Two steeds move through the dense forest mist and finally stop in front of an unremarkable wooden cabin.
Still not fully recovered, Wanshi tugs the reins and slowly brings the horse to a stop in front of a weathered courtyard gate.
...This is where I've been staying. It's also an orphanage I built on my own.
The children inside were rescued from nearby villages. Most of their families were lost to the catastrophe.
Wanshi pauses for a moment, then seems to come to a firm decision and adds another line to the person beside him.
Also, things have been moving so fast that I haven't had the chance to explain everything. I want to use this moment to be honest with you.
You nod and follow him into the narrow courtyard.
Several Days Before "The Great Train Robbery"
Several Days Before "The Great Train Robbery"
At dawn, the young man wakes to the sound of birds chirping. Still lying in bed, he touches his abdomen and finds the sharp, tearing pain is completely gone.
He sits up, dazed, and notices a familiar figure sitting at his bedside.
Clad in a dark gray cloak, you hand him a cup of warm water, its heat dispelling the chill from his body.
Thank you. You're the one who...
His unspoken questions are answered before he can ask them.
You lift your cloak, revealing an arm covered in scars and dried blood.
...Right, the children in the castle...!
The answer stirs up fragments of memory in his mind. He clutches his throbbing forehead and tries to stand.
Only... the living dead?
He hesitates and repeats what he just heard.
Then, the site where the live sacrifice rituals took place...
You step forward and return the lantern that had once been left on the ground to its owner.
The flames on the altar have all gone out. A crude wooden carving lies buried in the sacrificial platform, its surface smeared with dark brown blood and mud.
The carving is shaped like a goat, its limbs folded beneath it in a kneeling posture. It lies prostrate on the altar, as if offering its neck for slaughter.
...I was too late. I couldn't stop any of it.
They didn't deserve to die like a helpless lamb.
Wanshi steps forward and digs out the wooden carving. He wipes the blood caked on its base, then carefully tucks it into his pouch.
Come on. There's nothing else to find here.
That priest ran. He won't be coming back here.
He lowers his head, thinking for a moment, then turns to glance back at you.
Gray Raven, you saved me. I want to fight alongside you.
But before we leave, there's one more thing we need to do.
Too many innocent lives are buried here... I don't want to see anyone use this place again.
We have to destroy this altar before we leave.
You raise your arm. A black raven swoops in from somewhere and lands steadily on your shoulder.
Boss, what's the plan?
Heh. Blowing up this thing's gonna take a lot of magic, and you just made a blood covenant with the knight. Maybe you should rest up first—
Alright, alright, quit poking my head! I'll do it already!
The raven's beak flaps open and shut as it grumbles a few reluctant words, then flaps its wings and flies off.
The silver-haired knight glances at you. A trace of unspoken guilt flickers in his expression.
...You don't have to push yourself, Gray Raven.
You saved me, made a contract with me, and you clearly hate these fanatics too.
His clear gaze falls on you. It isn't judgmental, just searching.
Why? Why me? Why now?
Wanshi nods. He doesn't look surprised, as if this were the answer he expected.
So you came to the source of the catastrophe to find a way to overthrow the Sanctuary.
...
He takes a deep breath, as if making an important decision, then reaches out his hand to Gray Raven.
My goal is to find a way to end this catastrophe, and bring peace back to the world.
The Sanctuary's plague has already claimed too many innocent lives. If you're also trying to save this world...
Then I'm with you. Let's purge the poison from this world together.
Back to the present
Back to the present
The long-haired young man dismounts, and as soon as he opens the front door, a crowd of noisy children bursts out like a pack of squirrels.
Wanshi, you're back—!
Wanshi, where's the candy you promised?
The children pay no attention to the unfamiliar guest at the door. They swarm over Wanshi, tugging at him and shouting for gifts.
At the center of the chaos, Wanshi remains calm. He reaches into his many pockets and begins handing out candy one piece at a time.
His hands move like a magician's. Once one coat pocket is empty, he reaches into the next and pulls out something new. Candy pours out of him like Christmas streamers, never-ending.
Come on in. The kids are well-behaved. They won't bother strangers.
While keeping the children in check, Wanshi still remembers to glance up and say a word to you at the door.
He gives you a faint smile in response.
After calming the excited children and tucking them back into bed, the clock's hour hand ticks forward another notch.
Following Wanshi's lead, you, the Bloodsworn, enter the underground workshop. As the door opens, you're greeted by an entire wall covered in maps and photographs.
The entire workshop is set up like a detective's office. Alongside documents on the blood locust plague, there are investigation reports from murder cases across different regions.
