Wizard: I devour the stars with swarms of insects.

Soon, they arrived at the ruins.

Wayne steered the gray rat into the ruins, crawling back along the rubble and bricks from which the rat had just emerged.

And along the way, we brushed past several gray squirrels that ran out.

However, they had no time to care about their "kind" and hurriedly fled forward.

"What could have caused these rats to be so terrified that they were fleeing for their lives like rats crossing the street?"

"And how did these rats even appear in the ruins? Why do they keep coming in waves, seemingly endlessly...? Are they respawning at fixed points?"

For some reason, Wayne thought of the Rift game he played in his previous life, which resembled the red and blue buffs that periodically spawned in the jungle...

But that's definitely not the case.

With this question in mind, Wayne controlled [Scout Rat 001] and followed the direction away from the fleeing rats.

Become a "retrograde rat" and scout ahead.

Gradually, passing through the bricks and rubble along the way, [Scout Mouse 001] arrived at the bottom of the ruins, and continued to walk forward in the cramped and dark environment.

Suddenly, a light appeared in the darkness ahead.

Immediately afterwards, a squeaking sound of mice appeared out of nowhere, and then a group of gray mice hurriedly fled forward.

Upon seeing the light that had just appeared ahead, Wayne had an idea and quickly steered the gray rat to crawl forward.

Immediately ahead on the ground, a complex geometric shape, about three feet in diameter, with lines inlaid with some kind of dark silver substance, was seen, glowing faintly.

"Could this be... a teleportation magic array?"

Seeing the images shared by the gray rats, including the textures and patterns on the ground, Wayne was stunned, a look of astonishment in his eyes.

Because the textured pattern on the ground looks like a [witchcraft array]... which is a magical array used by wizards for spatial teleportation.

But why would a strange magic circle appear here out of nowhere?

And then, a flash of light appeared.

Several more gray squirrels were teleported over, squeaking and scurrying forward.

After thinking for a moment, Wayne had an idea and gave the command to "advance," controlling the gray rat to move forward to the front of the formation, wanting to observe it in detail.

However, as soon as they entered the [Witch Array], the light suddenly flashed, followed by a spatial distortion.

When I opened my eyes again... no, or rather, from the perspective of [Detective Mouse 001], after opening my eyes again.

All around was a vast, silent, and strange forest, with the night sky visible through the gaps in the forest.

It was two crimson crescent moons, overlapping each other.

It hangs coldly in the night sky.

In the area in front of the forest stands a gloomy, cold Gothic castle that looks very dilapidated and decaying.

I don't know when it was built or constructed here.

"Where...am I?"

Looking around, Wayne frowned slightly, a hint of confusion in his eyes.

Next, when Wayne's perspective shifted and he saw the spot next to him, he was suddenly startled.

A rotting male corpse dressed in a wizard's robe is crawling on the ground in a stiff, forward-moving posture, and appears to have been dead for some time.

Both legs were broken, the area beneath the wizard's robe was bare, and the limbs below the knees were missing.

The flesh at the cut was an eerie grayish-white color, with no large amount of blood, as if it had been instantly "erased" or "absorbed" by some force.

Beside him, in the common ancient Archaic language, a line of broken blood words was written after he bit his finger.

"Aaron ruined me! Damn it, I shouldn't have been so greedy and came here..."

"An exit...any exit will do...take me away..."

"Don't go near...be careful of the forest..."

The ambiguous passage ends abruptly here.

The blood-written words at the end were worn away by the wind and sand.

"..."

Next, after thinking for a moment, Wayne controlled [Scout Rat 001] to take a few steps back and look at the scene in front of him.

The teleportation array is located in front of the male wizard's corpse.

On his deathbed, the spot where he fell seemed to still be reaching out, as if trying to crawl towards the [witchcraft array] in front of him.

But in the end, he still died here.

"Leave from here...? And where did he write 'Don't come near'?

Be careful in the forest... The writing after that is also gone.

Who is in the forest we should be wary of?

Is there something in the forest?

And, and...

Next, Wayne looked up and saw the forest ahead.

Squeak squeak~~

Several panicked mice fled over in a panic.

Occasionally, unfortunate individuals would trip over the tangled tree roots or seem to crash into an unseen obstacle, convulsing and dying.

Some lucky rats, when passing through the teleportation [witchcraft circle] here, disappeared into the witchcraft circle as the light flashed.

They were teleported to the other side... to the ruins of Greyhawk Keep.

