Chapter 344: Sacrifice Ceremony
The bl**d-colored light beams of the sacrifice ceremony illuminated the dome above, penetrating every tributary extended from the Earth Vein.
After another reflection of light, the entire Underground City was shrouded in a dark red hue.
The brilliance of the Earth Vein was obscured, and the power of the ceremony destroyed the man-made creations. Even the exposed Earth Vein was left with only a trace of dim light at the edges.
The sacrificial ceremony was maintaining the operation that covered most of the residential area with the power of the Earth Vein.
At this moment, the people awakened by this bizarre phenomenon opened their windows, stepped out of their doors, and looked at the apocalyptic scene before them.
Some were shouting for the Ground Patrol Team, while others complained whether the people from the Extraordinary Research Base were conducting experiments.
When the sacrificial power of the ceremony began to activate, they witnessed with their own eyes people being robbed of their flesh and bl**d near the light beams. Only at that moment did they realize this was no experiment, nor a joke played by the base.
It was truly the end.
At that moment, they lost any sense of sleepiness or luck; all that remained in their eyes was disbelief, watching as people were consumed by the ceremony, their desperate and struggling expressions revealing the hopelessness in their last moments.
People only knew to run; escaping from here was their only chance of survival!
At that moment, this prosperous Underground City, this steel jungle, the tents by the roadside, and the beggars rummaging through dumpsters finally realized the severity of the situation.
The bl**d-red beams of light emanating from the buildings seemed to transform the residential area into a massive sacrificial altar, from which no one could escape. Driven by the Earth Vein, the Earth Vein Energy carried the bl**d-colored essence and abyssal power, as if madly harvesting flesh and soul material like a meat grinder.
They converged into a colossal force above the city, resembling a giant sphere of flesh, emanating a sound that ignored the wails. The soul material, carrying memories, squirmed within the bl**d sphere, ultimately forming a face no longer human, letting out a chilling roar.
At this moment, members of the Ground Patrol Team were urgently deployed, but they found themselves helpless in the face of such a situation.
The outsiders who had been settled in, including students from the Wizard Academy who had just fallen asleep, were also awakened by the bizarre phenomenon.
They looked at the suffocating oppressive atmosphere, which made it hard to breathe even through the boundaries of dream and reality.
“What… what’s going on here?”
The students from the Wizard Academy gathered on the street, bewilderedly watching everything unfold, and exchanged glances filled with confusion.
If they were to fight someone, perhaps they would be eager to go, but facing a catastrophe like this made many of them lose their bearings.
“Is… is this a bl**d sacrifice ceremony?” Even Tan Han found herself uncertain at this moment, but the commotion it caused and the bloody methods used made it clear that it was indeed an evil ceremony.
“Let’s find the Ground Patrol Team and the people from the base; we might not be able to help them alone,” Tan Han briefly stated before taking action, as standing idle wouldn’t accomplish anything.
Soon, Tan Han used her magic to ascend to the rooftop, looking toward the center of the disaster not far away, where a gigantic sphere of flesh gathered, along with a figure standing in midair.
It seemed that this was the instigator of everything.
At this moment, many students from the Wizard Academy also appeared, most of them, like Tan Han, climbed to high places to gather information. After learning the general situation, they exchanged glances, and despite the lack of verbal communication, they seemed to come to a consensus.
Disaster had already descended, and as one of the powerful forces here, they would instinctively try to prevent this catastrophe from occurring.
The sense of destiny being manipulated by danger prompted most of them to make their own choices.
But when they stepped into the area of the sacrifice ceremony, they immediately felt something was amiss.
As they got closer, they witnessed that everything here had already transformed into a “dead zone.” People shouting and running on the streets were collapsing under the bl**d-red power, their flesh disintegrating until d*ath.
However, as outsiders, they were keenly aware that they did not have real flesh and bl**d, yet they still sensed the strangeness within themselves.
“Be careful! This strange bl**d sacrifice ceremony not only robs human flesh but also soul material! Those whose soul material is harmed should not approach! Don’t come over!”
At this moment, after sensing the strangeness, Tan Han shouted to the crowd.
Hearing such shouts frightened many into inaction; after all, they had experienced or witnessed the consequences of harm to soul material.
That outcome meant complete d*ath!
The fear inside them stalled a large number of people, confronted with the terror of d*ath, they paused their steps, just like during the academy’s competition when hearing someone might d*e led to no one contending for the class leader position—some individuals’ cowardice never changes, even with power.
