Cornflower Witch

Chapter 201 Cults that Worship Evil Objects

"The Hundred-Eyed Cult!"

Upon seeing the three large, floating eyeballs, the pursuers immediately shouted out the name of this evil cult.

Just as the 'Twin Serpent Cult' betrayed humanity and worshipped two-headed serpents, during the Third Alien Impact, some humans also worshipped and believed in the alien creatures because of their power. One of them especially worshipped those alien bewitching monsters and formed a special sect organization known to the outside world as the 'Hundred-Eyed Cult'.

Compared to the infamous 'Twin Serpents Cult', the 'Hundred-Eyed Cult' is evil, but not to the point of being universally condemned. Some small places and countries even secretly collude with them in order to obtain the combat power provided by the cult.

Training a formal 'Tier 3' professional is extremely difficult. Only one formal Tier 3 professional will emerge from approximately 200-300 Tier 1 extraordinary individuals. This extremely low success rate makes some small countries particularly eager for combat power and talent, but ordinary organizations cannot meet their needs.

The Hundred-Eyed Cult is powerful because if they successfully perform the Demon Eye Ritual, they can briefly open a portal to another world, allowing a third-tier eye demon to descend into this world and form a demon contract with the cultist performing the ritual, allowing the demon to remain in the mortal realm and gain the combat power of a third-tier creature.

Of course, this method also has many drawbacks. First of all, the 'Demon Eye Ritual' is against the will of the world and has a low success rate. Once it fails, the person performing the ritual will suffer a severe backlash and die.

Secondly, even if an otherworldly eye demon is summoned, establishing a contract and stabilizing the core secret technique are extremely difficult problems. Failure in any one of these steps can result in severe backlash, serious injury, or even death.

Only fanatical and fearless believers would dare to participate in such sacrificial rituals.

……

"How could the Hundred-Eyed Cult members be here?" Both the pursuers and the rescued prince and princess were somewhat surprised.

While the Hundred-Eyed Cult may be revered in certain small places, it is a wanted criminal in major organizations and countries across the globe, yet it dared to appear within the territory of the Kingdom of Regas this time.

"Your Highness, and Your Highness the Princess, please come with us."

From the woods, a group of people dressed in dark red robes emerged. Their robes were printed with eye patterns of varying sizes, which made people uneasy.

Seeing this, the remaining people guarding the prince and princess hesitated. Although the pursuers were dangerous, the cultists in front of them were not trustworthy either.

They hesitated, but the pursuers did not. Upon seeing the group of members of the Hundred-Eyed Cult, their actions became even more urgent.

Several assassins from the shadows stopped hiding and leaped out from the dim corners, rushing towards Prince Jobs who was hiding behind them.

When faced with the blocking gray-white barrier, the figures of these people became blurry and indistinct for a moment. In this situation, the gray-white barrier that was originally blocking them seemed to be unable to recognize them, allowing them to pass through. In the midst of danger, Princess Musa hurriedly pushed away Jobs, while she herself was stabbed several times.

"No!" Jobs roared.

His eyes turned bloodshot in an instant as he turned to the cultists in the distance.

"Kill them, kill these pursuers, and I'll do anything you ask!"

In response, the cult members whispered among themselves in the shadows, then nodded in agreement.

The three hovering beholders unleashed their beams once more, sweeping across and piercing the bodies of their pursuers. From the shadows, several assassins dressed in cult robes emerged, engaging in fierce combat with their pursuers in the shadows, quickly leaving several enemies behind.

Minutes later, the pursuing group was routed, with only a few managing to escape when things went wrong. At this point, the dim woods fell silent once more.

A group of cult leaders, surrounded by their members, slowly approached the prince. They bowed deeply before looking down at the severely injured Princess Musa.

"We have a way to cure the princess. Please come with us, Your Highness."

At this moment, Jobs glanced at the wary knights and squires beside him and made up his mind.

"Alright, I'll go with you. I hope you'll keep your promise."

Seeing that the prince had agreed, the remaining knights had no choice but to obey. In fact, they were exhausted and had little room for resistance.

Half an hour later, the group left and disappeared into the distance. A black owl arrived late, perched on a branch, and examined the corpses and traces below, its eyes flashing with a strange light.

Soon, several more night birds arrived at the grove, perched on branches, and exchanged glances.

Prince Steve Jobs must have escaped from here.

But now they've vanished without a trace.

Most of the pursuers are dead, and judging from their wounds, they weren't injured by knights or warriors.

'There aren't many groups capable of using ray attacks; they're either mages or some strange creatures.'

'The Mage Alliance wouldn't care about the life or death of a prince from a small kingdom; they must be strange beings.'

There was a lingering aura of alien life, and some of the trees along the way were twisted and contaminated, suggesting the presence of extraterrestrial creatures.

'The Hundred-Eyed Cult, that's it.'

'They dared to snatch someone from us witches! They really don't take us seriously!'

'Spread the word, issue arrest warrants for them.' 'Yes, sir.'

At the end of the year, before winter was over, the capital of the Kingdom of Regas, White Cliff, fell. The Grand Duke and the eldest prince of Regas died in battle in the city, and a large number of the other nobles surrendered. From then on, there was no strong resistance force in the Kingdom of Regas, and it was a foregone conclusion that it would be divided up by the Kingdom of Anti and the Kingdom of Eagle and Scorpion.

