Chapter 161: Saintess of Death (1/2)

”We've got to hurry up.” Old Zhong's voice was trembling. Despite his vast experience, confronted with his childhood memories related to the death of his father still riled him up. He looked nervous, but it probably wasn't because of the monster that they were about to fight. It must be the memories of his youth returning to him.

The trees that surrounded them around the valley slowly turned several shades darker. The greeneries started to disappear the deeper they went into the valley. Even though the trees didn't look that off if one didn't look closely at it. It was a fact for sure, that the forest was changing.

”Calvin, you should bring up the rear and replace me here,” Heisenberg said. He was the second oldest out of everyone here, but he didn't feel comfortable at all staying at the back.

Ricardo paid Heisenberg a glance but he didn't say anything. Calvin was in the middle of the pack, arguably, he was at the safest location.

Heisenberg was just being a shameless cowardly cat.

”All right, leave it to me.” Calvin smiled. Staying at the back was actually the best for him considering his abilities.

”You be careful out there, Calvin,” Ricardo said. But even though he gave Calvin a friendly reminder, he did have a lot of faith in him. After all, the young man was a member of the Cavaliers. Every member of the three Judiciaries could be everything but ordinary. It would be impossible for Calvin to become one of them unless he had a trick or two up his sleeves.

The group continued on their journey for a quarter of an hour until the path in front of them became narrowed and covered with bushes and branches of smaller trees. Old Zhong was doing his best to cull these obstructions with a swing of his daggers, but there was a limit to what he could do. Furthermore, they eventually noticed that the path they were walking on had several wax figures on the side of the road.

”What is that?” Heisenberg was the first one to notice a wax figure.

Calvin followed Heisenberg's line of sight, while Ricardo and Old Zhong didn't dare to turn their eyes away from the path lest they got ambushed by the monster that they were about to confront sooner or later.

”Is that a corpse?!” Heisenberg exclaimed. He took a crystal orb from his chest pocket and was about to sprinkle some essential oils on it.

”Don't move!” Calvin sternly warned, ”Don't be so hasty... It's just a wax figure...”

”A wax figure?!”

”Yes, it's just a wax figure...” Calvin approached the wax figure on the ground.

The wax figure seemed to be a woman with her lower body missing. A trail of something that looked to be blood spread from her missing lower body and a look of desperation was plastered across her face as she desperately crawled her way towards a particular destination.

Calvin glanced at the others and Ricardo finally turned his way.

”Is that blood?” Ricardo asked.

”I have no idea, but I have a way to find out if it is.” Calvin smiled.

He swiped some of the ”blood” on the ground and smelled it.

”Hmm... That doesn't smell like blood.” Calvin furrowed his eyebrows.

Then, he stuck his tongue out and licked the blood, ”That also doesn't taste like blood.”

He raised his head and swept his gaze at the others, only for him to find out that they were staring at him as if he was a madman.

”You...”

”You licked it?”

”Yeah, what's wrong?”

”Isn't that unsanitary?” Ricardo almost couldn't believe that Calvin was a human similar to him. Was he from another planet or something?

”Indeed, it is... But how are we supposed to find the one and only truth?”

Calvin smirked at Ricardo before turning his attention back to the wax figure.

His eyes landed on the wax figure's nape and there was a message carved on the wax figure's nape, wrapping around its neck.

”Santa sa Kamatayun...” Calvin audibly mumbled.

”The Saintess of Death?!” Heisenberg's eyes bulged out of shock.

The smile on Calvin's face deepened. The words wrapped around the wax figure's neck were written in Elder Tongue— a powerful language that was nearing its extinction. Only a few groups of people could possibly understand Elder Tongue, so if Calvin translated it for them.

How was he supposed to explain the reason why he knew Elder Tongue?

Was he supposed to say that he found a dictionary about it from a cabbage vendor like those novels that he often read back in Earth depicted?

Fortunately, Priests of high enough clearance were one of those select few that had the privilege to learn the ever so powerful, Elder Tongue.

It seemed that Heisenberg's was sufficient for him to learn it, and now... An incredibly convenient situation had unfolded.

”The Saintess of Death? What is that supposed to mean?” Ricardo asked with a frown.

Old Zhong who was surveying the area around them, stiffened. He seemed to be incredibly afraid of the Saintess of Death.

”The Saintess of Death is the personification of Death itself. Wherever she goes, death will follow. But if one worshipped her right with the correct offering that she desires, she will grant any wish to those that are successful. However, until now... No one is successful. Those that dare to take on the challenge of satisfying the Saintess only ends up being corpses on the side of the road like these wax figures...”

Old Zhong explained, but he didn't turn his head towards them.

”So are you saying that you have an idea about this Saintess of Death?”

”Yes... The cult based around the Saintess of Death is called, Our Lady of the Holy Death...”

”A cult?” Heisenberg frowned.

He knew a lot of things and he also knew that Subordinate Gods, under only the Seven Gods and Goddesses existed. However, he hadn't heard of this Saintess of Death. The reason why he was so shocked earlier was only due to the sinister nature of its name.