“Sister Tan Han! Don’t go! Didn’t you say that place will rob a person’s soul material?”
“So what? If no one goes, are we going to wait for that monster to complete the ceremony and then await our doom…” Tan Han did not pause, her tone calm, yet she continued forward without a hint of hesitation or retreat.
Did Tan Han not realize the danger involved?
She was very aware; she was among the first to react to the danger, understanding that there were things she must do, and she could not show the slightest sign of retreat.
Even though she initially came here seeking answers and did not want to risk her life, she knew that if some matters were not fought for, she would eternally be left in the dark.
Was she to be controlled by fate?
Then she would break that fate; she would choose the most arduous path to hone herself. This was not merely a struggle against fate but also a training of her will. She needed to grow, not just in strength.
“Here come the troublesome bugs; go ahead and squash them all.”
The Dream Demon manipulated the power of the ceremony, separating a part of the energy gathered from the flesh and soul material.
Suddenly, the bl**d-colored light surged, and humanoid monsters emerged from the bl**d sphere, transforming into Dream Demons that wildly charged toward the students from the Wizard Academy.
These were inferior Dream Demons crudely crafted by true Dream Demons, the preferred method to dispose of pests. These Dream Demons were implanted with a single thought: to k*ll those intruders. They had lost the ability to think independently or speak, unlike previous Dream Demons, but as long as they had enough combat power, that sufficed.
In the next moment, their forms dove into the dream realm, clashing violently with the outsiders.
Instantly, spells flew in the air, and divine judgment was cast; with a swing of the giant sword of holy light, the power of the holy light purified those filthy beings in an instant.
A magnificent scene unfolded above the Underground City, capturing the attention of most people. They instinctively looked toward the Holy Angel Academy, where Achir, known for his performance in the Dream Exchange match by single-handedly taking down the Wizard Academy, was remembered fondly.
At this moment, everyone realized that the power of holy light seemed extremely effective against their opponents. Without much thought, a crowd started to gather around the Holy Angel Academy, subtly centering around them.
Even Tan Han could clearly see the pros and cons of the situation and quickly made a decision to assist the students of the Holy Angel Academy in launching a final lethal strike against that monster.
“The Holy Angels… are truly a troublesome race.”
The Dream Demon, watching the battle unfold, frowned upon seeing this approach. The abyssal demons most despised those bird people wielding holy light.
This was an irreconcilable hatred; after all, both the Extraordinary Holy Angels represented by the Holy Angel Academy and the Extraordinary Demonic Races of the Abyss belonged to the realm of extraordinary powers, and the fundamental systems of power they wielded were in direct conflict—order and faith versus chaos and evil, this clash was ingrained in their very bones.
Yet she remained confident, considering that the opponents were merely a group of bugs trapped within the dream realm. The only one she needed to keep an eye on was being held back by Ninglan Qiuyu. She wasn’t worried about Ninglan Qiuyu’s ability to hold that individual; she was skilled at manipulating human nature and clearly understood the workings of fortune. The luck of Ninglan New City was closely tied to that Extraordinary Item, which was the true ceremony for the City Lord’s inheritance. Once he bore that destiny, he would be protected by Ninglan New City.
Of course, the cost of this protection was that the entire Ninglan New City would bear that impact. To some extent, this constituted a dynamic balance—the City Lord represented the absolute authority of Ninglan New City.
It wouldn’t be long before Ninglan New City might face even more terrifying energy tides.
But what did that have to do with her Dream Demons?
Fortune was dead, and people were alive; fortune was just utilized like this.
The Dream Demons were not the lifeforms of the Main World, so they naturally could not seize fortune by themselves; thus, a carrier was needed.
The luck of Ninglan New City indicated that Ninglan New City itself was a natural carrier of fortune, or that something within Ninglan New City could bear the fortune for the long term.
Later, she discovered that indeed there existed such a thing in Ninglan New City—a piece of Extraordinary Item!
That was a priceless treasure. The formation of Extraordinary Items was extremely coincidental; among the many Extraordinary races in the void, no one claimed to have a stable technique to produce Extraordinary Items, besides those crazy witches. Sometimes, the things done by those idle witches were even more terrifying than their abyssal demons.
It was precisely because of the many variables needed to form an Extraordinary Item that it was often regarded as a “collection,” as the prevalence of alchemy provided many alchemical items to replace Extraordinary Items. However, Extraordinary Items also had an advantage—they had a very high upper limit and a very low lower limit.
