"It was about fifty years ago on a night when the Nelson family hosted a grand banquet. Besides the family members returning from out of town, they also invited prominent figures from the town, such as the priest, the mayor, members of the town council..."
"The banquet was in full swing when suddenly the Nelson family members launched an attack. They locked the gates of the estate and assaulted every guest present. They slaughtered, set fires, drank blood to their fill, and hung the bodies of the victims from flagpoles."
"The priest and several council members managed to escape the estate, but the crazed Nelson family had no intention of stopping. They rode into the town on horseback, continuing their massacre. That night, the town was filled with flames and the cries of the victims..."
"I was just a child at the time, terrified. My parents rushed me to the church in the middle of the night, where all the children in town gathered."
"To resist the inhuman Nelson family and protect their homes and children, the townspeople organized a counterattack. By the time dawn arrived, they had successfully driven the mad members of the Nelson family back to their estate."
"By then, the estate was engulfed in flames. The fire consumed the group of vicious lunatics, and it's said that as they bathed in the flames, they were still singing and laughing, holding hands and dancing, as if death was the home they longed for..."
"Afterwards, investigators from Lunden came for a long time. The priest and the council members, after experiencing this upheaval, each became eccentric, as did the townspeople. Many left and moved elsewhere, never to return to their hometown."
The crazy night was fifty years ago, a terror taboo that the town of Cafuno was unwilling to mention, directly leading to the decline of the town, which has not recovered to this day.
Due to the passage of time, the innkeeper was just a child at the time, so the information he can provide is very limited. When Veronica asked if any members of the Nelson family survived that night, the innkeeper looked puzzled.
There should have been, otherwise it's hard to explain Mac's last name.
...
Outside the window, the storm continued unabated and seemed to be getting worse.
Wayne felt awful. It was clear skies just this morning, and now it had taken a sharp turn. If the heavens continued like this, they would soon be in "Stormy Night at the Castle" mode.
The innkeeper and the two misses had already left. After eating mushrooms, they would sleep soundly tonight and wouldn't remember the interrogation process. Just in case, Wayne went all out and stuffed the misses' collars with hush money at market price.
He paid, Veronica treated.
Veronica, holding the black cat, stood in front of the window pondering. Based on the limited information, it could be inferred that the Nelson family were loyal followers of the Goddess of Death, carrying out slaughter to gain the favor of the goddess. Passed down to Mac, they once again received the favor of death.
This also explained why Mac suddenly became a Deathwalker and wielded powerful magic.
The question was, did Mac return to Cafuno Town to get married?
"Rather than marriage, it's most likely to continue the unfinished business of his ancestors, sacrificing the entire town to death in exchange for power," Wayne frowned.
Completing the unfinished business of his ancestors, sacrificing the unclean sacrifices of the family, this was the routine. There wouldn't be any mistake.
William nodded and put down the chocolate in his hand, indicating that Wayne's thoughts were in line with his. This was called understanding.
Wayne didn't want to, he looked at Veronica, wanting to have an understanding with the beautiful girl.
After a moment of contemplation, Veronica decided to immediately head to the Nelson Estate. Time waits for no one, and who knows at which stage Mac's sacrifice has reached. In case innocent townspeople and they themselves become victims, they must resolve the Deathwalker tonight.
At this moment, Veronica put aside the idea of lifting the curse and prioritized stopping the sacrifice. In terms of priority, stopping the sacrifice was more important.
The heavy rain poured, and the blue car drove through the oak forest under the rain curtain. To avoid startling the target, Wayne drove in the dark without turning on the headlights.
The oak forest road was the only road from the town to the Nelson Estate. After the estate was reduced to ruins and became a terror taboo, the townspeople never set foot here. Years of neglect resulted in overgrown roads, combined with decaying leaf piles, making this broken road muddy and slippery.
It took Wayne a full ten minutes to drive two miles.
Seeing the ruins of the estate from a distance, Wayne parked the vehicle at the exit of the oak forest road, and the three of them, along with the cat, walked under the umbrella.
