Of the three glowing symbols displayed above the statue, only the staring owl remained intact. The other two, soaring eagle and swooping falcon, both had a line streaked through them, signaling that they had been conquered already.

The group, now reunited once more, confidently stepped past the statue and stood before the door before them. It had originally been locked tight, unable to be broken through by anything, but now…

CRREEEAK.

As if waiting for them, the doors opened up on their own noisily, slamming against the walls on either side of the corridor that was revealed. Beyond it, about 100 meters away, was another set of doors — these ones far bigger and more grand. They were lined worn-down decoration, washed away by time. The faint designs that were still on it could only be faintly seen, made visible by the familiar white lanterns that seemed to be the theme of this Dungeon.

The sound of lightning and thunder could be heard coming from the outside as the group stepped through the first set of doors and arrived before the second.

“… Everyone, I am detecting an immensely powerful hostile energy signature beyond that door,” Fanatic said through their group’s comms. “It should the Baron. Make sure you are ready before going in.”

“I don’t know about you guys, but the Thousand Dragons Sect is always ready,” Pang Zi said, cracking his knuckles. “Baron or not, bring it on.”

“We’re ready too,” Octane said, speaking for all of Squadron 154. “I-I’m scared, I won’t lie, but there’s no running now.”

“If ya made up yer decisions, go ahead and step closer to that door,” Jim said with a chuckle.

“You’re not going to be helping, even for this final encounter?” Qi Ling asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Nope,” Jim replied easily, shrugging nonchalantly. “This is yer fight and yers alone. Show me what ya can do… Hunters.”

If they were able to succeed here, that would be a feat worthy of remembrance. Ghost Hunters lived for a challenge. They either conquered it, or they died trying.

Since everyone else was dawdling for too long, Finn took it upon himself to step forward, closer to the door. And the moment he did, they slid open, revealing a tall, massive statue, cloaked by a black veil. Curiously, the group stepped through the entrance and inspected the statue closer, only to find that they were in some sort of church hall.

But then, the statue stirred. The lighting above shifted a bit on the veil as it moved, and it was then that the group realized.

It wasn’t a statue. It was the Baron himself.

The massive being turned around, revealing its grotesque face in its full hideous glory. In its hand was an enormous scepter with a gem embedded at the top of it, just like the two staffs the group had obtained from Synia and Sydia respectively. Only… this one was far more grand and powerful. The gem was surrounded by a crown of gold, stained with blood.

The creature’s face was unlike that of normal Phantoms. It wasn’t white — it was as black as the robe it wore, but the same creepy Glasgow smile was imprinted onto its face just like the norm. Its eyes shone blood red, pupil-less and empty. Its hardened skin was lined with wrinkles, informing that its living counterpart was already quite old when they died.

And then, in a booming yet devastatingly low voice, the creature spoke.

“ART THEE THE MURDERERS OF MY SISTERS, O’ CHALLENGER MINE?”

Faced with this impossibly tall monster, looking down at them as if they were nothing but ants, the group of Ghost Hunters trembled slightly. But despite all the odds, Pang Zi was still able to inflate his own ego and talk back.

“Yeah, we are. That little spider and the priestess? We killed them easily. What are you gonna do about it, old monster?”

“VERY WELL,” the creature responded flatly, deep voice reverberating across the chamber. “SINCE THEE HAS’TH SINNED, PUNISHMENT IS NECESSARY.”

The Baron raised its staff slowly, letting the gemstone embedded on it shine a blinding white.

“I AM DAR’ TALOR, FOLLOWER OF THE LUNATIC. IN HIS NAME, I SHALL PURGE YOU FROM THE EARTH. FACE YOUR PUNISHMENT, SINNERS.”

The door slammed shut behind the group, separating them from Jim. But since they had already experienced this once already, they weren’t as surprised. And besides, they came here to kill this monster anyway. Not run away.

The priest-turned-monster then changed the color of the gem on his staff to a dark black rather than white, causing portals to open up all around the group. Out came swarms of Phantoms, screeching in thirst for blood and hunger for flesh.

Finn, at this point, saw no reason to hold back. If he did, there was a chance they wouldn’t be able to defeat this Baron. And so, he kicked things off with an immensely powerful Stormbringer Ability — Palm of Lei Shen, invented by Lei himself.

Finn slammed the ground right in front of a portal with his Lightning Aura state active, sending out a shockwave that instantly vaporized the Phantoms that came through — something that should be impossible, even for a B-Class Hunter — much less a D-class one. Everyone stared at him, ‘shocked’, but quickly focused on taking down the other enemies and decided to save the questions for later.

While everyone else fought back against the wave of Phantoms that had spawned in, Iris, who had long gotten off of Finn’s shoulders before the encounter began and was now soaring in the air, quickly scanned the chamber for any hidden mechanisms.

“Eye of Omnipotence — Transcendence!”

Jim had said that in a Dungeon, the mechanism would be reoccurring throughout the various stages of it. This obviously meant the symbols seen from the pillars during the jumping puzzle, but… she couldn’t spot anything in this room, even with her Oculus Angelica.

Suddenly, a white thorn whizzed past her head, causing her to duck to one side in a hurry.

“Tch…! Shooter-classes!”