My portable grandfather refreshes every week

The castle's stairs are covered in dust and bear the marks of time; every step you take emits a fungal smell.

With each step the "princess" took, she seemed to get closer to the music.

It wasn't until she reached the rooftop, under the moonlight, with the surging tide and the wind blowing through her hair, that she seemed to finally wake up. When she opened her eyes, she saw the bright moonlight and the empty rooftop.

"No, what's going on? Why did I go upstairs? And why did I come here?" In an instant, an endless stream of questions and fears overwhelmed her already limited mental capacity.

She knew she wasn't a very smart person, so she was "smart" because she knew that since she wasn't very bright, she would follow the smartest person who could protect her the most, so that at least she wouldn't hold them back and could fight for one of the few remaining chances of survival.

But now, why am I here, knowing full well that I shouldn't be alone?

The sea breeze, carrying the scent of the sea, blew against her face, and she didn't dare to move at all... She froze completely on the rooftop, her back soaked with cold sweat.

In fact, if she could see the monster playing the music here, she wouldn't be so afraid. But now the sound should be right in front of her, so why is there nothing there?

She was completely filled with fear.

"Drip..." A drop of cold liquid fell onto her neck.

She shuddered and could only stiffly and laboriously raise her head to look at the long pole beside her that seemed to be a flagpole...

However, a corpse was impaled on the flagpole, hanging there completely. When the corpse struggled to raise its head, it saw a face exactly like its own, twisted and contorted in pain.

"Ah!" A shrill scream echoed throughout the entire castle.

The Baron, who was already in a light sleep, immediately woke up. When he opened his eyes, he only saw Xue Dinglu hurrying upstairs, so he immediately followed him.

"What's going on? Why would that smart, pragmatic woman choose to go upstairs alone?" His mind was immediately filled with this question.

Although they didn't spend much time together, he had clearly spoken with this "princess." She was a very pragmatic woman, and indeed, she was a noblewoman. That noble air of striving to save face for herself was something no one else could pull off.

Despite her limited intelligence, her pragmatism makes this sycophantic slacker not so disliked.

But why would someone like that choose to go upstairs alone?
He couldn't understand it, so he could only desperately climb the stairs.

At this moment, Xue Dinglu arrived upstairs but did not find the noble lady. He looked out and found that she had fallen from the building, her chest completely pierced by the flagpole outside the castle.

"Illusion-type props?" Xue Dinglu said casually.

And as he reached out, he grabbed the noble lady who had been clinging to the edge of the castle.

“Thank you, Father…” she said, but when she turned her head, she saw herself impaled on the flagpole…

"Take a nap. Everything will be over when you wake up," Xue Dinglu said calmly.

The next moment, the noble lady's soul slowly closed her eyes, as if she had been hypnotized.

Xue's Law also placed it into the Holy Grail, placing it in a corner of the Holy Grail.

Then, while the noble baron was still trapped in the endless climb up the stairs, he had the Mimic King shield himself from all detection around him.

"The third of the seven evil beasts of humankind, the beast of comparison, represents the root of human evil: jealousy, comparison, and envy of others. The beast of comparison—Ishtar!"

A phantom image of an ancient Babylonian goddess slowly appeared behind her, like a star in the sky, and at that moment, she merged directly into the body of this noble lady.

Ishtar, the ancient Babylonian goddess of the stars, was the daughter of the sky god and the moon goddess. She represented the noblest princess in Sumerian mythology, a goddess who ruled over the stars, the earth, and the harvest, and who could ride the bull of heaven and was invincible in battle.

Meanwhile, Ishtar also has a name that is more familiar to modern people: Lucifer!
Her name means "star" in the ancient Babylonian language. After the Mesopotamian river valley was occupied by those inherently evil promised races, these people modified Sumerian mythology, vilifying, demonizing, and distorting the original Sumerian gods.

They insulted and distorted the culture of another civilization, labeled it with their own, and wrote it into their own classic, the Book of Job.

Therefore, Ishtar became Lucifer, one of the seven beasts representing the evils of humanity, such as jealousy and competitiveness.

As the Book of Job became Zeus's spoils of war, all the human evils recorded in it became the "villains" of Zeus's rituals, and in Zeus's original plan, he would become the only new god.

