Become their wicked yet gentle lord.

"This is it, little brother Shane, come and take a look."

In the dimly lit passageway, Rhys scratched at the floorboards beneath his feet, and a beam of light immediately shone through! He beckoned to Ryuka to come over. Looking out through a tiny hole, Ryuka was astonished to find himself on the ceiling of a church! Below him was a closed room that could hold dozens of people!

Chapter 31 The Cornish Secrets, Part 1

The room resembled a church, but it was a circular space. There were no typical religious paintings or icons of goddesses inside. The entrance door was very long and narrow, appearing tall but only wide enough for two people, giving it a cramped feel. The group of white-clad parishioners that Ryuka had seen that morning were now kneeling respectfully below, whispering something in hushed tones. Several guards stood around the circular room, but the nun from that morning was gone.

The people below were chanting incoherently. Ryusuke listened intently and heard prayers filled with phrases like "My Lord," "atonement," and "blessings." He also heard Rhys's voice in his ear.

"Do you see that old woman with gray hair inside? The one who's a bit hunched over."

“I saw her.” Ryuga glanced over. Although there were quite a few elderly women among them, only one was hunched over. He looked at the old woman and found her unremarkable, so he wondered what Ries was doing with her.

Moreover, he wasn't actually peeking, yet he seemed to know that the old woman would definitely be there.

That's my mother.

Rhys scoffed, his laughter filled with sorrow and disdain. This genuinely surprised Ryusha, who listened quietly as Rhys recounted his story, revealing a corner of the secrets of the Cornish church.

In the past, when pilgrimages were at their peak, Cornwall was incredibly prosperous, and naturally, every household had a strong faith in the Church. Even its later decline, and even the appearance of the monster calamity, did not change this. They still believed that as long as they prayed devoutly, the goddess would surely send a miracle to save their town.

So they became even more devout. Even though it was no longer as prosperous as it once was, they still insisted on completing the planned church area as a gift to the goddess, believing that this would help them regain her favor.

"Up to this point, nothing seems amiss; my father was one of the construction workers. But then, a group of people from the church came… That year, the monsters ravaged the town, and its finances were nearly exhausted. A sudden epidemic struck, causing many to fall ill. At this time, a saintess came from the church, supposedly sent by the Holy City. Her holy magic could heal people. Moreover, during the epidemic, some nobles and officials kept their doors closed, turning a blind eye to the suffering of the townspeople. This saintess, however, successfully persuaded them to contribute their wealth to treat the epidemic. Therefore, she received a devout welcome and faith from the people, and they gradually began to believe her words without question."

Liu Xia asked, "The Saintess? Is she the one you mentioned before?"

“No,” Rhys shook his head. “That was twenty years ago. The current saint is a later one. I was just a little kid back then, and that saint only stayed in Cornwall for a month or two before leaving after the plague ended. But many of the clergy who came with her stayed, and gradually replaced the original bishops and nuns of the local church…”

The saintess from twenty years ago? Ryusha couldn't help but think of Carmela, and asked Ruklati in her mind:

"Jukrati, do you remember this town?"

Ruklati naturally understood what he wanted to ask, and sighed as she said:

"I don't recall it, but based on this person's description, it does fit my impression of Carmela."

It seems this matter is still uncertain. But connecting the terms "Chosen One" and "Saintess," Ryusha can only think of the name Carmela. And the timing matches up; according to Matt Harvey's account, he first met Carmela thirty years ago, when she was just a novice nun. Those twenty years ago should have been the time when Carmela was active as a saintess of the Church. If what Reese said is true, then the group of 'clergy' brought by Carmela and later remained in Cornwall should be the Chosen Ones.

So, does that mean the Chosen Ones arrived in this town after the monster horde? Ryuga frowned. If that's the case, then if they didn't start the initial monster horde, what attracted them here and led them to establish a base here?

Rhys continued: After the saint left, this new group of church members gradually gained control of the town of Cornwall. Not only the original clergy, but also the local nobles and officials gradually lost power. The church gradually exceeded its original responsibilities and began to take over everything in Cornwall!

