The champagne tower was toppled by a corpse. The splattered wine soaked Natasha to the bone. More importantly, she hadn’t even taken a sip; the Dionysium was all gone.

But at the moment, no one paid attention to her predicament. All eyes were fixed on the corpse. The deceased was a middle-aged man around 40, shot in the head. Judging from the twisted state of his limbs, he might have been tortured before his death.

"Mr. Heli!" someone shouted, "Oh God! Mr. Heli has been summoned by the Lord!"

There were screams and people running away. Yet amidst the spreading fear, most were not just afraid of the murder. The emotional upheaval made it even harder for them to control themselves, almost delirious to madness. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"What on earth is going on? What the hell!!" someone roared, "What do you want?!!! I’ve paid so much in compensation, are you trying to renege on the deal?!"

"Why treat me like this? I didn’t do it on purpose, why can’t you understand a mother’s feelings? You heartless bastard! You deserve to rot in the slums!"

"You know why I did it, you wronged me first! We had an agreement, and you broke it, how can you blame me?"

"You’re all crazy, crazy! There’s no such thing as ghosts, it’s all just scaring yourself."

"Can we not talk about this, Mr. Rodriguez? Are you not going to do something about this? Are you just going to let people ruin your party..."

"Captain Cassel! Where are you? Where are you?"

The entire party was in chaos, some had collapsed, others babbled on, while some stubbornly refused to believe, calling out for the Punisher or raising their phones to call the police.

Aside from the champagne tower, other tables with drinks and candelabras were also knocked over. Various liquids spilled everywhere, the rich scent of alcohol mixed with the smell of blood, brewing into an atmosphere incredibly close to fear.

Suddenly, another shot rang out. Another person fell. Someone screamed: "This isn’t some ghost! There’s a shooter in here!"

"There’s an assassin, there’s an assassin! Where are the bodyguards?!"

"Help, don’t kill me! I’m not your enemy!"

This shot entirely ignited the fire of chaos. Everyone screamed and ran for the door, but with a bang, the door closed. Moreover, what seemed to be a relatively light estate’s front door, appeared to be welded shut by some mysterious power, no matter how people pounded on it, it wouldn’t open.

They cried and wailed in despair, yet this did not move the ghosts within the estate. On the contrary, a total collapse of their psychological defenses made them see even more terrifying illusions, until these illusions appeared in reality, dealing them a more painful mortal blow.

Unable to exit through the front door, some thought of the back and side doors. Since the back door was closer, most turned and ran to the rear, and the shortest route from the front to the back door would definitely pass by the fallen champagne tower.

After the champagne tower was toppled, all the glasses turned to fragments, and a lot of wine was spilled on the ground. Most of the women wore evening gowns and high heels. One woman, while running past the remnants of the champagne tower, tripped over a glass fragment, slipped on the spilled wine, and fell headlong onto the shards of glass. The fragment pierced straight into her eye, and a sharper fragment slit her throat.

She let out a short scream, and then, blood flooding her airway, could only clutch her throat, rolling on the ground. But the ground was covered with glass shards, quickly cutting her into a bloody mess.

Just as she was about to draw her last breath, she looked in a direction, showing a terrified expression. At that moment, the shards of glass rose into the air, like swords from all directions, stabbing into her body.

Since this happened in the center of the banquet hall, no one could miss this scene. The once noisy banquet hall fell eerily silent for a moment, leaving only the sound of heavy breathing from the crowd.

"No, this is impossible. It’s been so long..." a voice said, "There can’t be ghosts. We clearly consulted the Church..."

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!"

Another scream rang out. Those who first dashed out the back door into the back garden hurriedly ran back in panic, for the garden’s trees extended branches, strung up the person at the front. They had no choice but to run back in terror.

At the same time, those near the west door rushed out of the side door. Immediately, the two in the west pool drowned, scaring them from running westward.

Some attempted to circle outside the house to the front door to drive away, but the ghosts wouldn’t let them off so easily. Two people fell in the snow, disappearing seemingly in an instant.

Others tried to run upstairs, but obviously, the stairs were a deadly trap. Missing a step or a section was enough to fatally trip a person. Not to mention, the second floor was unlit, and not many dared to rush into the darkness.

"What’s going on?" a voice suddenly rang out in the banquet hall. The tone was slow, seemingly calm, oddly out of place with the entire banquet hall atmosphere, making it especially jarring.

The crowd looked over, a figure in a black suit walked in from the back door. They recognized this as Rodriguez, the owner of the estate. Everyone spoke as if seeing a lifeline: "Quick! Get us out! Let us leave!"

"No rush," Arrogant said, "A murder occurred at the party; I request everyone remain here to facilitate the investigation..."

"What investigation?! Staying here is a death sentence?! Let us out!!!"

"A few days ago, you weren’t saying this." Greed folded his arms and walked out from the second floor, giving Natasha a look that said, "Watch how I stick up for you." "Shouldn’t Hampton’s tradition be to keep all the guests here and wait for the police to investigate thoroughly?"

"There’s no such bullshit tradition! Hurry up and open the door, let us out!!!" Someone screamed frantically.

