300 Chapter 300: Blood Sacrifice (1/2)
”Seriously?” Principal Henry Porter scowled. ”Why so dramatic?”
”Oh…because I wanted to end the previous chapter on a cliffhanger.”
”Excuse me?”
”Nothing.” I quickly amended my statement and returned to the main topic at hand. ”I'm not sure what's going on, but this is actually based off a fictional universe that was created for a tabletop game set in the 41st millennium, so I don't know how they ended up dedicating an entire temple to it. To simplify, the cultists of the Blood God revel in murder, bloodletting and violence. The more blood they spill, the more glory they gain. Their god cares not from where the blood flows, as long as it continues to flow. To put it bluntly, it's a cult of homicidal psychopaths who love killing.”
”No wonder they're called the Blood Slaughter Sect,” Porter mused, nodding thoughtfully. ”I always thought it was quite the chuuni name, but it seems that there was a valid religious reason behind it after all.”
No, it was still a chuuni name, regardless of the religious reasons that led to its establishment. Not that I was going to voice that out.
Glancing at the two-headed dragon, I shuddered. For some reason, its demonic visage was giving me the chills. It was just an immense illustration, but somehow it felt alive…as if it was watching the humans in the room.
Taking a deep breath, I tore my eyes away from the gigantic mural and took a deep breath to calm myself.
”In any event, we've to stop the Blood Slaughter Sect from reaching this place at all costs,” I muttered. ”Who knows what they would do when they reach the temple? Probably hold some blood sacrifice to bring their Blood God to our material world.”
Porter shuddered, despite himself. But he straightened himself to his full height and steeled his resolve. ”I'll inform Captain Brent of this immediately.”
”Thank you, sir. I'll leave it to you then.”
This was a talk between adults, after all. I didn't want to get involved unless absolutely necessary. I briefly wondered if Brent would believe Porter, though. The last time the Vermillion Academy principal told the mercenary captain that the Blood Slaughter Sect might be after different goals, the latter didn't believe the older man.
Well, that was none of my business. I was too exhausted so I merely nodded. Bowing my head and taking my leave, I jumped through the hole in one bound without bothering with the harness and the pulley, much to the archaeologist technicians' surprise, and headed straight for the area designated as our sleeping quarters.
The moment my head touched the sleeping bag I fell asleep immediately.
*
”…finally.”
Liu panted as he emeged in a more artificial-looking cavern that resembled a room built out of metal, concrete and marble than the stone, earth and soil that the remnants of his sect had been traversing the last few days.
”We've found the place!” One of the disciples yelled in delight, squinting at the bright lights and waiting for his eyes to adjust. ”I told you Elder Liu knew where we were going!”
”Long live the Elder!”
”We're free!”
”At last!”
While the disciples whooped and cheered, Liu turned away, trying to hide his expression of relief. To be honest, he had been bullshitting and randomly picking directions for the last three days. He could hardly admit to the disciples who were counting on him to lead them out that he had been utterly clueless about where they should go, and relied on dumb luck to find their way around. Well, some things were best left not known.
Clearing his throat, Liu turned to address what remained of his once fearsome troops.
”We'll take an hour break. Drink up, replenish your mana, and catch some sleep. Then we shall launch our attack against the invaders who dare trespass upon the sacred ground of the Great One!”
”OOOOH! Blood for the Blood God!”
The Blood Slaughter Sect disciples roared their approval, and then they began doing whatever they needed. Resting, bathroom breaks, drinking, catching a nap, etc.
Folding his arms, Liu smiled approvingly. He could almost taste the blood of his victims, hear their screams echoing throughout the temple of his god.
He couldn't wait for the carnage to begin.
*
Da Xue Sheng was chipping away at one of the shrines, trying to free one of the relics that had been riveted to the ground. He tried not to look too much at the mural, which displayed a disturbing scene of death and massacre, where humans impaled each other with blood-red spears. The spears themselves dripped crimson tears, and Da Xue Sheng couldn't tell if the spears had originally meant to be red, or if they had been totally stained by the blood of their victims.
”Nonsense,” he muttered to himself. ”It's just a picture. There's no original color to begin with. The artist got lazy.”
Shaking his unease off, he then brought a scanner and waved it over the mural. The digital device recorded the image before uploading it to the cloud server. Several programs ran checks and searches on the recorded illustration, but turned out no results.
”A cult dedicated entirely to the worship off a Blood God,” Da Xue Sheng mused. He shivered and closed his eyes briefly. ”Just what sort of deity would drive his worshippers to the heights of depravity and enjoy watching them slaughter each other?”
A noise from around the corner drew his attention. Da Xue Sheng frowned and rose from his spot, abandoning the relic that he had been trying to meticulously extract over the past hour without damaging it. Gulping, he slowly made his way toward the corner.
”Hello?” he called out uncertainly.
There was no answer. Some sort of fluttering, almost like a bug. Perhaps it was a bug. They were underground, after all. This wasn't the first time he had to swat away a pest or two that wriggled over his tools or crawled up his arms while he worked.
Da Xue Sheng laughed nervously. ”I'm thinking too much.”