Mythos Reboot

Chapter 13

Flames spread through the town, thick black smoke coiling upward. The sacrificial ritual was underway—even without being present, one could imagine the ongoing bloodshed.

“Damn it, the sacrifice has already begun.”

Veronica clenched her teeth and shouted into the slide chute: "The Deathwalker is in town—we missed it! You two hurry and find an exit to climb up. I'll go ahead to save people—the car's left for you."

With that, Veronica took a deep breath, tightened her fist, and suddenly punched forward.

A thunderous boom followed as shattered stone and dust exploded outward. Amid the swirling debris, a massive hole was torn through one of the castle's outer walls.

Veronica leaped from five meters high with Monica in her arms, splashing muddy water upon landing.

She dashed toward Carvano Town with wind beneath her feet, her figure disappearing into the oak forest within a few breaths.

High above, the moon seemed to have descended further, growing even larger than before, its cratered surface now tinged with a flickering orange-red glow as if flames were dancing wildly.

————

At the bottom of the slide, Wayne propped himself up on his rigid muscles, his head buzzing from hitting the wall during the fall.

Flames ignited along both sides of the passage, guiding the way until the turn at the end.

Wayne realized he was sitting on top of William, who lay sprawled out, and from this vantage point, he could even see the bashfulness on William's face.

Why the hell are you blushing like a teapot？!

Wayne, thoroughly creeped out by the display, cursed as he stood up. Closing his eyes, he pictured Veronica's face and figure to finally dispel the psychological trauma William had inflicted.

Before Wayne could turn around to climb back up, Veronica's voice reached him. His head was still spinning, and he couldn't make out her words clearly—only hearing a thunderous boom as the slide passage was blocked shut.

Wayne tried twice, but the steep slope of the slide made it impossible to gain leverage. Every attempt to push the boulder away just sent him sliding back down due to the recoil.

He snapped irritably at William, "What are you standing around for？ Help me!"

William nodded eagerly, positioning himself behind Wayne and rubbing his hands together, ready to push from behind. Noticing Wayne's dark expression, he scratched his head sheepishly: "If you're embarrassed, I can go first, and you can push me instead."

Have some common sense! How am I supposed to push a 200-pound golden retriever like you？

Wait no—you scheming top! Don't think you can trick me into touching your butt!

Abandoning the idea of going back the same way, Wayne frowned and asked, "William, what did Veronica say earlier？ I didn't catch it—did you hear her？"

“She said the ritual has already begun. The Deathwalkers are in town. She went ahead and told us to hurry.”

William took a deep breath. "Wayne, brace yourself. Saving people comes first—we might not be able to break the curse this time."

Wayne nodded, acknowledging priorities. "I know she's in a hurry to save people, but helping us two wouldn't have taken much time. Now we have no choice but to move forward bravely," he grumbled.

"It's fine. Raiding the Deathwalker's lair prevents him from having other plans," William said, unconcerned about Veronica. With her draconic heritage and formidable physical prowess, she could turn the Deathwalker into a photograph if she wanted.

Capturing him alive, however, would be trickier.

“That may be true, but I…”

Wayne trailed off. If this were a horror movie, splitting up would be a fatal mistake.

"With me protecting you, you'll be fine," William thumped his chest, striking a bodybuilder pose.

Wayne's face darkened further. In this empty castle at night, screaming for help would be pointless.

He picked up some loose stones and tossed them ahead to test the path. After several cautious attempts confirmed no traps, he persuaded William to take the lead.

“Veronica said the Deathwalker's in town, so we're safe…”

William muttered, inching forward step by step. Wayne's excessive caution was making him nervous too.

“Being careful never hurts.”

Wayne reminded cautiously as his supernatural senses showed no anomalies, indicating the castle was safe—at least for now.

The two followed the torch-lit path, and after several turns, Wayne caught the scent of alcohol. Signaling to William, they entered the underground storage to search for usable tools.

Perhaps this was the only storage in the castle, with alcohol and daily necessities piled together. Wayne found no crowbar, and William only managed to locate a flashlight.

It wasn't very useful—they already carried flashlights.

The good news was, after filtering the scents in the air, Wayne confirmed only one other living person besides them in the castle: Mike, who returned to Carvanno Town every year to tend to graves.

“Why does this guy come back every year？ Just to sweep graves？”

Wayne muttered to himself. Guided by the scents in the air, they soon found the exit leading out of the passage.

A mechanism activated the stone gate, bringing them to a high platform on the castle—square and spacious, directly facing the main gate, clearly designed with military purposes in mind.

The night was starless, with only a gigantic moon looming over the land, casting an oppressive weight on all who gazed upward.

In the center of the platform, weeds had been completely cleared away. A black ink-drawn inverted triangle symbol was surrounded by swirling black smoke, twisting midair into disorderly swaying black arms.

The arms varied in size—some adult, some childlike, both male and female. Countless palms of different sizes stretched toward the sky as if trying to drag down the moon.

The disturbing sight stirred a surge of violence in Wayne's heart. His destructive desires gradually amplified, slowly eroding his calm rationality. Though the process was slow, it had already caused him discomfort.

