Chapter 359 (1/2)
“Heretic! Get ready to face the power of the goddess! The messenger of the goddess has come!”
The cult leader was waving his long staff, his face full of zeal as if he was suffering from great pain, or immersing himself in extreme ecstasy. Hao Ren could sense a terrifying smell behind him and he could not help looking back. The dark red mist above the altar had turned into a whirlpool, condensing and solidifying in just a few seconds. At the same time, a sharp, soul-piercing whizz resonated throughout the stone chamber. Hao Ren and Nangong Wuyue almost passed out!
The rest of the believers fell into an extreme state of ecstasy. They began to mutilate themselves, allowing their blood to turn into mist to resonate with the bloody monster on the altar. Then, those who were badly injured began to heal themselves!
The MDT whistled. “Break it!”
Taking out the gun from his Dimensional Pocket, Hao Ren aimed it at the altar and pulled the trigger.
However, the dark red creature hovering above the altar dodged before Hao Ren pulled the trigger, as if it knew what was coming. In a burst of flame, the altar was shattered into thin slices of crystal while the bloody, mist creature rose into the air and completed its final stage of condensation: the mist cracked open and at the centre was a dark slit resembling an eye. The surrounding mist then grew into several pairs of limbs, which looked like tentacles with sharpened ends. In its final shape, the creature looked like a gigantic brain floating in the air—it was as horrific as it could get!
The cult leader was enraged to see the altar destroyed. He shouted, “Heretic! You’ll pay for this!”
Hao Ren glanced at the gigantic brain creature in the air and said, “That’s the aesthetic perception of your goddess? Is this how her messenger looks like?”
The gigantic brain was offended. Its black eye was fixed upon Hao Ren in a deadly stare before it wielded its tentacles against him.
Hao Ren instinctively raised his gun as he felt an overwhelming pressure from the strange creature. He refused to take it lightly, not even in the slightest. But, just as he was about to pull the trigger, a strong sense of dizziness struck him and he almost lost his grip on the gun.
He felt the world shaking before him, like he was looking out of a water curtain and this made him giddy. Amid his distorted senses, he saw a sharp tentacle reaching towards him. However, he managed to dodge it in a split second.
The end of the tentacle, which was as sharp as a razor pierced through the air silently. In the corner of his eye, Hao Ren could see the razor-sharp tentacle literally slicing an opening in the air—a spatial crack, which stayed for a moment before it closed.
“Holy moly…” Cold sweat trickled down his forehead. It was the first time Hao Ren had witnessed a monster with space-piercing abilities. Its ability was definitely several notches higher than that of the clumsy rock monsters and the cult.
Just that, because of the gigantic brain’s appearance, his perspective of the world had taken yet another blow…
After some time, Hao Ren finally freed himself from the strange sense of dizziness. He was ready to launch another attack, but the gigantic brain did not pursue its prey. Instead it spoke in a series of peculiar murmurs and watched Hao Ren quietly in the air.
Then, a strange shriek came from within the gigantic brain. Again, Hao Ren felt the same sense of dizziness flowing up from the depths of his soul, enveloping his mind. Despite anticipating the fact that the gigantic brain may possess some kind of mind attacking ability, he could not escape the mental assault. He lifted his arm with great difficulty, banking on his Steel Membrane Shield to resist its space-piercing attack.
He could feel a great force on his arm. Even though the gigantic brain only gave him a light hit with its tentacle, he immediately flew back in way that defied normal physical law. He was thrown against the wall at the end of the chamber and he began to see stars.
Nonetheless, Hao Ren bit his lip and got to his feet, thinking to himself rather optimistically: It looks like the Steel Membrane Shield can stand the impact of its space-piercing attack, but not the kinetic force.
Seeing that Hao Ren was being bogged down by the messenger of the goddess, the cult followers shifted their attention to the snake that was guarding the child in the corner. They would not allow even one heretic to live. They wanted to offer the snake to the goddess.
Nangong Wuyue had wanted to help Hao Ren when she saw him on the defensive. But, she quickly realised that she was no better than him considering how the believers, who wielded various weapons were coming after her. Meanwhile, the cult leader was raising his long staff in front.
Her facial expression changed and she produced a loud wail, trying to ward off her enemies with a sonic wave—one of the few techniques she knew. But, it did not work. The bodies of the cult followers had gone through a certain mutation after the evil ritual. Hence, the sonic wave could do no harm to them even if it could turn a human’s internal organ into liquid.
Nangong Wuyue coiled her tail nervously. She resisted the urge to curl herself up into a ball this time. “Stay away from me! Don’t force me to attack! You’ll regret—”
“Purify this heretic!” The cult leader raised his staff in the air and formed a ball of dark red light. “Sacrifice the heretic’s flesh and blood to the goddess!”