They are all characters I control.

Claire saw their faces.

That face is aging. Aging at a rate visible to the naked eye.

The wrinkles at the corners of his eyes deepened as if carved by a knife, the flesh on his cheeks sank at a visible speed, his cheekbones protruded high, his lips became thin and purple, and his hair turned white from the roots, like frost falling on withered grass.

A dark red rune emerged from their foreheads.

It was not a holy seal recognized by any sect, but a twisted, writhing pagan mark.

After confirming the bizarre effects on the two women, Claire ended their suffering prematurely.

Chapter 115 Holy Communion

Claire stared at the two withered corpses on the ground and remained silent for a moment.

Having roughly understood where all the old people and children in the village came from, he went forward to examine them and discovered that the potion had flattened the chest of a village girl.

This seems to even be able to change gender?

The dark red runes on their foreheads were still faintly glowing, but they had become much weaker and would likely disappear completely after a while.

However, there is no doubt that drinking the potion is equivalent to completely abandoning one's faith and becoming a heretic.

After wiping the cross-shaped sword in her hand clean with the clothes on the ground, Claire took off Eleanor's conspicuous knight's armor.

This armor is not only heavy, but also too conspicuous, making it unsuitable for the upcoming mission.

Since the old villager Gremell would have these newly joined heretics serve him, he was probably wary of him, but not too much, and thought that three normal village girls would be enough to trick him into drinking the potion.

There's still more to discover in this village, and Claire wants to get more information about this strange village.

He took the coat off the smooth-talking village girl and put it on himself. The coarse cloth clothes were stained with mud and sweat and had a sour, rotten smell.

He then pulled a tattered headscarf from another village girl's basket and wrapped it around Eleanor's signature red hair.

After doing all this, he pushed open the wooden door and went out.

Night had completely fallen.

The torchlight flickered in the wind, casting long shadows of the village.

The air was filled with the aroma of broth and nausea, mixed with a cloying, pungent smell of spices.

The long table under the old tree was full of people: the elderly, children, and a few middle-aged people, each holding a wooden bowl and wearing a bright smile.

Old Gray stood at one end of the long table, holding a wine glass, and was giving a toast.

This was the most lively moment, and no one noticed Claire.

He walked into the depths of the village, head bowed and back hunched, blending into the shadows.

"Hey you!"

A childish voice came from the side.

Claire stopped in her tracks.

Several girls and two elderly people were calling out to him while carrying baskets.

They were all holding something in their hands, not toys, but gleaming boning knives.

"What are you doing here? Aren't you going to help carry the meat?" The girl in the lead tilted her head and sized Claire up, her eyes not those of a child. "Are you new here?"

Claire lowered her head and responded in a hoarse voice, "Mm."

The girl in the lead poked Claire on the shoulder with a stick: "New here, huh? Don't slack off, Lord Mel said there's plenty of Holy Communion tonight!"

Lord Mel?

Claire lowered her head and replied in a hoarse voice, "Yes."

The girl turned and left with the others beside her, with Claire following behind.

"This is really troublesome; there's still a church knight alive."

"Yes, and of all things, Lord Mel happened to see it. I think the old village chief is going to be in trouble this time."

"But the church knights are all the same. They've seen plenty of deaths, and the living are all idiots. If they weren't dead right now, they'd be just like us."

"Lord Mel seems to really admire that female knight."

"I don't know, maybe she saved Lord Mel."

"Speaking of which, Lord Mel looks quite different this time compared to the last time I saw him. As expected, his constitution is different from ours."

"It's alright, we'll be just like Lord Mel sooner or later."

"..."

Claire listened to their chatter as they walked through several wooden houses, and after rounding the old tree where Gray and his group were, they arrived at a building in the village that was larger than the other wooden houses.

But these pagans did not lead him into the large house; instead, they went around to the back of the house.

There was a patch of ground covered with an old canvas.

The group lifted the canvas, revealing a wooden door leading underground.

"Let's go down, and hurry up, don't keep Lord Mel waiting!"

Watching the figures of these heretics enter the underground, Claire shifted the knight's sword she had been hiding behind her clothes and followed them down.

The cellar was bigger than he had imagined.

It was about ten paces square, with walls made of rough stone. Rows of dried meat hung from the wooden beams overhead, gleaming a dark reddish-brown in the torchlight.

Several large wooden barrels were piled up in the corner, and the air was filled with a heavy smell, a mixture of decay and spices.

Claire's gaze fell on the center of the cellar.

There was a large wooden table with several knives on it—a meat cleaver, a boning knife, and a short blade for slitting throats.

Dried bloodstains remained on the blade, and the wooden basin beside the knife contained chopped pieces of meat.

On the floor next to the wooden table, there were several items piled up.

A worn-out uniform. Dark blue, with burn marks and bloodstains.

