...…
With Daven's help, Shin could easily sneak inside the island without relying on Hanzo's assistance. He was able to dodge most of the monitoring formations scattered in the entire island and even avoided the scouts of the Corrupted Cult.
Due to this, Hanzo also did not have to suppress the barrier surrounding the island, relieving so burden from his shoulders.
But despite that being the case, Shin did not let his guard down even for a second. Knowing how cunning these guys were, he would not let himself be caught in a trap just like what happened to the rest of the Silent Night.
Not long after, Blackie and Grimrace, who he had sent to investigate the area earlier, finally contacted him through their connection. They told him that they had found the location of the missing villagers.
The villagers were currently gathered in front of an altar built by the cult mbers, unconscious. Blackie reassured him that they were only unconscious and none of them were seriously injured or died.
Shin nodded slightly and instructed them to hide while waiting for more orders.
Daven and Shin traverse the island in a specific route, where they avoid most of the traps and monitoring formations that the cult had set up.
A few monts later, the pair finally arrived at the center of the island, where most of the cult mbers were gathered.
The two hid behind the trees and bush while erasing their presence as much as possible. Daven did not need to do much since he still carried the aura unique to the cult, which would help him disguise himself.
Shin, on the other hand, seed to have rged with the surroundings after employing the stealth skills inside the ga along with the techniques under the Heavenly Black Tortoise thod of the Perfected Four Symbol Scripture.
After seeing Shin 'disappear' right beside him, Daven could not help but raise his brows deeply. He also felt that he had to reevaluate Shin given the tricks that he could use aside from the data that they had gathered.
Looking through the bushes, Shin saw that most of the cult mbers were currently concentrated in this area. All of them were currently kneeling on the ground and seemingly praying. Their simultaneous chants were giving Shin a shiver due to how sinister their tones and voices were.
After seeing the cult mbers, Shin gazed at the surroundings, closely observing everything. But after not finding the villagers despite the huge altar at the center of the cult mbers, he could not help but frown deeply under his mask.
Seemingly able to read what was running inside Shin's head, Daven suddenly added. "The sacrifices are gathered on another part of the island because they must be placed on specific locations to form the cult's pentagram."
Hearing that, Shin suddenly asked. "Are you telling that the villagers were not the only ones that got abducted?"
Daven chuckled when he heard that. "Don't tell that you are expecting that the residents of a small village are enough to sacrifice for the Cult Ceremony?"
He then paused for a mont to turn back at the altar not far from them before continuing. "This is the center of the pentagram. It is where the cult mbers had to concentrate their powers to call upon the Divine Demon that the cult worships."
"They are using this opportunity to build the connection between this realm and the Divine Demon, taking advantage of the crack that the Demonic Churches have created due to the summoning of the Glutton Demon King of the Flies, Beelzebub."
Hearing that explanation, Shin could not help but raise his brows as it seed like this was sowhat connected to the recent events in the Sacred Light Kingdom.
Seeing that Shin had most likely figured out everything, Daven continued. "As for why the cult has chosen this place-…"
Even before Daven completed his words, Shin had already figured out the reason. "It is because the Frozen Kingdom is near here. Due to the kingdom opening its borders to the outside world, the overwhelming mana that accumulated for a very long ti within that place is going to leak outside. It will be the best source that the cult can use for such a ceremony."
He then paused and gave Daven a sidelong glance before continuing. "I don't know how these guys are going to gather that residual mana, but I guess that they are using a similar thod that the Demonic Churches have used in the Sacred Light Kingdom."
"Now that I think about it-… that is also an event where the Demonic Churches and Corrupted Cult have collaborated. Since they are using each other, I can assu that one of the reasons why the cult participates in that event is to copy the thods of the Demonic Churches," he added after a brief thought.
Hearing Shin figuring out the thods that the Corrupted Cult had used, Daven could not help but feel a little scared of this person. He now had gotten another reason why their leader repeatedly suffered losses against Shin.
'No wonder the boss is gathering us much earlier than we have planned. With an enemy like this, our plans will most likely fail if we approach it like we used to do,' he thought before opening a virtual map that projected the entire island.
He pointed out a few places before saying. "These places are the main points of the pentagram. The sacrifices are most likely in these places along with the sub-altars."
"If you want to save them, then you must conduct the rescue simultaneously without missing a second since the altars will suck their life force the mont all the preparations for the ceremony are completed."
"Or at least destroy those altars before they start devouring the life force of those people," he was about to add more when Shin suddenly interrupted him.
"But I can't my move until the guest that you are waiting for arrives," Shin thought for a mont before adding. "Or should I say-… until the item that that 'guest' has brought is here?"
'What a sharp individual,' thought Daven solemnly as he started to get a clearer look at how scary Shin could be. 'It seems like trying to hide sothing from him will not work either.'
"We can't get our hands on that item if the sacrifices suddenly disappear. You should understand what it ans, don't you?" said Daven.
Shin nodded his head as he decided to wait here before making his move.
In the anti, Daven suddenly took out five cubes from his inventory before handing it to Shin. "These are similar to prison prisms but can hold more people in comparison."
"This is also similar to the ones that those guys have used when capturing those sacrifices," he added.
