Shadow of the Evil God

Diana shook her head and expressed helplessness to Ajeh, "So that black-haired Ajeh... do you think she is someone who would open her soul to others, Cesar?" she asked.

"That girl has said less than I have in a month in her entire life." Cesar also spread his hands. "Do you understand now? I've never met a more withdrawn human being than her. And besides this incident, she and I aren't very familiar with each other."

"That makes even less sense, and it's inexplicable." Diana frowned, studying him. "Personality and memories shouldn't be integrated. Add to that your closed-off nature...why are there so many mysteries about you?"

"How should I know? I was also tied to the altar. You should ask old Thane, not me."

"I really want to cut you open and see your entire structure inside and out." Diana sighed.

"I don't think our relationship has reached that stage yet," Cesar said, raising his eyebrows. "But if there's no longer any barrier between you and me, I can totally accept your request."

"I was just joking." Diana glanced over.

“But I’m not kidding,” Cesar said.

"I know you're not joking, but if what we're saying isn't a joke, then our relationship is a little too morbid."

"Is it morbid? I don't think so. If you cut me open and touch and kiss my internal organs, it would mean that our love is deeper than that of ordinary people."

"I can only tell that your fetish is horrifying, but my purpose is purely academic."

Cesar shrugged. "I'm just exploring different ways to express my love. There are always some methods I haven't tried yet, and once I know them, I can't help but want to try them. Besides, you mentioned it first."

"I just want to perform an autopsy, Cesar. You're just letting me do something wrong."

Cesar put his arm around Diana's waist and kissed her earlobe. "Love is our mutual fault," he whispered softly. "I personally enjoy the chaos, confusion, and intoxication of love, and I'm willing to put it above my life, my noble lady. Otherwise, there would be too much rationality in our souls."

Chapter 236 The Ancient Hunting Ground Opens

......

Though the feeling of love was beautiful, the journey through the wasteland was still arduous, carrying with it the untold terror of where one might be trapped at any moment. The coldness of this ruined place was still shrouded, and the ghostly memories that hovered around him were even more troubling. The comfort of the touch of lips and the embrace of fingers had faded, and what was left was the frost-shrouded era at the end of the previous era.

Cesar leaned against the broken wall of the ruins, still feeling the chill that penetrated his bones. The exhaustion of the Guna still enveloped him, numbness and tingling seeping into his limbs and spine. He had to admit that the feelings of the Guna at the end of the era were very touching, but now he wanted to pull out the remaining memories and burn them, rather than relive their suffering for a thousand years.

Why did he feel so strongly, while Diana and Ajeh were fine? Could he be a Kuna?

"You've been affected more than anyone in recorded history..." Diana suddenly spoke. Passing by him, she held a stack of scrolls. Seeing this, she bent down and brushed the frost from his brow. "Is it because the black-haired Ajeh once shared a soul with you?" she murmured. "Perhaps there's a trace of the Kuna in you. When we wake up, I'll include this in my research agenda."

Cesar looked at Phils beside him and found that not only was she not affected, her originally cold skin was even warmer than his.

"At least I don't have the memories of the dead to haunt me anymore." He shook his head. "It's just a subtle feeling. Remember to let me know when you're done. I'll be waiting here."

Diana leaned down, her forehead against his, her hair brushing his cheek, and then a gentle kiss. Her slender waist bent like a crescent moon, her fingers entwined with his, her body pressed against his, her lips touching his, and soon she felt a warm and pleasant sensation, as if a burning fire was taken out of her heart and placed in his.

After a while, she stood up and smiled at him, "You can hold on for a while. I'll come back and rekindle the fire for you later."

Cesar watched her cloaked figure disappear behind the rubble, feeling a sense of melancholy. Had he just been watching her in silence, unable to utter a single word? It seemed so. Her words lingered faintly in his ears, making his lips itch and his heart palpitate. He had to admit, if she took the initiative, he wouldn't be much better than ordinary people.

He touched his chest. It had been cold, stiff, and numb, but now it felt like it was ablaze with an invisible flame. It was more than just fire, he thought. Something, deeply connected to his emotions, enveloped his heart—was it his obsession and longing? He felt his body loosen as warmth spread from his heart throughout his body, reaching his fingertips.

