Chapter 183 Fake
In the central part of East Coast Province, next to Dawn Lake.
The sky was getting dark. Irene was standing by the lake, gazing calmly at the village in the distance without speaking for a long time. Beside her was the now-grown Lillian.
Although she has entered middle age, Irene's appearance has not changed much. But Byrne's daughter Lillian is completely different.
As she grew up, she quickly became tall and had lost all of her youthfulness. She was even half a head taller than Irene.
Lillian's black hair is very flowing, and she has a more ethereal and broken temperament than Irene.
"Let's go, Lillian, it's just ahead."
Irene's voice came through, calm and restrained, as if she had seen through the world.
As the sky gradually darkened, they came to the lakeside village in the slightly chilly weather, wearing layered, heavy black robes and veils.
Most of the houses in the village are made of mud and stone, many of which have cracked walls and roofs covered with mottled, worn straw, stained with mud and dirt.
And in the sight of Irene and Lillian, there was not even a single villager to be seen, as if they had disappeared out of thin air.
"Where did those villagers go?" Lillian asked.
Irene shook her head slightly, looked at the poor and dilapidated houses around her, pointed her finger and said slowly:
"A Dawnbringer has come to investigate beforehand. The situation in this village is actually more complicated than what you see. As the great "Him"'s agents, we must deal with what happened here and absolutely cannot leave it alone."
"I understand, Master Priest." Lillian nodded slightly.
The sky gradually darkened as the two continued to move forward in the dilapidated, poor and deserted village. The flat ground was covered with weeds and moss, making it slippery and dangerous.
"bite."
As some kind of bell rang, an old man in gray clothes slowly walked out from the corner of the village.
His skinny face was covered with wrinkles, and he looked to be over seventy years old. His body trembled with every step he took, and his cloudy eyes looked like those of some wild beast.
The old man was wearing very worn grey clothes and holding a strange black scepter in his hand, on which hung a bell shaped like an eye, which looked extremely strange.
"Please stop. Are you here to participate in the sacrifice?"
Irene nodded slightly and said in a calm tone:
"Yes, we are also his believers. We hope you can show us a clear path. Participating in this sacrifice is our most important wish."
The old man in the shadow was silent for a while, then continued to ask:
"Where are you from? You don't look like you are from the nearby village."
Irene smiled slightly and answered calmly and sincerely:
"We are from the nearby city of Finn. We came here because of God's call. I prayed to the great God in my dream, and then I learned about this place."
The old man smiled and nodded slightly, then agreed to Irene's request.
"Come with me."
Lillian followed beside her without saying a word, silently following Aunt Irene. The two followed the strange old man and gradually came to a cliff outside the village.
There was a huge bonfire burning there, the flames were crackling, and behind the bonfire there was a platform several meters high, around which hundreds of people had gathered.
Most of them are local villagers, and some of them came here from nearby villages, with confusion or fanaticism in their eyes.
As soon as Irene and Lillian appeared, they immediately attracted many people's attention.
Although they were wearing black robes and veils, so their true faces could not be seen, they still had a temperament that was completely different from the villagers, and even made many people unable to take their eyes away.
The old man holding the bell scepter stared at Irene and Lillian and said, "Wait, the sacrifice needs to start at the right time."
What follows is a long wait. People will not truly begin the sacrifice until night falls.
"Are you also here to participate in the sacrifice?"
A wolf-tailed girl with silver hair and dressed in villager clothes walked up to the two of them, frowned, and asked uncertainly.
Irene nodded slightly and said, "Indeed."
The girl with the wolf tail looked very thin, but her temperament was obviously different from that of the villagers.
She was silent for a while, then sternly warned the two, "I advise you to leave as soon as possible. You look... too valuable."
"jingle!"
The old man shook the scepter in his hand again, and the sound of the bell attracted everyone's attention. The wolf-tailed girl immediately turned and left.
Everyone knelt down, and the people around the campfire behaved very piously, as if a very important person was about to appear here.
Irene pulled Lillian and slowly knelt on the ground, calmly waiting for what would happen next.
A dozen people wearing black robes and masks walked slowly from not far away. They stood silently on the top of the cliff and stared at the people kneeling on the ground.