The case files are neatly arranged in chronological order. Every victim's cause of death is marked in red: exsanguination.
Aside from the clue board, there are two large wall cabinets on either side of the room. Each grid-like drawer has a handwritten label bearing the name of a different herb.
While tying up his silver hair, Wanshi strolls casually over to the cabinets and opens a few drawers at random.
Yeah. Make yourself comfortable.
No sooner do you sink into the soft chair than a steaming cup of herbal tea appears on the table.
A gentle, sweet aroma spreads across your tongue.
Soul Cocoon Chrysanthemum, Silver Dew Basil, and Sleep Alfalfa—all ingredients with calming properties.
Wanshi gives a small nod of thanks, then pulls a memo board from the corner and begins to speak.
I've been secretly investigating the origins of the blood locust plague for years.
It's supposed to be a natural disaster that only happens every few years, but lately, more and more victims have been turning up—killed by blood loss, as if they'd been devoured by the locusts.
I've classified these cases as a serial exsanguination murder chain. From what I've found, the blood-draining is part of a ritual sacrifice linked to the beliefs of certain tribal groups.
To trace the connection between the victims and the tribespeople, I infiltrated that castle alone. But right at the ritual site, the catastrophe struck. Completely unexpected.
Still, I did find a few clues worth following up on.
He takes out the goat carving he found on the altar, tilting it toward the light. On the base is a twisted pentagram symbol.
At the center of the pentagram, a deep puncture mark has been carved, as if someone had tried to drill a hole clean through the base.
This symbol closely matches the Old Seal used by the ancient tribal remnants, according to records in the great library.
The texts say it's a divine oracle. By following its rituals, the tribespeople believe they can commune with a holy being.
And from what the cultists in the castle were shouting, they were performing some kind of ritual...
I believe these repeated sacrifices across different places are what they refer to as the steps of the ritual.
If you connect the murder sites in chronological order...
Wanshi raises his index finger and traces across the map, linking the case locations. The path he draws outlines a massive star shape in the air.
They form this giant pentagram.
At the center of the star lies a single, isolated town.
You read the town's name aloud.
It's only speculation for now, but I don't think this is a coincidence.
Whoever's behind the murders, whether it's the tribespeople or someone else, they must be doing all this for a reason.
If we can get there first, we might be able to stop the next blood locust outbreak.
Just as you start to stand, Wanshi lifts a hand to stop you.
...Gray Raven. Before we leave, there's one more thing I need to tell you.
Wanshi slides the clue board back into the corner and leans slightly closer to you.
That dream you saw when we made the covenant... it's the same nightmare I've always had ever since I was a child.
Yeah. No matter how many times I wake up, no matter how much time passes, the nightmare always traps me in the same moment.
When I was little, I lost all memory of what happened before I arrived at the orphanage. My foster mother and the others told me I'd been wandering on my own when she came across me during her travels and decided to take me in.
Not long after, a catastrophe struck the orphanage. I was the only one who made it out.
Ever since then, I've had the same dream over and over, reliving the day the disaster struck and the moment that angel interrogated me.
Sometimes I dream about other things too, but it's always visions of catastrophe and judgment.
His face remains calm, but you can tell from his voice that these are the memories he least wants to talk about.
But after forming the covenant with you, for some reason, I began to see another set of fragmented memories in my sleep, memories I've never lived through myself.
I think... I must have glimpsed into your dreams as well.
...I couldn't see it clearly. Just scattered fragments.
Well...
Seeing his hesitation, you add:
...Alright.
He no longer avoids it. The silver-haired demon raises a fingertip and begins reading the soul.
—
A pale glow rises from his fingertip and sinks into your brow.
After a brief moment of focus, Wanshi opens his golden eyes again.
I can see flashes of it, but the memories are too broken up. I can't piece them into a full picture.
...You don't seem too desperate to find out what happened either?
...
...Hold on.
You pause again, stopping just before getting up.
I have one more question. If you've already lost all your memories...
Why are you still willing to take such a huge risk and fight against the Sanctuary?
...Once this calamity is over, let's go look for your memories together.
After a brief silence, his reply takes you by surprise.
Now that I've become a demon, I probably have near-endless time, don't I?
He lets out a small yawn, his voice tinged with drowsiness, though his expression stays calm and serious.
If I have to spend all that time having the same nightmare, I won't be able to take it.
Then it's settled. Once everything is over, I'll look for a way to end the nightmare. You go look for your past.
He's trying to speak with focus, but his eyes are already starting to close on their own.
But before that... hah... I can't... I'm suddenly so tired...
Maybe it's... the price of peering into too many memories...
For now... let's just get some rest...
