Why, in the face of the skeletal noble’s son, did only five people die?
And why did those two "who were greatly mentally shocked and went mad on the spot" die of "severe injuries"?
Could it mean their brains were too severely damaged? Or did they know too much and were secretly executed?
This had always been a question that puzzled Annan.
Now Annan finally understood.
It was because the two people hit by the Dirty Blood Bullet bore the injuries of all the others.
"So, at that time, you were also..."
Joseph nodded: "The bullet suddenly appeared in front of me, reversed back, pierced through my chest and back, and was sucked back out through the back.
"It was then that Amos stole my Curse Binding item. The two people who were hit in the shoulder and arm didn’t faint. Amos appeared behind me and directly took away my bracelet...
"But it was precisely because he was stealing my bracelet that he was hit in the abdomen by a flying knife thrown by Hellehem who had arrived. Afterwards, I passed out.
"It is said that what happened after that was Amos calling his ’paintings’ to cover for him, and the police officers were held up. Luckily for us, Amos lacked medical knowledge... He pulled out the knife before he fled. This led to a lot of blood loss and made it impossible for him to escape the police dogs’ pursuit—although he wouldn’t have been able to escape anyway..."
This wizard, who had lived for who knows how long, sighed.
"I’m only alive now because Hellehem arrived in time and saved me. A police officer who was shot in the abdomen, although beyond saving, didn’t die immediately... It was this brief delay that allowed Hellehem to transfer my injuries onto him in time."
Joseph was hit by the Dirty Blood Bullet in the back... He was able to survive only because Hellehem gave him a crucial boost in the nick of time.
Without that boost, Joseph would certainly be cold by now.
"What happened after that?"
Upon hearing this, Joseph’s expression became somewhat strange.
He paused for a moment and then replied: "By the time we got rid of those magic paintings’ entanglements, Amos had already run off without a trace.
"But for some reason, after trapping us, he ran upwards. This meant that no matter how long we were trapped, he couldn’t escape at all. And his internal organs were already damaged; he simply didn’t have the ability to heal that kind of injury.
"Just to be on the safe side, we spread out in formation and advanced carefully, searching layer by layer. But afterward, we didn’t encounter any more traps. Not until we reached the top floor and went up to the rooftop..."
At this point, Joseph paused slightly.
He spoke softly: "We then saw Amos’s body."
Annan was also taken aback.
"Was it because of... internal bleeding?"
Joseph replied very certain: "From the time we were attacked on the fourth floor until we found Amos’s body, it was just over half an hour. But his body had been dead for some time.
"Based on the timing, around the time we were still on the fourth floor... Amos had already died."
Mr. Baccara slowly said, "The pistol in his hand had only one bullet left, and his final cause of death was from a ’Dirty Blood Bullet’ that struck his heart. But the problem is, he was shot in the back... so we can only assume that he was killed by an accomplice. And my carrier object disappeared at that time."
"After that, we encountered that monster burning with colorful flames. It was terrifying... When it wasn’t attacking, none of our attacks could hit it; and when it did attack, the consciousness of those attacked would be completely erased—from the time it began its attack until it ended, they had no consciousness, no memory, and could not struggle or resist at all..."
"Fortunately, we had the numbers. After an extremely grueling fight, we were able to leverage our two companions to share the potentially fatal damage and barely manage to defeat it. But we couldn’t truly kill it, we could only seal it away."
"Thankfully, it did not have a strong desire to attack. When we attacked it, it was just crying, and when attacking us, it didn’t specifically target our vitals. Its name was ’Angelo’..."
"— We believe it was the unborn child that Elle was carrying."
At this point, Joseph’s voice became a bit hoarse.
His voice choked up, and he had to clear his throat lightly to continue, "We sealed Angelo in Frostwater Harbor. As for where... even I do not know. To prevent this scene from becoming a nightmare after our deaths, or being retrieved by a Soul Reaping wizard, the sheriff and I each handled half of the seal, and what I was responsible for was scattering its soul and burying it into the earth. The sheriff took care of hiding its remains."
"... So, the curse of Frostwater Harbor is the nightmare transformed after Angelo’s death?"
Annan couldn’t help but ask.
"Yes, Angelo is the curse that plagues this land, but it has not yet completely perished. The process of purifying this nightmare is the process of its slow annihilation."
Joseph gave a bitter smile, "You can say I am weak... Ever since then, I indeed haven’t been as decisive as when I was young.
"I know that by purifying the Curse Binding wrapped around Angelo, this matter can truly end, allowing Elle’s resentment to return to the earth. But I..."
"... I still have some reluctance. After all, it is the last evidence that ’Elle’ ever existed."
He sighed softly, "To say I don’t care would be a lie. I know that purging the nightmare is good for Elle, for Angelo, for Frostwater Harbor. I just... When I feel like drinking, I hope I can revisit the nightmare to see Elle just one more time."
After his words, the room fell into a brief silence.
Annan was watching the man.
Feeling Annan’s gaze, Joseph sighed and subtly averted his eyes.
On one hand, Joseph wanted to let Elle rest in peace and have "Angelo," who had his own blood, die cleanly, no longer lingering like a resentful specter between life and death. He was acutely aware that the nightmare was merely a remnant of past events, not real history, nor another world...
Yet on the other hand, he still clung to this past, unable to let go.
Annan had once asked Salvatore.
That sheriff had long left Frostwater Harbor. It seemed he was promoted the year after the incident, but it was unclear exactly where he went.
The last survivor from those days, still in Frostwater Harbor... it should be Joseph alone.
If he wanted, he could easily purify the nightmare himself.
As for the excuse of "without the carrying object, purifying the nightmare won’t grant power," it was probably just a self-deceptive pretext.
The Curse Binding that prevented him from traveling far, the seal item he lost, were not utterly unsolvable issues. With his status as a Wizard’s Tower instructor, if Joseph activated his connections, it would have been impossible for him to be trapped in Frostwater Harbor for forty-five years.
—Unless, he himself did not want to leave.
He wanted to watch the nightmare be purified, yet did not want to do it himself.
He didn’t prevent others from purifying the nightmare, but also didn’t proactively offer help.
Because he wanted all of it to end... but couldn’t forget.
And did not want to say goodbye to it all.
Such a pitiful father.