Chapter 133
Wow, you were observing my micro-expressions while I was changing clothes?
Yuki remained calm, slowly taking off his shirt to reveal his strong muscles, and grinned. "No, I just noticed that although you're not very old, you've developed a very good physique."
Hiss.
Houtarou gasped, his hand, which was untying his belt, stopped abruptly.
"I'll change in the woods."
He skipped away, Yuki's smile became even wider.
It's still more convenient to have someone you know; you can just focus on the core issue and avoid the need for probing. Just then, the sound of hurried footsteps entered my ears.
Are they here?
Yuki quickly changed his clothes, moved the tombstone aside to reveal a pre-dug circular pit, hid inside, and used a corpse to block the entrance.
And I am ready.
Chapter Twenty-Eight: A Close Call! (4K5)
After delivering meat several times in one night, the church is finally serious this time.
With only Yadu Town thousand residents, even with a high proportion of fanatics, losing two hundred people in one night would still be painful enough.
The saints were alarmed and immediately stopped the meat-giving operation, turning the search into an extermination operation. Except for a few people who stayed behind at the church to avoid being raided, a large number of troops were deployed at once.
Ordinary residents were also mobilized to set up a cordon outside the cemetery to ensure that not even a rat could get through. Then, hundreds of believers, led by Father Dimitri, scaled the low wall in battle formation and stepped into the foggy hill.
If outsiders can withstand this force, then the Yadu Town will have no choice but to lead everyone into battle and crush all heretics with overwhelming force.
Each believer wore a resolute expression, unwavering in their belief in victory. But having learned from their previous experience, no one dared to separate this time, and they surged towards the mountaintop like a swarm of locusts.
The thick fog severely impaired visibility, and the absence of any divine presence here always instilled a sense of instinctive aversion in believers. Father Dimitri walked at the very front, his hairy head turning from side to side.
He had discovered signs of battle and dripping blood, but everything was quiet, with only the occasional arrow stuck in a tree.
There were no attacks, and no outsiders.
"Be vigilant, watch out for the trees."
"Yes, climb up every single tree and take a look."
The eerie slaughterhouse was stimulating, and the team dared not split up; if someone went to investigate, the main force would have to stop and wait, so the search was proceeding very slowly.
There was nothing that could be done about it. In one night, two hundred of our compatriots, including several priests, disappeared. The power of the outsiders gave them reason to be cautious.
God's blessings are dwindling, and if outsiders can commit sins in the factory, they have the ability to replicate them in me.
Father Dimitri was very rational. With his companions dying ahead, he dared not underestimate the enemy and act rashly. His own life or death was not important, but the believers could not afford any more accidents, as that would reduce God's blessing to a dangerous level.
In that case, I will become a sinner.
He prayed softly, then smelled a strong stench of blood and looked up.
The scent wafted down from the top of the hill, causing the followers who had been tracking it to subtly change their expressions. However, the thick fog obscured everything, except for the scattered tombstones nearby.
"Prepare for battle."
The priest growled and pulled out a circular saw, which looked like a carpenter's tool, only ridiculously large.
The others also picked up machetes, pitchforks, and hunting rifles, keeping a vigilant look around, as if demons might emerge from any of the tombs; even their resolute faces showed signs of tension.
One minute, two minutes, three minutes...
The cemetery remained deathly silent. Everyone turned their heads, but could see nothing. Gradually, Father Dimitri realized that the stalemate could not continue.
It's already 10:30 in the morning. How long will this standoff continue?
"Follow me, press down slowly."
He waved his hand and walked at the front to clear the way. The smell of blood in his nostrils grew stronger. He pierced through the fog, passed over the broken tombstones, and his two feet were rooted to the spot like nails.
How...
Through the hazy mist, he witnessed a shocking scene: hundreds of corpses piled up one on top of another, scattered among a dense array of tombstones.
Each person's death was unique and bizarre; the blood that flowed out gathered into streams, staining the soil red.