Cesar stood up, feeling his feet barely support him. He had been worried he'd fall onto Phils. He stumbled a dozen steps and reached the edge of the withered grass, where the chill was growing stronger.

It was a remnant of memory. A figure taller than him stood there, a shadowy figure faintly visible, undoubtedly a Kuna noble. Their nobles and royals were all exceedingly tall; the more distinguished they were, the greater the difference between them and the common people. If the black-haired Ajehe were of pure blood, she might have been able to bend down and pick him up like a child.

As for the remnants of the Kuna people who fled to the other side of the Sanctuary Abyss, they had actually lost everything and were no different from zombies, so there was no question of whether they were great or not.

"Your Highness," the Kuna man's remnant closed his eyes and murmured, "Your Highness..."

"I'm not really your princess," she said.

"Please save us, Princess, save us... You are not cursed, you are our only hope..."

"Yes, hope, but hope is a thing of the past. You have been trapped here for too long, it is no different from a curse. Now, please return to the earth." She touched his forehead with the sharp blade in her hand, but she did not have the sharp blade she always carried in her hand.

Canyi opened his empty, dark eyes and screamed loudly.

Cesar was so frightened that he stepped back repeatedly and leaned against the wall to avoid falling to the ground. What frightened him was not the screams of the Kuna people's residual memories, but the black-haired Ajeh who appeared and disappeared on him, just like he appeared and disappeared on her by the lake where the werewolves sacrificed the real dragon.

Why? Is it because Huang is inherently strange and inexplicable? Or do they truly have some uncanny connection?

By the time Diana arrived, Canyi's figure was clearly visible, and he was already able to speak to others. However, Canyi seemed to be only saying something that was not entirely true. Diana patiently communicated with Canyi, using a language that Cesar could not understand at all, but the black-haired Ajiehe did.

The moment she appeared, the two of them were talking as usual.

If he explored the memories and personality that Ajeh had left behind, he might be able to find something, but to be honest, he was already somewhat resistant.

Cesar pressed his forehead and kneaded his brow. He saw Diana nod slightly and draw a symbol in the air. Then, the Kuna people's residual memory sighed for the last time and finally disappeared completely, along with the chill.

It vanished. Silence fell again. Cesar and Diana looked at each other silently, and then he shook his head at her, indicating that he knew nothing.

"Your Highness," Diana said to him, "I heard him say that you were his princess, the last uncursed Kuna, and their only remaining hope."

"She says she isn't," Cesar said. "I don't think she wants to be a princess. She just wants to be a wanderer."

"You seemed to have told me that your greatest dream was to travel around with just a few people, right?"

"Uh, what?"

"You two are more than just souls meeting, you are practically the same person."

"How should I know?" Cesar muttered softly, "Maybe it was that Ajiehe next to us who did something. You should ask her, don't ask me."

"Do you know what I'm thinking?"

"what?"

"Perhaps I can use some ritual to make her appear again." Diana stared at him with such intensity that his scalp tingled. "Appear in you," she said.

"Can we... uh, can we discuss cutting me open and studying my internal structure?" Cesar smiled at her.

"The ancient hunting grounds are open!" A high-pitched, shrill echo suddenly echoed through the ruins. Cesar turned his head and saw a thick arm covered in black spikes grasping the edge of the gap. Its skin was bloody and covered with ulcers. A huge head, encased in a black harness as huge as a millstone, peeked up from what looked like a small house. Atop it rested a monstrous creature with blood-oozing eyes, about to ascend to the refuge of the remnants of the Kuna people.

This creature wore a black robe, its fur blood-red, and its face resembled a rat's, but its eyes resembled spiders' compound eyes, six of them extending from its nostrils to either side. It sat upright on top of its black harness, its hands as dexterous as a human's, its six fingers gripping the sharp spike piercing its massive head, a kind smile on its face.

"We are here to gather flesh and bones for the true god." It screamed to Cesar, "Offer the dead beside you, messenger of blood, otherwise don't blame me for protecting the felines for you!"

"I'm not a fey," Diana shouted back, "and this is a tomb, not a hunting ground!"

"The fey are truly innovative in their art of rhetoric." It blinked its six bright red eyes, its smile becoming even kinder. "But words cannot protect lives. Listen to me—this body, minced and divided, is far too little to eat. Adding you, it's barely enough."

