White wildflowers grew along both sides of the empty path.
Shadows emerged from the distant end and edges of the road. Each carried a child no older than ten, marching in lockstep toward the bluestone tower in the distance, like devout pilgrims making their way toward the other shore.
They seemed to wear white flowers on their chests, but if one stared closely enough, one would find that they were no flowers at all.
They were withered fingers, one after another, merely the plums the shadows used to quench their thirst.
They gathered before the stone door carved with three-dimensional reliefs and patterns.
Their hands clasped beneath their chins, their heads lowered, they said not a word and made no movement, like countless silent statues.
Creak! Creak, creak, creak!!
A moment later, the heavy stone doors slowly opened inward.
A cold, damp wind blew out from within, accompanied by low murmurs even more horrifying than the chill wind itself.
Inside the dim Stone Tower, hundreds of candles burned, giving off a strange, rotten stench.
"Lord, I worship You, laying myself bare before You. Lord, I raise my hands and prostrate myself before Your throne..."
Those entering the Stone Tower began to chant softly. Male and female, old and young voices—countless voices entwined like wisps of silk.
The candlelight on the walls flickered continuously, casting dim shadows over the many believers.
Whether because of the cold wind they had stirred up, or the deep resentment and hatred carried within that wind, no one knew.
Caw! Caw!
The cries of carrion crows rang out above the many believers. One stood beneath the Stone Tower, pecking at its black feathers, its blood-red eyes reflecting the humans below.
At that moment, one person among the many bowed heads suddenly looked up and stared straight at it.
"Caw!"
The crow tilted its head in a strangely humanlike manner, seemingly still wondering why things were different from before.
The next moment, before it could react, just as the crowd completely entered the Stone Tower—
Splat!!
A sharp crimson spike pierced through the crow's body. Before it could let out a single cry of pain, it fell limply to the ground.
"An unpleasant crow's cry."
Among the crowd, a young man withdrew his gaze. His lips moved slightly as he murmured, "What a tasteless creature."
Nagato and Yahiko nodded along, feeling that it was completely inferior to Dawn City's white doves.
The first man to speak was Yun Chuan. However, his figure and appearance had long since changed; he now looked like the young man the old man had left behind to keep watch.
The Slaughter Template's Precise Camouflage ability truly was useful. It was obvious from the terrified expression on that man's face before he died.
"..."
Nagato frowned tightly, his eyes scanning the surroundings as his lips moved faintly. "A force like this actually exists on the border of a small country?"
"Normal. Or rather, precisely because it is weak." Yun Chuan shook his head and said calmly, "In this world, without misfortune, death, and suffering, there would be no gods or Buddhas."
Without demons, there would be no Buddhas.
They had already entered the Stone Tower. There were seats enough for over a hundred people, and the entire structure formed an equilateral triangle, supported by three dark crimson stone pillars.
A massive faceless stone statue stood at the apex of the triangle, seemingly watching over its believers. Yet there was no sense of majesty or holiness to be felt—only oppressive evil.
For beneath it stood an altar piled high with countless pale skulls, each skull exceptionally small and even frail-looking.
And directly before that faceless stone statue, the kindly smiling "Uncle Koshiyama" sat upright upon the altar, dressed in an extravagant black robe.
Beside him stood a roaring brazier filled with burning charcoal, its swaying flames providing most of the tower's illumination.
The orderly crowd flowed in like a black tide. In silence, they sat in their places, spread a layer of white cloth over their knees, lowered their heads, and clasped their hands together.
Yun Chuan sat in the second-to-last row as well, calmly pinching the white cloth between his fingers.
"What is this?" Yahiko murmured softly behind him, his face full of confusion.
He and Nagato stood alongside the other children, as though they had never been given seats from the beginning.
"My brethren..."
Kousan rose to his feet and stood before the crowd, looking down upon the believers.
He tapped his chest three times, forming an equilateral triangle, then prayed in a devout whisper, "Praise be to my Lord. Death is rebirth!"
"Praise be to my Lord. Death is rebirth!"
The remaining believers spoke in unison, tracing a triangle with one hand before lowering their heads to chant devoutly. "Only the Lord is with me. In this barren land of despair, the Lord grants me abundant grace. I offer my faith to the Lord..."
Dong! Dong! Dong!
The old woman beside Kousan stepped forward and struck the enormous bronze bell with its wooden ram.
The bell's toll echoed unceasingly through the sealed space, its deafening sound enough to split one's head apart.
Yet it failed to drown out the believers' chanting.
Their chant, as pure and drawn-out as a sacred hymn, echoed with an overwhelming sense of epic grandeur and solemnity. Its ethereal syllables spiraled upward, vibrating until their skulls resonated.
They praised the lives about to die and the rebirths about to be born.
Mysterious, solemn, reverent...
"Three times, three tolls." Yun Chuan's eyes flickered, and he could not help letting out a quiet laugh. "That's a death knell."
The bizarre and grotesque scene before him reminded him of what was known as a "Mass."
And after the reading and sharing of scripture came the so-called Eucharistic rite.
—The Holy Communion, also called the Lord's Supper.
A ritual established through Jesus sacrificing his flesh and blood to atone for humanity's sins.
The bread in Communion represented Jesus's body, while grape juice symbolized the precious blood he shed, signifying that the Lord's life was with the believers.
"If they followed similar logic, then how would they twist their so-called Communion..."
Under Yun Chuan's watchful gaze, amid the devout chants—
Whoosh!!
Kousan suddenly tore away the black cloth covering the altar.
Upon the skull altar lay a woman with a pained expression. Her abdomen was greatly swollen; she was clearly several months pregnant and close to giving birth.
In an instant, the chanting throughout the tower grew even more fervent. Every believer straightened up and raised their head.
They stared fixedly at the woman atop the altar. Beneath their black hoods, their gazes burned hotter than the flames in the brazier, like pilgrims who had glimpsed the far shore of their faith.
But pilgrims would never reveal such greedy faces, grinding their teeth and thirsting for blood as these people did!
"Ah!!"
Reflected in the woman's trembling eyes, the believers removed the hoods of their Black Robes. Trembling with excitement, they chanted loudly and in unison picked up the white cloth from their knees, draping it over their heads.
It was as though they wished to use it to block their "Lord's" sight, preventing their "Lord" from seeing their greedy, ugly faces.
"They! They..."
At that moment, even Yahiko, who was usually slow on the uptake, instantly understood what was about to happen.
On the altar, Kousan drew a sharp black spear from the sleeve of his black robe.
"Bastard!" In an instant, veins bulged at Yahiko's temples, flames reflected in his eyes.
But before coming here, he had promised the boss that he absolutely would not act without orders...
Just as Kousan raised the spear with a gentle smile and drove it straight toward the woman—
The fury he could no longer suppress surged from his heart, rushing through his entire body and into his mind in an instant.
Endure? Screw that! I can't endure this anymore!
Sorry, Boss!
Yahiko suddenly stepped onto the seat in front of him, his face twisted with rage as he prepared to charge onto the altar.
However, before he could rush forward—
Boom!!
A dark crimson mist of blood surged into the sky in an instant, like a blooming bewitching flower, spreading in all directions like smoke and fog.
The once fervent chanting was interrupted, and the tower fell into deathly silence.
"Believers kneel and pray for divine revelation and the gospel."
From within the blood mist came Yun Chuan's gentle voice. Laughing, he said, "Blasphemers only sharpen their knives to carve up whole bread and wine!"
An evil god?
An evil god still could not be my "Lord"!
The 11th is important! Extremely important! Please read ahead!
Before you continue