Chapter 279
Leaning in with her extraordinary vision, Lucy discerned the dark figures hanging from the bell tower, human corpses connected by fine threads, swaying eerily in the moonlight.
As she continued to gaze upward, the once bright moon had lost its original hue, now shrouded in a crimson mist, resembling a blood moon.
No… it wasn’t the moon that had changed color; a red fog had silently enveloped the skies above Boren City.
Buzz—!
A more intense buzzing suddenly erupted in Lucy's mind, and in that instant, a wave of regret washed over her.
I’m going to die…
This abrupt thought surfaced in her mind, refusing to fade away.
Crack—
A sharp sound of a hammer being cocked echoed from behind her.
Lucy whipped around to see several ordinary people standing there, one of them a burly man with a face full of flesh, brandishing a revolver aimed directly at the others.
“I’ve had enough! You useless lot!”
Bang bang—
Bang bang bang—
The trigger was pulled frantically, the revolver spitting fire as it swiftly claimed the lives of those around him.
Even the extraordinary being who had been trailing her from a distance had stopped at the end of the street, swaying as if losing control.
The gunfire seemed to awaken the entire street, which had been quiet just moments before, now erupting into screams and shouts.
“Ahhh—”
Crash—
The sound of shattering glass rang out as a woman fell from the third floor, her head striking the ground, dying gruesomely before Lucy’s eyes, followed closely by a man.
He too leaped from the third floor, crashing to the ground, the sound of his leg bone snapping echoing in the air.
The man seemed oblivious to his shattered leg, crawling toward the woman with bloodshot eyes, muttering curses in a sickly tone.
“I told you to listen to me… I told you to listen to me!!!”
A scene of madness unfolded in every corner of the street.
Those who should have felt no spiritual alarm, ordinary people who would normally not react, were now caught in a frenzy, a chaotic and inexplicable hatred blossoming in their minds, driving them to commit horrific acts of violence.
“For Orlando!”
A group of people burst from another alley, guns raised, pulling the triggers directly at a patrolling detective.
Their eyes were sickly red, drool spilling from their mouths, completely unaware of their actions, their sanity lost, leaving only pure madness to fester in their minds.
What’s happening?
Lucy, still unaffected, watched in shock as chaos unfolded.
She had investigated cult summoning rituals before, seen bizarre scenes triggered by strange seals, but never had she witnessed such a widespread effect from any seal or ritual.
And this all happened in an instant; just moments ago, most people had still been lost in dreams.
Tap—
Suddenly, a clear footstep echoed in Lucy’s mind.
Looking down the chaotic street, a terrifying figure was slowly approaching from the end of the road.
It was a shadowy “person,” cloaked in darkness, their face obscured by a mist of blood, appearing unremarkable at first glance.
But behind this figure, countless blood-red tendrils, resembling withered branches, extended, entwining numerous bloody corpses—some even still struggling—hanging behind it.
It was as if it wore a massive cloak made of endless blood and sin.
The moment Lucy laid eyes on that figure, the frantic buzzing nearly overwhelmed her.
What is that thing?!
An extraordinary being? A transcendent?
No… it can’t be. Even a Tier 4 extraordinary being shouldn’t be able to shatter her composure with just a glance!
No, that thing is beyond my capacity to resist.
Forget about the slim chance of a huge payoff; that thing… it could flip the table entirely, leaving no possibility of a gamble!
Lucy’s courage crumbled in an instant, and she instinctively turned to flee, but as she did, her pupils constricted.
Behind her stood a shadow almost identical to the figure at the end of the street.
Its face twisted into a black vortex, and behind it, the entire alley was filled with blood tendrils, hanging with writhing, suffering humans and corpses.
Lucy couldn’t even scream; her legs gave way, and she sank to the ground.
In her terrified gaze, the withered branch-like blood tendrils behind the shadow pulled at the corpses, continuously contracting, slowly merging into eight pairs of twisted black insect wings, the blood tendrils forming patterns on the wings, while the bones and flesh morphed into countless distorted human faces.
It felt as if gazing at those insect wings would unleash an endless cacophony of wails and screams in her mind, never ceasing.
Lucy’s mind shattered completely.
…
“Lord Shaer… Lord Shaer! The ritual hasn’t failed, the summoning hasn’t failed!”
Tara gazed fervently toward the direction of Boren City, her finger pointing excitedly.
The city was now shrouded in blood mist, and in Tara’s view, she could see a massive shadow of a dark insect, crouched at the center of Boren City, unfurling its enormous wings.
It’s the Holy Spirit! It must be the Holy Spirit!
Tara fought the urge to kneel in that direction; the Mother Goddess was nearby, and it wouldn’t be appropriate to kneel to another Holy Spirit now—if she were to kneel, it could only be to the Mother Goddess.
At that moment, Shaer looked at the distant shadow, a wave of unease washing over him.
Thank goodness I got out in time…
This sacrifice involved only members of the Holy Spirit Sect and the Church of the Savior Goddess; there was no doubt they had summoned a being from the Otherworld associated with this cult.
However, this time, Shaer felt no sense of kinship with the Otherworldly being.
“Can you tell what it is?” Shaer asked.
At that moment, the excited Tara didn’t notice anything amiss, thinking it was a test from Shaer. Realizing she was too excited, she stepped back behind him, lowering her head, “This Holy Spirit, the scriptures of the Holy War Era record that the translations of the Ansu language may not be entirely accurate…”
After a long pause, Tara finally said:
“We refer to it as the ‘Dark Insect.’ It is said to be the Mother Goddess’s… the foremost of your six ‘Punishing Saints,’ the one closest to demigod status.”
“According to the scriptures, wherever it descends, all the sins and desires buried deep within people’s hearts are amplified and released. Once all desires and sins are exhausted, the remaining pure souls are taken to the divine realm, leaving behind only the sinful husks…”
“The concentrated release of sin ensures minimal suffering for all… this is also a way to quickly release long-standing pain—this is how I understand and explain the doctrine.”
Translated, it means turning people into sinners and then cleansing the world of them to eliminate suffering?
Truly, the Holy Spirit Sect has a twisted doctrine, completely opposite to the more moderate atonement teachings of the Church of the Savior Goddess.
“What are the ‘Punishing Saints’?” Shaer inquired.
She wasn’t worried that her question would raise Tara’s suspicions; Tara always managed to fill in the gaps with her own interpretations.
“I hope those ancient doctrines haven’t misrepresented your meaning…” Tara began, “They describe the ‘Punishing Saints’ as the ‘Watchers’ and ‘Executors’ in the hands of the Mother Goddess, who will punish and judge every being that tarnishes her faith, subjecting their souls and bodies to eternal torment.”
Shaer: “…”
Now it made sense why she felt no kinship.
So, the Mother Goddess’s “enforcers” had burst forth from the Otherworld, and if she hadn’t escaped in time, she might have been the first to die.
After all, she was genuinely impersonating the Mother Goddess; who knew what the others would do upon seeing her?
Such high-tier spiritual beings acted with a certain logic; it was possible they might drag Shaer back to the Otherworld for judgment.
“Lord Shaer, what should we do next? Should we go greet the Saint?” Tara asked, barely able to contain her excitement.
To Tara, serving at the side of the Mother Goddess made her the most loyal person, absolutely beyond the reach of the Dark Insect’s judgment; she wanted to pay homage to the Dark Insect mentioned in the scriptures.
“No, we’re going to Ansu.”
Shaer replied decisively.
At a time like this, going to Ansu was the only way to ensure she could survive the next 24 hours.
Chapter 161: Shaer Sets the Trap, Ansu Under Attack.
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