More arms covered in black spikes jutted out from the edge of the gap. Cesar licked his lips. He wasn't afraid, of course, but considering the identities and attitudes of these creatures, and the corpse-eaters mentioned by Nauzog, the negotiation and enticement he had previously thought possible were no longer possible.

Chapter 237: Rat!

"Don't you ever consider the identities of both parties when you cause trouble?" Diana demanded. "There's clearly a tribe traveling with us, yet you're deliberately trying to make things difficult for us?"

"Cursed fey dare to call themselves a tribe?" the corpse-eater asked. "They are nothing but mad, headless flies. They have clearly received the gods' gift, but they are still full of servility. They buzz around without a master to rely on. Do you really think we care about them?"

The flesh puppet completely climbed up from the stone pillar.

This evil creature resembled a bloated spider, its skin mottled and grimy, a mixture of festering human and animal hides. It possessed two long, powerful forearms, claws coated in black metal that could easily dig into the rock and claw out large pieces of rubble. It clung to the steep cliffs and crawled along, its posture reminiscent of a spider. Its body was most massive at the front, tapering towards the back, like a giant maggot with a bulging head and a slender tail. Numerous hind arms of varying lengths, like appendages, were jaggedly embedded in its body behind its main arms, waving haphazardly.

That face—Cesar couldn't quite make it out—was nearly the diameter of a full-grown man. Under the restraints squeezing its head, he could only make out a massive, fang-baring maw that practically filled its entire face. The spikes on the circular restraints pierced the monster's skull, the iron bars within the ring like a fence digging into its facial flesh. With every step it took, the restraints strained against its festering wounds, drawing out streams of thick blood that spurted out of its maw and dissolved into a bloody mist.

The edge of the breach carved by the Kuna was already filled. There were five corpse eaters, all of them hunters or riders, and five flesh puppets holding them together. Each one was mad and grotesque, its very existence distorting the order of reality. A frenzied desire filled their bound flesh, and as they approached him, their bloated bodies and swollen arms twitched with every step they took.

Cesar looked at the goblins that were changing their camouflage. It seemed that before he could think of a response, they were ready to join the bloody fight.

This is also a group that is accustomed to internal fighting.

"Do you have to pick a fight?" Diana asked. "No wonder Nauzog treats you like a plague."

"Nauzog is nothing more than a spy lingering among the human tribes!" the leading corpse-eater shouted. "Does he really think he can't find his hunting grounds without us? After his death at the hands of the false god, the flesh and bones offered by our ancestors were enough to bring him back intact more than ten times! But we won't do that. Nauzog is just as smart as you, as frivolous and arrogant as you. He is undoubtedly a self-righteous lunatic!"

"I only see you stirring up tribal conflict for no reason other than your own selfish ends!" Diana raised her voice.

"This is where you're most conceited." The Corpse Eater smiled calmly. "My tribe has no laws, no rules. Do you still think that all groups must live like you humans, bound in a pile of rigid shackles and cages, restricted at every turn? Look at them carefully, and feel with your soul—do you feel hunger and longing? If you don't offer the delicious remains of the wizard behind you, this problem will be more than just killing one more fey."

"Why don't you tell me who you want to kill," Cesar said. "List them in order from the beginning to the end, and I'll see if I'm the last one."

The corpse-eater's sharp, narrow rat head tilted forward slightly. "This bit of humor, though insignificant, is still a pleasant surprise. The last one in line is certainly not you, but the newly born Firstborn. I smell its odor, very chaotic, very filthy, like a layer of maggot shell. You hid it among the human population and contaminated it with filth! Do you think I can't discover it? Do you still want to teach her rules and regulations and put shackles on her that she can't get rid of?"

"I've met many tribes, and not a single one has raised any objections to where I should raise her," Cesar asked. "Is it different with you?"

"You're too kind, Foster." The Corpse Eater's smile remained kind. "If you're willing to bring the Firstborn with you and join our tribe south to the feast, I can leave this corpse for you to eat. My tribe won't use a single cent."

"What do you mean?"

"I say clearly, Fosterer. Cast away the filth you have acquired among the human race and transform yourself at the feast, so that no one will be eaten. Do you understand what I say?"

