The Heiress’ Return: Six Brothers at Her Beck and Call (Wynter Quinnell) novel Chapter 1868

Just then, the sound of snapping branches echoed from the distance. Atwater immediately raised his head, alert, and looked in that direction.

In the darkness, several shadowy figures moved stiffly and unnaturally among the trees.

"Who's there?" Atwater shouted.

No one answered. There was only the sound of footsteps closing in from all directions. Gripping the Arcane Staff at his waist and drawing his bloomwood sword, Atwater scanned his surroundings.

The figures drew closer, and under the moonlight, Atwater finally recognized their faces. Before setting out, the person he had spoken to had sent him a group photo of the geological personnel.

But now, they looked nothing like the living. Under the pale moonlight, they cast no shadows. Their eyes were pitch-black, their skin ashen, and their lips twisted into eerie grins.

Atwater tightened his grip on the Arcane Staff and the bloomwood sword.

Someone had used witchcraft to control these people. It was no wonder the Celestial Force had grown so weak. Grim spirits were being nurtured atop it!

Just then, faint sounds of a flute echoed in the distance. Upon hearing it, the geological personnel charged at Atwater in perfect unison.

Without hesitation, Atwater bit his finger and swiftly drew a blood talisman on the blade of the bloomwood sword. The weapon immediately glowed with a faint golden light as he muttered an exorcism spell, pointing the sword at the first attacker.

"By Celestial Law, Divine Sword of the Sun and Moon—Sever All!"

As the words left his lips, the golden light shot forth like an arrow, piercing the attacker's chest. His body convulsed violently before collapsing as a stream of black mist escaped from his mouth and nose.

The other geological personnel were similarly struck by the bloomwood sword's power, all falling to the ground.

Pulling out his phone, he was surprised to find it still had a signal. Quickly, he dialed a number.

"The Celestial Force has been corrupted," Atwater said bluntly. "Someone deliberately infused it with blood wrath. It's disrupting terrestrial energy."

A brief silence followed on the other end before the reply came. "Can you fix it?"

Atwater's voice was grave. "It won't be easy. This place—"

Before he could finish, a dark figure flashed past the treetops, moving at inhuman speed. Its claw-like fingers grazed Atwater's face, drawing blood under the cold moonlight.

No one knew then that the prophesied calamity was finally upon them.