Hecatos swung another arm, and feathered mirrors opened one after another throughout the city.
Ripples spread beneath the skeletons' feet.
Hundreds of remains sank into the mirrors, ready to be transferred to the edge of the inner city. But the black fire within them entered the passage as well.
The flames surged backward along the mirror routes.
The first feather quickly turned black.
The second and third feathers lost their luster right after it.
The golden particles hidden behind the mirrors stopped moving the instant they touched the black fire. Hecatos hurriedly cut off the ability, and dozens of feathers exploded at once.
Half a skeleton fell out from within.
After hitting the ground, it propped itself up with both hands and continued crawling toward the altar.
Hecatos's cry changed.
At that moment, the sealing lines beneath Bai Zhu's feet lit up as well.
Tens of thousands of metal rings responded, and the traces of death Zanka no Tachi had read all flooded into the maintainer's authority.
Fragmented images immediately crowded into Bai Zhu's mind.
The city's residents stood in the streets, putting metal rings around their necks one by one.
Some were afraid, while others wept.
Before the altar, a row of elders cut open their palms and smeared blood into the seal's grooves. The direction in which they knelt was not toward the city beyond, but toward Hecatos, who had been locked onto the altar.
In the sky, Zhang Ye raised a hand.
An enormous moon hovered behind him, and an eye opened in the center of its surface.
Forty-eight main locks rose from the city walls.
Hecatos charged down from the altar, golden particles sweeping through the streets. The residents near it were swallowed by the particles, their bodies rapidly shriveling as the power they had just