"You make it very clear," Cesar said. "But I think if you want to discuss a feast with me, you need to clean all the blood from the thing under your butt, disinfect and heal its wounds with alcohol, then send it to a pigpen for a year to observe it, feed it clean long grass, and then cut it open after it dies to see if there are any parasites or toxins in its flesh. If you can't do that, then I think your so-called feast is no different from competing for food with maggots in a cesspool."

"Well said." The black-robed corpse-eater grinned and raised his arms. The corpse-eater hunters on either side, controlling their flesh puppets, swiftly advanced, surrounding them. It seemed his provocation had worked. The ground shook, and Cesar flexed his fingers slightly, pondering a strategy. With Fils here, he wanted to minimize any harm to her. But as he was about to take a step forward, Diana suddenly grabbed him.

"Wait a minute." She lowered her voice, "The remaining spells in the ruins are gathering, wait and see what happens.

. "

But haven't the remnants of memory already vanished? Besides the Guna themselves, what else could have changed the ruins of the Guna?

Cesar was about to reply when he saw an old man in a white robe standing beside him. He seemed to have seen that face before—not when the man was alive, but on the body of an ancient two-headed serpent that reached into the clouds. The water tank in the ruins suddenly crashed to the ground, completely unsupported. At the same time, the old man reached forward and clenched his fist.

The air around them suddenly became turbulent, causing the scene within it to distort, just as the heat flow at the edge of a furnace distorts one's vision.

He saw the flesh puppet approaching them, about to advance, its face collapsing. He heard the sound of a house collapsing, saw the rings of metal flexing inward with a creaking sound, and saw its bared face collapse inward, its teeth breaking and sinking into its throat. Its previously bloated belly had become a shrunken cavity. Not only were its shrunken tail and other limbs collapsing into its chest, but its internal organs were also crushed and squeezed into its chest, as if the eye of a hurricane had suddenly appeared within it.

Before the hunter controlling the puppet could scream, his skinny body was pressed into the puppet, merging into its broken flesh and bent metal spikes, forming a foul mass of filth - it was almost impossible to distinguish any body parts and internal organs, and it could only be called minced meat mixed with flesh and metal scraps.

The old man finally opened his hands, and saw the two piles of dirty waste exploded backwards. Broken metal mixed with bones, blood and other body remains, as well as the soil pressed into their bodies, together set off a huge wave of mud and rocks, smashing into a suddenly rising gray barrier, making a sound like a sledgehammer hitting an anvil.

Two are dead, and three are left.

Cesar remembered who this man was. He was the true master and adoptive father of the two-headed snake that had attacked Noyen. But he was undoubtedly dead, even his soul devoured. So he was only a memory—another memory. What exactly was this memory of the Kuna? Cesar was completely unable to understand it, and where did it come from?

The old priest said something Cesar didn't understand, but Diana reacted immediately and pulled him towards the other side of the barrier erected by the black-robed corpse eaters. "The remnant memory itself can no longer do anything. It can only rely on the remaining magic in this place," she whispered. "From now on, he can only bluff. We must find a solution."

Though it was a bluff, it looked quite exaggerated. Cesar watched as dirt and gravel rose from the ground, long grasses being pulled away from the ground, as if gathering some kind of immeasurable power. The turbulence around the old priest intensified. Looking at him through the turbulence was like peering into the depths of a turbulent river: everything was distorted and shifting, impossible to see clearly.

Diana moved beneath the shimmering rubble, muttering incantations. A piercing roar, untraceable in its origin, echoed from all directions. The crumbling rock walls gave way, sending beams of blinding white light piercing through them, almost forming a flashing storm. The light arced in sharp arcs, gathering from all sides and pouring down in a torrent onto the black-robed shaman's barrier. The sound was like breaking glass, leaving it with a spiderweb of cracks.

She stared intently at the crumbling barrier over there, her fingers clasping the back of his hand, sketching a series of geometric shapes, as if using his hand as a draft. Then, over ten beams of light suddenly merged into one, piercing through the cracks along the densest point, striking another barrier closer to the shaman. They reflected and swept to the side, splitting into two, then four, before transforming into more than ten streams that pierced the hunter at its side.

The beam shattered, not penetrating but emitting a powerful light within the hunter's body, forming various shapes that sliced ​​and pierced back and forth, illuminating its entire body in the radiance that burst from within. Amidst the dancing beams, the hum of the air and the crash of collapsing rocks, the screams of the dead were as low as the wails of mice, completely inaudible.

