"Come!"
Xia Lun's shout echoed across the burning Temple Square and carried into the distance on the night wind. Suddenly, the drifting orange sparks froze in midair, and a deathly gray crept silently over each one.
The soldiers stopped mid-charge, blades raised. They saw the strange sight clearly, and almost at once, a chill like a spear of ice seized their hearts.
"Thump, thump. Thump, thump. Thump-thump-thump."
Faint, chaotic heartbeats sounded across the square. Moments later, they grew faster, louder, and more synchronized, until they roared like thunder!
Teeth chattered. Ears rang. In that instant, silent, formless fear became something they could hear!
The soldiers' legs trembled. They wanted to flee, and in the face of this supernatural terror, none could summon the courage to protect the Lean Priest! This world's Rituals granted immense power, enough to give even ordinary soldiers strength comparable to those on the Second Pilgrimage in the Pilgrimage World. But no matter how powerful a weapon was, it became useless when the person holding it lost their nerve. To make sure his Aura of Fear worked, Xia Lun had even sent White Line into the ruins of the Golden Sand Midnight Temple ahead of time to use a volatile poison that heightened emotional responses against his enemies.
The soldiers loyal to the Lean Priest had already been uneasy. The poison and Aura of Fear magnified that unease a hundredfold, and fear slipped through the cracks in their minds like grasping vines.
The cold fear made time stretch, and the drawn-out moments fed the fear in turn. Fueled by imagination, black despair swelled until it consumed their minds entirely.
At last, the fear erupted.
Thud!
The soldier at the front broke into a cold sweat, lost his balance in his panic, and fell. As if he were