Ethan watched, horrified and amazed, as Theodore fought.
The young man moved with incredible grace, easily dodging the sluggish, zombified villagers and killing them with brutal efficiency.
Theodore even took down a snarling, werewolf-like enemy—a Lycane—by simply drawing a pencil he'd found and launching it with deadly force, striking the creature right in the eye.
He killed them as if they were nothing more than targets in a shooting gallery.
Ethan felt a surge of relief that this unpredictable young man was on his side, especially after Theodore promised to help him get his daughter back.
"Alright, I'm running a bit low on bullets,"
Theodore announced, inspecting the magazine of his Desert Eagle.
"Time to go find the merchant."
"Merchant? In this kind of place?"
Ethan couldn't imagine anyone sane setting up shop in this freezing, monster-infested hell.
"Follow me. I think he's around here."
Theodore led him down a winding, snow-packed path.
Soon, a large, ornate caravan appeared, dwarfing the surrounding shacks.
Sitting beside it, radiating an unnatural warmth and a grotesque smile, was a big, fat man in a deep hooded cloak.
He looked like anything but a normal vendor.
"Is he the merchant you were talking about?"
Ethan asked, disbelief plain in his voice.
Theodore just gave a quick nod.
"Right. His name is Duke. Or maybe Dude. I don't remember."
Ignoring Ethan's confusion, Theodore approached the massive man and began taking items from his pockets: glittering jewelry, rough-cut gems, and old silver plates he had scavenged from around the village.
Duke, clearly delighted by the high-value goods, exchanged the items for Lei—the local currency.
Theodore then spent the money wisely, purchasing weapons, heaps of custom bullets, and powerful upgrades.
"You need this to stay alive, my guy,"
Theodore said, turning and handing Ethan two fully upgraded handguns: an M1911 and a V61 Custom, along with 200 live rounds.
"Thank you,"
Ethan managed, feeling the reassuring weight of the weapons.
He didn't know if he could have afforded even one of these on his own just by scraping around.
"It's nothing. Let's go! Before your daughter is separated into pieces."
Theodore said this with the same calm, straight face he used when talking about the weather.
Ethan, who had been about to nod and agree to leave, froze.
"What did you just say?!"
Theodore didn't answer. He simply aimed his Desert Eagle at a group of emerging Lycans and started firing, killing them quickly and efficiently.
It looked less like survival and more like he was grinding for EXP or farming for drops.
Duke, the merchant, shook his head slowly, a deep sigh rumbling in his chest.
'He is as insane as them… Or even more,'
Duke thought to himself.
He then cast a worried glance toward the towering, gloomy Castle Dimitrescu.
He knew he had to leave soon. This village wouldn't last much longer.
'I can tell… He won't let them live peacefully…'
Duke's big body shuddered when he thought about what he saw through his eyes.
Deep darkest he ever saw.