Chapter 615
614 Cults and Demon Kings
Chapter 615, Section 614: Cults and Demon Kings
Sigismund tossed the scroll sent from Twilight Castle onto the table.
The document not only records the horrific damage caused by the massive "return to the dead" rituals held by the Hand of the Dead in the Urbik territory, but also includes the testimony of a steward who narrowly escaped from the affected area.
“Cassinal Urbik… an immortal who has lived for nearly four centuries?” His deep voice was full of sarcasm. “How ridiculous. The wisdom accumulated over four hundred years is probably not even as good as a goblin that can survive on the battlefield.”
"With some so-called clue that they found out from who-knows-where, they dared to teleport to an ancient ruin with incomplete information? After disappearing, they left such a huge mess for the empire."
"He'd better be dead already, otherwise that Mofrey guy would probably be happy to let him know what it means to wish he were dead."
Lin Jun felt that Mo Fulei probably wouldn't get the chance to torment Cassinal.
Although this guy is now hanging at the gate like a piece of cured meat, and the mushroom villagers almost treat him as a permanent sight, he is actually providing upgrade material for the little pig.
The little pig is almost at LV60 thanks to Lin Jun's Life Water, and it will be time to use him up.
Whether the little pig can survive the next blood-stealing ritual is unknown, but as material, he certainly won't survive.
Of course, these are not things that are suitable to discuss with Fei west.
Lin Jun asked a question that was on her mind: "Hey, have you ever seen a ghost?"
Lin Jun had seen, touched, and tasted the soul before, so it was no longer surprising for her.
Logically speaking, in a world where souls truly exist, the dead should not be a rare phenomenon.
Unfortunately, Lin Jun has never actually met him in person.
Those souls, once separated from their attached bodies, are quickly swallowed up by the world and cannot remain at all.
Lin Jun only learned from the collected materials that there were some aggressive undead in the tombs of the empire's ancestors, but she never had the chance to see the actual objects.
“I’ve seen them before,” Sigismund replied casually. “They’re just a group of prisoners bound to a specific region, not much different from elemental spirits that rely on elemental nodes to manifest. It’s good that you haven’t seen them before; this is a good opportunity to broaden your horizons.”
"You're going there in person?" Lin Jun asked, somewhat surprised.
The emperor's edict did indeed require nearby lords to cooperate in eradicating the cult and the undead.
However, Sigismund's territory and Urbik's territory were neither too close nor too far apart.
Going or not going, both are justifiable reasons.
Lin Jun originally thought that Feixi would at most send a small team to participate symbolically.
Sigismund turned around and walked toward the wall where a huge map was hanging, tracing the distance between the two territories with his fingertip.
"High Fortress has been rebuilt and the southern defense system has been completely updated. Even if the human kingdom launches a surprise attack now, it will be enough to hold out until I return."
Lin Jun noticed that he only explained the reason for "being able to leave", but did not explain "why he wanted to go".
But if she doesn't want to talk about it, then so be it. Anyway, Lin Jun really wanted to see what the undead and their living environment were like.
I wonder if the Hand of the Dead is still within the territory of Urbik?
……
Urbik territory, the disaster-stricken area.
The High Priestess of the Hand of the Dead, a woman dressed in a plain white dress, stood silently in the center of the altar. Her dress moved without wind, like a pale flower blooming on a pile of corpses.
Four massive, jet-black pillars stand around the altar.
At the top of each pillar sat a priest chanting with his eyes closed, while on the sides of the pillars were inlaid countless offerings with faces so serene they were almost eerie. Most of them were demons, but there were also many humans and dwarves dressed as slaves.
The high priestess tilted her head back, her eyes gazing at the heavens. Deep within her eyes lay not the whites of her eyes, but a churning, pure black. She was completely focused, trying to receive divine guidance, but could only hear a cacophony of noise.
"Not enough, still not enough! We need more souls!"
Upon hearing the high priest's request, the four priests, including Ginny, immediately increased the speed at which they transferred the soul from the pillar to the center of the altar.
And this finally allowed the high priest to glimpse a fragment of the incomplete divine oracle:
[...Mushroom...enemy...sweep...the world...]
The high priest wanted to find more details, but a cyan wind blade suddenly interrupted the ritual.
The priest at the very top of the outermost black pillar didn't even have time to open his eyes before his head was separated from his neck.
The lifeless body fell forward, the connection between the black pillar beneath it and the altar snapped, and the soul that had been steadily being channeled was suddenly freed and scattered.
"How dare you interrupt this sacred ceremony!"
Ginny suddenly stood up, and the deepest fears of countless dead souls gathered in her palm, transforming into an attack that struck the figure from which the wind blade came.
However, a long snake made of a translucent gel-like substance darted out and blocked the terrifying impact, briefly freezing before returning to normal.
"An attack formed from condensed emotions is indeed powerful, but against primitive creations lacking consciousness, it is not as effective as a simple fireball."
A figure clad in a deep purple robe emerged from beneath the giant slime serpent, with five A-grade magic crystals, shimmering with a magnificent luster, floating behind him like a star ring.
"You losers' relatives, if you want to cause trouble, can you stay away from my territory?" As he spoke, two teleportation arrays appeared out of thin air behind him.
Countless red and green slimes sprang out and engaged in battle with the cultists.
At the center of the altar, the dark light in the high priest's eyes slowly faded as the ceremony was interrupted, revealing his originally pale white pupils.
She looked at the uninvited guest, her eyes filled not with anger, but with deep sorrow: "You don't understand... just now you made so many sacrifices go to waste."
"No, I know exactly what I'm doing."
The high priestess stopped arguing. She raised her hand slightly, and a pure darkness spread from beneath her feet, silently and swiftly sweeping towards the demon king's location.
The giant slime serpent, bearing the brunt of the attack, attempted to defend itself.
But the moment the dark tentacles coiled around it, the countless slime cores that made up its body lost their activity one after another. After struggling for only a few seconds, the entire giant serpent completely disintegrated, turning into a pool of lifeless, viscous liquid.
His figure flickered repeatedly, moving rapidly among the ruins and rubble, each time appearing just a fraction faster than the spreading darkness.
"They've already mastered the power of the gods so skillfully. Spirituality is indeed a troublesome thing..."
As the Demon King dodged, the magic crystal behind him spun, and arcs of electricity, bursts of flame, and wind blades rained down on the white-clad girl on the altar.
However, the remaining three priests were already on high alert, their faith power forming a dark gray light barrier that blocked all attacks.
As time passed, the cultists gradually annihilated the emerging slimes and began to surround the constantly dodging Demon King.
Slimes that haven't undergone deep modifications ultimately can't defeat enemies of this caliber simply by sheer numbers.
Seeing that he could not find a weakness in a short time, the Demon King could only sigh and launch an unprecedentedly huge fireball into the sky.
Immediately afterward, under the desperate cover of the remaining slimes, a complex teleportation array lit up beneath his feet. Just before the light engulfed his figure, the fireball that had risen to the top of the sky exploded with a deafening roar.
Even from a distance, the fireball blooming in the sky was clearly visible, and the Empire's mopping-up forces were unsurprisingly making their way in this direction.
(End of this chapter)