Myris sat upright at his desk, his dry, white eyes as calm and still as a stagnant pool.

In front of him were manuscripts and drawings, and in the bookshelves not far away were all kinds of specimens.

The door to the room was opened.

Marcus, a massive and grotesque figure stitched together from various corpses, cautiously entered the room, glanced at his father, and sat quietly on the floor without uttering a word.

Myris turned to Marcus and said softly, "You're blaming me."

Marcus muttered something under his breath.

Myris: "Don't forget, you were the one who wanted to keep her. I was always thinking about how to get rid of her."

Marcus first nodded, then shook his head vigorously.

Mylis turned around: "You should know that as long as Karin is alive, we can't leave her here. Once Throat Bone comes back and finds her, I can't guarantee what will happen."

Marcus raised his arm and made a vicious punching motion.

Myris said helplessly, "Now is not the time to break ties with the throat bone... Not only the throat bone, we can't keep Karin alive in this place forever. As soon as she gets out, both the undead that fill the underground and the Imperials on the surface will tear her to pieces."

"Turning her into an undead and keeping her with us is the safest option right now. But the prerequisite is that she must give up her life."

Marcus fell silent.

Mylis sighed deeply: "I know your feelings for her are what make it hard for you to do it. I watched that child grow up, and I can't bring myself to end her life."

Mylis's gaze gradually blurred as he drifted into memories: "Marcus, this old man still remembers those days at the St. Sidlow Monastery. You were only fourteen then, and Karin was eleven. You were like an older brother, protecting her no matter when or where."

“When Karin was insulted, you stood up for her; when Karin got into trouble, you did everything you could to clean up her mess. Once, Karin stole Theodore's experimental material—a rabbit—and released it. Theodore was furious, hung Karin from a tree to expose her to the sun and rain, and ordered that no one was allowed to take her down. Do you remember what you did?”

At this point, Myris's words revealed a rare hint of amusement: "You caught ten sacks full of rabbits and threw them all into Theodore's lab as a 'gift' of 'atonement.' Can you imagine? Ten sacks full of rabbits. Hahaha, I can still remember the look on Theodore's face that day, watching his lab being overwhelmed by hundreds of rabbits... The result was that you were also hanged by Theodore."

Marcus's body trembled slightly, as if he too was recalling the past.

Myris slowly stopped smiling, looked at Marcus, and said, word by word, "But someone like you, unwilling to let her go yet unwilling to end her life, will one day go mad before she dies."

Upon hearing this, Marcus raised his head and frantically gestured with his hands.

Myris waved his hand: "My son, the time has come to make a decision. If you spare her, you will have to kill her with your own hands; otherwise, you should set her free."

Marcus stopped moving and froze in place.

In her cell, Karin sat on the floor, still immersed in shock and fear.

The old monk he knew in his childhood had actually become the mastermind behind the black plague, and was no longer human, but an undead.

Karin gripped her arm tightly, with only one thought in her mind.

We must tell Todd everything we know here.

Just as she was racking her brains, heavy footsteps echoed in the corridor outside the door.

As she tried to identify the source of the footsteps, Karin said to the doorway, "Why are you the only one here? Where is your master, that old man who wanted me dead?"

Marcus opened the iron gate and looked at Karin without saying a word.

Karin shifted back and whispered, "That damn old man won't do it himself, so he sends his servant to do these dirty things?"

Marcus took a step forward, looked at Karin's neck, and remained silent.

Karin moved back again: "Stay away from me!"

Marcus stretched out his massive arm and slowly moved closer to Karin's neck.

Karin had nowhere left to retreat. She raised her head and shouted, "I'd rather be burned to ashes in the fire than become a monster like you!"

Marcus's hand stopped just five centimeters from Karin's neck. This creature, who looked like a stitched-together monster, slowly revealed complex emotions in his eyes as he looked at Karin.

Marcus grabbed Karin's arm and pulled her up from the ground. Then he picked up the bread and sausages from the corner and strode towards the door.

"Let me go! Where are you taking me?!"

Ignoring Karin's struggles and cries, Marcus mumbled incoherently as he walked down the passageway toward the exit.

Karin, who had been pulled to her feet, stumbled forward.

Soon, she heard a series of rapid footsteps and a piercing shriek.

She recognized the voice.

This sound has been heard in the city of Taro, coming from the tidal wave of parasitic corpses.

Marcus slowed his pace, looked at the swarming parasitic corpses at the end of the passage, opened his mouth, and let out a deafening roar.

The parasitic corpse's movements were stopped by the roar.

Some of the undead began to retreat, but many more were drawn by the living aura emanating from Karin and moved closer to Marcus step by step.

Marcus pulled Karin behind him, spotted the fastest-charging parasitic zombie, grabbed its head, and with a gentle squeeze, shattered it instantly.

Marcus grabbed the parasitic corpse that had collapsed to the ground and hurled it forcefully, instantly knocking down a group of enemies.

After kicking away the wriggling black parasites that had fallen to the ground, Marcus shielded Karin and took a few steps back.

Soon, the second and third parasitic corpses attacked Karin.

Marcus stretched out his thick, tree-trunk-like arm, and a dark purple flame immediately rose from it.

With a forceful outward swing, the purple flames instantly surged, forming a massive wall of fire that burned straight down the tunnel.

In an instant, nearly a hundred parasitic corpses were burned into piles of charcoal.

Marcus turned around, hoisted Karin onto his shoulders, and strode quickly toward the exit, stepping over the remains of the parasites on the ground.

In the darkness of the passageway, Myris's figure slowly appeared.

He watched Marcus and Karin's departing figures and whispered, "My child, when life and death meet, what will fate choose?"