382

On a street deep in the East End.

Old Kohler hurried back to his rented apartment with the ham in a paper bag.

He looked around vigilantly, fearing that those hungry creatures with wolf-like eyes would pounce on him and snatch his "New Year's gift".

When he was still in the country, he had seen wolves, but he didn't expect to experience that familiar feeling in Beckland.

"It's still too expensive, so I can only buy one in partnership with someone and sawn it into several parts...... That's enough for me and Taylor to eat during the New Year's holiday, and every meal can have two, three, no, at least five slices of ham meat, and I can cut some of them down and stew them with potatoes without even putting salt......" Thinking of this, old Kohler looked at the ham in his arms, looking at the red meat mixed with a lot of white, his throat couldn't help but squirm, and he swallowed his saliva.

As he walked, he felt that the fog around him was much thicker, and the church bell tower in the distance, which was still quite clear, was gradually swallowed up by the mixed colors of yellow and iron black, and even the pedestrians around him, more than ten steps, only the shadow of the mold lake remained.

Old Kohler instantly felt forgotten by the world, and raised his palm to cover his mouth and nose.

"Why does the fog smell so bad today?" He muttered and quickened his pace.

One step, two steps, three steps, old Kohler felt his face burn, and his forehead seemed to burn.

His chest tightened, his throat was uncomfortable, and he soon had difficulty breathing.

"Sick? Damn, I still want to have a good New Year, and now I can only send my savings to the clinic to the hospital...... No, maybe it's good to get some sleep, just cover my quilt and sleep! Old Kohler muttered to himself, his head getting hotter and hotter, and he became more and more confused.

Lotus, lotus, lotus, he heard his own gasps in difficulty, his hands went limp, and the paper bag containing the ham fell heavily to the ground.

Old Kohler subconsciously squatted down to pick it up, but fell there.

He held down the bag of ham and struggled to collect it in his arms.

Thump! Old Kohler began to look at the lake and saw a few paces away someone who had also fallen, out of breath, about the same age as him, also in his fifties, with gray sideburns.

Suddenly, he had the realization that he was about to die.

It reminded him of his wife and son, who were too, who suddenly contracted the plague and died soon after.

It reminded him of the time when he was hospitalized for illness, when the patients in the same room could laugh and talk that night, and by the early morning they had been taken to the morgue.

It reminded him of the friends he had made when he was a homeless man, and after a winter, they disappeared a lot, and eventually they were found stiffly in a bridge hole or on a sheltered street corner, and a small number of people died from the sudden availability of food.

It reminded him of the time when he was a good worker, and the neighbors in the neighborhood would die so suddenly, some of them died of headaches and convulsions, some accidentally fell into the freshly baked molten steel, some of them had bone pain all over their bodies, they were swollen and died, and some even fell silently in the factory, batch after batch.

It reminded him of the words he had heard from a drunkard in a bar when he was inquiring about the news, and he said:

"People like us are like straw in the ground, when the wind blows, they will fall, and even if there is no wind, they may fall themselves"......

The wind is coming...... Old Kohler flashed through his thoughts.

He clutched the paper bag of ham as he reached for the pocket of his old jacket to pull out the crumpled cigarette that he had been reluctant to smoke.

What he couldn't understand was why he suddenly became ill when he was in good health, and it was not like he had never experienced such a thick fog.

What he couldn't understand was that his life had just been on the right track, developing in a good enough direction, and he had been paid in advance by Detective Moriarty, and had bought a piece of ham that he had been thinking about for a long time to welcome the New Year, and was looking forward to tasting its deliciousness, but why he suddenly collapsed.

Old Kohler pulled out the crumpled cigarette, but his arm could no longer lift it, and it slammed into the ground.

He used his last strength to shout out the words that had accumulated in his heart, but he could only let the weak words linger in his mouth, unable to come out.

He heard himself asking:

"Why ......"

"Dr. Blake!"

A thunderous roar rang out in his ears, causing old Kohler to linger for a few more moments.

Mary was talking loudly to old Kohler, maintaining his consciousness, and the doctor with chestnut hair and a pair of gold-rimmed glasses in the distance ran out of breath, hurriedly took out a bottle of clear-colored oral solution from his pocket, held old Kohler's head on the back of his head, and poured the oral solution to his lips.

The doctor was wearing a mask, which was soaked with the solution.

The cool liquid slid down his throat with a sweet and sour taste, and old Kohler opened his mouth wide to breathe under the doctor's instructions, and his lungs stretched outward like broken bellows.

Soon, a blank man in a hooded robe walked up, easily picked up old Kohler, put on his mask, and rushed to Dr. Blake's office a street away.

"No, the patient is too old and in poor health, and my medicine may not be able to keep him alive."

"This fog is too poisonous! Far more than my sequence! I can only slow down, the patients have to go to the church and the hospital! ”

"I know." Mary calmly circled, "Keep going like this, do as much as you can." ”

Dr. Blake nodded. He wiped the sweat from his head, pulled his mask up, and hurriedly said the words before he turned and ran to another patient on the side of the street with his chest still heaving.

