Shadow of the Evil God

The chaos outside was already very faint here, like a whisper. As Cesar and Phils walked slowly past, they could hear someone puffing, someone laughing softly, someone mumbling unconsciously in an incomprehensible dialect, and someone else was entangled with the servants in the pleasure room behind the curtains, making love sighs.

Just at this moment, someone suddenly let out a horrified scream.

"The guards of the vault were all killed!"

Cesar pulled Phils behind a curtain. Inside, a middle-aged man in a satin suit leaned against a pillow, smiling brightly but dazed, unable to see them. He lazily inhaled a mixture of crushed plants from a lamp emitting a misty vapor, clearly no longer able to perceive the outside world.

He recognized this guy, he was actually the local ship owner at the port.

Ignoring the man, he and Fils pulled aside a curtain and peered in the direction of the screams. Soon, they found the bodies of two guards slumped at the basement vault entrance. One had suffered a slashed throat, blood soaking through his upper garments and flowing down his stiff leather vest. The other guard lay sprawled on the ground, his injuries unclear, but blood had already spread over a meter.

Chapter 17: This place doesn't charge a lot of money

The screams spread chaos into the building. The mercenaries surged in like a tide, already overflowing the corridors, smashing open two doors, and bursting into the ceremony hall. The sharp blades of their weapons stood out in the dim light. Because so many people were storming the hall, many curtains were torn away, burning candlesticks fell to the ground, glass lamps shattered, and lamp oil and fire spread upward along the curtains.

The already frightened passengers were now in a state of complete panic. A throng of confused, disheveled individuals began to rush out like headless flies. For a moment, everyone was shouting and shoving, yet no one understood what was going on. The endless, mixed cries could have woken the dead from their graves, but they couldn't awaken the local ship owner behind him from his absurd dream.

The smoke in this place is still choking and sticky.

The staircase leading to the second floor was not far away. Cesar noticed that the thugs guarding the staircase had drawn their spears and hammers. One of them looked familiar; it seemed to be the guy who had brought him here when the porters' gang brought him here. He saw a man in a blue robe rushing towards the stairs, carrying a bag of vault money. With a simple flick of his sleeve, he slit the throats of two thugs on the spot, then rushed up the stairs and disappeared. His method was exactly the same as Grigga's.

"Those bastards who did the ceremony went upstairs with the temple's money!"

"A body rolled down the stairs!"

"Catch them and kill them!"

"Killing! Killing!"

"Help, help! I'm the local bank owner!"

"Where are my guards? Someone come and save me!"

"My Lord, where are you?"

This scene caused a series of loud shouts and cries, and the crazy crowd responded to each other and became more and more chaotic. The sound of weapons being drawn and the clash of blades was like an invisible claw that grabbed the people of the place and pushed them to run and shove like a flock of terrified sheep in a storm.

At this moment, Cesar saw another man rushing out of the crowd carrying a bag, also in a blue robe. He swung a one-handed sword vigorously, cutting through the broken limbs and

The broken human skin wine bag spurting blood also frightened the crowd and made them dodge to the sides, making way for him.

The man had just taken advantage of the gap to step onto the stairs, and before he had taken a few steps, he heard more than one booming gunshot. Bullets flew over people's heads, startling the nearby crowd to fall to the ground like weeds blown by the wind.

In an instant, the man was killed on the spot by a volley of musket fire. Blood splattered everywhere, and his body with several holes in it rolled down the stairs holding the bag.

The person that Cesar had taken great pains to kill was just shot to death on the battlefield.

"Anyone who flees with the temple's property will be killed on the spot!" someone shouted in the mercenary ranks, "Don't even think about the money. The Xiel Church will reward anyone who recovers the property!"

A mercenary jumped out from the crowd, brandishing a sharp two-handed sword, the tip of which was stuck with a bloody head shot through the forehead. It seemed that he had failed to retrieve the bag of gold coins and could only take the dead head as a trophy.

