The others searched every inch of the abandoned manor. Aside from the crumbling ruins and cultist corpses scattered everywhere, those mad followers of Lockmadon had left behind only one trace that looked valuable.
A black-and-red evil altar.
The altar was not large, only about two meters in radius. It had been built from some indescribably mysterious substance that looked like loosely structured volcanic rock, yet was extraordinarily hard and exuded a bone-deep chill. Twisted runes had been drawn across it in blood. They were blurred against the altar's naturally black-and-red surface, but if one stared closely, the runes seemed to break free of the platform and emerge into view, making anyone who looked at them feel dizzy and light-headed. Beside the altar were two piles of ash—human-shaped ash.
The shape of that ash inevitably brought some horrifying associations to mind.
"...This is matter from the depths of Chaos, corrupted into a filthy substance by Lockmadon's tainted blood." Kalasios crouched before the altar and touched its surface with a look of disgust. "Only cultists who have already become half-monsters can summon something like this from the void through a spirit-medium ritual. No wonder they chose this place to settle down. The Chaos Tear Point is a weak spot along the border of Order. Here, their connection with the Chaos World becomes much closer. They can even summon this evil substance directly from the Chaos World."
"What's this platform for?" Lily asked curiously, poking the edge of the altar with a claw. "Is that blood on it?"
"The altar is merely a medium used to communicate with the Dark Power in Chaos. They used living people as sacrifices." Kalasios frowned at the two piles of human-shaped ash beside the altar. "Those madmen probably even used descendants of sages who carried Sanctuary blood...