"Just one Old Seal? Or those Inuit brats? You think that's enough to stop what's destined to happen?" the man with the cane mocked.
"We have to do something. Otherwise, when it gets out, we'll be the first ones to suffer," Doctor Beck said. "If you don't want to become one of those utterly insane Fanatics who have lost all reason, you should stand with me."
"What are you planning to do?" The man with the cane raised an eyebrow.
"I... haven't figured it all out yet. But since it cares so much about the Old Seal, keeps sending people to look for it, and even those servants fear it, I think the Old Seal may be the key to dealing with it."
"So you're just blindly guessing? I knew I shouldn't have expected anything from you." As he spoke, the man with the cane loaded his hunting rifle, and every hair on Doctor Beck's body stood on end.
He knew the man across from him was not joking. He hurriedly said, "You can't kill me. If you do, no one will be left to treat you."
"I don't care," the man with the cane said flatly. "You're right. If that thing comes out, none of us will escape death, so there won't be any afterward. Doctor, after all these years, I'm tired of struggling too. Maybe it's time to embrace all of this completely. But you should thank me. At least I'm sparing you from falling into the final madness. In that regard, you're luckier than I am."
With that, he pulled the trigger without hesitation.
The stunned expression on Doctor Beck's face froze completely. He had apparently never imagined things would turn out this way. When he had resolved to take out the Old Seal, he had once