"Heads aren't worth anything here!" the man yelled again, practically hoarse. "Don't you fucking dare chop off heads of unknown origin and ask me for the reward!"

Even as the crowd descended into chaos, some guests were still lost in their hallucinations and fantasies. One of them pointed at the dangling head with a sword and laughed, screaming, "I told you not to charge me so much, you beast! I knew you wouldn't die a good death, you little dog!"

A dozen or so mercenaries at the head formed up, pushing through the fleeing crowd and advancing like a sharp blade through wheat. Some armed with muskets, others with swords and shields, they were about to ascend the stairs to the upper floors of the building when, just then, a pile of bottles and jars filled with unknown liquids were thrown down from the stairs, clanging against them.

Seeing this, Cesar hadn't reacted when Phils pulled him backward, throwing him flat on the floor. The mercenary commander who had spoken also roared at the top of his lungs, demanding that the mercenaries retreat quickly.

At that moment, a louder roar echoed through the joyous room, like a cannon fired recklessly in a room, shaking the entire building as if it would collapse on the spot. The bottles and cans exploded continuously, and a blazing white flame rushed into the crowd, surged over the low, curtained ceiling, and swept against the windows. The whole alley was illuminated as if it were daytime—the moonlight was dimmed.

People were like ghosts on fire, losing their minds due to panic and madness, and were in a mess. Some people even curled up under the bed or under the table, shrinking their necks as if they were about to be beaten. Cesar pulled Phils and rolled and crawled, and finally they managed to escape from the crazy flames and rushed into a hidden side room.

He heard windows being smashed one after another. People didn't care about the glass getting scratched, and they didn't care that the windows of the ceremony hall were several meters higher than the alley. They just wanted to find a hole to get out and escape this incredible fire. He also saw many people rolling on the ground, but they couldn't put out the flames on their bodies. They could only let out bursts of heartbreaking screams, like a boiling kettle.

The crowded crowd roared and howled, like waves of wheat undulating in a windswept field, one wave after another pushing the other. Many guests, heavily addicted to hallucinogens, were trampled to death or gradually turned into lumps of charcoal in their hallucinatory fantasies.

There was no place more likely to catch fire than this place, with its wooden beds and velvet cushions and hanging curtains everywhere, and soon the fire would become a blaze and set the whole so-called pleasure house on fire.

"Alchemical bomb," Firth coughed. "An explosive material mixed with some spell catalyst... What's wrong with the priests here?"

"I think they are prepared for all kinds of unexpected situations." Cesar patted her back and helped her breathe a sigh of relief.

"Then what are we doing here?" she demanded.

"State your identity, especially the role we play in this matter. Find the fake Libio and help the people of the Orthodox Church solve the trouble here. If possible, it would be best to arrange a fake death for the fake Libio, and this place is just right." Cesar spoke faster and sorted out his thoughts to her one by one.

The temple priest who came to Noien this time was extremely powerful. Once the matter was accomplished, he could use the momentum to compete with Sean.

"Where do you think she is?" Fields asked again.

"Further up," he replied. "Most likely in the inner hall on the fourth floor. Libio is going to receive an important guest."

"Distinguished guest? Has this man ever received a distinguished guest before?"

"They're not those who spend money on entertainment. This time, the distinguished guest has connections to the temple, but we don't know their true identity until we meet them. I want to go up and meet the fake Libio as soon as possible, and also meet the distinguished guest and tell him the story I've prepared."

"I think Sean has sent troops to surround this area." Firth muttered, "If these temple people can't intimidate him, we will have to go into the bottom of the mine and become cave dwellers. Are you ready to never see the sun again until you die? You can learn from me to absorb the vitality of corpses to satisfy your hunger and thirst." This guy would rather live in the mine as a cave dweller than go back to be Corini's apprentice and assistant.

"I think it's alright. Two cave dwellers is better than one," Cesar said. He had no choice but to proceed with his plan and hope nothing went wrong. If all else failed, he could just tell her to give up being a human. That wouldn't necessarily be a strange outcome, and his experiences so far had already been strange enough.