Thus, upon seeing that Extraordinary Item, this Dream Demon developed a corresponding plan.
Initially, before seeing it, she planned to utilize the fluctuations of fortune created by the City Lord’s shift to forcibly seize luck through plunder. However, after seeing that Extraordinary Item, she understood that this idea might fall through.
How could she not see that the core of that Extraordinary Item was a seed of fortune from the Main World?
Thus, conventional methods could not plunder the fortune of the seed!
Even if it was just a seed that had lost the fortune of its former master.
……
During the time the sacrifice ceremony erupted, the headquarters of the Ground Patrol Team was in total disarray. Recently, they had just gone above ground to suppress the remnants of old powers, and now, before they could even rest upon returning to the Underground City, they encountered this kind of situation again.
This feeling of helpless despair made the Ground Patrol Team feel like mere spectators, unable to help at all. The disparity between expectation and reality left them unable to accept the situation; clearly, they were meant to protect the Underground City, yet they were doing nothing. They could only watch helplessly as people were robbed of flesh and bl**d within the unknown bl**d-red ritual array, dying without any chance of survival.
“d*mn it! Are they playing with us?!”
“Hey! Don’t do anything stupid! Our Ground Patrol Team barely makes enough for our daily salaries; why are you risking your life?!”
“I’m not risking my life! That’s my home, do you understand what that means?! I just want to blow up those glowing pillars…”
“Everyone shut the hell up! Is this how a Ground Patrol Team should act?!”
“Captain… that’s my home! I still have…”
“Then come with me, stop wasting time. Go to the base and get heavy firepower! d*mn it… everyone follow me! The auxiliary team will be responsible for evacuating people in the city; get moving!”
At this moment, what was happening in the Underground City was no longer just someone’s problem; it concerned everyone. Even those who barely scraped by every day realized that if they didn’t act, they wouldn’t even have the qualification to survive.
They faced an unknown enemy, one that was also an unprecedented slaughter in history, and even if this matter had passed, it would become an indelible scar on the Underground City of Ninglan New City.
In the face of such enemies, some retreated while others held their ground, but regardless, those who chose to pick up arms and fire upon enemies they could not compete against would become the most dazzling heroes in this inevitable massacre.
Meanwhile, with such a perilous situation unfolding in the Underground City, some significant figures naturally could not sit idly by.
“City Lord, hurry… leave here first; the Underground City is facing an unexpected crisis and is no longer safe. We need to escort you up.”
Some members of the City Guard stationed in the Underground City hurriedly escorted a slightly anxious young man toward the lift leading to the surface.
No one found this inappropriate; in such an urgent time, anyone could perish, but as the next City Lord, he definitely could not!
As long as the City Lord remained, the banner of faith would not fall. Faced with any difficult problem, the City Lord would take the lead. If any significant decision required action, only the decision-maker could command the vast organization of Ninglan New City.
Once they arrived at the elevator platform without encountering any danger, the City Guard let out a sigh of relief.
However, these City Guard members did not notice that the City Lord they revered was exhibiting odd behavior. Upon seeing these people toil hard to bring him here, a faint, casual smile appeared on his lips as he quietly waited for the lift to take them up.
When they reached the surface and reunited with the City Guard stationed there, someone proposed that all City Guards should go down to provide support.
After all, no accidents could happen in the Underground City; if something happened there, the impending Beast Tide could cause irreparable damage to Ninglan New City.
Just then, a message from the City Defense Force came through.
This Beast Tide had arrived much earlier than anticipated and was also fiercer than the last. Without support, the first line of defense for Ninglan New City would be completely lost, forcing the City Defense Force to retreat to the secondary defenses.
“Truly, misfortune never comes alone…” At this moment, everyone looked at the City Lord they trusted and followed, saying, “City Guards, take all available extraordinary weapons to support the front lines.”
“But City Lord, the Underground City…”
“Seal off the main passage between the Underground City and Ninglan New City to prevent the disaster from spreading to the main district of Ninglan New City.”
“But the Underground City is…”
“Can’t you understand what I’m saying? Is it worse for the Underground City to fall or for the entire Ninglan New City to fall?”
“Uh…”
As “Ninglan Qiuyu” looked at the City Guard preparing for action, his smile deepened unintentionally; this way… the Underground City would be isolated and helpless.