Shin took the prisms and inspected them true 'True Sight' to make sure that there was no underlying trap hidden in them. After confirming that there was nothing strange about this item, even with the help of Solus and Hanzo, who told examined them through their respective ans, he kept the prisms inside his inventory while waiting for the right opportunity to move.
He then waited in their hiding place until a group of hood individuals arrived at the center of the island.
Shin knew that the guest that Daven was waiting was among them given that the latter got ready to move.
Seeing that, Shin went on the move and went to the other side of the altar, opposite the place where Daven was hiding. He wanted to observe what Daven was trying to do, but he did not want the latter to see his movents, so he went to hide in another place.
At the sa ti, he also summoned Vladimir, Astaroth, and Solus and instructed them to head toward the other places where the other NPCs were being held.
He told them to wait for his signal before they could make their moves.
A few monts later, Shin saw that soone from the hooded figures that just arrived walked out of the group and climbed to the platform where the altar was located.
Watched closely and saw that this person had taken out sothing from under his cloak. Upon closer inspection, Shin saw that it was a strange-looking box.
Bang!
When the hooded person opened that box, a dark and sinister aura suddenly overwheld the entire surroundings before spreading in every direction, seemingly trying to envelop the entire island.
Shin felt sowhat suppressed by the pressure that was pressing on him. But his Battle Physique was able to withstand the pressure and freed him from its restraints.
After his recent battle against Ashura, the Battle Physique seed to have beco more active and started giving him surprises from ti to ti. It even started to integrate with the Sword Heart that he recently acquired with the help of the old elven seer of the Sacred Light Kingdom.
Squinting his eyes to get a clear look at the item hidden inside that box, Shin saw that it was a black pearl filled with corrupted mana. Even from a distance, Shin could see the black smoke that was ford due to the high concentration of corruption.
At this mont, Shin finally realized why Immortal coveted this item. With such condensed corrupted mana it contained, this item must be a rare treasure even within the cult.
He then started to beco curious about what Immortal was planning to use this weapon for.
Then, when the hooded figure placed the pearl at the center of the altar, the chants of the cultists behind him and around the altar started to beco louder.
At the sa ti, crimson and black lights started to illuminate the entire island, indicating that the cult pentagram was about to activate.
Shin frowned deeply as he still could not see Daven making his move. If he waited a little longer, then the villagers and the other sacrifices would lose their lives.
He was starting to have doubts when a huge shadow was suddenly cast over the center of the island, indicating that a humongous figure appeared above them.
Raising his head, Shin saw a familiar creature flying in the sky. It was a Zombie Dragon that fought against his Eclipse Dragon before.
Standing at the head of the dragon was the familiar enemy that clashed against him multiple tis.
"Immortal," mumbled Shin solemnly when he sensed the current power that Immortal had. It was so overwhelming that it could even suppress him with such a distance. Moreover, he could also sense that there was another power mixed in the usual corrupted mana that Immortal possessed.
"Demonic Energy?" the expression that Shin frowned deeply as his tone beca slightly grave. This guy must have done sothing strange once again and it even made him much stronger.
"Immortal! You traitor! What are you planning to do now!?"
At the sa ti, the person standing on the altar and in front of the black pearl shouted at Immortal after seeing the huge dragon. There was a clear anger in his tone, indicating that there was a deep enmity between them.
Immortal stood haughty in the sky before grinning sinisterly. "Elder, if you want to bla soone, then bla yourself for being incompetent."
Hearing those words, the cult elder suddenly looked at the cult mbers behind him and pointed toward the sky. "What are you waiting for? Capture that bastard and prevent him from getting in the way of our sacred ceremony!"
The cult mbers were finally wakened up from their daze and started preparing to attack.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
But before they could even do anything, the shadows underneath their feet suddenly moved and spitted out a bunch of skeleton knights.
They appeared behind every mber of the cult without a sound and started massacring everyone, both the NPCs and the players included.
The only person who was not attacked was the leader of the players, who was acting as the leader of the group. He grabbed his cloak and threw it on the ground, revealing his true appearance. "Ah~! I can finally stretch myself. "
"You-…! What are you doing Kazin? What is the aning of this?" said one of the players that ca with him.
The guy nad Kazin did not respond and just smiled at that player. He then took out a spear and started stabbing the person repeatedly. "You have been an eyesore since the start of this mission. Let vent out all my frustrations on you."
Not long after, the only person left was the cult elder. He was standing alone while being surrounded by the skeleton knights.
Then Kazin and Daven gathered as Immortal descended from the sky. They stood on each of his sides silently, acting as his loyal subordinates.
Seeing this, Shin quickly issued a command to his Elental Spirits to destroy the rest of the altars through their mind connection.
He was having a bad feeling about this, but he was not that concerned as he also felt that could deal with the current situation.
Moreover, his main objective in coming here was to rescue the villagers and the rest of the people who were captured by the cult.
Thinking about this, Shin summoned all his clones and left them behind to watch over the situation before he headed toward the locations where the captured people were located. He was planning to save them first before coming back here.
"Let's see what this lunatic is planning to do later. I have to make sure the safety of the villagers first."
...
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