"My opinion is still to wait for the police," Arrogant said leisurely, "I have already called them, they should be here soon."

Someone started cursing. Obviously, under such circumstances, no one could maintain their composure. But both Arrogant and Greed ignored them. Meanwhile, Natasha was holding the surviving wine glass, admiring the fear and despair of the people in the hall.

I must admit, having a friend who has your back feels great. Although Natasha didn’t get caught by them and even stabbed the guy who tried to catch her, Greed still returned their words to them.

The police indeed arrived quickly, even pushed the door open and came in, but it was easier to enter than to leave. Once the team of police rushed in, the door slammed shut again.

The chief realized something was wrong, turned back to shoot at the glass. A bullet went out, and as luck would have it, a stray ricocheted, hitting a man not far away, sparking a new round of screams.

The chief’s face looked grim, but he quickly pinpointed the culprit and stared at Greed, saying, "Mr. Rodriguez, you have to let us go. Otherwise..."

"Are you implying I locked the door?" Greed said, seemingly incredulous, "Then how did you get in?"

The chief was speechless, and at this moment, Arrogant said, "Since the police are here, I believe you will investigate clearly. At this party, you can take away whoever you want, we will definitely cooperate with the investigation. Please."

Arrogant gestured for the police to take the people away. But the problem was, the police couldn’t open the door, and everyone realized that Mr. Rodriguez was completely unaware of the situation, he hadn’t seen the supernatural phenomena at all.

This was truly despairing. Because if he didn’t know what was happening, it was all the work of ghosts, and there was no hope of leaving here.

Just then, the Punisher Frank descended like a celestial. "Shiller, there’s some supernatural phenomena here, I think it’s best to evacuate people first."

"Supernatural phenomena?"

"You may interpret it as a superpower burst. In any case, it’s something science can’t explain. If we continue to stay here, more people might die. Is there another way out of the estate?"

Arrogant pretended to think, then said, "Then the only way out is underground. But it’s not easy to pass through, are you sure you want to go?"

"Quickly! Quickly! Get us out of here!!!"

Some people had already seen the approaching ghosts, unable to contain themselves, and rushed towards Arrogant, wanting him to lead them out. Arrogant smoothly dodged, then said, "Alright, this is the estate’s secret passage. But since the situation is urgent, follow me."

He walked towards the kitchen at the back of the banquet hall. Everyone hurriedly followed. During this process, several more died, all caught and killed by ghosts. The place was filled with crying and wailing.

After reaching the kitchen corner, there was a cellar door. Arrogant, Greed, and the Punisher were the first to jump down, and the others stumbled after them. The cellar was empty, with nothing inside. But in the innermost room, beneath the carpet, there was a door to a passage.

Arrogant walked over, lifted the carpet, opened that door, and then said, "This leads to the dock below the cliff. Once there, you can row the boats away. I won’t go down, there’s a mess in the banquet hall waiting for me to clean up."

The group couldn’t wait for him not to go down, scrambling to squeeze into the passage. Everyone jostled each other, pushing and shoving to be the first, turning against siblings and parents against children.

This was indeed a secret passage that the estate originally had. The east side of the estate was a cliff, below was the sea. This passage was buried within the mountain, at the bottom level, about even with the sea level, then tunneled out to the east side, creating a dock connected to the sea, meant for an emergency escape.

Watching the last person go down the passage, Arrogant gave a cold smile. The Avengers who followed were confused, but Arrogant returned to the estate, exited through the east side door, coming to the edge of the cliff.

The crowd followed him and looked down to the bottom of the cliff. Soon, one small boat after another rowed out from below the cliff. They were clearly in some disarray, unsure where to go, but soon locals pointed them in the right direction. They rowed towards the nearest beach.

"’The most primitive emotion of the human race is fear, and the strongest fear is the fear of the unknown.’" Arrogant said slowly, "The unknown is split in two, half is the sky, half is the ocean."

The sky was overcast, the wind howling. Just as the snow began to fall again, a thin fog rose over the sea. When the waves swayed, the small boats were like yet another shadow of the sea, still on the surface, yet seemingly already engulfed. The crying dwindled, the wailing disappeared, leaving only the familiar yet unfamiliar sound of the tides.

Ordinary humans were powerless before ghosts, but all were more alone and helpless in the face of nature. It was an unsolvable fear, even the superheroes standing on the shore could feel that overwhelming terror.

But this was not the end. As the fog that trapped them in the deep sea gradually dissipated, a massive shadow slowly rose from the deep sea.

The crowd on the shore also felt suffocated. That gradually approaching oppression, the shock and eeriness causing their hearts to pound, made their fingertips start to tremble. Those on the boats were unaware, until that shadow was beneath their boats.

The instant the colossal being surfaced, all the Avengers on the shore heard the echoes of countless mental defenses collapsing. Light yet heavy, like snow, like water, like the sky above, like the infinite sea of desire below their feet. Traversing between the barriers of fame and fortune over centuries, each touch weighted the echoing, until it was deafening, just like their arrogance and greed.