The cultists paid no attention to their fallen companions. They stood there watching Shade, faintly forming an encirclement. With only three Ring Arcanists, they had managed to hold their own against a Ring Arcanist Squad from an Orthodox Church. Shade knew there had to be something even more dangerous within the Damp Chapel, so he was not overconfident enough to risk attacking again.
He held the last remaining fat merfolk priest hostage and glanced at Daknis and his companion. Naturally, the two of them stood with the fishmen. But Shade was not panicking either. The sea breeze coming from behind him indicated that there was definitely another path beyond the stone wall.
"Back off, all of you. Otherwise, I can't guarantee whether I'll pull the trigger."
He shouted loudly. Since he had put on a mask before infiltrating in robes, he was not afraid of being recognized.
The fat fishman held hostage by Shade did not struggle at all. It continued chanting its prayers as though Shade did not exist.
The cultists of the Scarlet Secret Society all watched Shade as though he were insane. But upon closer inspection, Shade could see that every one of their lips was moving. They were praying too.
The inexplicable sense of unease surprised Shade.
"Are there any abnormal traces of elements?"
Yes. Look at the ground.
He looked downward. Because of the recent attack and the deaths it had caused, the fishmen's blood was continuously seeping down into the filthy water on the floor, faintly overlapping with patterns beneath the water's surface.
As the old fishman priest held hostage by Shade droned out his prayers, the increasingly dense Blasphemy Elements no longer needed the voice in his ear to warn him. They had already become tangible silver light spreading out from the ground.