"So... that's why the rats keep appearing in Greyhawk Keep, and we can't seem to get rid of them no matter what we do?"

Wayne looked bewildered.

Within those ruins lies a teleportation array called a "witchcraft circle," drawn by an unknown person.

Then, as rats continued to pass through this area, the magic circle was triggered, and I was teleported into Greyhawk Keep...

After understanding the truth, Wayne felt both amused and exasperated, never expecting such a reason.

And this male wizard corpse next to him... it seems... this teleportation [wizard array] was probably drawn by him.

It seems they want to escape from this forest.

However, after the witch array was finally drawn, he was unable to escape and died inexplicably at the scene, which was quite unlucky.

"but......"

Now, Wayne raised his head and looked at the mysterious ancient castle not far ahead.

The panicked, fleeing rats seemed to have come from the direction of this ancient castle.

But what exactly is there...?

What could have caused these rats to be so frightened?

A look of confusion crossed Wayne's eyes.

I am currently "thousands of miles away," controlling the [Scout Mouse] to investigate here, which will not affect my safety in any way.

So Wayne tried to control the gray rat and made it crawl forward.

Soon, they arrived at the gloomy and eerie ancient castle.

The castle gates were open.

Furthermore, next to the wooden door, there was a handprint stained with blood, and on the door itself, there was a house number.

[Scythe Moon Forest: Ancient God Hatching Pool No. 72 (formerly "St. Lawrence Monastery"). If you wish to visit Bishop Lawrence, please make an appointment in advance!]

As Wayne controlled the Scout Rat to walk inside the castle...

Crimson moonlight streamed through the broken stained-glass window, casting distorted, blood-like spots of light on the ground.

On the wall of the hall hung a portrait of a person dressed in a classic black suit, but the image was somewhat blurry and the face was not clearly visible.

The area below the wall had collapsed, with large sections of bricks, tiles, and plaster falling off.

Behind the walls, large swathes of biological remains were exposed, mixed with fragments of bricks and stones... as if the entire castle were built from piles of bones.

Rats were constantly scurrying out from the cracks in the wall, and it seemed that the end of the cracks... connected to some underground passage.

Fearful, panicked rats kept escaping from the collapsed holes in the wall.

"A rat hiding in the wall? What's behind the wall...?" Wayne frowned slightly.

At this moment, suddenly.

A sudden, eerie sound of footsteps came down the castle steps, and Wayne instinctively turned around.

On the second-floor steps, a man dressed entirely in a black wizard's robe was seen walking down the stairs.

They walked slowly, descending the steps one by one.

His black leather boots stomped on the wooden steps, but the sound was unusually stiff, as if it weren't the sound of a living person walking.

The scene was exceptionally eerie and chilling.

Wayne felt a sudden, overwhelming fear.

His mind raced, and he suddenly realized the meaning behind the blood-written words next to the wizard's corpse in the forest.

He probably meant: Be careful of the castle in the forest, and don't go near that monastery!

"Damn it!"

In a panic, Wayne instinctively controlled the Scout Rat to turn and run towards the wooden door.

At this moment, the eerie and sinister wizard behind them seemed to have already descended from the second-floor steps to the first-floor lobby.

Slowly turning its stiff, lifeless head, it began to look this way, and Wayne felt that chilling sensation.

Having used all its strength, it urged the [Scout Mouse] to flee forward as fast as it could.

At that moment, a huge shadow seemed to be emerging in the monastery castle behind them, casting a cold, tall, dark shadow on the ground.

Wayne fled along the path through the woods and soon arrived at the side of the wizard's male corpse ahead.

As Wayne passed by, he noticed what appeared to be a leather pouch around the male corpse's waist.

The contents of the container were unknown, and it lay beside the corpse.

So, as he passed by, he grabbed the rope of the leather bag with his mouth and suddenly lunged forward into the [witchcraft formation].

As the light appeared, the figure was about to disappear.

Out of the corner of Wayne's eye, he caught a glimpse of a tall, dark figure dressed in a black tuxedo and wearing a top hat looming above the dense foliage.

He stared at himself with lifeless eyes.

The next second, *splat*!

The scout rat froze in place, its flesh and brains exploding into a pile of minced meat.

The leather bag he was holding in his mouth was teleported back to Gray Eagle Fortress on the other side after the [Witchcraft Circle] lit up.

......

P.S.: Today's update includes three chapters totaling nearly 8 words. If I get a few votes, I might be able to write another chapter! (#^.^#)