Phils still wants to mutter

A few words were spoken, but as people fled in panic, the mercenaries' resolute roars could be heard from outside the building. These casualties seemed unremarkable to the mercenaries who had experienced wars in the north.

"Move the construction ladder!"

"Take the hook!"

"Climb up the outer wall!"

At the same time, a group of people, fleeing for their lives, rushed towards the hidden side room. It seemed that with order completely broken, people, like headless flies, would eventually find a gap to rush in. Cesar acted decisively, picked up his mace and smashed the window. He didn't even bother to clean the sharp glass shards from the window sill. He picked up Phils and protected her as he climbed out, inevitably leaving several bloody cuts.

One advantage of this place is that there are enough windows for escape, but he doesn't have the key, so he can only use weapons to break them down.

After climbing out the window, Cesar landed in another narrow alley. Compared to the alley the mercenaries had rushed in, this one was more like a crack between buildings, barely enough for two people to walk side by side. The slippery ground sank in the center, forming a dirty sewage ditch, piled with many rotten fish heads.

In fact, it would be easier to climb up through the gap between the buildings because there are traction points on both sides, he thought.

"Would you like to hide nearby for a while?" Cesar looked up at the outer wall. "While I still have some inexplicable physical strength, I want to try to climb up from the outer wall."

"No," Firth said as she jumped down. She brushed off the dust and soot on her body, then pulled him by the collar and climbed onto his back, wrapping her arms around his neck. "It might seem like it would be much harder to carry someone up there, but I can actually make it easier for you, understand? I know as much about this as you do. You have to climb up according to my instructions."

"All I remember is that you paused for a moment as you jumped down the hill, and then fell face down into the snow," he said sarcastically.

"If you fall and die, I will dig you a pit poorer than the stone altar," she cursed.

"In fact, I've never seen so many dead bodies before," Cesar shrugged. He scanned the wall, assessing where he could use a handhold to climb.

"It's no big deal. Just some dead people. I've seen it all before. It's nothing new, not worth mentioning at all. Anyway, enough of the nonsense. Are you ready?"

"Ready."

Seeing Cesar put his hand on the windowsill, Phils immediately added nervously, "If you slip and fall, I can only give us a short break. You should know what to do then, right?"

"I have to be on the bottom and you have to be on the top?"

"Uh..." Firth paused, seeming to feel a bit embarrassed after hearing such straightforward remarks. "Anyway, it's good that you know."

......

The first thing Granli, the Knight of Hierre's Temple, heard was a crackling sound, the wood was burning. Then, he actually heard the sound of a wooden beam moving - someone was lifting it up.

Meet with the informant in this place, Granley.

Yes, Granli thought, that's what happened. The high priest sent him to Noyen first, to infiltrate the pleasure room illegally opened by the local priests, both to cooperate with the mercenaries' clearing operation and to meet with an important informant.

As far as he knew, this devout believer was named Libio, a secular agent who had previously disguised himself for pleasure, committing all manner of evil to amass wealth. Now, he had suddenly come to his senses and approached the Orthodox Church, where he not only confessed his sins and exposed the crimes of the local priests of Noien, but also voluntarily donated his wealth to hire professional soldiers, simply to shut down this notorious place.

After giving so much, all this man wanted was for the temple to speak to the city lord, allow the mercenaries to enter Noien, and forgive his past mistakes, allowing his soul to enter the kingdom of God. Thinking of this man's deeds, Granli was deeply moved. If everyone could be as devout as this believer, giving up worldly interests for the purity of faith, how could there be so much crime and ugliness in the world?

Granli suddenly woke up, feeling the burning smoke sting his eyes, and couldn't help but shed two lines of tears. He remembered the sudden attack, the alchemical bomb thrown into the inner hall, and the followers who bravely blocked his way.

At that time, apart from him, his followers, and servants, the only person in the inner hall was Libio, who was confessing his past sins to him. So who was it that lifted the beam now?

