Mercenary Wars

Chapter 197 The Holy Name of Cassandra

As Lucius spoke, a dark red light suddenly shone from the edge of the pit, surging out in an instant and transforming into a curtain that seemed to be made of blood and grime, encompassing all two hundred mercenaries.

For a moment, shrouded in a dark red curtain, the mercenaries looked like food covered by a bell jar.

At the same time, the sun was completely obscured by the shadow of the eclipse, and darkness descended upon the world.

Most of the mercenaries hadn't reacted yet.

Gao Jiano realized something was wrong and rushed to the edge of the pit, wielding the Blood-Summoning Sword to slash fiercely at the curtain.

"boom!"

However, after being struck by his fierce blow, the curtain only flickered slightly before returning to normal.

Clearly, his strength was far from sufficient to break the veil's seal.

Cassandra roared, "Lucius, what are you doing!"

Lucius did not respond, but continued to shout towards the black sun, which was now shrouded in shadow: "King of the Underworld, ruler of billions of Underworld subjects... As the faithful executor of your supreme will, I offer you these living sacrifices!"

As soon as he finished speaking, some mysterious runes appeared on the curtain.

Immediately, accompanied by the ripples spreading across the curtain, some chilling shrieks began to rise from all directions and grew louder and louder. At first, they were faint, but in the blink of an eye, they became piercing.

Then came the mercenaries' screams!

"Ah—" As screams rang out, several mercenaries collapsed to the ground one after another, as if they had been severely injured.

But there were clearly no enemies around, and no visible attacks.

"A ghost?!" The mercenaries were terrified, drawing their weapons and looking around in panic at the empty space.

Those more knowledgeable in the occult said, "No, it's the Ghosts, the Ghosts of Behelit! We've been tricked; there's no treasure here at all! Lucius brought us here to offer sacrifices to the evil god!"

"Mosa, we clearly consulted the oracle!"

"Lucius must have found a high-ranking diviner to interfere with our divination results!"

Night Owl stared at Lucius outside the curtain, his face filled with unprecedented despair and rage. He gritted his teeth and hissed, "Lucius, why did you do this!"

"Commander, why!"

"Boss, didn't you say we'd always be brothers?"

Faced with the angry and confused questions from the mercenaries, Lucius finally responded.

He looked down at the more than two hundred mercenaries in the pit and said coldly, "Advancement always involves sacrifice; that's the rule of the world... The war is over, there are no enemies, so I can only sacrifice you!"

As he spoke, more and more mercenaries were killed by the invisible phantoms.

"help me--"

"Mosaah—"

Desperate cries rose and fell, pleading for help, praying, crying out, and questioning echoed through the deep pit.

None of this could change Lucius's indifference.

Hicks clenched his fist and asked, "Just for the sake of the Holy Name, you've decided to sacrifice us? All the Mosas will not forgive you for such an evil deed!"

“I’ve gained more than just a holy name!” Lucius said, taking out a black treasure chest. “And no one can punish me!”

Gaucano immediately recognized that the treasure chest Lucius was holding was the same one Beheilite's Oracle Chest that he had seen at the South Muradin Fortress!

Although Gaucano had already somewhat anticipated this when Lucius called out Behelit's name, seeing Lucius take out the oracle chest still made him curse, "Damn it!"

When the vendors described the buyer's appearance, in addition to Nils' physical characteristics, they also mentioned that he seemed to be left-handed.

In retrospect, this already hinted at the buyer's identity to some extent.

Niels is not left-handed.

Lucius is not left-handed, but he only has a left hand; his right hand has been replaced with a prosthetic, so he appears to be left-handed.

This inaccurate and fleeting suggestion did not prompt Gaucano to think it through.

It was only then that he realized what was happening.

Behelit's Oracle Chest has always been in the Grey Eagle Mercenary Group, in the hands of their leader, Lucius!
And Lucius had long ago made up his mind to carry out a blood sacrifice!
That's why when Ryan and the other mercenaries consulted the oracle about switching sides, they all received positive results. Clearly, Lucius hadn't interfered with the oracle at that time, leading them to the correct conclusion: switching to the Border Guard was a good thing—it would allow them to avoid the blood sacrifice.

Gaucano felt remorse.

If I had had a change of heart and bought the treasure chest earlier, none of this would have happened!

Eighty silver coins!

All of this can be avoided with just eighty silver coins!
As a result of a momentary lapse in judgment, the boomerang hit him right in the face!
Thinking of this, Gao Jiano wanted to slap himself twice and secretly vowed in his heart: From now on, whenever he sees the Evil Oracle Lord's Oracle Chest, he will buy it if he can!

But that's a matter for the future.

His most urgent task was to find a way to escape the blood sacrifice ritual!
Fortunately, he possessed the ring of Fabien's insignia, preventing the Ghosts from approaching him first.

He also possesses clairvoyance.

At this critical moment, there was no time to worry about forbidden or unrestricted techniques. Without hesitation, Gao Jiano immediately cast a spell, granting himself the power of spiritual vision, and his eyes glowed with a ghostly light.

"Hiss—" He couldn't help but gasp.

However, under the vision of the spirit sight technique, hundreds of evil spirits had appeared in the deep pit!

They were dark red all over, with ferocious faces, baring their teeth and claws, and were very similar to the "devil" in Gaucano's mind.

These ghostly figures shrieked as they lunged at the surrounding mercenaries.

Most mercenaries had no way to deal with them and could only cry out in despair under the invisible attack. Before long, hundreds of them fell.

Through his spiritual vision, Gao Jiano saw that after these mercenaries fell, their souls were forcibly torn out by the ghostly apprentices, and then turned into fragments in futile struggles and cruel biting, their deaths were extremely gruesome!

A small number of people, such as Hicks and Night Owl, possessed some methods to deal with spirits, which led other mercenaries to gravitate towards them in hopes of gaining their protection.

But they were ultimately outnumbered and outmatched, like a drop in the ocean against the ever-increasing influx of Ghostly Disciples, and were quickly overwhelmed.

Only the area where Gaucano and Cassandra were located remained temporarily calm, as most of the Ghosts dispersed due to the "exorcising" effect of the Fabien's Ring of Signature.

But this is only temporary.

As the Ghosts continue to pour in, the number of high-level Ghosts is also increasing. They are larger in size and more hostile, and they are constantly shrinking the encirclement, gradually approaching Gaugano and Cassandra.

Just then, Cassandra suddenly said with a serious expression, "Atalanta oh Anfitriti Atlasti Phoenix Michaelai."

Gao Jiano was taken aback: "This is..."

“My full holy name,” Cassandra repeated her holy name, then added, “If I die, take my body to the altar in the Kiso Mountains and burn it, repeating my full holy name. The power of the phoenix will allow me to be reborn in the flames.”

Before she finished speaking, her fiery red hair danced without wind, then transformed into a blazing fire, like a newborn sun, illuminating the darkness of the eclipse once more!

(End of this chapter)