Spring 1877, in the evening as it began to darken, the annual festival of the village of the wicked was in its second day with its strings of lights hanging everywhere and its dazzling atmosphere, and its children running here and there happily as they played. The young lovers held hands, wandering around the festival while the adults enjoyed talking and laughing about their business with loud guffaws. At the moment when everyone was savoring those pleasant moments, someone stepped on a decorative candle that had been placed on the ground beside the village door. From foot to face, it was Grave with his very long hair that he hadn't cut for over four years, smiling a smile that concealed the suppressed hatred within his heart, wearing the same tattered clothes. Grave finally entered his village, strolling through its illuminated streets that had been overtaken by change, immersed in his memories, when the contracted voice said to him:
"Here we are, excited like me?"
Grave replied while still wandering his gaze around as he walked, smiling quietly:
"You have no idea..."
Then he added:
"Everything has changed here, did all this happen in four years?"
The voice:
"So, what do you plan to do as a start?"
Grave, nonchalantly:
"Lazos, don't worry, I've already planned everything, just let me first... oh, I've found it."
Grave stops in front of a small barbershop with a glowing sign above its door. The boy with unshaven hair stares at the sign for a moment and then adds:
"Awesome, something beautiful."
Grave enters the barbershop to find the barber busy with a customer. The young customer turns to Graiv and says:
"Hey, who's that?"
Upon seeing the customer's face, Graiv recalls something from the past, and his expression turns serious as he says to Lazus: "He's one of that bastard's friends I told you about."
The young customer hears Grave's words and tenses up, rising from his seat while saying: "What, are you talking to me, you homeless guy?"
A wider smile spreads across Grave's face as he approaches the young man slowly, placing a hand on his shoulder. Suddenly, the young man's face begins to pale gradually, wracked with pain amidst the fear of everyone, but before he loses consciousness, Grave's smile returns to calmness as he says:
"Just get out of here, you filth, it's not time yet."
Grave releases the young man's shoulder, prompting him to rush out of the door. Grave then turns to the rest of the customers, calmly saying:
"Everyone, out the door, quickly."
Everyone then flees the shop, leaving him alone with the barber. Grave sits in the barber's chair, looks at the barber with a dry expression, and says:
"I want a neat haircut on the side."
After a while, the stylish boy exits the barbershop with a new haircut, to which Lazus responds:
"Great, now you just need some new clothes to look like the cool boys."
Grave completes his tour of the village when suddenly something catches his attention. He turns to his right, it's that gray striped suit he admired before the maze incident. Grave stares at the suit for a moment, then breaks the glass, simply taking it and putting it on his arm as the shop owner rushes out, shouting: "Hey you, how dare you, you will pay for..." Grave places his hand on the angry man's face, pushing him back as he continues on his way, whistling.
Grave arrives at the festival wearing the elegant suit he just acquired, along with his new haircut, and observes everyone in the place, recalling their past mistreatment of him. Suddenly, he inhales a certain scent and says to his invisible companion:
"Do you smell that?"
Lazos:
"I thought you took a shower under the waterfall before we came."
Grave:
"No, I don't mean that; I mean something else."
Lazos:
"If so... my scent? But I don't even have a body."
Grave looks around, searching with his eyes, and finds someone wearing a robe that conceals their face, sitting far away on top of the large tin warehouse in front of the festival area.
Grave descends after a long jump onto the roof of the warehouse behind the mysterious person, approaching him and saying:
"Hey you, what are you doing here?"
The mysterious person remains silent, ignoring Grave's question, so he gets closer until he stops near his head and adds while holding the hood of his black cloak:
"Are you trying to ignore me?"
Before Grave can remove the hood from the stranger's head, the mysterious person delivers a roundhouse kick, but Grave easily dodges it with a smile. The mysterious person attacks without revealing their face with quick, agile moves, which Graif also easily evades while smiling. The confrontation continues in this manner until the mysterious person drops a silver ring on the ground. Grave picks it up, examining it carefully, then says sarcastically:
"A delicate ring! Hah, I knew it, the mysterious person is actually a girl, right?"
The mysterious person lifts the cloak from their face to reveal a young, beautiful girl with long, silky white hair and skin as white as moonlight. The girl responds in a strong tone that belies her appearance:
"And what of it, you annoying intruder?"
Graif smoothly and coolly continues the conversation while still staring at the ring:
"Nothing, I just liked the scent of your perfume, so I wanted to ask you what kind it is. Is it from the capital?"
The girl takes a light breath, loosening her body, and suddenly passes by Grave in the blink of an eye, taking the ring without any reaction from him. Then she responds while wearing it on her finger, saying firmly:
"Find out its name yourself, or next time try not to bother the poor ladies."
The girl says this and then jumps off the roof, leaving towards the forest, to which Grave sarcastically replies:
"Poor ladies! I'm the one who's poor."
