[Stone Statue Cemetery]
Because it deviated from the main urban area and was close to the suburbs, although Death poured out and shrouded the entire city, it did not affect this place immediately.
Due to the departure of the Cemetery Manager—Rupert, all the stone gargoyles were removed, and the entire cemetery was in a state of unmanaged disarray.
a gentleman responsible for the security of the surrounding blocks, with a look of panic, ran to the cemetery gate, seeking sanctuary.
His right arm seemed to be completely withered by some kind of erosion, resembling the arm of a mummy stored for hundreds of years, which he had ultimately ripped off and discarded because it impeded his movement.
The man with the severed arm ran towards the cemetery while loudly calling for help.
“Lord Rupert, save me! My friend has been resurrected by the Death Plague and is chasing me…”
When he arrived at the cemetery, he found, to his surprise, that the gates, which were always closed, were completely open.
But as he ran quickly through the cemetery, he gradually began to sense something was amiss.
He had been fortunate enough to visit the Stone Statue Cemetery once before and knew that the moment one stepped in, they would feel a gaze from all around, as stone gargoyles lurking in the shadows could tear intruders to pieces at any moment.
Moreover, there would always be a stone steward to guide visitors, also serving to monitor any outsiders.
But this time, there was nothing—
Empty and quiet, as if stepping into an abandoned cemetery.
Just as the man paused for a moment due to the cemetery’s emptiness, a wheezy hissing came from behind, and a blonde woman with tattered clothes and sore-covered eyes followed with a twisted gait.
The blonde woman had been his companion, and they even had a certain affection for each other, jointly responsible for the security of the block.
As Death spread, the blonde woman committed suicide on the spot because she carelessly looked up at the sky.
Less than ten minutes after her death, a large amount of filth surged out from the nearby sewers, moving towards the site of the blonde woman’s death regardless of whether it could move or not.
At the same time, a strand of deep black sheen like a liquid thread, the substance known in the Old World as “Death Plague Breath”, arrived with the presence brought by the Death Plague Knight Order—Harvester Rotweis.
Ordinary people could not endure it; only the gentleman class could accept such an aura, undergoing a completely different kind of “Death Resurrection.”
When the filth from the sewer rebuilt her body with the woman’s ‘last breath’, the “Death Plague Breath” immediately burrowed into her flesh, merging with her pre-existing abilities, transforming them into the power of the dead.
The two, once nearly equal in status, fought for just a few minutes, and the blonde woman had disabled the man’s arm, leading to the current moment of flight.
No matter how the man shouted, the blonde woman showed no response; her existence’s purpose was to spread death, until Levinhome became the City of the Dead.
Having no other options, the man had to keep running until he reached the Manager’s stone house.
“Mr. Rupert, please save me!”
Tap tap—a series of footsteps came from inside the stone house, but the figure who emerged was not the ‘dwarf’ he remembered.
Instead, it was a mysterious person wrapped in a black robe with gold trim, exuding a sinister aura, face obscured.
“Lord Rupert has long since departed, and I temporarily guard this cemetery. To receive my protection, you must pay with enough ‘grapes.'”
The man grew increasingly frantic as footsteps followed close behind.
“The only grapes on your face that can shimmer and ooze juice.”
This person was not foolish and naturally understood what the man before him was saying. Once an important sensory organ like the eyeball was removed, unless one had the top-tier medical skills of Zion, it would be difficult for it to regenerate and heal on its own.
But in the face of death, eyes were nothing.
His hands quickly reached for his eye sockets, and just as he was about to gouge out the so-called grape, the mysterious figure’s voice came again, “Leave one for yourself, if you become blind and can’t find your way out of the cemetery, I’m going to be very troubled.”
Gouge it out and sever the nerve at the same time!
With teeth clenched, the man threw his left eye towards the mysterious figure.
Smack! An arm covered with black hair from beneath the robe caught the eyeball steadily.
The arm then stuffed the eye beneath the hood, and one could even hear the sound of the eye’s bursting as it was bitten into.
“Hmm~Your grape juice is plentiful and pure, I can tell that it’s been well-maintained. I give this grape 81 points.”
At this moment, the blonde-haired woman had already leapt into the air, and multiple arms made of filth emerged from her back, ready to pin the man to the ground.
In the critical moment, the mysterious figure suddenly lifted his hood, revealing a face filled with eyeballs that was utterly terrifying,
With just one gaze, the blonde-haired woman’s brain exploded mid-air.
As her headless corpse fell to the ground, the mysterious figure also raised his right arm, mumbling some ancient curse.
The curse spelled like a gun, spiraling gray lines shot into the woman’s body.
The exploded flesh was branded with an ancient inscription, quickly obliterated by the curse’s erosion.
The mysterious figure lifted his smoking finger and his lips parted with a slight smile, “Oh? The power is that great… truly worthy of being the Fallen Gentleman-Eye Collector, Gemhar, buried in Cemetery No.6.
The exceptional vision allowed him to capture a wisp of black thread, liquid-like, amidst the obliterated flesh, from it he could glimpse an ancient scene of death.
“Is this substance from the Old World? It must only be a very small part of it. If such material were to spread widely in the city, the city would surely be lost.
What a pity, the remaining value of the Stone Statue Cemetery hasn’t yet been fully exploited.”
“How is William doing, I wonder? He better not die in a place ~Otherwise, if the soul also perishes, being buried in the cemetery would be meaningless.
Hey! What’s your name?”
With that inquiry from the little grape, the other party finally came back to his senses.
To some extent, he was petrified by the little grape’s figure; he couldn’t comprehend what the temporary Manager was, those eyes all over his face caused his mind to become utterly chaotic.
“Idrisa Marlin… that’s right, you can just call me Marlin!”
“Marlin, I need a favor from you~If you do well, I can give you a better grape in return, plus a free installation.”
“Go to the district and find a gentleman named William Behrens. Bring him to me, dead or alive. Can you do it?”
The little grape’s words carried a forceful thought invasion, rooting directly into the man’s brain, akin to an absolute command that was irresistible.