I ascend to the throne of God with arcane magic.

Chapter 746 Infiltration
In Rune's small world,

Li Si stayed obediently in the wooden cage on the carriage, looking at the black-armored knights in the distance who were busy and cursing.

Li Si now looks like a little child.

Correct!
He now appears here in the image of Beria.

However, unlike his previous experiences, he did not disguise himself as Belia, but directly controlled Belia's body through magic.

Li Si's true identity is hidden in Belia's body.

Belia's own consciousness has completely fallen asleep, and he has completely handed over control of his body to Li Si.

This was the fair deal that Li Si reached with Belia when he resurrected Belia's father Io.

The reason why Li Si needed to do this this time was because the situation this time was indeed different from that in the Elf Kingdom and the Dwarf Kingdom.

This is not in the Gaia world, but in the small world.

Li Si knew very well that every life born in each small world carried a unique soul imprint.

Although this soul mark will no longer appear after leaving the small world, there is still a way to distinguish it within the small world.

Li Si had experienced this situation in his previous life. When adventuring in a small world, some of the indigenous forces in the small world were able to identify outsiders in this way.

During the communication with the Church of the Gods, Li Si also confirmed this.

The Church of the God of Hunting must have mastered this method of identification.

Although the people of the Church of the God of Hunting might not know that Li Si could enter the small world in advance, Li Si did not want to gamble on this probability.

This essential difference is difficult to conceal, and Li Si has no good solution.

In this case, Li Si found Beria, a native, as the open carrier of action.

Li Si naturally has confidence that you can protect Belia's safety.

His purpose was not to kill those who believed in the Church of the God of Hunting, but to take away the fragment of the [Hunting] priesthood.

Only in this way can the Son of God, Rune, feel truly heartbroken.

After letting Aeo return to the village, Li Si controlled Belia's body and was captured by the black-armored knights again.

The black-armored knights did not become suspicious, but simply captured the escaped children and tried their best to recover the previous losses.

Li Si looked around and found that most of the children had been caught.

Compared to the black-armored knight who is a superhuman being, the children are far lacking in both speed and physical strength.

Only a few children managed to escape under the cover of darkness.

Among them, Li Si sent the other children from Brown Village who were captured along with Beria back to the village.

"The other children are nowhere to be found."

After a while, the black-armored knights gathered together again and said angrily:

"What should we do? There weren't enough children to begin with, and now some have escaped."

one of them said.

"Let's wait until Captain Sid comes back. Walker, you guys have caused a big mess this time."

"Don't even mention the share of the profits this time. The temple will definitely have other punishments."

"I know I know."

Several of the black-armored knights said this with some frustration.

They were the ones who were originally guarding the child, but they were secretly released by someone.

After a brief discussion, the black-armored knights all stood guard around the carriage.

I didn't dare to sleep this time. I was very careful and alert to my surroundings, fearing that the same thing would happen again.

Early the next morning,
The black-armored knights suddenly saw a black figure walking towards them.

It was Stuart who had left for the night.

"Captain, you are finally back."

When they saw Sid, the other black-armored knights hurried forward.

"Did you catch the thief?"

"Of course. He dared to offend the majesty of the temple. I tortured him before he died."

Sid said with a gloomy face, then looked at the several black-armored knights standing nearby.

"Take these kids back first."

"There aren't enough people. I have to go somewhere else to see if there are any additional people."

"You guys, if anything goes wrong on your way back, you know the consequences!"

Upon seeing this, the black-armored knights quickly stood up and responded:

"Yes, Captain."

"It won't happen, please rest assured."

"Ah."

Sid nodded, then turned and left, rushing away.

After he left, the other black-armored knights breathed a sigh of relief and immediately drove their carriages away along the road without stopping.

Li Si, who was among the children, watched everything that had just happened coldly.

The original Si De had been killed by Li Si, and the "Si De" that appeared just now was under the control of Li Si.

Although a silver-level professional means nothing to Li Si, there is a certain probability that he will attract the attention of the Hunting Temple.

Li Si didn't want to alert the enemy.

Then he put on a show to avoid the Hunting Temple's suspicion as much as possible.

According to Li Si's judgment, the fragment of the priesthood should be in this small world now, and has some potential connection with the so-called Rune Great Hunting Ritual.

In this case, Li Si should be able to find clues about the fragment of the priesthood at the venue of the Rune Great Hunting Ceremony.

There was still time, so Li Si tried to hide as much as possible and followed the convoy towards the target.

Following the convoy, Li Si noticed that they were not heading towards any city.

The surrounding environment became more and more desolate, and Li Si could even notice the mountains in the distance.

When Li Si checked the memory of the Black-Armored Knight Stuart, he did not find any specific information about the Rune Great Hunting Ceremony.

Even though these black-armored knights were members of the Hunting Temple, they did not know much about the Rune Great Hunt Ritual.

These black-armored knights do not have a high status in the Hunting Temple, and basically they are able to join the Hunting Temple only through the hunting ceremony held by the Hunting Temple every year.

It was for this reason that they had to do the dirty work of capturing children. The reason why they took so many children away seemed to be because of the requirements of the Rune Great Hunting Ceremony.

From Sid's memory, Li Si learned that the hunting ceremony held by the Hunting Temple every year had about five hundred participants.

The number of participants in the Rune Great Hunting Ceremony is 10,000!

The number of participants seems to be a requirement of the hunting ritual, it can only be more, not less.

Whenever there are not enough participants, the black-armored knights are needed to capture people and force them to participate in the ceremony.

And every time the people arrested are children as much as possible.

No matter how he looked at it, Li Si felt that this so-called Rune Great Hunting Ritual was quite weird and bloody.

