The town was ablaze, with thick black smoke billowing up. The sacrificial ritual was underway, and even without being there in person, one could imagine the bloody massacre taking place.
"Damn it, the sacrifice has begun."
Veronica gritted her teeth, shouting to the sled, "The Deathwalker is in the town. We missed it. You two hurry up and find a way out and climb up. I'll rush over to save people first. I'll leave the car to you."
With that, Veronica took a deep breath, clenched her fists, and punched forward forcefully.
With a loud roar, rubble and dust flew around as a section of the castle's outer wall was blasted open.
Veronica leaped with Monica in her arms, landing from a height of five meters, splashing mud and water upon landing.
She dashed towards the town of Caffuno at a breakneck speed, disappearing into the oak forest after a few breaths.
In the sky, the moon seemed to have descended further, becoming even larger than before. Its pockmarked surface flickered with dancing orange flames, as if firelight was in a frenzy.
At the bottom of the slide, Wayne propped himself up with his muscular arms, his head buzzing from the impact against the wall during the fall.
The torches on both sides lit the way, guiding them until they reached the corner at the end of the passage.
Wayne found himself sitting on William, who was sprawled out. From his elevated position, he could still see the embarrassment on William's face.
"You're blushing like a teapot!"
Wayne felt his scalp numb from William's showing off and teasing, cursing as he got up and closed his eyes, trying to push Veronica's figure out of his mind, finally dispelling the psychological shadow cast by William.
Without turning around to climb up, Wayne heard Veronica's voice, his mind still a bit fuzzy, not hearing clearly what she said, but knowing that there was a loud rumble, and the slide was blocked.
Wayne tried twice, but the inclined slide was difficult to push against, and each attempt to push the stones would result in him sliding back due to the reaction force.
He grumbled at William, "What are you standing there for? Help out!"
William nodded repeatedly, standing behind Wayne, ready to push his butt. Seeing Wayne's gloomy expression, he scratched his head innocently. "If you feel embarrassed, I can go first and let you push me."
You're really trying my patience; how can I push a big golden retriever like you?
No, you conniving 1, don't think about touching my hand with your butt!
Wayne gave up on the idea of returning the same way, frowning, "William, what did Veronica just say? I didn't hear it clearly. Did you hear it?"
"She said the sacrifice has already begun, and the Deathwalker is in the town. She's going ahead, asking us to hurry over."
William took a deep breath. "Wayne, you need to be mentally prepared. Saving people is the priority, and this trip might not break the curse."
Wayne nodded. Priorities were priorities. Then he complained, "I know she's in a hurry to save people, but saving us on the way wouldn't have taken much time. Now, we can only grit our teeth and move forward."
"It's okay. By raiding the Deathwalker's lair, we prevent him from having other plans." William wasn't worried about Veronica. As a descendant of dragon's blood, she had powerful physical output. As long as Veronica was willing, she could turn the Deathwalker into a photograph with just a glance.
On the other hand, capturing him alive would be more troublesome.
"That's right, but I..."
Wayne hesitated. Splitting up was a taboo in horror movies.
"With me here, you'll be fine." William patted his chest, striking a bodybuilding pose.
Wayne's face darkened even more. It was late at night, the castle was deserted, and shouting at the top of his lungs would be useless.
Picking up the broken stones from the ground, Wayne threw them ahead to find their way. After a few attempts to confirm that no traps were triggered, he tricked William into walking in front of him.
"Veronica said the Deathwalker is in the town, so we're safe..."
William muttered to himself, cautiously moving forward step by step. Wayne's excessive caution made him a bit nervous.
"Better safe than sorry," Wayne reminded him. The supernatural sense didn't give any unusual warnings, indicating that the castle was safe, at least for now.
The two proceeded along the torch-lit path, taking several turns, until Wayne caught a whiff of the smell of alcohol. He waved at William and the two entered the castle's warehouse, looking for handy weapons.
Perhaps there was only one warehouse inside the castle. Alcohol and some household items were piled together. Wayne didn't find a crowbar, and William only found a flashlight.
It wasn't very useful since they already had flashlights on them.
The good news was that Wayne filtered the smell of the air and confirmed that there was only one living person in the castle besides them. It was Mike, the gravekeeper, who returned to Caffuno Town every year.
"Why does this guy come back every year, just to tend to the graves?" Wayne muttered to himself, following the smell of the air to find the way out, quickly finding the exit from the passage.
Activating the mechanism, they arrived at the platform high in the castle. It was square and spacious, facing the castle gate, evidently designed for military use during construction.
Night fell, with no stars, and the giant moon loomed over the earth, casting a heavy sense of oppression on every observer.
The weeds in the center of the platform were cleared away, revealing a triangular symbol drawn in black ink. Black smoke billowed, twisting and contorting into erratic black arms in the air.
Arms of various sizes, from adults to children, men and women, stretched towards the sky as if trying to pull the moon down.
The disturbing scene filled Wayne with a sense of resentment, as the desire to destroy grew gradually, slowly eroding his calm rationality. It was a slow process, but it was already making him uncomfortable.
William also felt the same way, squinting his eyes as a burst of dazzling light erupted from them. Under the influence of magic, the brilliance of the sun spread across the platform.
Bathed in the light, his robust physique and determined expression made him look invincible.
But Wayne sensed trouble. In the moment when William disrupted the death ritual, the supernatural sense, which had been quiet for a long time, issued a severe warning.
Danger!
Deadly danger was everywhere!
"Wait, something's not right..."
Wayne stopped William, who was charging forward, and took a deep breath, feeling his scalp tingle. "We're too late. There's no smell of living people here, only the smell of decay... like they've been dead for a very, very long time, just dug up."
"Why didn't I smell it?" William was puzzled.
Just then, a figure came running towards them at breakneck speed. It was Veronica, followed by the burning town and the twisted, stiff shadows.
Veronica's face was covered in dust. She urged Wayne and William to get in the car quickly, and she herself got into the driver's seat, ready to leave.
"Wait, where's Monica?" William asked urgently.
"No time for nonsense, get in the car quickly. There's no time to explain."
Veronica urged them anxiously, but William's expression became colder and colder. He violently opened the driver's seat door, a faint glow emanating from his clenched fist, and viciously smashed it towards Veronica's face.
With a loud crack, Veronica's neck snapped, half of her face shattered. Beneath the lively skin was withered, shriveled black-gray muscles and yellowish, brittle bones.
"Veronica wouldn't leave Monica behind. You can't fool me."
William dragged the impostor out of the car, and Wayne took out a crowbar from the trunk. With one each in hand, they hammered away, successfully dismantling the fragile fake into pieces.
Not far away, a large group of fragile items approached slowly, and the round moon in the sky seemed to have descended again...