The Record of Unusual Creatures
chapter-358

Chapter 358: Spoiling the Ritual

Hao Ren was not entirely sure if the cult members who performed the evil ritual were the ones behind the trouble in Beinz. However, their appeareance in a troubling situation during a troubling time was enough to implicate them of the strange phenomenon in Dragonspine Ridge. Even if he disregarded this, he was not going to sit by and watch these people perform a human sacrifice.

Hao Ren had been hiding behind Nangong Wuyue’s mist barrier the entire time. The cult members were immersed in the their ceremony and did not expect them. Everyone was in a daze when Hao Ren lunged out at them. It was only when the MDT hit the man in the mask that they began to come to their senses. Someone shouted, “Heretic! A heretic is in the sacred temple!”

In an instant, the followers took out long knives, daggers, sticks and hooks out of nowhere, turning into combatants in mere seconds. Hao Ren was totally flabbergasted. He had no clue how they managed to hide those things under their robes; he could see how they hid the knives, swords and sticks, but he was totally blown away when he saw a pair of spiked flails.

Hao Ren was not going to take this fight lightly. He was worried that even with his Steel Membrane Shield, he would not be able to take on these four-dimensional “chrysanthemums” and any other weird stuff they may yank out…

It was chaotic in the beginning. The cult followers in black robes appeared to be a band of disorganised, inferior army. But, Hao Ren quickly learned that most of them had backgrounds in military training and all of them had help from magical powers. Their bodies were entwined in an unknown blackish-red air, which spread to their weapons through their hands. They looked like they had just come out of a pool filled with corpses and blood. Hao Ren wielded his alloy baton, fending off their attacks with his superhuman reflexes and strength. But, he was still hit here and there around his Steel Membrane Shield, which gave out bursts of spark.

The cult member wielding a pair of spiked flails attacked Hao Ren from behind. Hao Ren managed to dodge the move as the flails impacted the ground with a bam. From the corner of his eyes, Hao Ren could see the spiked flails, which were shrouded in a blackish-red air blowing a deep crater into the ground with its corrosive power!

No wonder he could feel his shield weakening at a faster rate than usual. That weapon, when coupled with magical power, could be so dangerous.

Hao Ren returned the favour by smashing his attacker with his alloy baton and the latter was flung away by the hit. Hao Ren knew, even with skin as thick as that of a werewolf, no one could have taken the strike without being dead. With his hitting hand, he could roughly gauge that the cult follower was going to suffer at least multiple bone fractures, or worse, be broken in half. However, the guy fell and lay motionless on the ground for just a moment before he got up again, looking completely fine.

The follower was now shrouded with the blackish-red air. Although his face was rotting away and peeling off as if he was being corroded by sulphuric acid, he seemed to feel no pain. His broken bones snapped back into their position and he lunged out to attack Hao Ren again.

This time, the man seemed to be even more ferocious.

The same thing happened to all the other cult believers as well; they felt no pain and healed in seconds. Hao Ren was not prepared to see this, but he was not nervous either; he believed that they were still mortals and they were not going to be able to resurrect themselves indefinitely.

On the other end of the chamber, the man in the mask who was hit by the MDT stood up. His mask had been smashed into half, revealing the face of a middle-aged man with little features. The cult leader was surprised to see that Hao Ren was able to fight multiple men at the same time. He made a decision before chanting a few incantations quietly and thrusting his staff into the ground.

As the staff came in contact with the blood-soaked patterns on the ground, a soft hum filled the chamber. The altar in the centre also began to resonate with the hum as the blood in the altar began to surge and a dark red mist began to rise. It looked like it was nurturing something.

Amid the chaos, the sleeping child who was laying unattended on the altar began to be consumed by the bloody mist. Suddenly, a shadow shrouded in a light blue mist lunged in from the outside. Nangong Wuyue seized the opportunity to save the child from the bloody mist—a move she had secretly discussed with Hao Ren earlier on.

After saving the child from the altar, Nangong Wuyue did not leave the chamber. Instead, she began to position herself in a corner. She was ready to come to Hao Ren’s assistance at any moment. She formed a mist barrier and placed the child on the floor. She curled the child up in her tail as protection while her upper body and head danced around menacingly. A few followers who came to snatch the “offering” stopped in their tracks as they saw Nangong Wuyue, the strange creature. One of them even screamed, “Forget about this lump of a snake! The mist surrounding it must be poisonous!”

So, they turned around and went for Hao Ren, leaving Nangong Wuyue dumbstruck. “Lump?”

The siren’s expression went through a series of changes, because she apparently wanted to join the fight, but was feeling reluctant at the same time. She then ducked as if she was scared. Her aversion to fighting seemed to be worse than initially thought.

Hao Ren had noticed her condition. He was always curious about her condition, but he had not really examined it. To him, she was a gentle aquatic creature, who disliked fighthing. Furthermore, he could not afford to divert his attention to take care of her at the moment.

He knew he had to finish off these cult followers as quick as possible and capture one or two alive. The fact that these people were performing mysterious rituals there had to be connected with Dragonspine Ridge. Even if there was no relation, there had to be some big revelations behind these people, their weird religious ritual, and their views on the Disciples of Glory.

As he had expected, their resurrective ability was finite. It did not matter what power they received from the strange ceremony of fresh and blood. The power could not inject the mortals indefinitely. After a few rounds of fatal attacks were unleased upon them, their bodies started to crumble.

For each injury they suffered, the corresponding part of their bodies would fester. As the injuries built up, their wounds just got bigger and spread throughout their bodies, ultimately becoming fatal. Some of the cult followers had already turned into lumps of carrion under the constant exhaustive attack. Although they were still attacking without any fear of death, their movements were visibly slower.

A stocky man, draped in a black robe, but fitted with expensive clothes underneath, was wielding a machete. He ran towards Hao Ren to attack him, however with a swing of the hand, Hao Ren flung him away. The man’s body burst mid-air and the bits fell back to the ground in a pool of black and red mud.

This was the first cult follower who was completely killed.

Realising that these guys could be killed, Hao Ren became more confident. He motioned the MDT, which was hovering in the air and sniping away. “Capture one of them alive!”

“I’m on it!” the MDT yelled back. It repeatedly hit the head of one of the cult followers, who looked more like a zombie than a ghost, trying not to kill him in the process.

With his inexhaustible strength and indestructible body shield, Hao Ren quickly finished off the rest. The chamber was filled with the disgusting corpses of these “monsters”. But, just as he thought he had finished them all, a strange sounding incantation was heard not far away.

The leader of the cult, who had been ignored all this while raised the long staff in his hand. His face was twisted in an expression of fanaticsm as he pointed the staff at Hao Ren. “Heretic! The goddess has answered my call. Be ready to face the power of goddess!”

Hao Ren was a little stunned by this. Suddenly, he felt an overwhelmingly horrific force coming from the altar.