On this day, the team arrived at a human settlement located on the edge of the rift's influence zone, marked on the map as "Greystone Town".
Before even stepping into the town, an indescribable sense of oppression immediately overwhelmed them.
The town was unusually quiet.
The streets were deserted, and the people on them had empty eyes and walked slowly and numbly, like puppets on strings.
The air was filled with a cloying, smoky scent of incense, which masked the almost imperceptible stench of abyssal demonic energy.
Every household had its doors and windows tightly shut, and occasionally one could glimpse a pair of eyes, filled with fear or equally blank stares, through a crack.
From the town center came the faint, monotonous sound of prayers, which coalesced into a disturbing buzzing whisper.
"Tsk." Ellen's languid voice carried a hint of amusement. Her eyes swept over the lifeless town, discerning the truth beneath the surface. "Looks like we've encountered a smarter prey. There are always some creatures in the abyss who disdain gnawing on bones in the wilderness and prefer to play with something more refined."
She gestured for the team to slow down and lower their voices, as if recounting ancient, taboo knowledge:
"Some cunning abyssal monsters are well aware of the risks of facing racial conflict on the Holy Dragon Continent."
"They will choose to infiltrate among humans, like termites, silently gnawing at the reason and emotions of mortals."
"They spread chaotic whispers, weave illusory dreams, and induce humans into distorted dependence and worship. When enough humans are corrupted, when that distorted 'faith' coalesces into a considerable force..."
Eileen's gaze fell in the direction from which the prayers were coming from the town center, a hint of cold mockery in her eyes.
"These demons can then use this faith as sustenance to ignite divine fire, elevating themselves from the status of abyssal demons to the so-called 'wild gods.' At this point, their paths begin to diverge."
"Some wild gods, whose will remains chaotic and whose nature is hard to change, will eagerly return to the abyss with the resources they have plundered in the human world, to devour the abyssal demons with richer magic and divinity, attempting to advance further in the dog-eat-dog world of the demon realm, and even plotting to become true demon gods."
“And others…” Eileen paused, her tone growing colder, “are even more dangerous. They will completely wash away the mark of the abyss from their bodies, or at least try their best to disguise it.”
"They will take root in the shadows of the Holy Dragon Continent, using those twisted believers to establish sects, spread their doctrines, and suppress faith."
"Over time, they ceased to be wild gods, but became evil gods worshipped by believers and hiding behind the scenes. Their tentacles would extend as believers spread, sucking the life force and soul of the continent, becoming a malignant tumor that was difficult to eradicate."
Her gaze deepened, as if piercing through space:
"What's more, some extremely powerful evil gods who wield special authority can even use the pure faith of their believers as a bridge to bypass the rules and secretly infiltrate the Kingdom of Heaven with their own will... or even a portion of their power."
Eileen's words were like a cold wind, sending chills down the spines of Mark's team.
Their gaze toward Graystone Town had completely changed. It was no longer just an ordinary town plagued by monsters, but a huge breeding ground for terrible evil.
The entrance to Greystone Town is like a silent, gigantic maw, swallowing up the hustle and bustle that should belong to this border town.
Mark paused almost imperceptibly as he stepped into the town, his fingertips unconsciously tracing the cross on his chest.
An indescribable sense of deathly stillness swept over me, instantly awakening a small town that had been sleeping deep in my memory—Maple Leaf Town.
The town where the Lord of Devouring once hid seemed to have the same atmosphere, but the people there only wore fake happy smiles on their faces.
The streets were sparsely populated, like faded ghosts.
Their eyes were vacant, their steps were slow, and they seemed oblivious to the arrival of Mark's team, as if they were walking in another isolated world.
The air was filled with an overly strong, cloying incense scent, as if trying to cover something up.
"Heh..." Eileen's lazy chuckle broke the oppressive silence. Her icy blue eyes swept across the lifeless street, carrying an all-knowing mockery.
"Using cheap incense to mask demonic energy? It seems there really is an abyss worm playing tricks here, trying to steal faith and seize the position of 'wild god'."
Little Mu floated up from Mark's shoulder, surrounded by a swirling halo of seven colors, its pure purifying power spreading outwards like ripples on water.
The demonic energy hidden in the air seemed to have met its nemesis, emitting a soft hissing sound as it quickly dissolved and vanished.
Just as Xiao Mu purified a patch of relatively dense demonic energy, a dim, twisted, and filthy rune flashed past like a venomous snake through the cracks in the stone slabs that had been corroded by the demonic energy, so fast that it was almost an illusion.
“There’s something left behind!” Monica whispered, scanning the area where the rune had disappeared with her Appraisal skill, but found nothing.
Seeing this unusual situation, Enzo gripped the rune hammer tightly, and Anna's fingertips touched the bowstring. The team instantly went on high alert.
"A little trick." Ellen, who also possessed the ability to appraise, didn't even use her appraisal skill. Her tone was calm, seemingly unsurprised.
"We just need to follow the scent; the place where the incense is strongest is often where the insects are nesting."
Based on their past adventure experience, the team decided to first investigate and understand the situation before making any plans.
After all, even if Ellen is a legendary powerhouse, she might not be able to easily deal with a wild god who possesses divinity.
The real reason they've survived to this day is that they didn't arrogantly entrust their safety entirely to Elaine and the "mysterious being."
At least Mark and his companions wanted to know if the hundreds of healing scrolls Mark had replenished along the way, along with the thousands of anti-magic arrows Enzo had reforged for Anna, could deal with the wild god of this town.
However, conducting field visits and investigations is clearly not that easy.
The townspeople either stayed indoors or responded to their inquiries with blank shakes of their heads or cryptic whispers.
In the end, they could only follow the source of the incense and the indescribable sense of oppression, as Elaine had suggested, and stop in front of a building.
It stands on the edge of the town's central square, with a simple and solemn appearance, clearly in the style of the Church of Holy Light.
Above the pointed roof, stained glass windows, and heavy, tightly closed wooden doors hangs a now-faded holy emblem.
However, what should have been a place of sacred protection was now filled with the most cloying sweet incense, and wisps of nauseating demonic energy seeped from under the door.
This forms the sharpest and most blasphemous irony with the exterior of the Church of Holy Light.
The dimming of the holy emblem silently tells us that the faith here has long been eroded by evil.
"A wolf's den in sheep's clothing."
Mark found it somewhat amusing, as it seemed that in Maple Leaf Town before, the Wild God had also begun to corrupt from the Church of Holy Light.
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