Land of Hot Springs.
A two-story building on the edge of a small town stood quietly.
Compared to the bustling town in the distance, this place was exceptionally quiet, and with the surrounding trees blocking the view, it felt even more eerie.
Inside the house, dozens of people were gathered, surrounding a makeshift platform, their faces filled with fanaticism as they looked at the figure on the stage.
"Everyone!"
The man on the stage took off his black robe, revealing an ordinary face with a brutal expression. He looked at the others below and laughed maniacally.
"Today is the monthly day of sacrifice to Lord Evil God again! Are you ready?!"
As soon as the man's voice fell, the quiet hall suddenly became noisy. Everyone looked at him and shouted in a clamor.
"We've been ready for a long time, Lord Heite!"
"Today, I'm going to sacrifice four people to Lord Evil God!"
"What's four? I'm going to sacrifice ten people to Lord Evil God!"
As they spoke, each person raised the weapon in their hand, looking at the man on the stage, waiting for his command before rushing out of the stronghold to kill to their heart's content!
"Very good!"
Heite nodded with satisfaction, looking at the eager crowd below, then raised the long blade in his hand and shouted.
"For Lord Evil God, let's go!"
"Yes!"
The cultists, who could no longer hold back, immediately turned and rushed out. Just then, the closed door suddenly flew up, hurtling through the air towards the crowd.
"Hm?"
Seeing this, everyone was stunned at first. It wasn't until their heads were covered by shadow that they reacted, wanting to dodge, but it was too late. They could only watch as the heavy house door smashed down on them.
"Ah!"
The moment the house door fell, several screams instantly erupted simultaneously, mixed with the faint sound of bones cracking.
This sudden scene instantly left everyone stunned in place. Only Heite, standing on the stage, reacted first, pointing his long blade towards the door and roaring.
"Who is it!"
His shout made the rest of the stunned people in the hall come back to their senses. They turned their heads to look outside the door and saw a figure slowly retracting his fist. It seemed that the flying house door was his masterpiece.
"My apologies."
Under everyone's gaze, Ren clapped the dust off the back of his hands, his gaze sweeping over the crowd, and chuckled softly.
"My first visit, and I've already given you a taste of my power."
"Who are you!"
Heite's face was grim as he looked at Ren and said in a low voice.
"Nothing much, just here to ask for directions."
Ren raised his hands to form a hand seal and chuckled softly.
"Ice Clone Jutsu."
Next, under the horrified gaze of the Evil God Cult members, two blocks of ice slowly emerged from behind Ren, constantly changing shape, finally solidifying into Ren's likeness, and landing on the ground.
"Brother."
Ren turned his head to look at the two behind him and smiled.
"How is this body?"
"Not bad."
Number One shook his arm and smiled faintly.
"I told you, main body, you finally did something good."
Number Two patted Ren's shoulder and sighed.
"What kind of talk is that?"
Ren rolled his eyes, then raised his hand to point at the people inside the house and laughed.
"You two, let's have a competition. Let's see who takes down more guys."
"Who's afraid of whom?"
Number One casually pulled a Kunai from Ren's waist and twirled it beautifully in his hand.
"Come on, it's a good chance to try out the new body."
Number Two took two steps forward, looking at the stunned Evil God Cult members, and cracked his knuckles.
"Damn it!"
It was only then that everyone came back to their senses. Heite's face was so grim it looked like it could drip water. He raised his blade, pointed it at the three, and roared.
"Kill them! Use their blood to sacrifice to Lord Evil God!"
"Yes!"
The Evil God Cult members, as if waking from a dream, all raised their weapons and charged forward, howling, one after another, at the three.
"Charge, everyone! Kill them!"
They successively stepped over the house door, deaf to the screams of their companions below.
In their eyes, these companions had already gone to serve Lord Evil God, and in their view, this was the highest honor.
"I'm going first."
Number One left a sentence behind and vanished from his spot, reappearing already having rushed into the crowd, a Kunai in his hand beginning to fly up and down.
"Bastard, you cheated."
Seeing Number One rush out, Number Two, who was a beat slower, also quickly rushed out, leaping into the air with a kick, performing a spinning kick into the crowd.
"Leaf Whirlwind."
The two's intrusion instantly shattered the Evil God Cult members' offensive. Their forward momentum immediately stopped, and they began to turn and surround the two in the crowd, no longer paying attention to Ren standing at the door.
"These two guys."
Ren rubbed his forehead helplessly, not intending to disturb their excitement. Instead, he turned to look at Heite on the platform not far away, a difficult-to-fathom smile on his lips.
"Damn it!"
Seeing the two furiously slaughtering among the crowd below, Heite's face grew even grimmer. He was about to jump off the platform to join the battle when, at that moment, a sudden change occurred!
"Hm?"
Heite's steps halted, and he looked around with a horrified expression.
He saw himself visibly covered by darkness. In the blink of an eye, he was completely engulfed in darkness, with only profound darkness visible.
The house, the platform, the Evil God Cult members, the enemies—all had disappeared. Only this darkness, which isolated all light, remained before him.
"What the hell!"
Heite cursed under his breath. Just as he was about to make a move, a sound of rushing air instantly came.
"Hm!"
A sudden stinging pain on his body made him let out a cold grunt. He was about to reach for an Exploding Tag from his waist, but unexpectedly, a numbing sensation spread throughout his body the next moment, rendering all his struggles useless.
"Whoosh, whoosh!"
Several more sounds of rushing air came, and Heite immediately felt the numbness in his body intensify, unable to muster any strength.
Just as he was in a panic, a sudden immense force from behind instantly kicked him to the ground. When he came back to his senses, the previously dark surroundings had, at some unknown point, returned to normal.
It was still the same room, the same platform. The only difference was that all of his subordinates in the hall had been dealt with, and only two figures stood there arguing.
"I took down nineteen, one more than you!"
Number Two grabbed Number One's collar and roared.
"Get lost! The last guy was mine. Why did you come and steal my kill?"
Number One was not to be outdone, also grabbing Number Two and shouting.
"Seriously."
Just then, Heite noticed a figure appear beside him. He used all his strength to turn his head and saw Ren standing next to him, looking at the two arguing below with a helpless expression.
"Oh, right."
Just then, Ren turned his head, and their gazes met.
"I forgot about the main business."