The Savior of American Comics? I'm the Subspace Evil God!

Chapters 376, 668, and 669: Sacrifice Ceremony
That night.

Night fell like thick ink, completely engulfing the world.

Even the moon had disappeared, and only the howling cold wind swept through the streets and alleys, emitting a mournful howl.

In the distance, the church of the Dark Church shone with a blinding light, standing out starkly in the deathly silence of the night.

So Misty Knight didn't have to exert much effort at all; under the cover of darkness, she successfully crept up to the church like a silent shadow.

As she drew closer, her steps became lighter and more cautious, each movement careful, as if afraid of making the slightest sound.

Finally, she quietly crept up to the church.

The church's heavy doors remained tightly shut, separating the inside from the outside into two completely different worlds.

Misty Knight leaned forward slightly, pressing her ear tightly against the door, trying to catch any clues inside.

At first, the conversation coming from inside was so faint it was like a whisper drifting from a distant abyss.

But in an instant, the voices grew more impassioned, a cacophony of voices, and one could vaguely discern phrases such as "eternal existence, the arrival of the gods."

Just as she was listening intently, a piercing scream suddenly rang out, "Ah, everyone wake up! Please help me, for the sake of my past as a sheriff..."

Misty Knight was instantly terrified, her eyes widening as that familiar voice struck her heart like a heavy hammer.

Because she had already recognized the voice as belonging to Eric, the "informant" who had provided her with clues during the day.

In an instant, a strong sense of unease surged within her like a tidal wave, as if a cold, invisible hand were gripping her heart tightly, making her breath quicken.

Misty Knight had no time to ponder why Eric had been captured and brought here. She knew that if she had entered any later, Eric would have certainly lost his life.

Her eyes hardened instantly, and without hesitation, she drew the Colt Enforcer Revolver from her waist. Even though she didn't have a search warrant, she had no choice but to take action ahead of schedule.

Immediately afterwards, Misty Knight used all her strength to slam into the church door.

"boom--"

The door swung open with a bang, kicking up a little dust.

Misty Knight rushed in with her gun, but the sight before her made her freeze in place.

Misty Knight was certain that she was not a naive, brainless rookie who only knew how to act recklessly.

Furthermore, throughout her career, she believes she has witnessed many strange, even terrifying, events.

Like superheroes, vampires, Titans, Kaiju, and so on...

But until now, she has never seen such a bizarre sacrificial ritual!

Inside the church, beneath its somewhat eerie, massive dome, nearly a hundred figures of varying heights swayed.

They crowded together in the church like ghostly figures.

And these people were all draped in large black cloaks, like a group of ghosts wandering in the cemetery.

Misty Knight also noticed from some of the figures facing the door that their faces were all painted with a spiral red line made of blood or some kind of red paint.

The pattern, illuminated by the firelight, gave off an extremely evil and terrifying feeling.

Each of these people held a candle in their hand and stood together around a simple altar, about a meter high and shaped like a fire cabinet.

They muttered incantations, their voices sometimes low and sometimes high, weaving together into a chilling and eerie melody.

On the sacrificial altar, a naked figure was bound tightly to the altar in a kneeling position, wailing in terror and despair.

This person, of course, is Eric!

Eric's eyes were wide open, filled with endless fear, and cold sweat mixed with tears streamed down his cheeks.

His body trembled violently like a flickering candle in a storm, overwhelmed by extreme fear and pain.

In front of Eric, a shoe cultist shrouded in a cloak was wielding a sharp dagger, skinning Eric's chest with extreme cruelty and skill.

The dagger sliced ​​through the skin, making a faint, chilling sound.

Normally, no one would have heard such a noise, but right now, perhaps fear amplified her hearing sensitivity, even though she was more than ten meters away, Misty Knight, who was standing at the door, could still hear the sound clearly.

Fresh blood gushed out of the wound like a spring, quickly pooling into a dark red pool on the sacrificial altar, emitting a pungent, bloody stench that was imperceptible to ordinary people.

Despite Eric's desperate pleas and cries for mercy, the skinner remained unmoved, his hands continuing their work without pause.

From the shape of the skinned portion on Eric's chest, it can be clearly identified that it is the spiral symbol that the Dark Church worships, representing Nar!

At this moment, two cultists, also dressed in cloaks, stepped forward. One of them dipped his finger into the pool of blood and then began to carefully draw spiral patterns on the face of the cultist opposite him.

Their focused expressions suggested they were performing an incredibly sacred and solemn ceremony.

"Officer Misty, help me...please help me, I don't want to die here!!"

When Eric saw Misty Knight burst into the church, a glimmer of hope instantly ignited in his eyes. He screamed hysterically, his voice hoarse, broken, and trembling with extreme fear and despair.

Seeing this, Misty Knight quickly prepared her pistol, pointed it at the skinner, and pulled out her badge, shouting angrily:
"Stop it, all of you, or I'll shoot!!"

Her voice echoed throughout the church, attempting to intimidate the crazed cultists.

however.

The people in the church, whether it was the figure peeling skin or the nearly one hundred figures surrounding the altar, all seemed to be frozen in place, ignoring her warning.

They remained engrossed in the frenzied ritual, chanting incantations, their eyes filled with fanaticism and dazedness.

"Damn it, these lunatics!!"

Misty Knight cursed under her breath, finding herself in a dilemma.

Putting aside the fact that she had no law enforcement authority in Paterson City, the Colt Enforcer revolver in her hand, with its mere six bullets, was utterly useless against the nearly one hundred fanatical Shoe Cult members before her. These guys were clearly fearless die-hard Shoe Cult members; in their eyes, death might even be a form of "honor."