This phenomenon, of course, provoked opposition from the local elites. They united to boycott the church, but the boycott eventually turned into a bloody conflict, forcing them to seek reinforcements from outside! They attempted to report the matter to the capital of the Bauhinia Kingdom and the local court for handling.

Like a stone thrown into the ocean, their efforts made no ripple. And somehow, those powerful figures who opposed the local church suddenly became devout believers, and the bloodshed was forgotten.

"Mayor Ryan's father was one of the participants back then. One day, they were summoned to a meeting by the church to try to resolve the power conflict in the town. But after arriving, he only told his son, who is now Mayor Ryan, never to trust the church, muttering things like 'evil spirits,' 'evil gods,' and 'witches.' But the next day, he became just like the other dignitaries who attended the meeting, peaceful and devout like the most pious saints... His father was a magician! A proper baron! And yet he turned into that!"

Rhys's deep voice sent chills down one's spine; to him, this matter was naturally incredibly bizarre. But in Ryusha's eyes, a mere magician was nothing before a witch and ancient magic. Not to mention facing the Chosen Ones, an organization that could even infiltrate the Holy See.

"So, Mayor Ryan wants to fight against the local church for this very reason?"

To Ryūka's surprise, Rhys shook his head:

“No, Mayor Ryan was initially terrified as well. And his squire, Mr. Walter, whom you met, happened to be absent from the meeting that day. He advised Mr. Ryan to remain silent and pretend he knew nothing about it…”

After all, Cornwall was once a prosperous town. Due to the development during the pilgrimage period, many noble families established businesses there, or cultivated relationships with the Papacy. Consequently, many talented mages and knights of commoner origin were employed by these nobles. It's fair to say that the power and influence of Cornwall's elite at that time was exceptionally strong! But overnight, these people seemed to have had their minds rewritten! No matter what the Church did, it was beyond the resistance of the remaining people. Walter was right; if the young Ryan wanted to survive, he had better pretend he knew nothing.

Chapter 32 The Cornish Secrets, Part Two

"Then what happened to him later...?"

Before Liu Xia could finish speaking, and was about to press Mayor Ryan for the real reason why he was determined to rebel against the church and secretly colluded with outsiders to purchase weapons, a clear yet eerie and solemn holy bell suddenly rang throughout the silent church hall.

The sound of bells echoed, penetrating the crowded throng and carrying an invisible pressure that silenced the whispers of all the believers. Beside him, Rhys's expression suddenly tightened. He immediately raised his hand to make a shushing gesture, his eyes extremely grave. He quickly gestured for Ryusha to continue watching the ceremony below through the cracks in the ceiling.

The two were hiding in the mezzanine on the top floor, only four or five meters above the ground, with a clear view of everything happening inside the church. Just as the echoes of the church bells were fading, a hidden door on the side of the hall, which had been closed for years, slowly opened, and a figure dressed in a neat priest's robe walked out.

The priest had a gentle face, his eyes and brows conveying a feigned compassion, and he was surrounded by a faint halo of holiness. Every movement he made was executed with the dignified air of comforting all beings, making him extremely deceptive. His gaze slowly swept over the densely packed, devout believers below, and finally he uttered an ordinary name from among them.

The middle-aged man whose name was called shuddered violently, his eyes instantly blazing with extreme ecstasy and fanaticism, as if he had received the highest honor of his life. He practically scrambled through the crowd, quickly prostrating himself at the priest's feet, his posture utterly humble. He repeatedly and devoutly kissed the priest's robes and shoes, incessantly praising the grace of God, appearing almost like a madman.

The priest lowered his gaze slightly, a fleeting, almost imperceptible indifference crossing his eyes, yet a gentle smile graced his face. He raised a hand and lightly stroked the heads of the worshippers, speaking words of comfort to the crowd around him, whose faces were filled with envy and a hint of disappointment. His voice was deep and melodious, possessing a captivating allure:

"Our Lord has bestowed upon this devout believer a special gift, a reward for his daily fasting, sincere prayers, and selfless offerings. Other brothers and sisters need not be impatient or fearful; hold fast to your hearts and serve devoutly. One day, the Lord's great evolution and divine gifts will surely descend upon each of us."