Claire walked over, squatted down, and picked up the top uniform.

The lining is embroidered with a name – "Thomas".

Members of Eleanor's squad.

Claire put down her uniform and continued flipping through the pages.

The second item was a badge. It was made of silver, with the emblem of the Church of Goddess engraved on the front and the squad number and names engraved on the back.

The third item was a broken sword. There was still dried blood on the blade, and the strips of cloth wrapped around the hilt had turned black.

The fourth item is a lock of hair.

It was golden, very long, and tied with a faded ribbon.

Claire put the ribbon and hair back where they belonged and stood up.

His gaze swept over the dried meat hanging on the wooden beams.

He knew what those were.

He also knew what the "Holy Communion" would be tonight.

It's not wild game, it's not livestock.

It must be another church knight.

Just as Claire was pondering this, a commotion arose from above.

Then, Claire saw Mel appear on the escalator at the cellar entrance, while the other heretics looked somewhat flustered.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

Claire looked at Mel who had suddenly appeared, grabbed one of the people who had come down with her, and asked him curiously.

"I heard that the church knight escaped. She killed Natalie and Melu, that damned church knight... Hmm? Why are you wearing Natalie's headscarf? And your clothes are Melu's too!"

The man pointed at Claire and questioned her. After a few seconds of blankness, she opened her eyes wide.

Clearly, she knew who was in front of her.

At this moment, everyone else around, including Melu, also looked in this direction.

Claire slowly stood up.

He removed his headscarf and slowly drew his knight's sword from beneath his clothes.

The torchlight shone on Eleanor's face, which was expressionless, except for her eyes, which were as cold as ice in winter.

The pupils of the others contracted sharply.

"You are—!" someone shouted, and someone immediately reached for the kitchen knife or axe next to them.

However, Claire was quick to react, releasing not [Whisper of Pain], but [Intermediate Burst Rune] from her hand.

In an instant, a large amount of black smoke surged out from the rune inscription.

Chapter 116 The Use of Rune Imprints

Claire possesses the title of "Demon King," rendering her unable to use any normal elemental magic.

Even when controlling Lia or Eleanor's bodies, this will not change.

Of course, there are other limitations to controlling Eleanor or Leah's bodies to use magic, namely whether Eleanor and Leah themselves possess the corresponding magical talent.

If one does not possess magical talent, then one will be unable to use the magic that Claire knows.

He only possesses knowledge and combat experience, but cannot improve Lia and Eleanor's talents and physique. Of course, it wouldn't be a good thing if Claire's [Demon King] buff were transferred to Lia or Eleanor.

Therefore, Claire relied most on Eleanor herself at this time.

It was also thanks to Leah that Claire learned how to better utilize these female characters.

Eleanor possesses considerable talent in holy magic, but her other elemental perceptions are quite weak. This means that the runic inscriptions Claire originally intended for her own research can now also be put to use.

In some ways, her magical talent was only slightly better than Lia's.

In this situation, the rune inscription Claire uses to control Eleanor's body will become the same one she tried in the dungeon.

The [Intermediate Burst Rune] did not produce a real fire explosion, but instead instantly converted magic power into a violent energy shock, creating a deafening explosion and a blinding flash within a limited space.

And most importantly, there was a large amount of dense, irritating black smoke that obscured visibility.

boom--!

A dull thud exploded in the enclosed space of the cellar, and the blinding light of the flames instantly blinded all the infidels who rushed in. They instinctively screamed in terror and covered their eyes.

Immediately afterwards, thick black smoke, carrying the smell of sulfur and burnt matter, billowed out like ink, instantly engulfing most of the cellar space.

Even the torches hanging on the wall were completely obscured, and visibility dropped to the point where you couldn't see your hand in front of your face!

"Ah! My eyes!"

"Cough cough! What the hell is that?!"

Where is she?!

"Don't panic! Guard the exits!"

Chaotic shouts, coughing, and the sounds of blind collisions filled the black smoke.

Although these heretics dared to attack Claire (Eleanor), a church knight, the sudden sensory deprivation and such a strange magical attack still brought great panic and chaos.

Claire was very satisfied with the result, after all, there were no opponents in the dungeon, nor was there any opportunity to experiment with these variant rune inscriptions.

It now appears that although these rune inscriptions were not applied through Claire's own body, the effect was still very good.

A direct confrontation? That's impossible.

Given Eleanor's still-unrecovered health, she might be able to handle a few brainwashed peasant women.

However, the village in front of them was inhabited entirely by heretics, and the sheer number of ants was dangerous enough. In addition, there were countless enemies outside, so a direct confrontation was the worst possible option.

Chaos and fear are Claire's best weapons.

At that moment, Claire had already moved like a fish among the messy tables in the cellar the instant the black smoke burst open.