Lazos:
"There's something on your mind, isn't there? You're planning something, otherwise, you wouldn't have come... right?!"
Grave, while watching the girl enter the forest from afar:
"Ah yeh... Listen, my friend, this is a different kind of planning."
The beautiful young woman cautiously enters the forest until she reaches a dry valley. She hides behind a large rock overlooking the valley, stealing a glance downwards. Terrifying wolves, resembling humans, seem to be trying to escape from there. The girl draws her sword and takes a deep breath, leaping towards the werewolves to attack them. However, the leader of the werewolves spots her and howls loudly as a command to eliminate her. The fight begins, but the girl excels with her smooth and clever dodges, yet her offensive efforts are futile due to the werewolves' tough skin. The leader notices a giant tree at the top of the valley and an idea strikes him. He starts climbing towards that tree, and the girl sees him while fighting the others, muttering to herself:
"Damn, if he does that, we will all be in danger."
The girl lunges at the leader of the werewolves with all her strength, but he easily deflects her, using her body in mid-air to jump. The leader reaches the trunk of the tree and breaks it with his broad, solid claws. The trunk falls horizontally into the valley, allowing the other werewolves to take advantage of the opportunity and use it as a ladder to escape.
Grave is in the midst of the festival, heading towards the bandstand. He climbs onto the platform, taking the microphone from the singer's hand, and before he can say a word, everyone hears a loud howl coming from the forest. Everyone turns towards the sound; it's that girl trying to stop the werewolves from advancing towards the village. Grave then exclaims:
"Damn it, why now!"
One of the werewolves flees from the girl towards the villagers, and just before its claw reaches one of their faces, Grave stops it at the last moment, smiling as he says:
"Well then, let it be so."
Grave extends his arm downward, opening his hand, and at that moment, his eyes glow with a faint blue light. Suddenly, a jeweled staff sprouts from the ground towards his hand, and as he grasps the staff, the maze guardians begin to rise from the ground as if they were buried. Grave then tells them: "Eliminate the furry ones."
The small army of Graiv attacks the werewolf squad brutally, and the girl is astonished by Grave's incredible strength, saying:
"So he is one of them after all."
The undead soldiers kill all the werewolves, but their leader manages to escape into the forest. The girl then turns towards Grave to find him right in front of her, saying flirtatiously with a silly smile on his face:
"Hey there, beautiful, what's your name?"
The girl, with a look of confusion, replies: "Breya, and you?"
Grave responds:
"Gravesoil, the gravekeeper of this damned village, nice to meet you... you can call me Grave by the way."
He then adds sarcastically:
"Where are you from?"
Breya seriously replies:
"Actually, I'm an investigator sent from the capital to investigate a report about a sighting by a civilian of some werewolves."
Grave asks:
"And how did they end up there? Shouldn't that be reported to your leaders in the capital or whoever they are?"
Breya explains:
"While they were exploring the area, I betrayed them to fall inside it."
Grave says:
"Well, nice to see you, Breya..."
Then his tone shifts to seriousness with a stern expression, continuing:
"And now, leave, as I am about to do something important."
Grave snaps his fingers, and the army of the dead turns towards the villagers, who are still in shock and fear at what is happening. The army of the dead begins to advance towards the villagers, and Brea anxiously interjects, saying:
"Wait, what are you doing?"
Grave replies seriously:
"Are you still here? I thought I told you to leave."
Breya:
"Don't tell me... Do you want to kill them?"
Grave smiles a wicked smile and answers in a rough, strange voice:
"I just want revenge."
Breya, in disbelief:
"But you just saved them from those werewolves!"
Grave:
"Hah, I saved them to kill them myself."
At that moment, Brea draws her sword, saying firmly:
"I won't let that happen."
Grave:
"Then you will die with them."
One of the soldiers of the dead, as soon as his master finishes speaking, places his sword on breya's neck. The young girl thinks for a moment and then says:
"I understand why they call this village the village of the wicked, because all its inhabitants are greedy and selfish people who always do terrible things, among the worst being the magic they used to make the lives of many people a living hell. In fact, there are even rumors that they eat human flesh in their rituals, but please accept my request to change their punishment so that we can uncover their secrets to break their curses."
Graif thinks for a moment about Bria's words and then exclaims with a crazy smile:
"If their new punishment will be... the eternal enslavement of their bodies."
Grave waves his scepter, and the army of the dead begins to seal blue stamps on the foreheads of the inhabitants of the village of the wicked. As soon as all the residents, young and old, are sealed, Grave's eyes shine again with blue light as if he wants to say something, but Breya stops him, saying:
"Please, no children."
Grave replies seriously:
"Your second request will not be fulfilled."
Then he adds with an evil laugh:
"And now, let everyone return to their resting place."
As soon as Grave utters his sentence, the army of the dead disappears, while the sealed inhabitants of the village of the wicked begin to dig into the ground and bury themselves alive after their eyes have lit up with the faint blue light.