A few words, a few empty promises of comfort, easily soothed the disappointment and restlessness of the entire congregation. These people, deeply trapped in the illusions of the cult, had long been brainwashed and their minds clouded. Now, they were once again swept up in fervent hope, their cries of thanksgiving and praise filling the entire church. Everyone's eyes were burning with anticipation, hoping that the so-called "gifts of the Lord" would descend upon them.

Amidst envious and admiring gazes from the crowd, the priest led the chosen, lucky believer around and calmly walked into a hidden side door. The heavy wooden door slowly closed, completely isolating the interior and locking away a secret unknown to anyone.

Among the crowd, the old woman whom Rhys had just called "Mother" looked the most forlorn and dejected. Her white head drooped, repeatedly banging against the cold stone floor, her hunched body trembling uncontrollably. She repeatedly berated herself for not being devout enough, for not giving enough, and for missing out on this hard-won divine gift. Her movements were mechanical and numb, her eyes filled only with endless regret and fanaticism; she had long since become a puppet of a cult, a sight that weighed heavily on one's heart.

Liu Xia silently surveyed this bizarre and absurd scene, her mind filled with doubts. What exactly was this "blessing" that these people spoke of? What could make ordinary people willingly succumb, frantically pursue it, and even abandon themselves to be manipulated by others? This was definitely not an ordinary blessing or gift; it must contain some unknown secret.

Just as he was deep in thought, wanting to continue observing the details, Rhys gently patted his shoulder, his eyes warily signaling him to leave immediately. This place was not safe to linger; lurking danger was already silently approaching.

Suppressing her curiosity, Ryuka couldn't help but glance at the scene one last time before leaving, only to witness an even more horrifying and bizarre sight.

Two rows of women dressed in plain white nuns filed into the main hall in perfect unison, their movements precise and uniform, like mindless puppets. The first group of nuns, holding exquisite silver flasks, poured a strange, murky liquid with a slightly fishy odor into cups, silently distributing it to each unchosen believer and supervising them as they drank it all.

Meanwhile, another group of nuns, each wielding a sharp, thin-bladed knife, walked expressionlessly to each believer and, without a word, gently made a clean cut on their arm. Blood slowly seeped from their skin, but the believers offered no resistance; instead, their faces showed piety as they let the blood flow freely. After everyone drank the murky liquid, the nuns swiftly took out some small, unknown object and precisely inserted it into the gushing wounds. Their movements were practiced and methodical, clearly the result of countless rehearsals.

As this action was completed, the believers below suddenly raised their heads like zombies, their eyes rolling back. This made Liu Xia frown, a chill creeping into her heart.

The entire ritual was eerie and sinister, silent yet exuding a chilling aura that penetrated to the bone, as if it were silently altering and tainting the bodies and blood of these living people.

"What exactly is...that thing?" Liu Xia asked in a low voice, her eyes filled with seriousness.

Ries remained silent, but his expression grew increasingly tense, forcefully gesturing for Ryuka to leave immediately. At the same time, Ryuka's senses suddenly sharpened; a powerful and refined aura, clearly at the Grand Master level, was rapidly approaching this top-level mezzanine.

The mezzanine where they were hiding was low and close to the main hall, extremely close to the area below, separated only by a thin layer of stone slabs. If they lingered any longer, given the powerful figure's perception range, he would quickly discover their hiding place. He could conceal himself, but Rhys was just an ordinary person without any special abilities; once discovered, there would be no chance of escape, and he would surely die.

Without further hesitation, Ryusha suppressed all distracting thoughts and followed closely behind Rhys, quickly retreating along the dark and winding secret passage.

