Hanna and Helga cried desperately while their mother stood protectively in front of them. Bernd approached the women with a bloodied axe and wanted to complete his work. The villagers recognized the madness in Bernd's eyes and tried to help, but they were not armed. Some rushed off to arm themselves and stop the madman. But Bernd gave them no time to arm themselves. He charged toward the women and raised his axe over his head, ready to kill the next member of the family. But before he could swing the axe down, it was blocked by Mortis' scythe. Mortis, not knowing what was going on, automatically moved and interfered before he even realized who he was helping.
"Who are you, you bastard? How dare you stand in front of me?" asked Bernd angrily. Mortis replied with a derisive laugh, "What are you laughing at, stranger? Should I know you?" asked Bernd.
"Oh yes, you know me. For a very long time, in fact. But that you don't recognize your own brother only shows how blind you are. But no wonder, after all, you and those women thought I would probably die in the war. But as you can see, I'm back. And in a guise you could only dream of - servant of the Dark Emperor," Mortis said with a sneer.
"You can claim to be my brother, but I won't believe a word you say. After all, that cripple would never have dared to oppose me. On the contrary, that dog would have even done the deed for me if I had only told him. Now get out of my way! After all, these whores will serve the Dark Emperor with their blood!" roared Bernd.
"That's right, I was a nobody and I let a lot of things happen to me. But the war has changed me, and I warn you: one step closer to Mother and the women, and I will kill you before anyone else," Mortis said angrily, looking Bernd in the eye.
"That's what I want to see, brother," Bernd said and swung his axe to rush at Mortis. But as soon as Bernd tried to swing the axe, Mortis chopped off one of his arms. Bernd roared loudly as he saw his stump soaking the ground with blood. But Mortis didn't stop, but walked up to Bernd, grabbed him by the collar and threw him toward the house. Bernd flew against the door, which lifted off its hinges and made the first attempts to brake inside the house. Mortis was about to continue after him when a shaky voice said, "Mortis, are you really my Mortis?" Mortis turned, looked his mother in the eye and said, "Yes, Mother, I am back. But now, as the second born, I must do my duty and eradicate the evil of our family. So wait here, I'll be right back."
Mortis was about to go into the house when a group of peasants came armed with pitchforks, axes and hoes to stop this criminal and carry out his just punishment. "Quest received: Don't let any of the villagers die. Reward: equipment improvement, increase of an applied equipment," the message said.
When Mortis saw the message, he took notice. But when he entered the house, he got a familiar creep, because he sensed one or more ghosts. Still, Mortis tried to ignore it. He saw his brother running down to the cellar armed with a knife. The villagers ran after him in anger, but Mortis outran them, which was also their good fortune. No sooner had Mortis descended the stairs than a knife flew at him, but he was able to catch it when he saw his brother disappear into a hidden passage.
The villagers were shocked by the cellar, for much of it was smeared with blood and smelled of death. Mortis didn't notice right away and didn't know what was upsetting the others. But when he took a moment to become aware of the situation, he realized that something bigger was going on here. So Mortis followed his brother more quickly through the secret passageway to determine exactly what was going on.
After a short walk, Mortis found himself in a large room that had to be underneath the barn. There was a huge altar of his own making, smeared with the blood of human victims who were rotting away without being given a burial. The murderer of these people, Mortis' brother, stood there.
"What have you done here? What made you take human lives just to worship a monster?" asked Mortis angrily. His roar could be heard throughout the house, which only made the villagers rush in faster, stunned. Bernd, who lingered bleeding in a corner trying to stop his bleeding, prayed loudly to the Dark Emperor, asking for power to complete his work. Mortis' mother also came with the two women to see what was going on. At this, Helga and Mortis' mother were visibly shocked, but Hanna was not. Only Mortis' mother noticed. Hanna already pulled out a knife and was about to grab Helga when Mortis' mother pushed Helga away with all her might, making her a hostage to Hanna.
Hanna held the knife to her mother-in-law's throat and said loudly, "You damn bastard, couldn't you have just gotten yourself killed instead of telling people our hiding place? Now we are all in danger because of you. You're even too stupid to murder two defenseless women. You had to make a scene. You could have just stabbed father's drunkard in his sleep. But what did I expect from you, whose brother is a cripple? As if you were ever any better. It took me so much effort to lure those stupid men into the barn without them asking questions and wondering, and you ruin it all. The Dark Emperor will not tolerate this failure, but before I fall, I will take your mother and your toys to their deaths."
Helga crashed into the wall from her mother's shove and was knocked unconscious. But the mother, who was in danger, remained calm and looked sadly into Mortis' eyes. Then she said softly, "I am sorry, my son, that I could not save you against your father or your brother. But Helga is worth saving. She too is just a victim of the madness in our family. Please save her and forgive her. She is not what you think she is. She too was just trying to survive." But Hanna did not let her continue and killed her in cold blood.
Mortis was torn. On the one hand, he did not see this woman as his mother, but on the other hand, he had all the memories of the real Mortis. Rage overcame him and with this rage he jumped towards Hanna and decapitated her. Although this murderess was now finished, there was still someone in the corner praying fervently to the Dark Emperor. But he was never heard, which was no wonder, because even if the Dark Emperor was a demon, he was not a god. But Bernd only became aware of this when the scythe of Mortis separated his head from his shoulders.
The villagers were on the one hand stunned, but on the other hand grateful that this stranger in their eyes had saved them from such monsters. They could not imagine that this was really Mortis. But suddenly a sinister and rumbling laugh was heard. It seemed to come from the altar of the Dark Emperor and frightened the villagers, making them think that they were now doomed. Mortis, however, knew that something was wrong here, for his intuition told him that something else was going on. He walked over to this homemade altar and simply pushed it aside to find that there was a small hole in the floor covered by several bands of runes.
Mortis tore at the ribbons and saw a spirit-like creature emerge. It was a Puck, a house spirit that usually brings happiness and contentment to the house, but only if you treat him well and put him something to eat. However, it seemed that someone had sealed this poor puck under his house. When Mortis removed the last tape, the Puck jumped out of the hole and danced back and forth with joy. But this joy lasted only a short time, because Mortis did not feel like dancing. He approached the dwarf-like creature, who looked at Mortis in wonder.
Oh, I see that bastard's second son survived the war and has returned to this nest that became hell for himself. I thank you, young man, for freeing me. May you be fortunate and not be sullied by the sins of your father and brother. I am a nature spirit who inhabits houses. I cannot leave unless the inhabitants move out or something happens to the house. Usually I bring happiness and prosperity, but if I am insulted and ignored, my revenge will be terrible. Your father even dared to lock me away, so my curse was activated and your family was afflicted with madness, especially your father and brother. You've been battered enough by fate, and for that I apologize to you. Your clan did not deserve it any other way.
The villagers stood in amazement, for all should know what happens when one wrongs a Puck, for he can be a blessing and a curse in equal measure. But they were most shocked when they heard the Puck himself say that this young, beautiful man was really supposed to be Mortis. But Mortis was indifferent to the looks of the villagers. He was busy with his own thoughts, wondering how to deal with the situation. He looked at his dead family members and his unconscious wife, with whom he really had nothing to do, but he did not want to disregard his mother's last wish. So he went to Helga, lifted her up and told the others to take his family members upstairs and take the other bodies away. He ignored Puck for the time being, since Mortis had no interest in staying in the village anyway.
After a few hours, the bodies were taken out of the cellar and given to their families. Mortis put his family members on the table in the living room and left them there for the time being while he took Helga to the next inn and then made his way to the hidden dungeon.