And without these rebellious humans and evil monsters, how could the greatness of this one and only God be highlighted!

Zeus had even originally intended for his brother Hades to replace Lucifer in his position.

However, none of this mattered to the princess of the stars. Whether it was Ishtar or Lucifer, she was always the princess named "Star," and at this moment, she was completely integrated into the body of this unjustly deceased "princess."

"Second step of the ritual complete!" the voice of the Mimic King rang out.

The prophecy representing the "princess" has come true.

"Bang!" The door was violently kicked open.

The baron, panting heavily, rushed to the rooftop. He was drenched in sweat and his face was filled with anxiety as he asked, "What happened?"

Xue Luding could only shake his head silently. When he arrived at the edge of the castle and saw the corpse on the flagpole below, he collapsed to the ground as if all his strength had been drained.

The sound of his panting, like that of a bull, echoed from the rooftop. His heart was pounding violently, whether from fear and anger or from having rushed to the rooftop with no energy left to spare, he didn't know.

But now, his face was ashen, and he leaned against the castle wall, quietly watching the stars and the moon in the sky.

There are stars in subspace, which is strange, but not so far-fetched. Xue's Law has observed that the stars in this sky are stationary and may just be projections.

However, at this moment, it seems that all one can do is stare blankly at these things.

The next day, the "princess" died, halfway through the ceremony.

Next to die should be Xue's Law.

“Father, why did she come to the rooftop alone? Is there really an evil spirit haunting this island?” the Baron’s voice rang out.

He kept thinking about why as he went upstairs.
He couldn't understand the key point: why would that intelligent woman do something so foolish?

"Maybe."

Xue Daolu simply sat calmly beside the baron and said, "I have no ability to save others, but tomorrow should be my death day. I will go first and help you find out the method of killing in this ritual. Look at my body and the cause of death, and see if you can find any clues."

The baron fell silent, and then, for a moment, the atmosphere became silent again. After a long silence, he finally spoke: "Father, a war took place on this island, a war between the island's lord and another army..."

He slowly revealed his guess, but Xue Dinglu already knew all of this.

Furthermore, Xue's Law went on to supplement his work, highlighting four key figures.

A princess, a courtesan, an island lord, a legion commander from the empire, and a priest. These four are a microcosm of the stories that once unfolded on this island.

It's a story that can be described as farcical: the princess, unwilling to marry the island's lord, had a courtesan take her place, leading to a series of consequences.

The negotiations between the kingdom's army and the island lord were also sabotaged by the princess, which led to a fierce battle between the kingdom's army and the lord in the dead of night. The lord's wife, whom he had just married as the princess, was also tied to stones and drowned in the sea because of her status as the culprit.

However, what the princess did not expect was that this war, which she originally only wanted to ruin her marriage, ended up with the two sides fighting each other, and she herself was caught in the middle, falling off a cliff and dying on the spiked wooden stakes.

The kingdom's army leader recklessly entered the lord's house and was burned to death in the fire, which almost completely engulfed the entire island.

In the end, the lord disappeared without a trace, and the entire island became a dead land, known as the "Island of Wraiths".

This is the story of the island. The information Xue obtained, combined with the baron's speculation, pieced together all the stories.

While not necessarily accurate, and there may be many differences in the details, this is generally how the story of the entire island unfolds.

Xue Dinglu thought for a moment and immediately said, "Then I'll die in the fire tomorrow. I'll try to stay as far away from the fire as possible before I die. You can see how I'll be burned to death. This is the last bit of help I can offer you..."

Just as he was about to get up and leave, the Baron said, "Father, thank you for everything you've done. Would you like to hear my story?"

"A monster's story."

……

He was a baron of the empire, a title his parents earned through meritorious service in war.

Although it was the lowest rank of nobility, it was still a noble class that others had to look up to.

Even nobles of this rank are not much different from knights; they are simply knights with their own territory, which is very small, probably only half a village. They can't even afford to support soldiers, let alone knights.

Therefore, he was both a baron and a "knight".

From a young age, he admired the heroes in chivalric romances, who protected their country, defended their territory, rescued princesses, and ultimately won the hearts of their beloved, while also gaining a higher rank...

So from a young age, he learned to act chivalrously like the protagonists in knight tales.

