With a whoosh and a beam of magic, the light faded around Chihiro and dropped her off at the other side of a massive gate. The gate itself intricate markings carved in the shape of ghosts, ghouls, and all other sorts of undead creatures, and in front of her laid a massive, black, stone building with silver outlines around its bricks and a rotted wooden door. Fancy metal sculptures of armored knights with carefully crafted swords lined the walls around, and brought to mind the image of guards protecting a castle, which wasn't too far off for this place, to be honest.

Wait, this must have been the inside of the citadel's gates! In fact, Chihiro could hear the faint echoes of T-Bone performing a stand-up comedy act to the utter glee of the armies as they burst into cackles just behind her. She managed to get in! Thankfully, these gates were so fancy and detailed that one could barely see through them, so she was perfectly shielded from those armies, too! With her safety guaranteed, Chihiro skipped up to the castle doors, but her focus wasn't in getting in just yet. Rather, it drifted away to the many knight statues that pressed against the castle walls!

"Wow, they sure have a lot of statues here," Chihiro remarked as she waltzed up to one and lifted its visor to find nothing inside but darkness.

It seemed hollow and lifeless enough, but still, she couldn't help but want to double check after the incident last time. So, she hopped away from that one, moved to the next, and the one beside that… Soon enough, she hopped from armor suit to armor suit, just to be entirely safe! She was sure she checked ten of the, well, twenty, thirty suits of armor? She lost count by now.

Chihiro frowned and rubbed her chin as she tried to recall just what number she was at when a whoosh and the faint, twinkling noises of falling light sounded behind her! Chihiro perked up, turned around, and beamed; Cynder finally arrived, and Hex and Ghost Roaster were close behind her—in fact, Chihiro was so happy to see them that she hardly paid any mind to the strange light that just barely flashed for minutes beside her!

"Hey Cynder!" Chihiro shouted as she waved towards Cynder. "I'm checking out these weird armor statues! These ones don't seem to be alive, I think—" Chihiro frowned as the area around her grew darker "—huh? Who turned out the lights?"

"CHIHIRO, BEHIND YOU!" Cynder shouted as she took to the skies and flew over.

Chihiro yipped, turned around, and—oh no, looks like she missed one! Right above her, a large knight statue armed with a very hefty-looking sword loomed over her with its sword held tight above its head and fully ready to slice her in half! Before it could, however, a large bolt of black lightning struck the armor suit right in its heart and fried it to the core! It shuddered and rattled from the lightning, and as the electricity faded, it groaned and collapsed in a fried armor heap on the floor!

Cynder snarled and flew in front of Chihiro as more and more of the statues slowly stretched to life and grabbed their swords, but Chihiro wasn't one to stand by and watch when there's a fight to be had!

As the now-living knights rushed towards them with swords held high and speeds much faster than you'd expect a living armor suit to have, Chihiro created a sword of her own and jumped into the fray! They immediately swung at her, but while they were fast, Chihiro was much faster to parry them; the sound of heavy grunts and grinding metal echoed through the courtyard as Chihiro intercepted their blows and flung their swords back at them, and boy, was it an adrenaline rush! Chihiro’s whole body shook with joy! As another knight tried to swing at her from behind, Chihiro summoned a second sword, blocked their blow mid-swing, and she blew the knight's blade out of its hands with another slash of her sword! The sword spiraled forward and wedged itself into the yard, but was set alight as black lightning shot down from above and seared its metal.

Right behind Chihiro, Cynder took to the skies and mowed down forced with lightning so intense that it was more like thunder, and Hex shot off eldritch orbs that rained from the skies like meteors from the safety of a bone barrier! The only one who wasn't fighting was Ghost Roaster, who instead took to dashing across the courtyard and phasing between invisibility and visibility as he tried to dodge guards. Well, guess he wasn't exactly the most equipped ghoul for a fight like this.

Either way, the sight of all this fighting got Chihiro even more fired up! With a smile so wide it stretched across her face, Chihiro dashed up towards several knights that raised their swords and got ready to strike. Before she could hit them, though, they hit the ground instead and sent an intense shockwave through the whole courtyard! Chihiro shook to the bone as she flew back, while her swords dissipated back into magic sparkles, and finally she crashed on the ground and grunted.

She coughed a bit as she pulled herself off the ground, but a glance aside showed she wasn't the only one who was rattled to the bone! Cynder fell from the skies and made a dragon-sized dent in the front yard, and Hex herself shuddered as she laid on the cold, dead earth. Worst off yet was Ghost Roaster, who shook back into visibility and fell on his back as the knights who chased him closed in! He grunted as he tried to pull himself off the ground and glared down the armor. Just what was he going to do?

"You know what they say," Ghost Roaster rumbled as he lifted up the ball and chain that made up his feet and swung it around. "No chain, no gain!"

Ghost Roaster slung his ball and chain towards the knights, who all jumped back in some attempt to dodge. However, they weren't his targets—their swords were! Ghost Roaster's ball and chain wrapped around the swords, yanked them back at him, and nearly skewered himself in the eye if not for his quick dodging, but whatever.

The knights all froze and looked down at their noticeably barren hands, now completely distracted. Chihiro had the perfect chance, and she was going to take it! So, she whipped up a cleaver out of magic and let out a fierce yell as she bolted towards the knights! By the time they realized she was coming, they were too late! She leaped above them, turned around her cleaver and smashed its blade against them like it was a hammer! Chihiro smirked as she lifted up the cleaver, let it dissolve into sparkles, and sneaked a peek at the knights, who were flattened like pancakes!