"Your squire and servants are all dead, Lord Granly."

It's the middle-aged man.

Granly felt a tingling sensation all over his body, but he stood up and turned to the voice that spoke to him. He studied Libiou's charred upper body and noticed that although he looked fat, he was actually strong and powerful, with extremely strong muscles.

The middle-aged man, about the same age as his father, coughed twice and tossed aside the beam he had been carrying. He took a deep breath, patted his broad, bloodied shoulders, and tore open the scorched cloth covering his upper body, revealing the mail breastplate underneath. Granley noticed that the man's arms were covered in scars, almost like streaks of glaring dark red.

Near them, in this inner hall littered with broken wood and shattered glass, five bodies lay in disarray, the rest of the bodies nowhere to be found. He closed his tear-filled eyes, trying his best to overcome the discomfort in his heart, suppressing this catastrophic attack and the death of his entourage in his heart, because there were more important things that needed his attention, right now, right here.

。群6#999四:9:三6;壹!999

This was a grueling task, and he couldn't relax until it was completed.

"Tell me what's wrong with this place." Granley opened his eyes.

Libio glanced around the inner hall, frowning.

He seemed to have just woken up. "I guess the priests prepared some additional measures," he said. "When they discovered that the mercenaries had entered this area, they became desperate. Many people died, including everyone in this inner hall except the two of us."

"What's the situation now?"

"The fire is spreading from the first floor upwards and there's no stopping it. There are too many curtains and wooden beds over there."

"If the city lord Sean has sent troops to surround this entire area, the mercenaries can act freely as long as they don't spread the chaos outward. Then, according to your understanding, where will the priest and his people in this place escape to?" Granley asked.

"Climb over the rooftops to get past the soldiers and then escape to the underground mines."

Before Libio could reply, a loud voice echoed from outside the door, followed by the crack of a hammer, splintering wood. Granley watched as a mace smashed through the locked door, sending splinters flying everywhere. Then another blow followed. The man had smashed a hole wide enough for a man to slip through sideways. Smoke rolled from the corridor into the inner hall, gradually covering the floor and lingering at his ankles.

Granley squinted and saw a young man about his own age stooping and stepping in. Although his black hair was disheveled and his clothes were ragged, his expression was reserved and gentle, as if he had experienced long-term hardships and trials, and he also had the demeanor of someone who had enjoyed the power.

Behind him, a girl clutched his hand tightly. Granley could confirm that she had never experienced any hardship, as there was not even a trace of calluses on her fingers.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" the Temple Knight asked them.

Those calm black eyes blinked, and his face lowered a little. "We have nowhere to go in Noien," the young man said. "We have been living in Mr. Libio's house for a while, enjoying his protection. To repay his kindness, we have to do something."

Granley glanced at the middle-aged man with a frown on his face, signaling him to give him an explanation.

"They have a grudge against Earl Thane, the lord of Noyen, but they haven't committed any crime—at least I believe so," Libio said sincerely. "I've made mistakes throughout the first half of my life. Now that I'm old, it's inevitable that I want to do something different. This young couple helped me make up my mind to build the temple. If possible, I hope you can send them out of the city secretly."

Since they are involved in this clearing operation, it is not impossible to leave them some wiggle room.

"I'll ask someone to find out exactly what happened, and then we can determine who's right and who's wrong." The Temple Knight nodded. "As long as they haven't committed an unforgivable crime, sending them away secretly shouldn't be difficult."

"You can call me Cesar," the young man said to him. "The fire is already very big. If you want to go to a safe place, I have found a rope that can be used to slide down from the corridor window. But if you want to chase the priests who are escaping upwards, and their men who fled with the temple property..."

"I must capture them and recover the temple's property," Granli gritted his teeth. "These people are unforgivable."

Chapter 18 You owe me a lot of souls

......

Sean stood on the castle's observation tower, looking down through a telescope at Noien's dog pit.