The shaman finally noticed something was amiss. He roared, raised his staff in one hand, and completely ignored the priest's remnants. Not only did the flesh puppet beneath him, but the flesh puppet, bereft of its hunter, also opened its maw, aiming at them. Blood mist surged within, transforming into three mighty torrents. In an instant, they pierced through the shimmering earth and gravel, striking the phantom before her. The impact was so intense that blood oozed from her eyes and streamed from the corners of her mouth.

Cesar grabbed Diana's waist and leaped to the side. Before the blood-red torrent tore her and her phantom into pieces, they jumped more than ten meters away.

"Rat!" the shaman pointed at him and shouted loudly. It seemed that they didn't think they were rats.

Diana's tractor beam, carrying the afterglow of the hunter's body, penetrated the masterless flesh puppet. More than a dozen beams of light transformed into thousands of capillary-like needles, drilling into its body. The burning and excruciating pain that coursed through its body caused it to scream in agony, a sound like the grinding of steel. It violently rammed into the flesh puppet controlled by the shaman, the black restraints clashing together, sending up clouds of dust that shook the entire ruins.

Chapter 238 I Can Carry You Away

Taking advantage of the two flesh puppets stumbling and feeling dizzy from the collision, the Mimic Dragon swiftly flew over the third flesh puppet. It pierced the corpse hunter with its scorpion-like tail, lifted it into the air, and threw it into its mouth, biting it until the juices spurted out, and blood splattered more than ten meters in the air.

The corpse-eating shaman's roar grew harsher, a curse recognizable as a curse. With its outer barrier shattered, it could no longer withstand any attacks not directed at itself, including those vicious mimic goblins. Cesar stared at it warily, holding Diana and slowly moving out of its sight. But it suddenly disappeared—completely vanishing with the remaining flesh puppets.

Escaped? He frowned, looking at the only relatively intact corpse on the ground. He was about to say something, but the Mimic Dragon swooped down and devoured it in the blink of an eye. The corpse that had died at the hands of the priest had already turned into a stream of shattered flesh and blood, pouring out of the gap and falling into the abyss. Now, there was nothing left in the ruins except dust and mud.

It ended so quickly.

"Take me to... and ask the priest a few words." Diana hugged his neck and whispered, "He's almost gone. He followed her here. He won't stay here for long."

Cesar supported her back and knees, carrying her frail body to him. He watched her engage in a strange conversation with the gradually fading Kuna priest. Judging from her focused expression, she must be questioning him about magical theories, verifying some long-troubled suspicions. A moment later, Ajehe suddenly emerged from behind him, leaped to the ground, and walked away without a word. Cesar suddenly felt his nerves weaken.

This guy was very rude in his words, but he did such things without even noticing it.

"I've found a way to leave this stone forest." Diana coughed. "Just follow the direction I indicate. We can wake up when we get to a safe place."

"Are you okay?" Cesar asked her.

"Not very good." She held onto his shoulders and propped herself up, her feet barely touching the ground. She clutched his clothes and rested her forehead on his chest. "That thing is for siege," she said. "And with the shaman's ritual, the impact will be even more severe. I shouldn't confront it head-on."

"It escaped very quickly."

"It escaped quickly because it could find support and enter the wasteland. It could surround this place first, and then return to the wasteland after eliminating the threat we pose. But we are isolated and helpless, so we can only find a safe place before considering waking up. Besides, I don't think it is truly afraid of us, it just doesn't want to lose more flesh puppets."

Cesar mused, "If only it would come back..."

Diana tilted her head upwards. "What's the plan, Cesar?"

"Don't say such harsh words, Diana."

"Okay, what's up with the plot, Sasha?"

"Uh?"

"If you think there's not much difference between these two sentences, we can omit the use of the latter term in the future," she said nonchalantly.

Cesar noticed Diana had a deadpan sense of humor. "We can leave traces of what's left here, and then plant some false clues north of the fortress. Maybe—I mean, maybe—we can trick the corpse eaters into thinking we're heading towards General Cleaves," he said. "It might not fool them for long, but I think it could at least buy them some time. With one more day's buffer, we can set up more defenses."

"That's a good idea," she agreed, "but it looks like no one else can do the arrangement except me and my magic. Could you hold on a little?"

"I can carry you."

"I can walk," Diana denied.