A quick gaze around the rest of the yard showed that those knights' comrades weren't much better off, either; the other knights were all fried, blasted to bits, or even severed in half! The yard was a mess now, but at least it was danger free!

"Guess that's our cue to move on!" Chihiro chirped as she skipped up to the gates and pushed them open.

Thankfully, the gates themselves were light enough that a simple press flung them open just in time for Cynder, Hex and Ghost Roaster to join Chihiro. Unfortunately, it seemed like whatever was in store for them wasn't nearly as simple! They were greeted by a room made of worn, but still sturdy cobblestone accentuated with purple and black ghastly decorations, from tattered curtains, to cracked marble statues, even withered vines with black leaves. It didn't seem like there was any sort of door around, either; all it held was a wall with some kind of lock puzzle on it and a gently-turning whirlpool that glowed with a suspiciously milky light.

"Wait, why's there a whirlpool here?" Chihiro asked as she walked up the whirlpool and frowned. "I don't know if the undead like to swim…"

Chihiro's eyes traveled to the side of the whirlpool, where a worn, half-rotted wooden sign stood tall next to the pool. Despite the rot, the writing on it stood out clear enough for her to make out some kind of message.

"'Entrance to the Box Goblin Swamp,'" Chihiro read as she tilted her head, then shook it and stood tall. "Well, guess I found our next stop!"

Chihiro dipped her feet in and shuddered from the bone-chilling cold that rushed through her body, but that was how she always felt when jumping in the water! She just had to wade through and it would get warmer as she went, right? So, she dove in, but the water didn't drench her clothes at all despite being in a whirlpool! It was more like wading through air! Well, if the air was super thick and only got colder and colder the further in she went. Hey wait, why was her amulet's glow starting to fade? Chihiro shuddered, and finally, the cold got so unbearable that she tried to wade her way out, but it only got more intense the further she pushed against the current! It was like the thing was trying to pull her back in!

"Chihiro!" Cynder exclaimed as she flew over and yanked Chihiro out of the whirlpool at last. "What're you doing? Now's no time for a swim!"

Chihiro gasped as Cynder dropped her off on solid ground, yet she sighed and pulled herself back to her feet. For some reason, that chill took a bit more out of her than the usual cold did, as it shook her bones and her body ached for some kind of rest.

"Well, that sign said this was the way to some swamp," Chihiro explained as she pointed to the sign beside them, though her eyes still fixed on the whirlpool, "but it was so cold I could barely stay in there."

Cynder dipped a paw into the whirlpool, lifted it up and frowned. "What're you talking about? This water's perfectly fine!"

Chihiro just raised an eyebrow at Cynder, and jolted slightly as Hex floated up beside her. Geez, Hex was always so quiet that it was like seeing a ghost!

Hex didn't seem to notice Chihiro's shock as she knelt down and swirled a hand in the whirlpool. "Cynder's right. The water's tepid, but not freezing by any means," Hex remarked as she lifted herself to full height and made that same pensive frown she always made when she was thinking. "Perhaps this is a pool that only the undead can enter."

Well, that would explain why it was messing with the amulet. But, how was Chihiro supposed to get past this place now? Was there a hidden passage or something? Then again, that lock puzzle did seem pretty suspicious.

"You guys take the shortcut!" Chihiro said as she skipped over to the lock puzzle and gripped it tight. "I'll see if I can't get this thing working!"

Hex and Ghost Roaster dove into the whirlpool with no hesitation and quickly disappeared down the eye of its storm, but oddly enough, Cynder just flew up to Chihiro and sat down next to her.

"You're not going, Cynder?" Chihiro asked as she turned the puzzle this way and that.

"I'm not particularly fond of swimming," Cynder remarked as she flicked her tail.

"Well don't worry, I'll be done with this thing in a split-second!"

Chihiro shrugged, and went back to twisting and turning the puzzle before she paused to peer into its keyhole. Surely, those strange glowy orbs that rested inside among the puzzle's inner tiles were what she needed to hit if she wanted to unlock this things and pass, but it seemed like she kept missing them no matter where she turned!

"A little to the left…"

Chihiro tilted the lock puzzle left and frowned as a clunk sounded from within the lock puzzle itself.

"And a bit to the right…"

With a spin of the puzzle's box, the lock puzzle swerved right.

"Now, just bounce it a little and…"

Chihiro jiggled the puzzle up and down and peered inside, but not a single one of those strange glowy orbs were touched! Chihiro's teeth clenched while an unholy groan rumbled in her throat, a groan that only grew more intense as the imp inside started laughing at her for failing! What business did it have laughing at her problem solving its stupid puzzle? It's not like it was doing any solving anytime soon! Chihiro let out another scream as she banged her head against the lock puzzle, and punched it a few times, but nonetheless another peek in the keyhole showed she was no further than before! With a sigh, she let go of the lock puzzle and slunk against the wall.

"Are you done with that thing yet?" Cynder asked as her tail drifted against the stone.

"You try it," Chihiro groaned, "I'm no good with these things."

While Chihiro repeatedly bonked her head against the stone wall, Cynder flew up to the lock puzzle, then grabbed its sides and peered in the lockhole, but instead of solving it, she just winced and immediately let go.

"You know what?" Cynder said as she flew over to the whirlpool. "I think I might swim there after all."

And just like that, Cynder dove headfirst into the whirlpool and disappeared down its waters! Well, looks like Chihiro was on her own now.

"Safe travels," Chihiro moaned as she staggered back up and gave the lock puzzle another pain look. "Something tells me this is gonna take a while."