He hands you a soft owl-shaped pillow, then turns and stretches out on the armchair, closing his eyes.
You can have the bed... good... night...
The herbal tea kettle beside the table gives two soft gurgles and shuts off at just the right moment.
The oil lamp dims, and the room falls quiet once more.
You gently cover him with a blanket, then lie down on the soft bed.
The night passes dreamlessly. When morning light returns, the two of you have already set off on the new journey.
The thick fog that has clung to the forest for days still hasn't lifted. The mountain road to New Zohik lies heavy under the gloom. With visibility low, you two ride slowly.
Morigan, too restless for silence, flies in circles around the two horses, loops through the sky several times, then finally settles on your shoulder.
I'd bet my tail feathers that there's something weird in this fog.
Caw, for all we know, this could be some tribal hideout. This creepy place... only you two would charge in like this.
In the thick fog, massive trees block your view. The towering forest stands like silent sentinels flanking the mountain path.
You don't get it. Those tribal freaks are terrifying. Word is, they can summon giants!
Giants?
Wanshi, who has long studied the history of the Scorched Borderland, seems intrigued
Oh, that stuff? That all happened a thousand years ago, back when the Cardinal Deity was still sitting high up in the heavens.
Legend says the tribe's Holy Maiden could speak with spirits and summon white giants. They could flatten entire mountains and rivers in a single step. No one in any of the three realms dared mess with them.
But who's to say if it's true? The tribespeople haven't shown up in large numbers for centuries.
If they really are that powerful, their offspring wouldn't be stuck living like wild men in the forest today, would they?
Good question. That is a mystery.
Morigan smugly ruffles its wings and puffs out its chest.
Some say the ancient tribe is pure myth, that it never existed, and today's tribespeople are just pretenders.
Others claim that centuries ago humans trekked from afar to this Scorched Borderland and, following the Cardinal Deity's command, massacred them to seize their land.
The few survivors fled back to the forest that shelters them and now bide their time, planning to collect that blood debt from you humans.
But who really knows the truth? With angels almost wiping your kind out, who still cares about an old cycle of slaughter?
You stay silent about the raven's tale, and Wanshi, deep in thought, steers the conversation toward another topic.
Beliefs and legends usually spring from our deepest wishes. Take that tribal cult we shut down two days ago. Its leader believed only human sacrifice could fulfill the ancient oracle.
The more powerless people feel, the more stories they invent to buy a little hope.
The two humans and the bird talk while they ride slowly through the mountains, the clang of hooves echoing in a fog so thick you can't see your hand ahead.
He nods, his grip on the reins steady.
Because it's something they can't see or touch, they filled in the blanks with their own delusions, and eventually became madmen who slaughtered their own kind.
At that, Wanshi pauses.
Oh right, when I broke into the castle, the cultists were shouting something about how we mustn't interfere with Carcosa...
Carcosa might be the one behind all of this. That priest who escaped before the catastrophe could be him.
Just as the silver-haired knight is about to speak, something alerts him. He pulls down the bird-beak mask to cover his face.
There's that drugged smoke in the fog. Cover your mouth and nose!
Morigan lets out a sharp caw and dives back into the saddlebag.
Watch out. The same smoke showed up in the castle. It contains compounds that cause confusion and hallucinations.
No sooner are the words out than the horse squeals and rears wildly, nearly throwing you both off.
Something slams to the ground in front of you with a boom, like a rotten ash-grey log, blocking the damp forest path.
A closer look shows the withered face and shriveled limbs belong to the black-robed priest you met in the castle.
The priest's corpse is drained of blood. His death matches the earlier serial-murder victims—desiccated frame, lungs emptied, pale eyes fixed on the sky.
...Gray Raven.
The knight draws his gun, aims at the sky, and you both slowly look up.
—There.
Looking up in the direction the corpse fell from, you see countless straw-cloak cocoons hanging from the trunks like medicine sachets.
The towering forest, dense enough to blot out the sky, is now draped with mummified corpses beyond counting, clustered like swarming flies.
You don't have time to process the shock. Strange cries echo from the trees around you. A foul stench rises in the air, along with the sharp, rattling sound of bones knocking together.
...Click-click... Click-click-click...
They surround you on all sides. Every path is cut off. There's no way forward or back—just a wall of blood and flesh closing in.
Pestilence lifts his right hand. A pitch-black lantern forms in his palm.
You swing off your mount and draw your weapon, taking your place at his side.
Judging by the rot, these ones only just turned.
He raises the lantern. Threads of blood-like magic weave into the wick. A small flame flickers to life, casting light to guide the dead toward their final rest.
Stay sharp. We're moving in.