They were all dead believers; the heads of several priests even hung on tombstones, staring at him with empty eyes.
Blasphemy!!
The robes bulged as if about to burst from the muscles, and a rage spread from Dimitri to the most ordinary believer.
In the memories of the residents of Yadu Town, nothing so blasphemous had ever happened. This was a provocation from outsiders, who, like demons, brought destruction to this peaceful town.
Indescribable, unforgivable. If Yuki dared to show himself now, he would have been overwhelmed by the Roar worshippers.
But he didn't appear, and the priest couldn't see a single outsider in his field of vision.
"Search! Search high and low! God said they can't leave Yadu Town!"
Dimitri struggled to maintain his composure, and with a wave of his hand, hundreds of people scattered in a great roar.
Walking through the Corpse Mountain, Blood Sea belonging to their compatriots, everyone was filled with extreme anger, using all sorts of weapons to move the bodies aside, push over tombstones, and search upwards inch by inch.
This was clearly an attempt to tear the outsider to pieces, but just as they were halfway through the search, an arrow suddenly shot out from the thick fog.
Puff.
A believer who was carrying a corpse was shot in the neck with an arrow and collapsed. The arrow was swift and silent, but it caused an uproar throughout the cemetery.
"There are outsiders lying in ambush!"
"Quick, the arrows are coming from over there!"
With a blur of motion, Dimitri arrived at the heart of the cemetery a hundred meters away in an instant, moving at a speed far beyond that of ordinary people. He then saw a black-haired girl pointing to the west.
Several other believers were with her, and as if reminded, they all looked to the west.
They run so fast.
"Don't panic. You two go and take a look." Dimitri pointed to two grey-robed priests, trying to calm the restless believers.
Everyone was furious, and at the slightest disturbance, they were ready to fight to the death. In such situations, we should be wary of the enemy taking advantage of the chaos to escape.
After all, the thick fog made it impossible for even him to see objects ten meters away.
There's another blockade line down the mountain; they can't escape.
The priest was very confident. After waiting for a while, his two subordinates returned, both shaking their heads.
"A cunning outsider, trying to play guerrilla warfare with us?"
As expected, this foggy cemetery is the perfect place for guerrilla warfare; no wonder no one has appeared yet.
"They must have some special ability to bypass our detection." Dimitri made the most rational judgment. After a moment's thought, he snapped his fingers. "Don't separate. The priest goes first, and we search back side by side."
The core of the cemetery has been Reconnaissance, and given that arrow just now, the enemy could only be hiding behind us. This time, we must search even more thoroughly.
The believers were very obedient, forming a human wall as they slowly searched down the mountain, shoulder to shoulder, putting all their effort into finding the despicable outsider.
On the right side of the human wall, a young man wearing a wide-brimmed hat raised his head, revealing black hair and red eyes. He held a machete in his hand, his face full of fanaticism.
His eyes narrowed slightly as he glanced at both sides, filled with the delight of an explorer.
'As expected, the believers couldn't identify the player without careful observation.'
Even with townspeople on both sides filled with murderous intent, Yuki kept his eyes straight ahead, occasionally stopping to dig open graves or examine tree hollows.
The plan wasn't something that came up on a whim; it stemmed from careful observation after entering the instance.
On the first night, Rick joined the search team directly, letting him know that the 'Undercover agent' had the ability to gain the unconditional trust of the dungeon's characters.
On the second night, Yuki began his hunt, which made him realize that in this cemetery, as long as one's appearance is consistent, it is not so easy to be identified.
So he had Moon Bow alert the enemy, used the clues to deceive the priest, and then took advantage of the chaos to crawl out of the cover and into the crowd—this is called mixing the fish eye with the pearl.
It sounds simple, but in reality, it requires exceptional mental fortitude, the ability to anticipate Father Dimitri's predictions, and the calculation of dozens of factors.
'It's all about the thrill.'
The enemy was less than ten centimeters away, and you could even clearly hear their low curses. Every glance from them sent chills down your spine.