As a result, the pistol in her hand was practically useless, even less intimidating than a baseball bat.

Even if she opened fire, she could only kill a maximum of six people. Afterwards, no matter how heinous the crimes committed by these shoe cult members, she would be tried by the local court for abuse of power because she had no law enforcement authority.

Just as Misty Knight was feeling caught in a dilemma, two figures slowly emerged from behind the church.

One of them took the initiative to lift the hood covering his head, revealing a face that was none other than Dihar, whom he had seen during the day.

“Welcome, Officer Misty Knight. I’m glad we can get back to our previous topic so quickly…”

Dihar's lips curled into a sinister smile. His face showed no panic that one would expect when their secret was exposed. Instead, it was filled with madness and recklessness, his eyes flashing with fanaticism, as if he had already fallen into a state of frenzy.

"Since you're so eager to know the answer, I'll make an exception and reveal all the mysteries to you today... But before that, we need to complete the necessary sacrificial rituals!"

As he spoke, Dihar took a few steps forward, without even glancing at the pistol in the other man's hand.

"No, I will absolutely not let you succeed."

Misty Knight glared angrily, shouted, and then quickly pointed her gun at Dihar behind her, attempting to use this to coerce the group of shoe cultists into letting Eric go.

But to her utter surprise, just as she raised her gun, a black spider web suddenly shot out from under the wide hood of the tall figure who had been standing beside Dihar.

The spiderweb spread out as fast as lightning, directly and firmly sticking Misty Knight to the wall behind her.

Misty Knight was tightly bound by spider webs, unable to move, her face filled with disbelief.

"WTF? What the hell are you?"

Misty Knight stared wide-eyed, her mind filled with shock and confusion.

If it weren't for the obvious height difference between the person opposite her and the Spider Woman, she would have almost called out the Spider Woman's name on the spot.

In her mind, it seemed that only Spider-Woman in the entire New York area possessed the ability to shoot webs.

The problem is that the Spider Woman, who represents justice, would obviously never collude with this group of shoe cultists who like to indiscriminately kill innocent people.

So here's the question: if this guy isn't the Spider Woman, then who is this mysterious person launching the web?

Misty Knight struggled desperately as she tried to calm herself and frantically racked her brains.

But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't break free from the spider web.

The black spider web seemed to be cast from steel, and the more you struggled, the tighter it became.

"Give up, stop struggling, you can't break free."

With a mocking smile on his face, Dehal stepped forward, slowly closed the church doors again, and then strolled over to Misty Knight, saying with a grin:
"As you can see now, this sacrificial ceremony is a small gift offered specifically to the [God of Darkness] Nar..."

Dihar tilted his head slightly, a fanatical expression on his face, as if he were envisioning some terrible "wonderful" future.

Misty Knight, as if foreseeing the terrible things to come, continued to struggle and roar angrily:

"No, you damned shoe cultists, you will be brought to justice!!"

Her eyes burned with rage as she stared intently at Dihar.

If looks could kill, the latter would probably be riddled with bullets by now!
"Bring them to justice?"

Dihar curled his lip in disdain and snorted coldly, "Fool, let me tell you, there is no black and white, right and wrong in this world, only life and death!!"

Her voice began to grow shrill and frantic, echoing throughout the church.

She slowly opened her arms, as if to embrace the whole world, or perhaps the darkness within the church, "while blood and abyss are the true, unchanging colors of this universe..."

Just as the two were talking, the skinning work in front of the altar not far away had been completed.

Seeing this, Dehal temporarily abandoned Misty Knight, stepped through the crowd, stopped in front of the altar, suddenly opened his arms, and in a high-pitched and frenzied voice addressed all the believers present:
"Ladies and gentlemen, the great [Dark God] Gnar has descended upon the earth with his divine and powerful might through the [Void Knights]."

"【The Gods Are Coming】...Close your eyes and feel it for yourself. The ancient prophecy will soon be fulfilled in a torrent of blood and fire."

Everyone's eyes turned fervent as she spoke, as if they could already see the terrifying moment of the so-called "descent of the gods."

"As long as you sincerely pray to Lord Nar and willingly turn away from the light and embrace the darkness, you will receive the powerful force bestowed by the gods, the power to control 'living darkness'!"

Dihar's voice grew louder and louder, and his emotions became increasingly agitated. As he spoke, he waved his arms, frantically stirring up the emotions of the believers around him.

"We are all chosen ones, the Dark Church will surely rise, and the god we worship... will finally regain his freedom!"

"We desperately long for our God to break free of his shackles, to come from the darkness to our side, and to lead us in our fight against the light..."

"Therefore, we will do this in his name, offering our blood and brains to the great [Lord of Darkness]..."

"Finally, when the gods descend, we will be able to join their ranks as loyal servants. We will be reborn in the abyss and become one with the darkness, existing for eternity!!"

Dihar's voice reached its climax, his body trembling slightly with overwhelming excitement, "What glory, what fortune... [The gods are coming]!!!"

"The gods are coming!!!"

"The gods are coming!!!"

The group of shoe cultists beamed with wild joy, raising their candles and chanting in unison with Dihar, "The gods are coming!"

The synchronized and frenzied shouts echoed throughout the church, making Misty Knight's eardrums ache and sending chills down her spine.

At that moment, as Dihar waved her arm, the noisy sounds in the church immediately ceased. She stepped to the altar, looked at Eric, who was terrified and speechless, and a strange smile appeared on her face.

“Eric, I know you must be in a lot of pain right now. I understand that feeling of helplessness in the face of despair. Don’t worry, I can help you get out of this pain…”

(End of this chapter)