The return journey was exceptionally oppressive and deathly silent. Rhys remained completely still, his steps light yet steady, his expression one of extreme vigilance, devoid of any trace of his usual carefree, street-smart demeanor. He was fully alert to any patrols or traps that might appear along the way. Only after he was completely away from the core area of ​​the church, and confirmed that there were no pursuers inside or outside the secret passage and that it was entirely safe, did his tense body slowly relax.

In the dim light of the passageway, Rhys, his eyelids drooping, his eyes filled with numbness and weariness, spoke slowly and calmly, recounting a past buried deep in his heart for many years:

“This secret passage was left by my father. He participated in the construction of this church district and, like Mayor Ryan’s father, was among the first to see through the true nature of these clergymen, knowing that they were not believers spreading the holy word, but rather cultists causing chaos in the area.”

His tone was flat, neither sad nor happy, revealing no trace of pain, only an indifferent detachment that seemed to have seen through everything and a deep-seated disdain.

"After he sensed something was wrong, he dared not make a sound. He could only secretly memorize all the secret passages, hidden compartments, and hiding places in the church. He only told me about these life-saving passages. Later, due to the injuries and illnesses accumulated from years of hard work, coupled with the suppression and depletion caused by the cult, he passed away early. It was also because of him that I came into contact with Mayor Ryan and his like-minded friends."

This disdain was never directed at the father who had endured hardship and risked his life to protect his child. Liu Xia instantly understood. Looking at the seemingly indifferent Ries in front of him, he recalled the old woman kneeling and kowtowing in the main hall, who had fallen into a cult and remained stubbornly unrepentant. In an instant, he pieced together the tragic life of this woman.

The father saw through the cult's truth and paid the ultimate price, dedicating his life to resisting this deceptive scheme. His own mother, however, was deeply entrenched, completely brainwashed, entrusting her lifelong devotion to the harmful cult, remaining mired in its depravity until her death, refusing to awaken. With his father dead and his mother still obsessed, the once-large family was shattered, leaving him alone on the streets, struggling to grow up in the absurd reality of the divide between good and evil, witnessing firsthand the cult's encroachment on the town and the complete manipulation of its inhabitants.

Knowing this heavy past, Liu Xia felt a pang of sorrow. She sighed softly and once again asked the most crucial question in her heart:

"What exactly is this blessing they're talking about? And what was the purpose of that strange ritual the nuns performed before we left?"

Upon hearing this, Rhys was about to reply when his relaxed expression suddenly froze, his eyes becoming empty and dull. He seemed to have lost his soul, staring blankly ahead into the dark passage, his voice stiff and wooden:

“Little brother Shane, that’s enough for you. The more you know, the more dangers you’ll encounter, and it won’t do you any good.”

He paused for a moment, then continued mechanically:

I just want you to see clearly that these so-called clergy are no good people at all. Over the years, countless letters seeking help have been sent to the capital and the court, all of which have vanished without a trace, and their fates are well-known. Therefore, our request for your help is a last resort…”

As soon as he finished speaking, Rhys stiffly and slowly turned around. Just like the eerie scene that Ryusha had seen before, a slender figure quietly emerged from the shadows of his back and landed softly on the damp ground with a "thud".

It was Sienna in her insect form. Her body was covered in mud from the dark passage and some unknown slime. She gently shook her body to shake off the filth. Compared to her exhausted appearance when she possessed the body, she was much more energetic now, and her condition had recovered by more than half.

Ries remained in a blank, dazed state, as if he had completely forgotten about Ryuka behind him. He walked out of the dark passage alone and silently headed towards the town's streets and alleys, leaving Ryuka alone at the dark sewer exit.

"Let me tell you the rest."

Sienna slowly crawled into Ryūsha's palm, her delicate body feeling slightly cool to the touch. She spoke softly, revealing the truth behind the strange scene she had just witnessed:

“I have temporarily taken over his thoughts and consciousness, and modified his superficial understanding. Now he will be convinced that he has safely sent you out of the church area, that you have already left, and that he only needs to go home alone. He will maintain this state until he is completely out of the church’s control and returns to normalcy, without revealing any flaws.”

