EVIL SYSTEM

"Close all the doors!!" Grigor rushed into the grand mansion in hurried, panicked steps.

The servants looked at him, confused by his actions, but Grigor didn't care one bit about their need for understanding.

He pressed a knife against the neck of one of the maids, his expression twisted. "I'm giving you a damn order, obey!"

Most of the servants paled, their legs trembling as they ran to close all the doors and windows.

Grigor released the maid and stared anxiously at the forest.

"What's going on here?!" Magdalena emerged, seeing the sudden commotion and panic in the mansion. With her hands on her hips, she seemed to demand an answer.

Grigor glanced at her briefly and frowned but didn't respond.

"Is something wrong?" Cecil's much softer and less commanding voice followed.

"Has everyone arrived?" A tall, handsome man in his 40s peered from the second floor, holding a cold beer.

"No," Magdalena crossed her arms and looked at Grigor with resentment. "It's just the deformed Grigor causing some strange commotion for no reason."

"Shut up, you fools!! I'm trying to save your lives!!" Grigor was in a terrible mood and on edge, so he exploded at the slightest provocation.

"How dare you, you son of a bi—"

"Where's Dad?" Grigor interrupted Magdalena's furious shouting with a question that seemed both urgent and hopeful.

"The master is at the company," the old butler informed. "There were some security issues regarding the rebels."

"Filthy rebels!!" Grigor punched the wall in anger but quickly regained his composure. "Call him, tell him it's a matter of life and death. If he doesn't get here in time, he might only find our corpses."

"What nonsense are you spouting?!" Magdalena glared at him. "Just because Dad tolerates your craziness doesn't mean we have to as well."

Grigor clenched his teeth but had learned from experience that it was better to ignore her and not play her games. She enjoyed arguing and never accepted defeat.

Her screams and tantrums were the last thing he wanted to hear right now.

"Walter, gather all the weapons in the mansion and arm the staff," Grigor ordered the butler, who hesitated for a moment but nodded.

"Wait!" Magdalena stepped in, arms crossed. "We don't have time for these games. Walter, order the staff to reopen all the doors and windows."

"Magdalena!!" Grigor's ugly face twisted with rage. He charged at her and grabbed her by the neck. "I'm not joking. If you keep throwing tantrums, I won't hesitate to kill you."

Magdalena tried to break free from Grigor's grip but couldn't.

"You'd better let her go," the man on the second floor dropped his relaxed demeanor and aimed a crossbow at Grigor, while a strong wind swept through the grand hall.

"I don't want trouble with any of you," Grigor slowly released Magdalena but didn't drop his hostile stance. "But if I have to kill every single one of you to survive, I will."

The tension in the grand hall was palpable as everyone stood still, waiting to see who would make the first move.

"You said we're in trouble," Cecil's soft voice broke the tense silence. "Why do you say that?"

Grigor remained silent for a few seconds but realized that if he didn't share what he knew, it would be difficult to mount a unified resistance against Ben's possible attack.

"The hunt went wrong, very wrong," Grigor lowered his arms, and his shoulders seemed to slump. "One of the prey broke free from their chains."

"Cough, cough," Magdalena clutched her throat while glaring at him. "What? A mere nobody breaks free from their chains, and you come running to the mansion scared to death?"

"Hahaha," Grigor couldn't help but let out a slightly crazy, deranged laugh. "A nobody? I wish it were just that."

Grigor grabbed his arm, which had begun to tremble slightly.

"That nobody, as you call him, without any weapons, injured, tortured, and shackled with anti-magic cuffs, killed your two sons, your niece, and even nearly killed Ivan," Grigor clenched his fist. "Now that madman is out there without cuffs, and it's most likely he's already killed Rudolf."

"What?!" Cecil collapsed to the floor in shock at the news.

"My sons?" The man on the second floor with the crossbow widened his eyes in disbelief.

"Impossible!" Magdalena shouted furiously. "You're making this up."

"I'm not making anything up," Grigor spread his arms wide. "What would I gain from that?"

Everyone fell silent.

"Walter, go get the weapons," Grigor ordered.

"Wait!" Magdalena stepped in again.

Grigor grabbed his knife, irritated. "What?"

"If the prey broke free from their chains, then it's most likely they're running away as fast as they can," Magdalena looked at him confidently.

"Yes," Grigor nodded gravely. "That would be the logical thing."

"See!" Magdalena nodded. "So there's no need to panic and barricade ourselves."

"That would be true if that guy followed logic," Grigor grabbed Magdalena's face and stared into her eyes. "I saw it in his eyes, that thirst for blood and insatiable rage. The question here isn't whether he'll come or not. He will come!! He'll come for all of us and won't stop until he's killed every single one of us!!"

Grigor released Magdalena's face.

"All we can do is arm ourselves and hold out until Dad gets back."

Crashhh

A lightning bolt illuminated the dark night.

The shadow of a figure standing beneath one of the trees became visible to everyone.

The man was staring intently at the mansion.

Everyone trembled and jumped in fear, except Grigor.

Magdalena almost ran in fear, even though the man was many meters away from the mansion. She had been deeply affected by Grigor's words.

Due to the darkness of the night and the shadow of the tree, they could only see the silhouette of a person.

The figure began to move very slowly, as if enjoying their fearful gazes.

As the man stepped into the moonlight, they could clearly see his face under the hood and collectively sighed in relief.

"Ivan, don't scare us like that!" The man with the crossbow smiled slightly and scolded Ivan.

But Ivan didn't respond. He simply stared at them.

Slowly, he raised his left hand and brought it to his face.

"What's he doing?" Cecil asked.

Everyone fell silent as they watched from the window.

Ivan's face and head began to move in a strange way, and before they could wonder why, the figure's hand moved quickly and threw something at them.

A round object landed a few meters from the window, clearly visible to them.

Following the trajectory of the object thrown at them, their expressions quickly turned to horror.

A deep, visceral horror.

The round object on the ground... was Ivan's head!!

Everyone looked up to see a bloodied face smiling at them.

Before they could recover from the shock, Ben hurled a stone spear that easily shattered the window and pierced the butler's chest.

The force of the spear was so great that the old man's body was thrown back and pinned to the wall.

...