I saw the flames in the courtyard over there burning fiercely, spreading along the first floor to higher places. From here, the residential building looked like a square coffin upside down on the fire.

He saw infantry drawn from the city's barracks surrounding the entire area. A group had been dispatched to fetch water from the river, attempting to contain the spreading fire. Meanwhile, armed mercenaries hired by the temple were raiding homes, slinging siege ladders and grappling hooks from the outer walls, determined to enter the buildings and find those who had insulted orthodox doctrine. These mercenaries were highly skilled; it seemed the Hiel faithful had paid them handsomely for this task.

He saw the local temple priest in blue robes, who was on the rooftop, accompanied by several blue-robed guards, intending to escape from there. Each guard was carrying a bag full of wealth. If these fell into his hands, they might allow him to maintain the true god's rituals for a long time.

He watched as the priest touched the foreheads of each blue-clad guard, and each heavy load felt lighter. The leading guard sprinted a few steps, braced himself on the fourth-floor roof railing, and leaped, bag in hand, onto the rooftop of a nearby three-story building. He bent his knees as he landed, cushioning the impact. Before the residents, enjoying the fire from the rooftops, could react, he had already taken three lives. Then he leaped again, leaping even further. Six #999 Four: 9 Three c6 One! 999

The other blue-clad guards also passed through in an orderly manner.

It was really interesting, Sean thought. He had originally thought of this place as a religious venue for profiteering. The Orthodox Church, while publicly posturing to ban them, actually allowed them to profit from it. Their occasional public condemnations were merely for show. He hadn't expected this group to engage in such internal conflict with the Orthodox Church in Hier.

But for him, this matter is not worth worrying about.

Although there is no accurate statistical data, judging from the frequency of visits to the pleasure house by the wealthy locals of Noyen, those

The wealth in the bag was extraordinary. Sean knew the principle of exhausting the resources. Normally, he would not take action against the wealthy people who paid taxes to him. However, since they were finished and would no longer contribute any value or wealth to Noien, he showed no mercy.

It is necessary.

Confiscating the inheritance of criminals is also one of the powers of the city lord.

Sean turned his telescope to follow the group and found that they were fleeing in the direction of the Dog Pit Mine. Although he didn't know what escape route they had in the mine, since they dared to go down to the mine, he couldn't blame him for catching them in the trap.

In the distance, the priest, flanked by guards, rushed toward the mine's entrance, leaving behind only the corpses of the gatekeepers before disappearing. Seeing this, Sean's spirits soared. This mine was a major source of his wealth. While the guards and overseers there weren't skilled workers, they were experienced and skilled. If they were killed like this, the mine's operations would be disrupted, and simply filling the vacancies would be a major challenge.

For various reasons, he would not allow the monsters beneath his castle to emerge into the city, exposed to the public. He would not even allow the population of Noien to decrease unnecessarily, lest the city be unable to maintain operations, resulting in reduced tax revenues and a disruption to his true god's ceremonies. These people dared to damage his valuable wealth, insulting his authority and challenging his patience.

Sean retracted the telescope and gestured behind him. A crack gradually appeared in the circular magic circle hidden within the wall. Five key hieroglyphic symbols disappeared, the magic prison opened, and evil creatures fell from the decorative sculptures on the ceiling of the hall.

It unfurled its white wings, folded and closed like sickles, appearing over ten feet wide. Enveloped within its paper-white body, barely visible, it was barely larger than a human. Its hairless head thrust forward, its features invisible, the white and smoothness of a polished skull. Its skull was completely empty, save for an oval, black cavity in its center, like a mouth twisted by a scream, slowly spewing out a murky black mist.

Sean felt a strange sense of fear enveloping him, but it was not his own emotion, but an exogenous emotion, covering the window of his soul's perception of the outside world like a thin film.

"I never thought you would release me." It hissed in ancient Kuna, its voice like an echo in a dark cave.

"Yes, yes," Thane said. "Of course I'll release you. Don't you think I won't?"