Chapter 2: The Lord of Ashes (1/2)

On the altar, a vast black shadow was becoming increasingly prominent; a flickering and uncertain existence in the dark. When the shadow became clearer, she could vaguely see a silhouette that almost filled the entire altar.

Ancient gods!

The frightened little girl collapsed, her body instinctively trying to escape, but she could not even stand up because of the ropes and the sheer fear she felt.

~By the way...looking straight at the gods will lead to madness...I should not look at him!

She swiftly lowered her head, huddled up, and closed her eyes. She did not dare to take another look. The temperature in the church gradually rose up, and the little girl could only curl up her body and wait for her fate to come.

~...I don't want to die yet... Someone, please save me…

Her heart was about to crumble. The faith_the church had long instilled in her was not enough to overcome the great despair and fear.

The sound of the torrential rain came again as a gray mist filled the entire church. The cultists outside were long gone.

Shen Yi stepped out from the gray mist. As the mist unfolded, he found himself standing on a stone altar in the center of a vast church.

"Where is this place?"

The gray mist around him gradually scattered, and his expression changed a little when he realized this was not the cafe.

This place had the feeling from the old movies- overgrown weeds, indiscernible paintings outlined on the walls, arched doors, supporting stone pillars; it looked like an abandoned church.

He found a little silver-haired girl not far from his feet. She was dressed in plain clothes, her face pale and eyes closed tightly. She was curled up like a frightened little animal.

He could hear the girl's heavy breathing amidst the constant sound of heavy rain. The girl's petite body kept shivering, but she could not run away. She could only shrink inward, like an ostrich buried in the sand, with her butt facing him, who was standing not far away.

The scene in front of him had left him into contemplation. He had never seen such a scene before.

"What the hell is going on?"

Holding a half cup of coffee, Shen Yi felt the heat in his hands while he turned and glanced at the surrounding place.

'This church was full of mystery, like from the old movies. It was empty and open. Colorful murals outlined on the walls, the ground was full of weeds. It seems that it had been left unattended for a long time.'

'He found a little silver-haired girl on the altar not far from his feet. The little girl on the altar was curled up into a ball with her butt facing him.'

He stood on the altar and combed his hair, once again going through everything from the beginning.

~Since the crossing, I have been mistakenly receiving ‘annoying calls' from cultists. And even from several summoning groups.

Tonight, once again, he heard the summoning ritual and came to this weird place with a little girl tied next to my feet.

However, he quickly arrived at a conclusion. After all, these series of events were all reminiscent of cult sacrifices.

'The identity of the little girl was obviously a sacrifice.'

It was clear that the cultists who got the ritual wrong not only passed the summon words to him but even managed to summon him as a god.

The expression on his face revealed his helplessness. He thought it was just a wrong phone number, but now he was somehow pulled through the phone line.

"This kind of thing... is too unimaginable."

He squatted down and put the coffee cup aside, then went to the trembling little girl and reached out his hand to untie the rope on her body.

The rope on the little girl's body was brittle. He did not use any force with a gentle tug, the rope broke loose and fell on the ground, a section seemed to be burned by a high temperature.

The little girl on the ground still kept her eyes closed. Even though the rope was untied, she did not stand up and remained there.

He did not want to scare the little girl. So he gently said, "Open your eyes. It's all right now."

The little girl huddled on the ground had long since been despairing. The Sect Elders had told her that her life was for the sacrifice- to be born, grow up, and then die.

She had given up the illusion of living long before she had come here.

When the Lord of Ashes really did appear, the little girl became more desperate. She could only close her eyes and wait for the end as she repeatedly consoled herself in her heart.

~Don't be afraid...Don't be afraid...This is a glorious thing...

~I should be happy...That's what everyone said...

~But, but...

Just as she was consoling herself, she heard a deep, ancient and profound voice, full of majesty, as if from the end of the abyss.

The majestic voice was far from being a human language. But it had been transformed into an abstract concept that anyone could understand the meaning of.

The Lord of Ashes asked her to open her eyes. His voice was full of irresistible commands.

"..."

No matter how desperate she was, even though she had given up struggling, she did not dare to violate the oracle of the gods.

The little girl could only open her wine-red eyes in fear. In the next second, her eyes widened when she saw the most unimaginable existence in her life!

The terrifying python-like head of the god was blurred in the mist. And she could feel its warm breath. The black flames formed six unfolded wings, and the dark red skin seemed to breathe flames, and fleeting ashes popped up from time to time.

'Infinite disasters, the source of destruction'

' The Lord of Ashes! '

Enormous fear captured her brain. A momentary blankness made her overwhelmed, and she immediately passed out.

——

Shen Yi had noticed the little girl opening her eyes and looking at him. Her eyes were full of horror. Soon her eyes rolled back, and she fell flat on the floor, motionless.

The little girl's eyes were full of horror just now. As if she saw a terrible monster. No, she seemed to have seen something more terrifying than a monster.

"What is so scary about me?"

He lifted his arm and looked down at himself. It's still the same as before. He felt that he was quite handsome and had a good temperament because most of the customers in the cafe were always women. There was nothing to be scared of.