About two minutes later, the corpse belonging to Gavin Leader came running over again, helping Dr. Blake remove the patient and bringing with him a box of potions that had just been dispensed.

Gavin Reed himself was in the clinic, dispensing potions and tending to the sick as Dr. Blake had ordered.

Ademisol is assisting him so that there will be no mistakes in dispensing.

And his five living corpses are following Dr. Blake, constantly transporting patients and supplies for minor cases.

"The flame that never ceases to burn, the protector of those who rebel against fate...... Prisoners of chaos and death......"

"His Royal Highness Richard Ernst with us......"

Seeing that the living corpse and the medicine master were perfectly coordinated, Mary did not dare to delay, turned away, and began to recite the name for the third time, her hand already in her pocket, ready to open the black box with the seal open.

This part of the inhabitants was basically saved, and it was only ten minutes after the poisonous fog spread, and Mary was busy evacuating the people in front of her first, and hurriedly recited the honorific name only twice.

She quickly moved to another street, where she remembered that the child who had a good relationship with Alia lived.

But when she arrived, she found that the street was so thick that it was like a wall, almost turning into substance, and she couldn't even see whether it was a person or an object two meters away. Looking at it like this, it is obvious that this street will not have a living mouth. Maria clenched her fists, increasing the force of her twist, ready to quickly go inside and explore. At this moment, she suddenly heard the sound of high heels, and the interval in between was just right, enough for a light and elegant female figure to appear in people's minds.

At the same time, Maria found herself trembling violently.

Thin spider silk wrapped around her wrists and neck, pulling out blood streaks and pulling her hands out of her pockets.

Her spirituality paints a picture: behind her, a graceful woman in a white dress walks from the depths of the black and yellow mist, the plague and poison are surrendered at her feet, and the spider silk burning with black flame extends from her fingertips, beautiful and terrifying.

"Cute little girl, actually trying to interrupt my progress in digesting potions."

The witch laughed, and Maria's eyes were dizzy, and seductive words kept echoing in her ears, eager to follow the voice to look back at the woman's flawless face.

But as soon as she moved slightly, the spider silk on her neck immediately tightened and cut the blood beads, and if the movement was a little larger, the spider silk would cut open her carotid artery and even cut off the entire skull smoothly!

"Why don't you despair? Do you still have hole cards? ”

The Lady of Despair came behind her, exhaled, and reached into Maria's coat pocket with her soft hand, pulling out a black, sealed box.

"That's your hole card?" The Lady of Despair smiled and tossed the box aside, "One piece...... Seals, that's all. ”

Maria couldn't turn back, and heard the sound of the box falling to the ground in a direction twenty or thirty meters behind her, and her heart seemed to be smashed to the ground.

…………

Liv hung up the last piece of laundry and waited to dry. She looked at the sky outside, and was a little unsure of the time of the fog that had become thick at some point.

"Anyway, it's still early, and we've done all the pulping work......" Liv's expression grew heavy.

Finishing the work too early is not a good thing, it does not mean that you can rest, it only indicates that you do not start your work well and your income is insufficient.

Liv took a breath, turned to the side and wiped her hands, and looked directly at the eldest daughter Freya who was looking at the word book in the next room, and said, "It's almost the New Year, most of our employers have left Beckland and gone on vacation elsewhere, we can't go on like this, we have to find a new job." ”

She said as she walked to the door: "In such a festival, those rich people will hold one banquet after another, and their servants may not be enough, maybe they will hire temporary kitchen cleaning women, I am going to ask, Freya, you stay at home, and when the time comes, we need income, and those bitch thieves, robbers, and human traffickers also need income to welcome the New Year." ”

In the East End, every woman who does not enter the factory must have one of the skills or the spicy to survive.

Freya replied briskly, "Okay." ”

Her mind had drifted to the small table and vocabulary book next door.

As soon as Liv opened the door, she stumbled and fell to the ground.

Ahem, ahem! She coughed violently, her face flushed, and every joint on her body ached.

In a panic, Freya ran over and crouched down:

"Mom, what's wrong with you? Mom, what's wrong with you? ”

"No, ahem, I don't have a problem." Liv's breathing gradually struggled.

"No, you're sick, sick! I'll take you to the hospital right away! Fleia struggled to pick her mother up.

"It's too expensive, it's too expensive, cough, go, charity hospital, charity hospital, I can wait, no, it's not a big problem." Liv gasped in reply.

Friya burst into tears, her gaze racing.

At that moment, she felt her lungs burn, her body went limp, and Liv fell to the ground again.

"Freya, what's wrong with you? Ahem, you're sick too? Liv shouted anxiously, "The money is there, cough, it's in the cupboard, cough, it's in the hole in the wall, you, hurry, go to the hospital!" Find a good, good doctor! ”

Fraya tried to say something, but couldn't make a sound, and her gaze slanted upwards to the door next door.

It was their bedroom, with their bunk beds, a small table and a vocabulary book that she loved.

Her body twitched suddenly.

Liv's cough came to an abrupt halt.

In the public elementary school on the edge of the East End, the fog is not yet thick, but many students are already coughing.