Liu Xia raised an eyebrow slightly and asked aloud to confirm the details:

"Won't there be anything incongruous in his memories? Won't he realize that he has been possessed and controlled?"

Upon hearing this, Sienna, with a touch of witch's pride, gave a soft hum, her tone full of certainty:

"Don't underestimate my abilities. I am, after all, a legitimate witch. Controlling minds and manipulating superficial consciousness are my natural talents and instincts. This Rhys may seem like just an ordinary vagrant, but the secrets he has accumulated in his mind and the truths he has witnessed are incomparable to those mindless, blindly obedient townspeople. I have just completely read all the useful memories and information in his mind and perfectly smoothed out the traces of possession. The transition is seamless, and he will not be able to detect anything unusual."

Chapter 33 The Cornish Secrets III

Sienna raised her head slightly, her small body subtly conveying an air of anticipation for praise. Even though she was currently in insect form, her small movements unexpectedly revealed a touch of endearing cuteness, a stark contrast to the cold and eerie impression Ryuga had of her when he first encountered her in her insect form.

The air was thick with the stench and dampness of the sewers, and cold, damp vapor kept creeping up her trouser legs. Liuxia really didn't want to stay there any longer, so she gathered her mind, carefully tucked Sienna, who had transformed into an insect, into her bosom, and made her way out of the dark underground passage.

After emerging from the sewers, Ryusha deliberately kept a low profile, using the scattered houses and piles of goods on both sides of the streets to conceal her movements. She avoided patrolling churchgoers and townspeople, stealthily making her way to a secluded corner of the church district. This was the coordinates Petro had previously provided, and also the hiding place for Gavin Reed and Ada. During their journey, Sienna, in her arms, didn't stop, methodically sorting through the various key pieces of information she had extracted from Reese's mind and softly recounting them.

"The things those church members implanted under the skin of their brainwashed followers were actually the flesh and blood tissue of a monster?!"

After hearing Sienna's complete description, Ryuka stopped in his tracks, his heart filled with turmoil, his face filled with astonishment.

Sienna nodded with certainty: "Based on the images I gleaned from Rhys's memories, that's roughly the truth. However, Rhys himself has limited knowledge, and even after witnessing several rituals, he still can't understand what these clergymen are planning."

This is precisely where Sienna's innate abilities lie. Ordinary charm and mind control can only induce the target to voluntarily recount what they have seen. If the person's understanding is shallow and they cannot comprehend the phenomena they have witnessed, the information they relay will be incomplete and contain many deviations. But Sienna can directly recall the scenes her host has seen in the past, observing everything that happened as if she were personally present, unaffected by the person's level of understanding.

Like Rhys, he had long sensed that the church was using strange methods on ordinary believers, and had also seen nuns injecting foreign objects into believers' bodies several times from afar. However, his lack of knowledge prevented him from connecting the scattered phenomena. He only vaguely understood that the rituals were dangerous and were by no means the holy blessings that were proclaimed on the surface.

Sienna continued to explain to Ryukyu the entire cult ritual they had just witnessed: the process everyone saw was essentially a multi-stage selection process. The church first forced believers to drink a specially prepared potion to initially regulate their blood and weaken their body's rejection of foreign substances. Then, a small amount of living magical beast tissue was implanted under the believers' skin.

The core purpose of the entire ceremony was to screen the compatibility between human bodies and the flesh and blood of magical beasts. The man who was singled out by the priest and led through the side door, the lucky one whom the church called a recipient of the "gift," was a test sample who had successfully passed the initial screening and whose physical compatibility met the requirements.

The image of the fanatical, kneeling believer, filled with ecstatic joy, immediately flashed through Liu Xia's mind. If the deduction was true, what awaited that man was not some divine gift, but rather, what awaited him next was even more cruel human experimentation with unknown risks.

"How did you deduce this complete conclusion based solely on Ries's memories?" Liu Xia frowned deeply.

All the clues come together to point to a horrifying truth—the Chosen Ones are secretly conducting a forbidden experiment in Cornwall, fusing humans with magical beasts.