Among the many people in black robes, the leader standing in the middle passed by the blazing bonfire, walked calmly towards the platform, and stood at the highest point looking down at everyone.
"Praise the Lost Lord!"
He made a deep and majestic sound, and the people in the audience also gave their praises.
"Praise the Lost Lord!"
Lillian wanted to speak, but Irene stopped her with her hand, shook her head gently, and conveyed her thoughts to Lillian through the language of the heart.
【It is a blasphemy to praise the great Lord with them. 】
Irene also noticed that the wolf-tailed girl not far away did not open her mouth to praise, but just pretended to whisper softly to get away with it.
God's name is meaningful, and most people dare not say it lightly.
However, there are always some people who are bold and lack knowledge of the occult, and dare to use gods to deceive the world. They are basically some extraordinary people who come from the wild side, who don't know much about the occult and lack awe.
The leader on the platform continued speaking.
"The Lost Lord who created the world, He is our only master and the origin of all extraordinary things in the world. If you are pious enough, you can gain power from Him!"
"We are part of the Great Lost Cult. As long as you can join our ranks, you will have a chance to be reborn!"
The leader once again uttered a deep and majestic voice, and after hearing it, almost all of the hundreds of people below the platform were excited.
To obtain the legendary supernatural power is something people dream of!
Irene just watched the man's performance silently, with cold eyes and no words at all.
But Lillian knew very well that Aunt Irene was burning with anger, and not only her, but also Lillian herself was very angry deep in her heart.
That rubbish is using the great God to cheat! That is an unforgivable act!
Then a man in a black robe came to the campfire under the platform, took off his hood to reveal a young man's face, and looked calmly at the people kneeling on the ground.
He slowly said, "I was once just an ordinary peasant, just like you ignorant lambs who were oppressed by the nobles all day long but could not resist at all..."
"Living numbly in a miserable world like hell!"
"Until one day I was inspired by God to come here, show enough piety, and follow the priest to perform sacrifices."
"Then, the Lost Lord who created the world gave me powerful extraordinary powers!"
After the young man finished speaking, he calmly stretched out his hand, and the bonfire actually began to dance according to his thoughts. The people who saw the extraordinary power exclaimed in amazement and were extremely excited.
He manipulated the flames for a short time, then returned them to their original state, and said tiredly to everyone: "Because of the Lost Lord who created the world, I was reborn and finally became a new person!"
"So I used my power to make those who had oppressed me pay the price. I am no longer bound by the false gods. If you want to be like me, you must show more piety!"
"bite!"
The bell rang.
An old man holding a strange bell-shaped staff came over and skillfully collected the offerings. Everything was voluntary and there was no coercion at all.
The villagers seemed to be very familiar with the process, but they had been deceived into having nothing valuable left, so they could only offer their only food, ancestral heirlooms, and even their own children, and hand them over devoutly to the men in black robes.
People hope to obtain real power from God to change their already determined destiny.
Some people could only cry in pain because they could not pay tribute and show their piety.
Irene and Lillian watched this scene silently. They did not try to stop it, as they knew deep down that it was not the right time yet.
Suddenly, the leader standing on the high platform slowly opened his mouth and said to everyone indifferently:
"There is a traitor among you."
"The Lord of the Lost has given me eyes that can see betrayal, and one of you is a blasphemer who came to destroy the Lost Cult."
"He said that person must be sacrificed in this sacrifice, with her soul atonement, or we will all be guilty and no longer be considered pious."
People became excited and stared at each other, wanting to know who the traitor was.
Gradually, more and more people looked at Irene and Lillian, who were dressed out of place and attending the sacrifice for the first time.
"Could it be that they have blasphemed the Lord of Lost!"
"It's probably them!"
"We are going to catch these two guys?"
Deep in her heart, Irene could hear the malice of the crowd, but she had long since learned to remain calm. No matter how vicious those ignorant people were, they could not affect her at all.
She silently observed everyone's gazes, and then looked at the leader standing on the platform.
"No, it's not them."
The leader shook his head slightly, then stretched out his pale, bloodless hand and pointed at the wolf-tailed girl.
"She is from the Finn City Police Department, an evil lackey of the gods and the church, and a cruel accomplice of the extraordinary nobles!"
"You capture that girl! Offer her to the Lord of the Lost!"
(End of this chapter)
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