Cries of despair rang out.
People covered their mouths in horror... some even covered their eyes.
Above the Saint Maiden Ritual venue, what had originally been a few floating crosses had become nearly ten. On each cross hung a girl who had died a horrific death.
Those Saint Maiden Candidates.
Every Saint Maiden Candidate had once been the hope of countless people.
Watching those hopes shatter one after another before their eyes was like torture. Even if the girl nailed to a cross was not the one they supported, witnessing these young girls die such gruesome deaths was enough to fill them with rage.
"Stop! Stop this ritual! Stop!"
"I said stop!!"
The furious people of the City of Freedom began storming the Saint Maiden Ritual venue. The guards outside had long since given up trying to stop them and huddled in corners.
Yet the moment people rushed inside, they recoiled at the sight of the black sludge covering the entire venue.
The bubbling, slowly flowing sludge resembled black lava, radiating such an ominous aura that people shrank from it and dared not advance.
"O Saint... must you really make us watch them die one by one? How cruel is this?!"
"If... if this was prepared for the Saint's Resurrection Day, then a Resurrection Day like this, a Resurrection Day like this—!"
"Shut up! Silence! Heretic!!"
The negative emotions previously suppressed by the appearance of Saint's Fall now seemed on the verge of becoming impossible to contain.
The skies over the City of Freedom were gloomy, its former liveliness long gone.
"This city is getting worse and worse."
The car moved slowly down the road. Everywhere, crowds rioted out of anger and fear... Liwal's expression grew increasingly grave, but Robert, in the passenger seat, seemed not to notice.
At least