This matter far exceeds the scope of knowledge that Liu Xia has encountered before. So far, the magic and various ancient secret arts he has come into contact with mostly involve mobilizing energy and following the laws to cast spells. However, this act of forcibly implanting the flesh and blood of magical beasts into a human body and attempting to fuse the bodies of two races has already broken out of the framework of conventional secret arts. It is absurd and terrifying.

Sienna sighed softly, her voice tinged with heaviness:

“I also hope my speculation is wrong. But the timing of their large-scale implementation of this set of believer rituals is exactly after Carmela obtained the ancient magic sword and mastered the secret arts related to life, as you mentioned. In addition, there is another key piece of information: Rhys personally witnessed a deeper level of experimentation, but that memory was too horrifying and left too deep, causing great psychological trauma, so much so that he subconsciously sealed it away and forgot it.”

"You can even unearth memories that the person themselves has forgotten?" Liu Xia wondered.

The continent is not lacking in magic that seals memories and imprisons souls; Ryuu is no stranger to forcibly sealing memories through spells. In the past, Cornwall had many rumors of local nobles undergoing drastic personality changes overnight, becoming completely controlled by the Church. The opposing camp possesses witch bloodlines and lost ancient secret arts; theoretically, they could alter consciousness and erase memories. However, Sienna's words imply that even memories the host has deliberately avoided, buried deep within, and untouchable even by themselves, can still be forcibly traced and read.

“Do you remember that old woman in the church who kept kowtowing and yearning for blessings? That was Rhys’s mother.” Sienna’s tone suddenly turned disgusted. “That old woman was a complete fanatic. She was thoroughly brainwashed by the church when she was young and was trapped in a false faith. She even planned to send her own son to be used as experimental material. She was utterly insane.”

Sienna slowly recounted the long-forgotten events she had glimpsed from Rhys's buried memories.

Rhys's father had participated in the construction of the church district in his early years. In his youth, he had studied architecture at the academy in the capital of the Bauhinia Kingdom. Compared to the ordinary people in the town who struggled to make a living every day, he was a rare intellectual. Although he did not have any talent for cultivation, his years of working on construction sites had honed his strong physique. By middle age, his physical condition was comparable to that of a novice knight. It was for this reason that he was chosen by the church and appointed to be in charge of the construction of a large area of ​​the church district.

Rhys's father was always a hard-working man, a typical workaholic who rarely got involved in the conflicts between the various factions in town, focusing solely on completing the construction project on schedule. But even this honest man, unfamiliar with such disputes, gradually noticed many suspicious points as he handled various building materials day after day. Whether it was the quarried and transported stones or the logs, the surface often retained a unique scent left by the activity of magical beasts.

Over time, rumors circulating in the town lingered in his mind—the local church was not an orthodox denomination serving traditional goddesses; it had long since fallen and secretly allied with demons. Not only did it secretly command monsters to wreak havoc, but the plague that swept through the town years ago also originated from the church. The compassionate nuns revered for their healing were not saints at all, but witches wielding forbidden powers, originating from a fearsome witch clan from ancient legends.

Initially, Rhys's father dismissed these rumors as malicious fabrications by disillusioned nobles. He himself had nearly perished during the plague, surviving only thanks to the church's intervention. After the plague subsided, many local tycoons were forced to donate money and vacate their mansions to serve as temporary hospitals. The church, taking advantage of this, eroded the nobility's influence in the town, and it was understandable that these people harbored resentment and spread rumors to defame the church.

But as doubts accumulated, Rhys's father could no longer deceive himself. The massive amount of stone and timber required for the construction project, if transported via normal trade routes, would necessitate a manpower and number of carts far exceeding the apparent transport capacity of Cornwall. Furthermore, the lingering scent of magical beasts emanating from the timber and rocks, combined with the novice knight's keen senses, made him increasingly aware that a huge conspiracy lay hidden behind the entire affair, far from the simple and peaceful surface it appeared to be.

He began to discreetly observe the transportation schedule and origin of the building materials, and deliberately noted the intermittent vibrations coming from the direction of the mountains at night. One by one, these subtle anomalies, like a fine spider web, slowly came together...

