"Our mission is to ensure the ritual goes off without a hitch. Speed up the progress. If necessary... you can extract the life force of those captured 'sacrifices.' Though the quality is poor, the quantity can make up for it."
"Yes!"
The black-robed figure beside him trembled slightly, clearly understanding what "extracting sacrifices" meant, but immediately took the order nonetheless. The priest once again cast his gaze toward the turbid crystal at the tip of the bone-white staff, the eerie green light flickering violently in his eyes.
"Soon... very soon... when the twin moons move to the correct position, and when the Holy Remains have absorbed enough life, the portal to the endless dark abyss will open here. The Great Being we believe in will bestow true 'purification' and 'order' upon this land." He spread his arms as if to embrace the permeating dark purple mist, his voice carrying a spine-chilling intoxication. "And we shall become the founders of the new world!"
Early the next morning, before the sky had brightened, the forest was still filled with damp mist. Tiny dewdrops hung on blades of grass and spiderwebs, refracting the glimmer of the coming dawn. Outside the east gate of White Thorn City, several figures converged silently.
Luna Belle rubbed her still-sleepy eyes and took a deep breath of the crisp, cold air, trying to dispel her drowsiness. Ellen stood beside her, still looking like she hadn't woken up. The Thiren had a lollipop in her mouth, her massive Shark Pruning Shears carried casually over her shoulder, and her tail drooping lazily behind her.
Sayu was already prepared, dressed in form-fitting clothes suitable for movement. Her silver hair glinted coldly in the hazy morning light, and her violet eyes were calm and rippleless. Soon after, a blue figure walked lightly from the woods; it was the Water Spirit, Tineva.
Seeing the group, a look of relief appeared on her face as she spoke softly. "Good morning, everyone. I know a relatively safe path that avoids the areas they frequently patrol."
"We'll leave it to you, Tineva~"Luna Belle nodded, and under Tineva's lead, the group vanished into the embrace of the Gloomy Forest like ghosts.
The forest path was winding and rugged. Slippery moss and tangled tree roots made progress quite difficult. Though Ellen looked like she was still half-asleep, her steps were exceptionally steady. She even had the presence of mind to occasionally pull up Luna Belle, who would slip every now and then.
The closer they got to the Clear Water Lake area, the more oppressive the atmosphere became. The originally vibrant forest trees gradually became sparse and withered. The smell of decay in the air grew heavier, even mixed with a faint, indistinct scent of blood. Luna Belle's heart couldn't help but race. She subconsciously moved closer to Ellen. The latter, seeing the anxious expression on the blue-haired girl beside her, reached out and grasped her soft hand...
After a period of careful stealth, the group finally reached a high ground on the outskirts of Clear Water Lake. The dense bushes provided excellent cover. They stopped and looked down through the gaps in the branches. The sight before them made Luna Belle gasp.
The once clear and beautiful Clear Water Lake was now shrouded in a thick layer of dark purple mist. The lake water had become turbid and foul, faintly glinting with an ominous black light. Around the lake shore, all the vegetation had withered and died, and the ground was a sickly, charred black. In the center of the lakeshore, an altar built of black stones and covered in runes stood out glaringly. In the middle of the altar stood a bone-white staff. The turbid crystal at its tip was constantly spewing black mist and siphoning all the life force from the surroundings.
Even more alarming was that around the altar, no fewer than twenty black-robed figures in bird-beak masks were gathered. They stood encircling the altar, chanting eerie incantations in low, fanatical voices. And in front of the altar, seven or eight figures were kneeling, bound by rough ropes. There were small dwarves, listless Treants, and even a dying Forest Wolf. They were clearly the "sacrifices" captured to be used for the ritual.
"They are accelerating the ritual..." Sayu's voice was extremely low, her violet eyes sharp as blades. "We must notify the President and the others immediately."
She quickly took out the magic communication device hidden in her clothes, her fingers sliding across it rapidly as she concisely sent out the information about what they saw and the number of enemies. However, the very second the light of the communication device faded, a sudden change occurred.
On the altar, the black-robed priest whose mask had silver edges suddenly snapped his head up and shouted, "Rats have snuck in!" His cold voice came through the mask, carrying a hint of irritation. "Move the ritual forward! Sacrifice the offerings immediately to welcome the arrival of the Divine Envoy!"
"Not good!" Sayu's expression changed.
Almost the moment she spoke, Ellen and Sayu locked eyes, an unspoken understanding instantly forming between them. Sayu unhesitatingly shoved the communication device into Luna Belle's hands, speaking at high speed. "Contact the President. Miss Ellen and I will go support first!"
In the next second, two figures shot out from their hiding place like arrows from a bow! Ellen's target was clear, heading straight for a black-robed figure holding a dagger. The massive Shark Pruning Shears were weightless in her hands. With a whistle that tore through the air, she reached him first, the blades precisely slashing horizontally toward the arm holding the dagger!
The black-robed figure clearly hadn't expected the attack to be so fast and so vicious. In his haste, he tried to dodge but was already too late.
Squelch!
Accompanied by a tooth-grinding cutting sound and a short scream, the arm holding the dagger, along with the dagger itself, was cleanly snipped off by the shark shears, flying off with a trail of foul blood!
Meanwhile, Sayu merged into the shadows like a ghost. Her figure flickered through the crowd, her short blades dancing. Her targets were the ropes binding the hostages and the black-robed figures closest to them. Her movements were silent but highly efficient. Every time she appeared, a black-robed figure would fall clutching their throat or heart, or the ropes on a hostage would be severed.
"Enemy attack! Protect the altar!" The silver-edged priest roared in shock and anger. He hadn't expected at all that someone was actually lying in ambush nearby.
If Sayu knew that the priest hadn't actually discovered them—that he just snapped his head up to recite a line every ten minutes—she would definitely be angry enough to spit out a mouthful of blood.
After a brief moment of chaos, the black-robed figures immediately reacted, drawing their weapons and beginning to swarm Ellen and Sayu. The battle erupted instantly and fell into a stalemate. In the hiding spot, after Luna Belle and Tineva notified the President, they stared at the chaotic battle below, unable to help breaking into a cold sweat for the two.
Ellen and Sayu's figures wove through the black-robed figures and the controlled magical beasts. Every attack was accompanied by a scream from the enemy. However, there were simply too many magical beasts controlled by the black-robed figures. They surged forward like a tide, entangling the two without fear of death, trying to separate them from the altar...