NOVEL NEXT Chapter 299: The Sacrifice Begins
The mercury tide instantly started boiling, bubbling with nasty foam as the air temperature shot up. Drops of boiling mercury splashed onto the ground, eating bottomless holes in an instant—you could see just how terrifyingly corrosive it was!
"Old geezer's got some tricks up his sleeve," the Shadow Twins said as they stood up.
They could feel the Mercury Archbishop's threat level spiking, so they decided to quit screwing around and finish this guy off.
The younger sister Anna waved her white banner. The cloth fluttered without any wind, and tons of black shadows came pouring out of it...
The battle intensity ramped up again, throwing the entire Royal Capital into chaos.
The Dotruu nobles were hauling ass, the citizens were hauling ass—everyone desperately wanted to get as far away from this terrifying battle as possible.
But they didn't notice that some people weren't running away at all. Instead, they were heading toward different areas of the Royal Capital.
...
Deep in the palace, thick bloody stench filled the air. There was a blood pool with creepy Blood Chains stretching out from it, reaching deep into the ground—who knows where they went...
"Hahaha, it's finally starting!" Princess Taff said from beside the blood pool, listening to the intense sounds outside with a twisted smile on her face.
"Almost there! Almost there!" Princess Taff muttered to herself, her eyes crazy as she stared at the heart in the blood pool.
A horrible hollow went straight through her chest—the wound left behind after she'd dug out her own heart.
Right then, the blood in the pool rose up and formed into a short, bloody doorway in midair.
Red dots started pouring out of the blood door. If you looked closely, you'd see they were blood-red bats.
The Blood Bats that came out had glowing scarlet eyes, circling around Princess Taff and making happy ultrasonic sounds.
"Good job, my little darlings."
Taking advantage of the chaos, the Royal Capital's ritual was ready to roll. Princess Taff had a sick smile on her face.
"Dear brothers, I hope you'll enjoy the grand finale your beloved sister is about to give you..."
As soon as she finished speaking, Psionic Energy surged. She stepped into the blood pool one step at a time as the blood slowly covered her body until Princess Taff completely disappeared from sight.
Creepy sounds came from the blood pool.
Thump!
Thump!
Thump!
The bright red heart in the center started beating violently. With each beat, the Blood Chains extending from the pool lit up a bit more. The sacrifice ritual covering the Royal Capital had begun...
...
Outside, deep underground where nobody noticed, the Blood Chains started coming to life, giving off faint blood mist. The first victims were underground rats and other small animals.
When the blood mist covered them, their sanity got instantly destroyed by bloodthirsty desire. They tore at each other until they died, their corpses dissolving and merging into the blood mist...
...
Above the Royal Capital, the Shadow Twins and Mercury Archbishop were going at it for real. The terrifying battle waves meant almost everyone in the Royal Capital missed what was happening underground.
Only the Human Supreme Council's Judgment Forces and Kiri's group, who had gotten intel ahead of time, knew that Princess Taff was hiding somewhere in the dark, plotting to sacrifice everyone in the Royal Capital.
"Underground! Something's moving underground!"
In the Judgment Forces, a short woman named Zinnia who'd been watching the underground situation warned her teammates.
"I can sense a Blood Ritual's aura! That little girl was right—the Shadow Realm and Mercury Cult are just the surface. There's another force deeper down plotting a sacrifice conspiracy!"
The mastermind behind everything was finally making their move!
"I'm going to track down the source of this underground ritual!" Zinnia couldn't sit still anymore.
If you don't deal with a Blood Ritual when it first starts, it gets harder and harder to find the ritual's core later on.
"Alright, then it's time for us to deal with those three bastards in the sky!"
"Haha, I've been waiting forever for this!"
The stern-faced man Lezhe, bald muscle guy Tyren, one-eyed guy Blake, and fiery woman Retni all looked at each other.
The next second, terrifying Psionic Energy surged as four horrible auras shot up into the sky toward the center of the battle.
...
Deep in the palace at the ritual center, Princess Taff stared in confusion at the heart that had stopped beating.
"Great Blood Mother, why won't you answer your faithful servant!"
Princess Taff was completely stumped. She'd clearly received guidance from the Blood Mother before, which led her to plan the Royal Capital sacrifice.
But after the ritual started, she realized she'd lost the Blood Mother's attention. All her prayers were like stones thrown into the sea—no response at all.
"Interesting... interesting... so damn interesting!!!"
Princess Taff's face showed a crazy smile. She couldn't accept this reality.
After giving up everything, she ended up abandoned by the Blood Mother.
Was there any princess in the world more pathetic than this?
Princess Taff laughed in a completely broken way.
She grabbed the withered heart and lifted her clothes, stuffing it back into the hollow in her chest.
But just jamming it in there wasn't enough—she didn't have the ability to reconnect it properly.
Princess Taff didn't care. She said hatefully:
"Blood Mother, I'll make you pay the price..."
She turned and walked into a secret passage, disappearing into the endless darkness...
...
Not long after, a short woman broke in. Seeing the gradually drying blood pool, she frowned:
"Damn it, she got away!"
...
In the sky, the Mercury Archbishop's terrified voice rang out:
"Human Supreme Council—Judgment Forces!"
"How are you here!"
Four powerful figures giving off terrifying auras had appeared, with cloaks bearing the word "Judgment" on their backs—very conspicuous.
"Traitor, today is your day to die!"
The fiery woman Retni hated evil like poison. She attacked first, with endless flames boiling up and turning into vicious fire snakes that roared as they charged at the Mercury Archbishop.
When the Mercury Archbishop saw the Judgment Forces appear, he had no thoughts of fighting.
Run!
He had to run!
Against four same-level powerhouses, he had zero chance of winning no matter what.
Too bad it was too late.
The Judgment Forces had already set up spatial barriers while the Mercury Archbishop was fighting the Shadow Twins. Nobody was getting away.
"Shadow Twins! If we don't deal with them today, none of us will leave here alive!"
The Shadow Twins heard this and looked at each other knowingly, then said loudly:
"Today you interfere in our Shadow Realm's business—we'll remember this!"
Before they finished speaking, core enhancement from the Shadow Realm activated. The Shadow Twins instantly melted into shadows and disappeared...
"They... they ran?"
The Mercury Archbishop's old eyes went wide. He never would have expected the previously vicious Shadow Twins to bail so smoothly.
Well duh—the Shadow Twins might not know much about the world, but they weren't stupid.
Four powerhouses with strong auras had been lying in wait and suddenly showed up—they definitely had ways to deal with them. Better to avoid them for now and find a chance for payback later.
No surprise, the four Judgment Forces members had made it onto the Shadow Twins' enemy list, right below that golden knight.