A wave of Fear Aura swept over them without warning from the darkness behind their flank.

This was not simply an emotion that could make people afraid, but a kind of pollution that operated at the foundational level of the spirit.

The moment the aura enveloped him, Lin Jie felt as if he had been thrown into an ocean composed of pure fear emotions.

Countless shrill death wails echoed in his ears, and visions of all the failures and deaths he never wanted to face deep in his heart surfaced before his eyes.

He felt as if an invisible giant hand was clenching his heart, making even its beating difficult.

His limbs grew heavy, and the strength to lift a finger was rapidly being stripped away.

Just as he was about to be devoured by this fear, a soft, faint light shone from the breast pocket of his clothes.

This was the protective field of Serene Heart.

The core, made from Hearing Bone and inlaid on the hilt, passively activated its "Zen" spirituality capable of stabilizing mental frequencies when it sensed its host suffering a fatal Mental Impact.

Though faint, this light provided the final sanctuary for Lin Jie's nearly capsized consciousness.

His heart, which had nearly stopped beating, resumed its powerful throbbing.

The fear threatening to drag him into the abyss was effectively blocked and weakened by at least seventy percent by this barrier.

On the other hand, the situation of that noble hunter Ethan, who had always appeared elegant and composed, was far more embarrassing than Lin Jie's.

Although he was an elite ranked in the top hundred of the Hunter Ranking, his equipment and training were more focused on the precise physical hunting of UMAs.

He might possess talismans that could resist direct Mental Impacts, but facing the Black Dog's large-area, sustained "Fear Aura," the equipment on his person was almost useless.

After the Fear Aura erupted, the blood drained from his handsome face, leaving it ghastly pale.

His eyes, which usually carried arrogance, now revealed the primitive terror of a human.

The hand holding Morning Star began to tremble violently.

He couldn't even aim the gun muzzle at the deadly threat right beside him in the first moment.

This was the most terrifying aspect of "conceptual-type" UMAs.

It doesn't compete with you in strength or speed;

it directly dismantles your courage to resist as an intelligent being from the spiritual level.

At this critical juncture, a roar, primitive and wild yet carrying an iron will, exploded beside the ears of Lin Jie and Ethan.

It was William.

This taciturn veteran, this man Ethan viewed as deadweight, became the only person in the entire team unaffected by the Fear Aura.

His eyes were locked onto the eerie purple eyepiece of Zulu's Gaze.

His face held only the calmness and focus of one who has set life and death aside.

He saw it.

Through the unique vision of Zulu's Gaze, he clearly saw, against a gray-white world background, a massive spectral form resembling a pure black energy hound slowly emerging from the shadow of a rock.

The two burning curse energy masses on its chest, representing its eyes, were emitting an evil, heart-palpitating light, locked onto Ethan, who was frozen in terror.

It was preparing to reap tonight's first trophy.

At the precise moment before those burning "eyes" could establish the fatal eye contact with Ethan's, William moved.

He took a fierce step forward, placing his broad body squarely between Ethan and the Black Dog.

He used his own back to forcefully block the cursed gaze, capable of branding a Mark of Death, for this commander who had previously been insolent.

William let out a powerful roar: "Close your eyes!"

The Zulu's Gaze telescope in his hand folded and contracted with a "click," transforming into a strange handle easier to hold single-handedly.

His other hand, like lightning, reached behind and grabbed the Winchester lever-action rifle he never parted with.

He didn't look, nor did he need to look;

his actions relied entirely on the "Spiritual Lock" of Zulu's Gaze.

That massive black energy entity was positioned less than ten meters in front of him.

A tremendous gunshot tore through the desolate plain's silence.

This time, what shot from the rifle muzzle wasn't a conventional bullet, but a special alchemical bullet entirely polished from pure crystal, containing "Consecrated Salt" within – a "Spirit-Dispersing Explosive Round."

This crystal bullet detonated violently upon contact with the dense Fear Aura.

A blazing, silver-white flame with a sacred aura erupted, dispersing the thick darkness all around.

The Black Dog, poised to attack, hadn't anticipated that among these lambs for slaughter hid a power capable of countering it.

Its body, composed of thick black smoke, rapidly turned transparent and dim after being struck head-on by the silver-white flames, seeming on the verge of dissipating at any moment.

It was injured.

After suffering the attack, this ancient UMA shed its "playful" heart belonging to an apex predator.

It did not engage further but chose to retreat without hesitation.

The now semi-transparent massive figure abruptly darted backward, then merged into the hard granite ground beneath its feet, vanishing without a trace.

The crisis was temporarily averted.

The suffocating Fear Aura surrounding them rapidly receded.

Ethan gasped for air, his expensive hunting attire soaked through with cold sweat.

He looked at his hands, still trembling slightly, then at the broad back that had shielded him from the fatal blow.

The innate pride and arrogance in his eyes shattered.

He opened his mouth to say something, but ultimately, not a single word came out.

Meanwhile, Lin Jie quickly stepped forward and supported the hero who had just saved everyone.

He asked with concern, "William, how are you?"

William lowered his rifle.

He took off Zulu's Gaze;

his face still showed little expression, but the weariness in his eyes had deepened.

"I'm fine. Just let it get away."

William's voice was low: "No, it can't run. I've already seen its 'path'."

He raised Zulu's Gaze once more.

In his field of view, although the Black Dog's main body had disappeared, right where it had just vanished into the ground, a distinct, pitch-black "Spiritual Trail" meandered, extending deeper into the desolate plain.

It had left an indelible mark.

Holding the telescope, William pointed the way forward for the team: "It's fleeing in that direction. That should be its 'lair'."

"It's injured. This is its weakest moment. We must follow!"

In this moment, the team's offensive and defensive dynamics reversed.

No longer were they passively waiting for the ghost's ambush;

instead, they would become the cold hunters, actively pursuing the injured, fleeing "ghost."

The team's "command" also silently shifted at this moment, without a word spoken.

Ethan, the proud elite, silently stood up from the ground.

He walked to William's side and said in a humble, solemn tone, "Sergeant, please lead the way. From now on, my Morning Star and Evening Star will clear any and all obstacles on the path for the team at any time."

He was genuinely convinced.

Watching the true "top-tier Tracker" before him, who had regained battlefield initiative, Lin Jie felt his perpetually anxious heart ease slightly.

But simultaneously, a deeper deduction surfaced in his mind.

Instantly connecting all the clues based on William's concise description and the unique abilities displayed by Zulu's Gaze.

A UMA with "legend" as its skeleton, "fear" as its sustenance, capable of "vanishing" during the day.

A special tracking method that could only see "Spiritual Trails" and "Emotional Echoes."

Lin Jie said softly, "I understand. It's not a pure spirit. It's very likely an emotional aggregate existing between spirit and concept, using the emotion of fear itself as its body!"

"It doesn't need a lair because it is itself a living garment woven together from the fear emotions emitted by all the creatures that have died on this desolate plain over countless centuries, right before their deaths!"

"And its host, or rather its core, is the legend named 'Black Dog' that has circulated for hundreds of years itself!"

"During the day, when sunlight bathes the land and the activities of the living dispel shadows and fear, it decomposes, reverting back into countless invisible fear emotions scattered across the Dartmoor highlands."

"And at night, when darkness falls and fear breeds, it uses the ancient legend as its skeleton, gathering these scattered emotions anew, donning the outer garment named 'Black Dog' to come out and hunt!"