William was similarly affected. Narrowing his eyes, a dazzling light burst forth from his pupils as magic summoned the radiance of sunlight to flood the platform.

Bathed entirely in this brilliance, his formidable physique and resolute expression made him appear invincible.

But Wayne sensed something amiss. The moment William dispelled the death ritual, his long-dormant supernatural perception issued an intense warning.

A black arm detached from the fog, transforming into a pitch-black monster.

Humanoid.

Its surface writhed with entangled black serpents, every part contorting. Where eyes and mouth should be, gray cavities spiraled downward like bottomless pits.

The monster stood a head taller than William, neckless, its torso and limbs shifting from brawny like a strongman to slender as tree branches in an instant, with no stable form.

William had now transformed into a radiant figure, white steam rising from his body as waves of scorching heat forced the black monster into continuous wails.

There was no prolonged battle of three hundred rounds—William shattered the monster with a single punch, then raised a halo of light with both hands and thrust it directly into the writhing mass of tentacles.

Black tentacles surged downward, engulfing William completely.

Like butter meeting a hot knife, piercing screams rose one after another, stinging eardrums and making gums ache. Wayne, standing closest, saw his vision blur and head spin, nearly losing his balance.

When he regained his senses, the ringing in his ears persisted, and his stomach churned violently. He lowered his head but vomited nothing.

Light triumphed over darkness as William successfully interrupted the ritual. The radiance around him rapidly dimmed as he tossed a can from his waist pouch, using the last of his magic to activate a small device. The wildly growing greenery submerged the inverted triangle symbol, eliminating any chance of the ritual restarting.

The magical trinket was crafted by Veronica. Although William couldn't harness the power of the Nature Goddess, due to the alliance among the Three Goddesses, his magic could activate magical artifacts made by Nature Cult followers.

The rapidly growing vines took root in the stone floor, forming a towering bulge. Exhausted of magic and thoroughly drained, William slipped and fell straight down.

Thump!

"Wayne, so heartless. I thought you'd catch me," William complained pitifully.

"What were you thinking？ Have you seen how much you weigh？!" Wayne expressed helplessness—he would've liked to, but feared being crushed to death.

He stepped forward to help William up, and the two ascended the castle steps to the garden, where they spotted a shadow floating above a tombstone in the distance.

Though Wayne knew the specter couldn't harm him, he still felt a pang of fear as they passed by.

What if she suddenly tries to scare me？

William resolved this doubt by suddenly shouting at the ghostly figure as they passed, startling the cowardly specter into retreating underground.

Catch the ghost off guard and give it a fright!

Wayne said he'd learned his lesson and would try it next time. William boasted proudly: "Look how spoiled they've become. Before, I was afraid of alerting the Deathwalkers. Otherwise, as a devout follower of the Sun Goddess, how could I possibly be scared by a few ghosts？"

No need to explain—being afraid of ghosts isn't shameful.

William had a point, but Wayne saw the truth of them most clearly. Mages could easily vanquish spirits, but that mages feared spirits was another matter entirely—the two didn't conflict.

The two trudged step by step out of the manor, slogging through the mud until they found the blue car. Wayne started the engine, turned on the headlights, and sped straight toward Carvorno Village.

The flames continued to spread, but the damnable sky had stopped the torrential rain, showing no mercy.

This time, there was no need to worry about tipping off the enemy. Wayne took the turns at full speed, tires skidding as the car fishtailed, making William let out a scream—the infamous "William Scream.

Soon, the blue car screeched to a halt at the village entrance. Wayne's heart pounded violently as his supernatural senses screamed warnings like never before.

Danger!

Deadly danger everywhere!

“Wait, something's wrong…”

Wayne stopped William who was charging headlong forward. He took a deep whiff of the air, his scalp crawling as he said: "We're too late. There's no scent of living people here—only the stench of decay…"

Decayed as if they'd been dead for a very, very long time, only just recently unearthed.

"Why can't I smell anything？" William asked, bewildered.

At that moment, a figure came sprinting toward them at breakneck speed—it was Veronica. Behind her was the burning town and a host of figures with twisted limbs moving in stiff, bizarre motions.

Veronica's face was covered in dust. She urged Wayne and William to get in the car quickly, then took the driver's seat and started the engine to leave.

"Wait, where's Monica？" William asked urgently.

“No time for questions! Get in now—there's no time to explain!”

Veronica urged anxiously, but William's expression grew increasingly cold. He violently yanked open the driver's door, his fist radiating a faint glow as he swung it hard toward Veronica's face.

With a sickening crack, Veronica's neck snapped and half her face shattered, revealing beneath the vibrant skin withered, shriveled black-gray muscles and brittle yellowed bones.

“Veronica would never abandon Monica. Don't try to fool me.”

William dragged the impostor out of the car while Wayne retrieved crowbars from the trunk. Armed with one each, they clanged and banged until the fragile counterfeit was successfully dismantled into parts.

Not far away, a large group of these fragile beings slowly advanced, while the full moon above seemed to descend slightly further…