he window, a cold wind dances lightly and coldly along the walls, seeking out cracks in the windowsill to invade.However, within this warm space, heavy curtains and sturdy walls kept out the cold wind...Chapter 126: Frey seems to want to rush things again.

The ancient stone wall seemed to be absorbing the faint light from the peak.

This ancient castle has shadows in many corners, and every door might hide unknown secrets.

The icy stone walls and dimly lit corridors seemed to be permeated with an even colder aura under the influence of impending danger.

A group of people walked down the corridor of the ancient castle, maintaining a subtle distance from each other.

Looking out the window, I could only see a forest shrouded in mist and the faint outlines of valleys. Everything was hazy and mysterious.

Since the two traitors who are blood race affiliates can only borrow the power of the Blood Lord when he awakens, and the blood race's nature is generally to seal themselves in a safe place during the day, isolating themselves from light and falling asleep, they will only awaken at night.

Therefore, the betrayer only has the opportunity to use the unknown and terrifying power of the Count once a day at nightfall.

On the first day of the five-day killing game, the challengers were in their prime state as no one had been killed yet. The two traitors, unable to use the power of the Master of Blood, did not dare to directly engage in a 2-on-10 fight.

...but instead wisely disguised himself as a normal challenger.

The daytime reconnaissance strategy naturally became everyone gathering together, never leaving each other's sight.

Such traitors must follow the collective's actions, unable to commit atrocities nor complete their own objectives during the day.

Similarly, it can also greatly delay the progress of the betrayer's mission.

From the stone staircase in the main hall, a winding corridor leads up to a second-floor loft. The ground floor hall remains clearly visible. Further inside, besides three large locked bedrooms and a possible washroom and storage room, the most striking feature is a two-story library that stretches from the second to the third floor.

The library was lined with dark red, high and ornate carved bookshelves that reached the ceiling. The shelves were piled high with ancient texts from the Horned Empire, including old manuscripts and precious maps. In the center was a writing desk with a feather quill and an inkwell resting upon it; this was clearly where Lord Caligula, the castle's master, had once read and worked.

However, Frey did not require everyone to spend a large amount of time in the library poring over ancient texts for clues. He simply led the group up the spiral staircase within the library to the third floor of the castle.

From the third to the fifth floor, in addition to the fixed three enclosed bedrooms on each floor, there is also Lord Carigula's private bedroom, the castle meeting room, ironworks, armory, weaving room, studio, pharmacy, tower, and so on.

Along the way, many rooms in the old castle seem to hold clues.

However, the detective had no ideas.

He acted in a straight line, as if he had seen through all the interference, because he was firmly convinced that his plan was the most effective.

After a thorough three-hour exploration of the entire castle, the challengers confirmed that this five-story fortress was covered in powerful magical wards capable of withstanding extreme attacks. The bedrooms, in particular, had individually reinforced barriers.

From the second to the fifth floor, each level has three rooms, totaling twelve safe bedrooms. Each challenger already possesses a magic key that corresponds to the door and window of their assigned room, tucked safely in their own pockets.

Thus, the mechanism of this shadow world has become even clearer.

When night falls and the Blood Master awakens, and the betrayers can wield their powers, it's highly likely that everyone gathered together will be killed instantly by both betrayers.

So the strategy for the night was clearly to split up and take shelter in safe bedrooms.

Even if there are attack-type or dispel-type abilities within the Blood Race's power set that could breach a bedroom's protection, due to the limitation of being able to borrow powers only once per day, and considering the absolute rationality that the Shadow World has always maintained, one night should be able to break through at most one or two secure bedrooms.

The more challengers live together, the higher the probability of killing multiple challengers in one night. The more dispersed they live, the fewer deaths may occur that night.

If the traitors cannot be caught soon, five days may be enough for the two traitors to kill all the other challengers.

Each bedroom's occupant was already in the public domain before the Shadow World began, but challengers of important identities were particularly dangerous, especially detectives.

The only way to avoid danger is to live together in a challenger's room that you trust.

And the challenger may even sacrifice themselves to protect the detective, and must prevent the traitor from killing the detective directly on the first night.

The sooner the detective dies, the more this shadow world will tilt towards the victor's side!

Correspondingly, if one can reasonably mislead the betrayer or engage in a perfect psychological game, it's also possible to make the betrayer draw a blank all night!

After finishing the investigation of the ancient castle's interior structure, the group, led by Frey, descended down to the basement level.

Frey went to the kitchen and pantry, finding some portable food, packing it into the leather crossbody bag he'd found upstairs, then went to the wine cellar and grabbed a few bottles of sweet white wine.

It's almost 9:00 AM.

Before the double doors, light flowed freely between the panes of glass, streaming through the multi-colored stained glass ceiling and casting shifting patterns of light and shadow within the otherwise somewhat dim building.

Frey pushed open the massive doors, and everyone followed behind him. For the first time, they stepped out of the ancient castle from the basement level, and the intense sunlight suddenly gave them an unprecedented shock.

They finally saw the full grandeur of this castle in the clouds.

Exiting the gate, I looked back. The intricate details on the ancient castle walls were particularly clear in the morning light. The limestone walls stood in stark contrast to the lush green forest surrounding them. The suspended platforms and towers at the top appeared especially magnificent amidst the swirling mist.

Now Frey's instructed everyone to go to the cliff edge and verify if the **Geographer** and the **Lawyer**'s intel is accurate.

If the information is true.

The credibility of two individuals will increase.

The castle was surrounded by mountains, trees, and lush vegetation. In the eerie autumn, it felt even more sinister.

Twelve figures moved through the woods, the atmosphere growing increasingly tense.

The trees in the mist looked like eerie shadows, and the shallow stream had become a mysterious passage disappearing into the fog.

They know the real purpose of this trip is to check the condition of the bridge.

In just five minutes, everyone reached the cliff location using the precise directions given by the 【Geographer】.

The sight before them was terrifying; the road to the city-state was blocked by a massive chasm.

Even before our gaze reached the edge, the sheer 800-meter-high, hundreds-of-meters-wide cliff already delivered a powerful visual impact.

As Ranch predicted, the hundred-meter-long bridge was indeed destroyed.

It's as if someone intentionally wants to trap everyone in this ancient castle.

It must have been before the Shadow Realm began, acts committed by betrayers using the powers of the blood clan.

Over eight hundred meters in height and over a hundred meters across the water, coupled with the aerial defense magic of the defensive barrier, seemed to isolate them from the rest of the world. They had become prisoners on this rocky island.

In this freezing morning.

Everything is in a state of clueless mystery.

When everyone's mood was about to reach the lowest point due to the broken bridge.

Frey looked like a detective about to crack the case, walking alone towards the cliff!

(End of chapter)

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Please let me know if you have other text you'd like translated! I'm happy to help.aff in crisp uniforms would walk past them carrying trays. Whenever a tray laden with freshly made coffee, desserts, and cold drinks passed by steadily, the air would be filled with the rich aroma of...