time there was no reaction.
The spot where the door had been was just a cold wall, as if it had always been that way.
The others also noticed this situation, and their expressions grew grim.
Luna, too, seemed to sense the fear, unconsciously moving closer to the group.
She had never encountered such a sinister situation before.
Time itself seemed to become viscous.
Breathing started to feel laborious.
Right before the eyes of the five onlookers, the warrior sitting in the chair's smile began to stiffen.
Then, slowly, a flower began to emerge on his face.
It was a flower made up of countless translucent wings of varying sizes.
As the flower grew to the size of a palm, it gently unfurled as if wilting.
But the next moment, a crackling sound of biting was heard.
The flower had transformed into a small cluster of insects, each with wings, taking on various forms.
Some resembled ants, others bees, and still others some type of beetle, all in vibrant colors.
Between the insects, white webs connected them.
The insects' slender mouths pierced the skin.
White mosquitoes buzzed.
Ants bit.
"Ah! Ah! Save me!"
The new warrior suddenly seemed to awaken, his shoulders twitching uncontrollably, his body trembling, and the sounds from his mouth turned into a buzz.
His eyes were wide with pleading.
But it appeared as if something had bound him there, completely unable to control himself.
Then, another flower bloomed on the other side of his face, again turning into insects.
Then on his hands, his neck, his legs...
In an instant, the warrior's entire body was covered with a dense mass of insects.
Various faint sounds echoed continuously in the circular basement.
Yet, not a single cry of pain was heard.
It was as if all sounds were strangled at the throat by something.
In just a moment, perhaps a minute, perhaps longer, the insects covering the body gradually shrank until they turned into countless fine yellow dots.
What remained before everyone's eyes was a skeleton wrapped in clothes!
Everyone was stunned by this sight.
Nathan felt his scalp tingle, swallowed hard, and found his throat dry and his heartbeat seemingly accelerating.
However, at that moment, the skeleton that lay on the ground began to change.
First, the bones turned red, then rapidly grew flesh and blood.
In just a few seconds, a human form was created.
It was an old man, with disheveled hair and a hunched figure.
"Professor Palin!" someone exclaimed.
He rose from the ground, glanced at the skeleton slumped in the chair, and bowed to it.
Palin's hunched appearance was comical, but no one could find it in themselves to laugh.
"Palin! Do you intend to defy the Inspectorate Department?" an experienced member of the Inspectorate team demanded, his voice stern.
"You... should not have come!" Palin turned to face the five members of the Inspectorate team.
His eyes, clouded with confusion, slowly approached them, mumbling some incoherent syllables as he walked.
"Attack!" another new warrior shouted, drawing his long sword.
A slash of the blade cut through the air.
Palin was struck by the sword, emitting a dull thud.
The tremendous force pushed his body backward! However, it seemed the cut didn't harm him; he regained his footing and continued to quickly approach the group.
The next moment, four spells simultaneously struck the old man.
A weakness spell, frost spike, and two flame blades.
The magic hit Palin with a roar, sending his body flying backward to crash onto the ground.
Yet, he rose again, his steps quicker as he advanced towards the group once more.
"Is this... magic resistance?" Nathan's eyes widened, and, along with the others, he retreated to the wall.
As Palin approached once again, he was repelled by another sword strike.
A frost spike hit him, causing him only to step back slightly.
However, with the impact, a fine powder scattered from his body, falling to the ground.
That powder instantly grew into a mass of wriggling insects, sticking to the floor.
Nathan released a small fireball at the insects.
"Back off!" The rest of the group closed in around him.
The five were now almost pressed against the wall.
At that moment, a sudden rumbling shook the area behind the group, followed by a series of dull thuds.
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
"Bang! Bang!"
"Boom!"
Unbeknownst to them, the door on the wall had reappeared.
A rusty axe smashed through the wooden door, and someone kicked the remaining panels open from the outside.
Light streamed in.
A tall warrior stepped inside from the brightness.
Everyone turned around sharply, stunned.
Especially another new warrior, who pointed at the person entering, his face a picture of disbelief.
This was the same new warrior who, just moments before, had been devoured by insects right before their eyes.
"Aren't you dead?" Luna asked, her complexion pale.
Nathan felt a chill run down his spine, puzzled by what was happening.
The newly arrived warrior responded innocently, "Dead? The two leaders saw you taking so long to capture someone and sent me down to check."
"What?"
The group quickly turned their heads back, looking towards the skeleton sitting in the magic array on the chair in the distance.
"Then who is he?" A chill of horror struck Nathan's heart!