Judging from the hunting ceremony that Sid had participated in, all participants fought within a limited area.

There are no rules, no requirements.

As long as you can be the last one alive among the five hundred people, you will pass the hunting ceremony.

During the hunting ritual, the more people you kill, the more power you can get from the hunting ritual.

Therefore, this is more beneficial for those who have already become extraordinary professionals.

As for those ordinary people who were lucky enough to hide till the end, even if they passed the hunting ceremony and joined the hunting temple, they would not gain much power in the end.

In a sense, these are a way for the top leaders of the Hunting Temple to monopolize power.

If this is the case, then the Rune Great Hunting Ritual should be a fight among ten thousand people?

Raising Gu?
Li Si was thinking about these things in his mind.

After a day's journey, the convoy finally arrived at its destination.

At the foot of the rolling mountains, a castle stands quietly.

It looks like it was built not long ago, but it already exudes a dark and eerie mysterious atmosphere.

The castle is built of huge gray rocks. It should be a strong and steady castle, but at this moment, those rocks seem to be covered with a layer of light black, as if they were stained by time, or as if they were quietly eroded by some evil force.

The castle's silhouette looked particularly grim under the gloomy sky, with its towering towers reaching into the sky, as if pointing to some unknown existence. The castle's gate was tightly closed, with strange runes inlaid on it, flashing a cold light that made people dare not approach easily.

There were quite a number of crude wooden houses built with wood in the open space in front of the castle. They were arranged in a somewhat disorderly manner. The walls of the wooden houses were rough and uneven, and the thatched roofs were a bit messy, shivering in the breeze, like temporary residences hastily built.

In the open space, quite a number of people in black robes were busy in the castle.

Their figures were looming in the gloomy environment, like ghosts, their bodies tightly wrapped in black robes, revealing only their pale faces.

Their eyes were empty and cold, like bodies without souls. Some of them carried heavy boxes and hurried into the castle; some shuttled between the wooden houses, talking in low voices, their voices were so low and mysterious that people could not hear what they were saying.

The mountains near the castle seem to be significantly different from other places.

The trees here are sparse and yellow, as if they had been ravaged by a fire. The branches are dry and twisted, and make creaking sounds in the wind, as if they were groaning in pain.

The exposed land and rocks seemed to be faintly bloody, as if they were stained with blood. The bloody color was particularly dazzling under the gloomy sky, making people shudder.

Surrounding this mountain range was an ominous atmosphere. The air was filled with a rotten smell, as if something was rotting underground.

Occasionally, you can hear bursts of low roars coming from deep in the mountains. The sound seems to come from hell and is creepy.

When they arrived here, the children in the carriage were trembling with fear and didn't even dare to cry.

The black-armored knights who were accompanying the team left in a hurry after handing the children over to the people in black robes.

It's like there's some danger here and you can't avoid it.

Judging from their attire, these people in black robes should be priests of the Hunting Temple.

The priests opened the wooden cage of the carriage and let the children get off.

Li Si could feel a faint spiritual power spreading towards them.

He didn't feel anything, but the other children seemed to have lost their minds in an instant. They followed the priests expressionlessly and in a daze, walking towards the wooden houses.

Li Si mingled among the children, carefully observing the situation around him.

When he approached this area, he already felt the strange bloody smell.

Especially in that gray castle, Li Si could even feel an aura above legend, which gave him a sense of danger.

However, this sense of danger is not strong, so it shouldn't be a big problem.

But what made Li Si a little strange was that he did not feel the breath of the so-called fragments of priesthood.

In fact, Li Si had never come into contact with the fragments of priesthood and had no idea of ​​its existence.

But come to think of it, it should at least have the unique and noble aura that belongs to gods, like divine power and divinity.

This place is different from the location of the Zeke City Hunting Ceremony in Sid's memory. It should be the location where the Rune Great Hunting Ceremony is held.

If the ritual is indeed related to the fragment of priesthood, it is very likely to be in the gray castle.

Otherwise, it would be in the hunting temple at the core of this small world.

However, if he were not here, Li Si would have more trouble.

Soon, the children were taken into the wooden house by the black-robed priests like a group of helpless lambs.

The wooden house was filled with an old and decayed smell. The dim light struggled to get in through the narrow windows, reflecting the simple scene inside the house.

The room was filled with old beds, whose frames were crooked and looked like they would fall apart at any moment. The bedding on the beds was thin and hard, and exuded an unpleasant musty smell.

Some of the beds were already occupied by children, who curled up quietly in their quilts, like puppets with their souls taken away, without any vitality. Their faces were as pale as paper, their lips were chapped, and their breathing was weak and even. They seemed to be immersed in an endless sleep, unaware of anything in the outside world.

The children who were brought in had no expression on their faces and lay down on the bed to sleep.

Li Si was the same and was not in a hurry to leave.

After waiting for a while, I heard heavy footsteps approaching from afar.

Several men in black robes came in carrying several large wooden barrels filled with steaming hot meals. Surprisingly, the meal was quite rich. In addition to the common bread and vegetables, there were also several pieces of monster meat, which exuded an enticing aroma.

The man in black robe distributed food to each child, then turned and left the cabin.

The children slowly ate all the food and then went back to bed.

These children must be controlled by the priests of the Hunting Temple and can only act according to their requests.

Is this to keep these kids here?

Li Si thought of the previous meals, which seemed to have been specially prepared.

Is it to maintain the qi and blood in these children's bodies in preparation for the so-called great hunting ceremony?

Li Si was guessing in his heart.

As for the so-called Rune Great Hunting Ritual, it should be similar to what he guessed.

Collect bloody sacrifices and fear and turn them into the cornerstone of the evil god's power!

(End of this chapter)