Although the Kingdom of Regas no longer exists, the royal bloodline has not been severed. Some say that Prince Jabbers and Princess Musa escaped before the fall of White Cliff City, and many speculate that the prince and princess likely sought refuge in the Hidden Forest.
The Hidden Woods did not give a direct answer to this speculation, and the Kingdom of Antioch and the Kingdom of Eagles and Scorpions stopped sending people to search for Prince Jobs, as if they believed that he would not reappear.

……

The world in the shadows, within the Dark Mist Mountains.

After several days of arduous travel, Hilti and her party finally arrived at the front-line base, 'Firestone Fortress'.

The towering city gate slowly rose as the hinges were pulled, and then Hilti and her group, carrying supplies and personnel, slowly drove in. They were greeted by several members dressed in black robes.

"Welcome, Hilti." The leading man in black robes placed his hand on his chest and gave a simple bow.

“My name is Dickens, I am the quartermaster of the fortress, please follow me.”

He beckoned Hilti and her party to the tower at the bottom of the fortress, arranged for them to unload their goods, and then registered them one by one.

"Thank you very much for the precious food, Siltia. However, this was not part of the planned supply. I wonder what Siltia's intentions are?"

After the other party put the items into storage, they asked Hilti what she wanted. It seemed that no matter what the girl asked for, she wouldn't be able to get the food back.

Hilti shook her head slightly, unconcerned, before engaging in conversation with the quartermaster.

"I need a batch of fuel. I'd also like to know what you mainly produce here and what resources you lack."

Upon hearing this, Dickens seemed to have found a kindred spirit and began to talk at length with the young girl. As she listened to his story, Hilti gradually organized the intelligence data.

'Firestone Fortress' is a stronghold in the third canyon below the Dark Mist Mountains. It is rich in a strange black stone. If you grind off the edges, you will see a dark red interior. But strangely, if you cut it open completely, the inside is completely black.

The characteristic of these stones is that they generate heat when they collide with each other, which can be used to ignite them, hence the name 'flint'. Unfortunately, they cannot burn on their own; they can only generate heat when they collide violently.

Besides flint, there are many twisted forests growing around this fortress, which are trees contaminated by the 'twisted' phase. They can also burn, but burning them will produce polluting black smoke. It is necessary to burn charcoal first to remove the contamination before using purer charcoal to make it a qualified fuel.

“We can provide you with charcoal, but each time you need to exchange it for food, we can exchange five pounds of charcoal for one pound of food.”

"Five catties is too little, seven catties." The girl shook her head; the exchange rate was too low.

"This..." The other party hesitated.

"If you're not willing, I'll ask at other outposts." It's not like this is the only frontline outpost with charcoal.

"Okay, seven catties it is." The other party agreed immediately. Actually, they would still make a profit this way, since charcoal is only valuable here. If it were a resource-rich rear area, no one would buy it.

Afterwards, Hiltiya learned about other local specialties.

"The frontline garrisons will all be involved in the battles against the monsters, so if you want to buy materials from these monsters, they will be exceptionally cheap," the other party told directly.

"Secondly, we also produce a kind of 'black crystal' that is associated with flint. It is extremely hard and suitable for engraving runes and imprinting, and is used in the manufacture of special objects."

"I've never heard of this before. Did you discover it recently?" Before coming, Hiltiya had also looked up a lot of information about the Dark Mist Mountains.

“That’s right. This is a special gem that was only unearthed from the mine two months ago. It’s not for sale yet. We’ll only consider exchanging a small portion if you can bring food of rare quality or higher.”

"I see, I understand." After agreeing, Hilti and the members took a good tour of the magnificent fortress. It is said that about 2000 people are stationed here, most of whom are second-tier superhumans, and there are more than forty third-tier professionals. The highest commander of the fortress is General Sefaen, a fifth-tier general.

"Lord Sephan is busy defending against the monsters outside the fortress all year round, traveling around to inspect the situation. He doesn't have much time to rest inside the fortress. Usually, his deputies are mainly responsible for its management," Dickens and Hilti explained.

"If your base is developing well and can provide more food, we can have a little more manpower here."

"There are two major obstacles to expanding into the depths of the Dark Mist Mountains: one is the massive and dangerous number of monsters, and the other is the long and difficult-to-supply line."

"This is a map showing the distribution of various outposts in the Dark Mist Mountains. Consider it a personal gift to Siltiia." Before parting, Dickens gave her a detailed map.

"I hope to see Siltia again in a few months."

With the truck loaded with charcoal and some monster materials, Hilti waved goodbye to the other party and embarked on her return journey once again.

Meanwhile, after more than a month of hiding and fleeing, Prince Steve Jobs, led by members of the Hundred-Eyed Cult, arrived in the Shadow World beneath the surface continent through a special means.

Seeing the strangely twisted trees around him and the thick, dark clouds pressing down on the sky above, the prince, who was used to a life of luxury, finally realized that he was no longer in the sunlit world on the surface, but had come to the shadows beneath the continent.

"Is this... the home you've been talking about?"

(End of this chapter)