The time is not yet ripe; the consequences of exposure would be unimaginable.
Fortunately, his acting skills were so deeply ingrained that Yuki couldn't detect the slightest abnormality. He was even more meticulous and fanatical than the believers, searching for the outsider who could never possibly appear.
A team of hundreds conducted a thorough search, turning over every single branch, but apart from that one arrow, the outsider seemed to have vanished into the fog, neither attacking nor reappearing.
This completely baffled Father Dimitri, who was leading the group. The outsider seemed to have mind-reading abilities, knowing their judgment in advance.
That's not right. Even if they knew, there was no way they could escape the search. It's daytime now, under God's watchful eye, and outsiders can't sneak back into the town.
"That speed was indeed very fast, but did it really come and go without a trace?"
The priest raised his head and looked at the forest and the thick fog, as if a white veil had covered his eyes, making everything appear hazy.
He had come full of righteous indignation, but now he felt lost and confused. Looking at the time, the rally was about to begin in twenty minutes.
The outsider must be here, but where are they hiding?
The priest trusted his intuition but couldn't answer the subsequent questions. He searched the room twice, almost digging three feet into the ground.
If there truly is an unsolvable ability to hide, why didn't you use it last night?
He suddenly realized a blind spot: the search last night was definitely not this thorough. If the outsider had the ability to hide, why would he wait until now?
If they had hidden it properly last night, the church would still be completely confused.
Dimitri looked at the wall of people behind him with a puzzled expression, his hairy face suddenly scrunching up.
Could it be...?
"Everyone, stop immediately!" he suddenly said. The believers stopped as ordered, casting puzzled glances at him.
Finally found it?
Yuki, standing on the right side of the group, felt a chill run down his spine. He didn't dare look at his watch, only showing the same puzzled expression, when he felt a dagger-like gaze sweep over him.
It's not so easy to tell from appearances, and there's no sign above Yuki's head saying "I'm an outsider." Plus, the thick fog makes it even more time-consuming to identify them one by one.
But this did not deter Dimitri, who commanded without hesitation, "Everyone, begin to pray."
Prayer? Here?
If they were normal people, they would have started to question it by now, but the believers had no choice but to obey. With the sound of clothes rubbing together, everyone knelt on one knee and interlaced their fingers.
Yuki also knelt down, but he reached into his storage space. Moon Bow had the 'Undercover' warning for protection, Oreki Houtarou could memorize it by rote because he had been in the church. Only Yuki had heard the old man recite it twice.
How could anyone possibly memorize such complex and bizarre scriptures without the ability of 'Hyper-Memory'?
Buzzing.
A strange chanting sound rang out, Yuki lowered his head, mouth agape, silently mouthing the words.
But the enemy wasn't stupid either; soon a pair of leather boots appeared before them.
The grey-robed priests were walking past, and with their familiarity with the scriptures, they could instantly tell who was reciting sincerely and who was just mumbling nonsense.
The boots stopped in front of Yuki, and the grey-robed priest leaned forward, thinking that the believer's voice was too soft and not devout at all.
I can't hear it, I still can't hear it.
As his body lowered to ninety degrees, Yuki suddenly raised his head, his crimson eyes meeting the priest's, reflecting a bewildered face.
"You..."
Puff--
From 'devout' chanting to a sudden murder, it was all swift and without hesitation. Yuki plunged the knife precisely into the priest's chest, knowing he had stirred up a hornet's nest without even opening his eyes.
The chanting stopped abruptly as the believers rushed to grab their weapons, accompanied by Dimitri's excited the Roar.
"You were hiding right next to me after all!!"
That outsider is too cunning—no, he's incredibly audacious! How dare he hide in the search party? Is he so confident he won't be recognized?
A complete madman, who never considered the consequences and made me waste so much of my time.
Overwhelmed by anger and shame, he instantly pulled out a circular saw. The stranger did not answer. Taking advantage of the chaos, the blade turned blood red.
Soul energy is released.
Blood Slash!