Chapter 34 The Cornish Secrets, Part Four

Once doubts take root in one's heart, they can never be eradicated. From then on, Rhys's father completely shed his former numbness and dullness, and began to deliberately pay attention to the actions of the church personnel. Taking advantage of his position in charge of the construction site and his free access to the site, he silently observed the clergy's daily routines, their secret nighttime movements, and the patterns of stone and timber transportation. He recorded all the abnormal, strange, and inexplicable details in his heart and secretly transcribed them into his private diary.

But he was ultimately just an ordinary person with the physique of a trainee knight, without power or extraordinary strength. To spy on a cult that had been entrenched in the town for many years and controlled the faith and undercurrents of the entire area was tantamount to playing with fire with bare hands, extremely dangerous.

The doubts and anxieties in his heart tormented him day and night. Countless nights, the lingering aura of the monsters, the inconsistent supply transport capacity, and the strange rumors circulating in the town repeatedly intertwined in his mind. Finally, one night, he could no longer suppress the curiosity and unease in his heart. Under the cover of darkness and with all the townspeople fast asleep, he made his way alone to the quarry on the outskirts of the town, wanting to see for himself all his guesses.

That night, he witnessed the most mind-blowing and chilling scene of his life.

On the empty and silent quarry, there were no laborers or carts, no human noise. Yet, herds of magical beasts moved like well-trained laborers, carrying heavy boulders and coarse timber in an orderly fashion. They had shed their wild and ferocious nature, their movements were disciplined and measured, silently supplying building materials for the church project. It was as if they had been completely tamed by an invisible force, becoming the church's most secret and unique labor force.

"You see, that's the most ironic part of the whole thing."

Sienna wriggled gently in Ryusha's palm, her two slender forepaws slightly outstretched, adopting a helpless and sighing posture. Despite being merely an insect-like body, she was able to express emotions vividly, revealing an indifference that seemed to have seen through the fate of humanity.

Liu Xia was deeply shaken. He could hardly imagine that an ordinary person with mediocre talent and an ordinary life would dare to explore the forbidden area of ​​a cult alone, relying only on a sliver of suspicion and conscience. This courage far exceeded that of ordinary people.

Sienna slowly revealed the hidden helplessness buried deep within the years:

"He was saved by the church during the plague, and this kindness turned his wife into a devout fanatic, loyal to the church and a believer in the saint. But he was different. He witnessed the strangeness of the project firsthand, smelled the aura of evil, and knew that monstrous sins lurked beneath this holy facade. He felt that if he turned a blind eye to the truth he had witnessed, he would be betraying his conscience and the townspeople. So he was determined to tear off the disguise and uncover the whole truth."

But courage can never overcome the vast difference in strength, and the exploration of ordinary people is destined to end in tragedy.

That night, as he crouched in the shadows observing the situation, his tense mind suddenly relaxed after the last batch of monsters finished moving the building materials and retreated into the forest. He accidentally kicked a pebble, which made a crisp sound.

It was this brief moment of vulnerability that allowed the Earth Dragon Beast, which was lurking in the shadows and keeping watch, to instantly detect the presence of a living person.

A deep roar pierced the night, and a massive, shadowy beast lunged forward, its sharp claws tearing through the air. He barely managed to dodge, thanks to the physique honed by years of labor, but the earth dragon's claws still ripped through his flesh, leaving him severely wounded. Fortunately, the entire horde of monsters had already retreated, leaving only a limited number. He fought desperately, managing to escape with his life, thus avoiding immediate death and concealing his presence, evading the church's detection.

But the real torment has only just begun.

To avoid arousing any suspicion from the church, he could only endure the excruciating pain of his severe injury and continue working as usual, pushing himself to the limit despite his illness. His wounds, unable to heal, repeatedly tore open, became inflamed, and worsened, relentlessly eroding his body. Meanwhile, he lived in constant fear, terrified that his whereabouts that night would be exposed, bringing about his death and endangering his wife and children.