Smack!
A head arced through the air and landed before Krivis, who was at the front of the group. He quickly lowered his raised gun, aimed using the faint moonlight, then took a closer look and discovered that it was a rotten head.
Its bulging white eyes faced them, drawing frightened but suppressed cries from the women in the group.
A beam of light descended from the sky, pierced the shriveled head, and burned it to ashes.
The light seemed to carry endless warmth, driving away the cold within the fog and giving everyone a sliver of hope.
They all turned toward the direction from which the head had flown. A dim yellow glow gradually approached, emerging from the fog. First came a raised lantern, then a cane, and finally a figure in a half top hat and long coat appeared, a familiar face beneath the brim.
"Gehrman Sparrow?"
Krivis said in surprise. His gaze instinctively shifted behind the man, and sure enough, another figure soon appeared: Angelica Zaki, who was always inseparable from him.
There was also a man with short black hair and bright blue eyes. His somewhat flat features reminded Krivis of a pirate on a wanted poster, but with the situation so urgent, he did not dwell on it and immediately said:
"Cecil and Donna are missing. We just escaped from the restaurant. The people in there are all very strange..."
As he spoke, Krivis looked back. Through the window beside the tightly shut restaurant doors, one local after another was still quietly watching them, their expressions blank and their gazes cold.
"I didn't see them on the way here. Do you have any clues?"
Angel stepped forward two paces, inspecting the eerie restaurant as she casually asked.
After leaving the ship, the three of them