Chapter 306 - Blasphemer

Chapter 306 Blasphemer

‘No, I can’t get caught here!’
Touching his left eye, John Dhana affirmed himself and turned to run towards the other direction.
He was heading to the heart of Lancaster which was usually heavily patrolled by the city watch, although those bustling streets were now empty after most citizens had left for the western district to watch the ongoing tourney. There was no crowd for John to blend in, and his camo skill was ineffective with the dye ball still in effect, meaning that he was going headlong into a trap at this time. Behind him, Leah, Marni, and Edward had also climbed out of the aqueducts and met up with the other players who agreed to help them catch the cult leader on the forums.
“That direction… he ended up running towards the envoy’s consulate after running everywhere else…” Edward couldn’t help being surprised by the turn of events.
“He really might have nothing to do with the envoy, and had only gone that way because he was desperate and had no choice. The envoy of the new emperor has his personal guards as well so it shouldn’t be a cause for worry—he is not getting away.” Marni said, having taken off his helmet to breathe in mouthfuls of air as if he had been suffocating. “By the way, do you think the craftsmen back at starter village could help adjust my armor size? I’m becoming more muscular lately…”.
Edward stared at Marni’s girth but said nothing. He definitely wasn’t going to provoke the reward giver.
“No, we have to stop him right now!”
On the other hand, Princess Leah was being unusually serious. “Have you forgotten what he said before?”
“Wha…” Edward was taken aback for a moment but recovered quickly. “Are you talking about that city-devouring ritual? Wasn’t it incomplete since we’ve found and destroyed all his ritual grounds?”
“I’ve learned a little heraldry, and ritual circles are basically magic circles, which includes partial contents of heraldry… and according to my mentor, making the core of any circle always tends to be the simplest process. Every other process is to complement or perfect it, mostly to ensure that it could activate, run normally and afford better control, or to tether and bind energies or anything else within the circle.”
Leah explained things for the Players beside her even as she dashed towards where the cult leader fled. “The reason that cult leader would run to the center of the circle even after all that has happened is not because he wants to confound our eyes, but because the core of the circle is mostly complete and could be charged with some special move!” “Isn’t he afraid that the ritual circle would lose control?” Edward asked, stunned.
“Compared to failing entirely from the start, it’s even more upsetting to fail when something unexpected happens just as your scheme is nearing completion. That is why there is nothing these cultists won’t do!” Marni, meanwhile, appeared to agree with Leah’s opinion. “It’s like when you are holding in pee—it’s really horrible to keep holding it in than to pee halfway and try to hold it in
again.”
“I think that analogy is fundamentally different from the current situation.” Edward calmly retorted.
Even as they spoke, they had arrived in front of the consulate and found John Dhana somehow climbing up to the roof of the embassy, towards a lightning rod that was sculpted into the shape of a thunderbird.
“Is there anything special about that place?” Edward was confused by the cult leader’s behavior. “Could the mechanism to charge the ritual circle really have been placed there?”
“It’s because that’s the dead center of Lancaster itself!”
That was when Gerald, who was still a city knight of Lancaster’s city watch had arrived at the scene. “Early on, Lancaster had been built around the mayor’s residence, but as the trade district prospered and expanded quicker than the slums and other residential districts, the center of the city shifted here instead.”
“Gerald? You’re here too?”
Marni was surprised by the presence of his former escort who had failed to stop his death.
“I’ve got a quest from the System,” Gerald replied, a newbie Player albeit one who started things off at Level 15 (with combat strength that could match Level 15 Players, but Xi Wei’s system has no AI and only determines basic stats). “Something about having me stopping a cultist’s schemes…”
“Oh, that’s true… I didn’t notice since we’ve been busy chasing that bugger, but I’ve got the quest too!” Edward said, noticing the system notifications when he opened his System page as well.
(Side quest: Investigate and capture the mysterious cultist)
“Wait, mysterious cultist? Weren’t they believers of that evil god named Aojo or something?”
Marni had clearly received the same mission as well, and was muttering to himself in confusion after checking his own page.
Meanwhile, Gerald had ordered the other city watch soldiers to assume formations and fire their arrows at the rooftop of the consulate.
Given that Lancaster was a merchant’s city, the city watch was well equipped compared to other cities even though their individual standard and quality were irregular and average.
It was a city of trade after all. Mayor Corinth wouldn’t mind that little bit of money…
Soon enough, John Dhana was struck by three arrows and bleeding profusely. His movements appeared enfeebled, as if he couldn’t hold on to the roof tiles and would drop off the roof at any moment.
“Weird… he really is level thirty-two, but isn’t he too weak?” Edward wondered, suddenly feeling unsettled.
Even though his template wasn’t elite-let alone Boss. Even so, normal beasts would already reach the threshold of supernatural by Level 32, and no matter how weak the cult leader was, there was no way a few arrows would do him in…
But even as Edward pondered, John Dhana had already climbed to the top of the consulate. Heaving, he glared down at everyone below, his face now pale from blood loss.
However, he was also smiling fearlessly.“I hate minions of the gods like you the most! Most of all, I hate those so-called gods who only ever abuse this world!”
“I have seen people fighting to present their offerings to the gods, leaving families without homes and innocents reduced to ashes because of the gods’ wrath!”
“The gods have no reason to exist at all. All they do are take what they want from this world! Such meaningless beings!”
“Mortals, superhumans, humans or even elves -every life in this world are no different from livestock within their clutches! Everyone’s fate is at the gods’ mercy!” “The gods drain every sentient being dry; they are the enemies of all living things! They are a tumor unto this world!”
John Dhana was becoming more hysterical with every passing moment, and he eventually drew out a small, exquisite silver knife from the pendant hanging over his chest. He gripped the knife’s hilt with both hands and aimed it straight at his face.
“And I… we! We shall banish all those lofty monsters without exception from this world!”
And in the next moment, the edge of the knife stabbed viciously into the socket of his left eye.
“Glory to Finnia! The Silver Oak shall never dim!”