Boom———
A flash of lightning streaked across the night sky, illuminating the darkened estate.
Rather than calling it an estate, it was more like a castle. Surrounded by towering walls on all sides, with several lookout towers overlooking the distance, the castle gate was nowhere to be seen, resembling an open mouth in the darkness.
Entering the gate, the once-garden square was desolate and messy, with dry grass and withered bushes everywhere, along with several tombstones.
The townspeople certainly wouldn't bury their dead here, they didn't even have time to escape. As expected, buried here were the remains of the Nelson family members from back then.
Monica, with sharp eyes, saw a bouquet of flowers in front of a tombstone, very fresh, indicating that someone had recently visited the grave.
Following that, Monica noticed something strange. There were many candle ashes in front of the tombstone, some candles burned out, some still had a small portion left, indicating that someone often came here to clean the grave.
If this person was Mac, he would return to Cafuno Town every year. If not...
There were other surviving members of the Nelson family.
Veronica took a deep breath, her expression becoming much more serious. She instructed William to protect Wayne well and grabbed the glass jar, walking at the forefront.
William followed closely behind, while Wayne walked alongside him and was responsible for holding Monica.
Monica, unimpressed by Wayne's embrace, but unable to tolerate the mud everywhere, after some thought, she had to accept it.
Both being followers of the Moon Goddess, there was nothing wrong with being a little closer to each other!
The wooden buildings of the estate had been burned to ashes, leaving only ruins buried under weeds. However, relying on the stone castle, the attic had been preserved. Wayne was worried about traps, but as they walked, he bumped into Veronica in front.
There was no other reason, all because their magical powers were sealed, and Veronica was a descendant of dragon blood, the strongest in combat in the squad, William...
He's a good guy!
This position made Veronica very uncomfortable. Turning around, she glared fiercely at Wayne, who couldn't see it because it was too dark. Wayne suddenly stopped because Veronica suddenly stopped, accidentally bumping into her.
Several people groped around in the castle passage in the dark. There were several observation windows on the outer wall, about the size of a fist. Occasionally, lightning flashed through, and they only made progress when Monica directed them.
After some time, Monica suspected that she was lost, and Wayne stopped.
He called out to Veronica in front, pointing to the brick wall beside him, "I can smell the scent of strangers, not from any of us. This path hasn't been taken before. Let's look carefully, there must be a mechanism nearby to open the secret passage."
He then rubbed Monica's cat head, "A cat's sense of smell is more sensitive than a dog's, you must have smelled it too, right?"
Monica moved away without speaking. Veronica couldn't help but roll her eyes at Wayne's remark, "What do you mean, you have a dog's nose?"
"..."
Although, indeed, he did!
Veronica didn't believe Wayne's dog nose, but she agreed with Wayne's guess that there must be a secret passage in the castle, and the Deathwalker must be hidden in some corner.
The three of them searched around, looking for the mechanism to open the door. William accidentally touched the mechanism, and suddenly the ground gave way beneath his feet, subconsciously grabbing Wayne's arm, and the two of them slid down the slide.
Wayne's face was full of frustration. He reached out to pull someone else to cushion his fall, but Veronica was too far away, and he couldn't reach her. Monica avoided it.
As everyone knows, a cat's speed is seven times that of a dog's. In the moment of falling, she stepped on Wayne's shoulder to jump, landing steadily on the ground.
Veronica hurried forward, staring at the dark slide. There was light below, along with Wayne's vigorous swearing. She sighed with relief.
It's okay to fall, as long as no one is hurt.
The heavy rain suddenly stopped, and the dark and gloomy sky seemed to be switched off like a light. The moon, unrealistically large, bathed the earth in silver light.
Monica jumped on Veronica's shoulder, sticking her head out to look at the observation window, sensing the strange atmosphere in the moonlight. Her pupils dilated to the limit:
"The town..."
"It's on fire!"