Todd, who was hiding in a corner of the hall, waited until all the gray-robed men had left before cautiously peeking out to take a look at the situation outside.

Before the chaos began, Tristan, who was hidden behind the screen, asked in a low voice, "How is it outside?"

Todd shook his head at him: "You don't want to see this... The hall is full of dead people, a hundred... no, maybe more, and less than half of them may have survived."

Tristan, lying on the ground, let out a long sigh: "Thank you for saving my life."

Todd patted his arm and gave him a smile.

Standing up, carefully avoiding the survivors' gaze from the corner, Todd went to the other end of the hall and found Dion hiding in a recess in the windowsill.

Seeing the bloody gash on the other person's calf, Todd frowned and asked, "What happened?"

Dion said dejectedly, "Just as the enemy began their attack, I was stabbed in the smoke by a panicked nobleman who was wildly swinging his sword."

Todd looked around and asked, "Where's Mary?"

When she was mentioned, Dion was even more annoyed: "I was with her, but when her father was taken away, she couldn't bear to leave him and secretly followed him."

Todd scratched the back of his head in exasperation and said to Dion, "You stay here and don't move. I'll send someone to pick you up."

Dion grabbed Todd's sleeve: "Your Majesty, you cannot risk your life alone!"

Todd smiled and pointed to the sky: "I'm not fighting alone, reinforcements are right above us."

An abandoned underground waterway in the city of Saint Guard.

Five grey-robed men carried Leoric and his two sons through the underground corridors, which resembled a maze, and finally entered a room deep within the underground waterways.

Three wooden beds, still stained with blood, sat quietly in the center of the room. Various experimental instruments, organ specimens, and herbal bottles were neatly stacked on shelves close to the wall.

A man in a gray robe first lit the oil lamps around the room, while the others took on different tasks. Some were busy putting Leoric and his two sons onto the wooden bed, while others set up a pot to boil water and prepare the 'medicinal' herbs.

Once these busy tasks were completed, the five gray-robed men took off their hoods, and four of them looked at the leader, waiting for his instructions.

"Seventeen, go and bring out Death." The leader, dressed in an astrologer's grey robe and holding an oak staff, looked at the three unconscious father and sons of Saint Guard City and continued, "Twenty-one, go and prepare the surgical instruments; twenty-seven, cut the hair off these three people with scissors; thirty-three, go to the ferry crossing on the underground river and prepare the boat."

After issuing these orders, the gray-robed leader found a chair, sat down, crossed his arms, and quietly watched his subordinates bustling about.

With the snip of scissors, the three men, who had been unconscious, gradually woke up.

Mathilde and Sinclair found themselves strapped to a wooden bed, surrounded by a thick, pungent smell of blood and decay. Mathilde immediately screamed for help, twisting and turning frantically while pleading for mercy.

After struggling and realizing he couldn't break free, Sinclair calmed down. His face was deathly pale as he surveyed his surroundings, his eyes darting around as he frantically searched for a way to escape.

The gray-robed leader watched the two men's behavior, then suddenly laughed and said, "How amusing."

Leoric's faint voice came through: "Hyatt, how much longer until the ritual is complete?"

The grey-robed leader, known as Hyatt, looked at Leoric: "Soon."

"Sir, the hair and surgical instruments are ready."

Hearing his subordinate's report, Hyatt, the fifth in line of the Conflict Legion, stood up, walked to Leoric's bedside, looked at him and said, "I believe I don't need to remind you of your agreement with the Matriarch, do I?"

Leoric nodded: "I swear by my soul that I will obey the will of the Mother Goddess."

Hyatt said coldly, "From this day forward, you will be given new life by the Mother Goddess. Always remember, she can grant you eternal life, and she can also take your life at any time."

"My lord, Death has arrived."

Hyatt looked at the iron box in Number Seventeen's hand and said softly, "Open it, but be careful not to make any big movements, or we'll disturb what's inside and all our efforts will be in vain."

Number Seventeen swallowed hard, gently placed the iron box on the small table next to the wooden bed, carefully removed the several brass locks on the top of the iron box, and then slowly opened the lid of the iron box.

A bone-chilling white chill emanated from the iron box. Surrounded by ice, a transparent, crystal-clear nematode sat motionless in the center of the ice, as if asleep.

Under the terrified gaze of the father and his two sons, Hyatt picked up a sharp drill and explained to them, “In a moment, I will use this drill to make two small holes in the tops of the heads of the two participants in the ritual. Then, I will bring the sleeping Grim Reaper close to the holes. Feeling the warmth of flesh and blood, Grim Reaper will slowly awaken and insert its two heads, one in front and one behind, into the holes in your heads, entering your brains…”

"No! No!" Terrified out of his wits by these words, Mathilde began to struggle frantically on the bed. Veins bulged on his forehead, drool dripped from the corners of his mouth due to extreme fear, and the urine stain between his legs slowly expanded due to incontinence.

After a while, Mathilde's movements suddenly stopped, he froze, and collapsed completely onto the bed.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!