The teacher on duty was trained, and immediately ordered: "Quick, go to the church, go to the church next door!" ”

Daisy stood up in a panic and ran with the crowd to the church next to the school.

Suddenly, she felt a sense of panic in her heart about losing something important.

…… Mom...... Freya ...... Daisy turned her head abruptly, trying to rush home against the crowd.

However, she was stopped, and she was caught by the teachers and forcibly dragged towards the church.

Daisy struggled and cried out in a heart-rending voice:

"Mom! Fleya! ”

"Mom! Fleya! ”

……

In the East End, in the docks, in the factory area, those who were either old or suffering from hidden diseases fell one after another in the fog like felled trees, and those who came into contact with them at this time contracted the plague and died quickly, and the adults and children who were still relatively healthy also felt slightly unwell.

In their eyes, the yellow and iron-black mist was like a "god of death" descending.

On Tuesday of the last week of 1349, the Great Smog of Beckland.

383

"The ...... approved by the king and realized by the witch"

“…… ...... of unknown purpose Man-made disasters. ”

The King of Decay stood in the hidden part of the street, looking up at the sun behind the black and yellow mist, feeling that his spirit was becoming more and more active in this environment, and that he had reached the level of a true god. If she hadn't sealed herself more tightly, the entire Eastern District would have become a lifeless death place by the mixture of poisonous fog and decaying spirituality, just because her arrival was proof of the imminent demise of this place.

"The death toll was originally expected to be around 200,000, but it was cut down to about 70,000 by Fort Yuan......"

She was silent for a moment, then suddenly sighed.

"Don't cry to me anymore, human, I won't save you."

"Your God has promised salvation, and your king and God have slaughtered you: go and cry to them."

At this moment, a low cough was heard in the relatively thin mist in the distance, and a girl bent down, covered her mouth and nose with a thick cloth, and groped her way through the wall.

The fabric she used to cover her mouth and nose was strong and damp, apparently a fire-fighting response. In addition, she bent down, and slightly reduced the poisonous mist she inhaled to a certain extent, so she was able to live until now.

But the poisonous mist is not an ordinary mist that can be blocked in this way, but the spirituality of the witch. The Decayed King looked at her as if he saw a countdown in her head that was still a few hundred seconds away.

She coughed and walked along, soon noticing a man standing two meters away. The man looked at her quietly, without protection or leaving, and she felt a hairy feeling in her heart, and the thought of asking for directions for help disappeared immediately.

"You're in pain and you're still scared."

But when the girl passed by him, the young man suddenly spoke:

"Even if you live, this poisonous fog will cause irreversible damage to your respiratory tract, brain and lungs that cannot be healed by your economic level, you will not live to be forty years old, and breathing will be a form of torture for the next twenty years."

"Are you going to die now?"

The girl was frightened, she quickly moved a few steps to the side, and the figure of the young man was immediately covered by the fog, faintly.

"You...... Are you ...... Messenger of God? ”

The youth replied, "No." ”

"I ...... I'm still, ahem, trying to live. The girl coughed, and with difficulty finished her sentence, and her voice came from behind the thick cloth, muffled and weak, "I am sick, sir, may I ask you, ahem...... Do you know where there is a charity hospital nearby? ”

The young man stretched out his hand and said, "Go there." Cross this street, turn a corner, and walk another 500 meters to see a clinic. ”

The girl thanked her and continued to walk forward with her hands on the wall.

The Decay King watched as the countdown faded away, and the beating decreased by second, and after walking more than ten meters, it was already only halfway down, and when it turned the corner, it was zero.

There was another noisy cry in her ear.

These weakened and dying beings are naturally attracted.

"Senseless pain and suffering."

The Decaying King withdrew her gaze, and she stood in the mist, staring ahead, and said in a gentle and emotionless voice:

"—I curse."

"I curse the humans of this land. You are so pathetic, so shackled by your birth that I can't bear to criticize you. Perhaps you should not consider yourself human beings in the first place, and you will inevitably exist only as lambs and domestic animals. You will be sacrificed, sacrificed, and slaughtered at will, and no one will pay attention to your pain and sorrow. ”

"I curse the gods who acquiesce in this, you could have directly declared that you raised humans only for your own sake, but you insisted on taking the credit of the Creator and closing yourselves of justice. Your rebellion will be a sign of God's separation from man, and you will be hated, ostracized, delighted, and disrespected by mankind, and you will be led to your end. ”

Then, after a pause, she spoke solemnly:

"When all this is over, I will bless you that you will be born again in a future without God."

"The above is the verdict of the 'Death Omen'!"

The words fell, weighing more than a thousand catties.

Curses and spirits merge, branches of possibility are built, and signs of death are silently spreading across the land, about to connect the lives of all things in the northern continent.

At the same time, since their own person is only floating at the level of the true god at this time, the true gods on earth can feel this huge curse - but once the curse is complete, those guys have a way to deal with it.

Just as the curse was about to be completed, the Decaying King abruptly halted the process, tilting her head to look in the distance.

The course of fate has changed again.

TBC

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Path of Decline - Death Omen: After determining that something must decline, the manifestation of the decline of that thing can be controlled by means of curses/blessings.