55 – Cloud City (5)
The road leading to the attacked village is thoroughly blocked off.
Because the ignorant fools who go there wouldn’t know what they would encounter.
Naturally, the castle gate is sealed. Soldiers were also stationed in that direction.
The lord of this place is a cowardly human, after all.
The control there must have been absolutely strict.
That’s why the only people heading towards that village were the scouts.
What does this mean?
At least, those who had even the slightest possibility of being brainwashed.
They all had to be scouts.
But suddenly, six civilians who have never heard of a spear were discovered as victims.
This was not simply a matter of the number of victims increasing by six.
It meant that there were people who were brainwashed through a route we didn’t know.
Thanks to that, my head was thrown into confusion.
“Where and how did this happen?”
Could it be that the guy’s ability has an added infection characteristic?
A power that didn’t even exist in the game?
No, that can’t be.
If there were infection abilities, it wouldn’t have ended so easily.
If that were the case, they would have already destroyed this city and still remained. Without anyone knowing.
If that’s the case from the beginning, this guy would have already defeated the Four Kings.
So, it means there was another route after all.
Then, how?
So many things came to mind.
The brainwashed scout could have escaped the castle walls secretly, or maybe there could be humans hiding around the city. Or perhaps the Monstrous Beast Society has infiltrated the city.
That guy is a high-ranking mage who can even use polymorph magic comparable to the Matapju. Of course, that’s the worst-case scenario that we hope to avoid if possible, but…
Anyway, there were too many possibilities.
But there was one fortunate thing.
In times like this, we can take action without hesitation.
I looked at my party members and said,
“Lady Saint, please treat the people who have been brainwashed here. Lord Count, immediately gather all the troops and control the villagers. The rest of you, help the soldiers and subdue anyone causing a disturbance.”
“B-But then the villagers will be extremely dissatisfied…”
“Do we have time to worry about their dissatisfaction right now?”
It’s what they call imposing martial law.
Mobilize the army to monitor and control the lives of civilians. There might be some discontent, but we can definitely catch the ringleaders.
In addition, we will also treat the scouts.
Fortunately, his ability could be healed with the divine power of a priest.
Although he mainly uses that ability and cannot regulate the principles, he is still someone who has joined the Demon King’s army.
And the archenemy of the Demon King’s army is the divine power. In other words, his ability can also be expelled with divine power.
“Ugh… Where is this…?”
As we began the treatment, the scouts started to regain their senses one by one. I went to each awakened scout and asked what had happened.
They wouldn’t remember anything from when they were brainwashed, but at least they should have memories from before that.
“Yes? What did you do last? Well, I remember following the orders, but after that, I don’t remember well…”
Unfortunately, I didn’t get any satisfying information. Maybe because their minds weren’t fully recovered, they couldn’t remember the last moments.
Thanks to that, I had no choice but to proceed with the treatment of the last scout without obtaining any significant information.
The last ones were the first characters, Rickby, Nelby, and Kelvin.
Despite eight days of scouting, they were nowhere to be found until the end.
Their appearance was a bit peculiar. First, their bodies were covered in dirt. It seemed like they had rolled around somewhere, as black dust stuck to their entire bodies. And when we got closer, a nauseating stench hit us.
It wasn’t just a matter of being unwashed. It seemed like they had been to some dirty place.
Their words after being released from brainwashing were also peculiar.
Perhaps the puppetry period was too long. They didn’t seem to be in their right minds.
“Kkueeuu… su…”
“Su?”
“Su… su…”
Su?
What on earth are they trying to say?
What did they see?
But I couldn’t dwell on these concerns for long.
Because one soldier came rushing towards us.
“Something big has happened!”
I hope that damn big trouble stops already, please.
Why can’t I have a day to relax?
While complaining in my mind, I turned my head to find out what was going on. As my attention shifted towards myself, a soldier continued speaking.
“P-People are suddenly doing strange things!”
It was the fact that the Gweroisa had started moving.
*
People walking around the streets. Soldiers controlling the surroundings.
Among them, I could see a few citizens with dilated pupils, trembling.
They weren’t necessarily wielding knives or causing any commotion.
They were simply drawing pictures all over their bodies.
They had brought some kind of black liquid from somewhere and were drawing peculiar patterns on their bodies.
The soldiers were trying to prevent them from doing such things, but there were quite a few people drawing on their bodies, so they couldn’t stop all of them.
It hadn’t even been an hour since the martial law was declared. They hadn’t gathered everyone yet.
“They’re ritual symbols.”
As I was wondering what that was, Lily, who had come closer without me noticing, opened her mouth.
She must have a deep knowledge of magic, considering her familiarity with it.