He participated in the imperial campaigns as a grain transport officer. Even without killing any enemies, he still earned considerable merit. Although these achievements were not enough for him to be promoted, they allowed him to establish himself in the capital instead of becoming a small lord in the countryside. He became the city guard officer of the entire capital, responsible for the security and access control of the capital.

This was a lucrative position, the best one he could earn through his military achievements. Although there were five city guards in the entire capital, he at least had the right to guard one side of the capital.

Furthermore, this is a place where one can earn merit, and perhaps after earning merit, one can be promoted to viscount, further elevating one's family's status.

This was his former ideal: a nobleman from the lower class with a chivalrous spirit.

He served as a city guard officer for over a decade. During this time, he made many acquaintances among the imperial nobles and married the second daughter of a count in the capital, becoming a member of the capital's noble circle. Although he was in a lower-middle position, if he had been able to avoid making mistakes as a city guard officer before he could no longer wield a sword, he could have become a viscount.

Subsequently, his son, with the support of his maternal uncle's earl, could potentially rise further from his original viscount position to become an earl or higher noble, thus firmly establishing himself in the empire.

If nothing unexpected happens, this is his plan for his future.

Until a serious incident occurred in the area under his jurisdiction.

It is quite normal for a large number of outsiders and people from the lower classes to go missing, their fate unknown. There are also many corpses of unknown people in the corners of the capital, especially after winter.

But this time is different, because there are too many people involved. It is conservatively estimated that thousands of people have gone missing in this way within a year.

Although they were all people from the lower classes, this had attracted the attention of those above him. Therefore, the Baron needed to resolve this issue before those above him paid full attention, so as to ensure that his career advancement would not be disrupted.

So he immediately led dozens of city guards to begin the exploration.

However, he found nothing. With time running out, he remembered his days as a "hero" and came up with a plan: to pretend to be a lowly commoner and go fishing.

Soon, he caught a fish, even a big one, at the home of a viscount in the outskirts of the capital.

However, when he arrived, he discovered that this was not a viscount's residence, but a den of demons. Countless twisted human bodies and corpses were scattered throughout the manor. Underneath the manor was a bottomless pit filled with corpses that had been tortured beyond recognition.

Tens of thousands, densely packed.

He only felt a chill run down his spine, and an inexplicable...anger!
And this was done simply for...

“It’s fun!” These were the viscount’s exact words. “Seeing the expressions on those lowly people’s faces as they were happy to receive my help, and then their expressions as they fell from heaven to hell in an instant, that’s the expression I want to see! I want to see that twisted expression on their faces!”

He was supposed to be one of them, but the Viscount's family didn't expect him to be so powerful. He single-handedly cut through the Viscount's guards, and the city guards were waiting to rush into the Viscount's house and expose everything.

This caused a huge uproar throughout the capital.

The king was furious, because the capital was legally his territory, and his people were being killed on his land.
My money!
This is my property!

However, the law does not apply to nobles. Even though he was just a viscount, after a long argument, the verdict was finally handed down.

The viscount family was expelled and stripped of their viscount titles, and could only travel to the imperial border with the lowest rank of baron, which was in effect a form of exile.

He received the newly stripped viscount title and became a rising star among nobles.

Everything seemed to be moving in a positive direction, and he had achieved his life's goal.

But he looked at the viscount's face, at their arrogant and conceited faces.

"Hahaha, is it just a demotion?" a provocative voice rang out. "By the way, I can also go to the border; it's more convenient for my research there."

Looking at that face, and at this twisted nobleman, anger seemed to completely overwhelm him.

Obey the empire's arrangements, inherit his viscountcy, and exile this murderer to the border...

Then, he couldn't do it!
That sense of honor he felt from childhood as a wandering knight and knight made it impossible for him to do this!

"Whoosh!" The iron fist slammed into his face.

At this moment, he didn't care about the viscount title or the future. He just sat on the nobleman's body, beating and torturing him mercilessly to vent all his dissatisfaction and anger.

Not only him, but also his wife and daughter, made these two accomplices suffer the most brutal violence and torture!
Three days later, when the Baron came to his senses, all that remained before him were three corpses twisted beyond recognition.

Now, he is stained with the blood of the viscount's entire family, the knight who killed the monster, and having become stained with the monster's blood, he has become a new—monster! (End of Chapter)