House of Curses

The farm, the restaurant inside the main house.

Foul-smelling, rotten, filthy, and dark.

The round wooden table was piled high with food prepared according to some kind of bizarre culinary recipe. The food was barely cooked through, with various liquids still remaining on its surface.

Inside the large turkey placed at the very center, there was even some kind of living creature wriggling.

The Victoria family of four is having their meal here.

The four individuals all had different appearances.

[Farmer] Murphy Victoria wore a plaid shirt and butcher's apron, and a tattered linen hood. When eating, he had to put food into the chin through a feeding opening at the bottom of the hood.

He seemed to be under some kind of curse, so much so that he had to wear a hood at all times.

[Mother] Bellin Victoriano is nearly three meters tall, and has fingers of varying numbers and lengths at the tips of her hands and feet.

Its fingers move incredibly fast, allowing it to eat quickly by pinching and stringing its fingers together.

My mother's head was full of white hair and her skin was mostly wrinkled, showing severe signs of aging... giving the impression of a centenarian, as if caused by some kind of curse of aging.

But this aging did not affect her agility in the slightest.

[Eldest Daughter] Tracy Victoria is the most normal-looking member of the family on the surface. Under her blond hair is the face of a college student in her early twenties, just as described in the mission description, youthful and beautiful... except for a few freckles.

Wearing denim overalls, she quietly ate with a knife and fork in hand, accepting all kinds of food without hesitation, and had an unusually good appetite.

[Youngest daughter] Roxi Victoriano looks like she's just come of age, but her skin is made of cloth, as if she's been cursed.

For some reason, Roxi's mouth was also sewn with many lines.

When you open your mouth, these lines will be stretched out, revealing a row of teeth inside. Even the tongue has a tooth structure, which facilitates chewing and eating.

House of Curses.

Yes, this family has always lived here, and the arrival of the Dark Age has given them even more terrifying Curse Power... Even Though the Grand Lord sent people to try to expel them, no matter how many people were sent into the barn, they could not come out.

During the meal, the eldest daughter Tracy, blushed slightly and suddenly stopped eating, saying:

"I just saw intruders at the barn... They don't seem to be one of the Grand Lord's people. One of the guys with glasses was really classy, just my type."

Sitting on the other side, the mother, whose head was touching the ceiling because she was too tall, said, "Tracy, should Mommy bring him back?"

"No, I'm an adult now, I can do these things myself... I want to get to know the young man first."

Roxi, the younger sister standing nearby, also became curious. "Sister, sister! What kind of boy is he? Is he handsome?"

"She's the type my older sister likes... Little sister, don't get any funny ideas!"

After saying that, the older sister, Tracy, suddenly stabbed her younger sister in the forehead with the fork in her hand.

Drip, drip... Liquid is flowing from the wound.

The younger sister, however, wasn't Life Force at all; in fact, she had a playful grin on her face. "I know! Didn't a group of people come? Maybe there's one of my type... Sister, you're so stingy."

Tracy pulled out her fork, twirled the black Italy on her plate, and continued eating.

"Sister, tell me... what other kinds of people are there?"

As the older sister started the conversation, the whole family began chatting and laughing.

Only the father remained unmoved, quietly eating his meal.

Amidst lush cornfields.

The team was slowly making their way towards the farm area.

Han Dong used his "Lesser Demon Eye" to see through things and try to avoid the scarecrow as much as possible.

However, after walking less than ten meters, the Spider Silk tied to everyone's wrists was slightly tugged... It seemed that Mia, who was in charge of bringing up the rear, had something to tell everyone.

"These corns are also problematic... A small portion of them are cursed; once you touch them, you'll be infected. Let me lead the way."

"Oh..."

Winry was forced to step down before she could even settle into her position at the front of the line, and could only follow behind Han Dong... The task of bringing up the rear was entirely left to the Demps the Magician.

As Mia brushed past Han Dong, she whispered two words: "Scumbag!"

Han Dong didn't care about such a title and asked, "Mia... if we try to avoid the cursed plants, won't we run into the scarecrow? Do you think it's better to avoid the plants or the scarecrow?"

"Avoid the plants..." Mia answered decisively.

"Then it's up to you."

"Hmph... Scumbag! I'm not going to talk to you anymore... I'm only responsible for getting you out of the cornfield. As for things on the farm, I won't bother helping."

Following Mia's lead.

After avoiding several places where cursed plants were hidden, they bumped into a scarecrow.

This is different from the traditional mannequins made of straw.

The scarecrows here are made with great care.

First, a four-meter-high wooden cross is used as a fixed support and is firmly inserted into the ground.

Next, fix the 'scarecrow' to the cross bracket.

Han Dong stared at the scarecrow and said in a low voice, "Remember the missing farm servants mentioned in the mission? It seems they've all been brought here to 'work'."

That's right.

The scarecrows planted in the cornfield are all real scarecrows.

Based on farm servants, their bodies were fused with straw... to the point that straw was overflowing from their five orifices (where their eyes were normal), and there were also many straw stitch marks on their skin.

Once the scarecrow catches an intruder in the cornfield, it will shoot straw vines from its body to bind and drain the target, using it as its own nourishment.

Even Though the organs in these farm servants' bodies were almost entirely replaced by straw, they were still 'alive'.

That's the effect of a curse.

A scarecrow's curse, forever sealing their souls within their bodies, guarding the cornfield.

at the same time.

The scarecrow immediately shot out a large amount of straw, which quickly wrapped around Mia and Han Dong, who were closest to it.

Just as the two were preparing to fight.

"Blacksmith's Grip"

Snap!

Wen Li, who was closely following behind Han Dong, reached out and shook his hand!

A gravitational compression field actually formed in his palm.

The scattered straw vines were forced to be compressed together and held tightly by Wenli.

Pull hard!

Even with the curse reinforcing it, the scarecrow's body was no match for this brute force.

With that pull.

It felt like all my internal organs were being pulled out... However, the target was just a scarecrow. After the skin was broken open, a large amount of straw, stained with bodily fluids, was pulled out.

There were no fancy tricks; the target was simply eliminated through brute force...