“The brainwashed people are drawing ritual symbols on their own bodies. I understand that it’s magic, but I wonder what kind of magic it is…”
It’s a shame that she hadn’t realized the form of the magic.
But it’s okay. As soon as I heard the word ‘magic,’ one scene came to mind.
Brainwashed people, magic, one of the followers of the Gweroisa.
Various words combined in my head, and one of the worst possibilities came to mind.
I shivered slightly and muttered,
“··· Human Sacrifice.”
“What?”
“It’s human sacrifice. People are trying to cast some kind of magic using human lives.”
“What?! We need to stop it right away!!”
Lily exclaimed urgently.
Ironically, the answer came from amidst the crowd.
“It’s already too late.”
He was an old man with a beard that covered his entire chin. His eyes had a strange haze.
As he spoke, I realized that he was not the original owner of that body.
In other words, someone was manipulating the old man, who had been brainwashed.
And that someone wasn’t the sorcerer.
The sorcerer had handed over control to someone else, and now that person was controlling the old man.
I called out the name of the person behind the old man.
“···Olek.”
The dark wizard, Olek.
The most loyal follower of the sorcerer.
“hahahaha, I didn’t expect you to figure it out. How glorious. It seems my participation in the previous war was worthwhile,”
“I had my suspicions. But I never thought you would be involved too.”
“I, too, was surprised. I never expected to encounter a hero in such a remote city. With rumors of incompetence, I thought you were still just licking the Empire’s boots. But it seems you were more capable than I thought, huh?”
The guy who was speaking so leisurely suddenly froze.
“Thanks to you, my plan got a little twisted.”
“······.”
“The original plan was to offer more than 500 sacrifices, but thanks to you, we couldn’t even fill half of that. hahahaha, I didn’t expect you to cut off all those numerous scouts.”
It seems like our sudden attack was helpful.
Thanks to that, we were able to save more than 190 people.
Thanks to that, I could understand why he was trying to brainwash so many people.
Because he wanted to offer as many people as possible as sacrifices.
Thanks to that, his plan went off course a lot, but… he didn’t seem to care much.
“Well, it’s a shame.”
Immediately after, the offering began.
Saaah!
Bizarre patterns emitted light above the bodies of the brainwashed people.
Those patterns absorbed the souls of the people in real time, gathering their power in one place.
I ordered the soldiers and party members to cut down the people offering themselves, if necessary.
What on earth is he trying to accomplish by sacrificing so many people?
“My master, Lord Net’s power is undoubtedly formidable. But it also has clear drawbacks. It can’t be used at a certain distance. In the end, even brainwashing takes some time, which is a disadvantage.”
He quickly answered my curiosity.
“Originally, this village was meant to brainwash monsters and launch an attack, but I opposed it. Isn’t it inefficient? When will you brainwash all those countless monsters?”
He speaks.
“Just lure them in.”
The remote city of Cloud Village.
This place is particularly close to the demon realm among the human world.
That means there are a lot of monsters in the vicinity.
“I made them smell human flesh. Come this way. Come and have dinner. Originally, I planned to gather monsters within a radius of five hundred li, but thanks to you, I can only gather them within a hundred li. hahahahaha…”
There’s no need to listen anymore.
I swiftly slit his throat.
I felt sorry for the old man who had his body taken away, but I had to prevent any more sacrifices.
“It’s too late…”
From Noble mtl dot com
However, it was already too late.
The old man was not the caster. He was just one of the sacrifices.
This spell was a joint effort of all the brainwashed puppets!
“Sigh…”
I let out a sigh.
The Gweroosa may not be the strongest among the Four Heavenly Kings, but I always hated this bastard the most.
Whether it’s the Gweroosa or Olek, these guys ruin the game too much.
Puk! Puk!
Sounds of people exploding could be heard everywhere.
The puppets, whose vitality had been exhausted, were literally ‘bursting.’
Suddenly, the people who had turned their blood upside down screamed in terror. It was like an apocalypse, but the actual game hadn’t even started yet.
I quickly headed towards the city walls.
The interference of the sacrifices? I had already given up on that.
The ritual was already in progress. The puppets were acting on their own will.
I couldn’t possibly save all those people one by one, and at a time like this, it was best to at least stop the monsters that were rushing towards us.
As I reached the end of the wall, the monsters that were gradually approaching came into view.
From the edge of my sight, I could see a swarm of dark masses rushing in.
Each of those black dots was a monster.
I muttered in complaint.
“What a f*cking messed up game.”
But what can you do?
That’s just the way this game is.
After experiencing so many hardships, my mental state hadn’t completely deteriorated.
Fortunately, the situation wasn’t the worst.
It was definitely not good, but at least I had created a second-rate situation.
That was good enough to give it a try.
With vague hope, I drew my sword.