A ritual was underway atop the raised platform.
No, it was more of a feast.
A group of savages surrounded the captured women, chanting indistinct syllables that sounded like the growls of beasts, yet also like some ancient incantation.
They were tall, even the shortest standing 1.8 meters, with gleaming dark skin, white markings painted on their bodies, and eyes filled with madness and primal savagery.
The women were tied to stone pillars, screaming in terror and struggling desperately.
But the ropes were too tight, digging into their flesh, sinking deeper the harder they struggled.
What was even more infuriating was-
The altar was already covered in blood.
Dark red blood wound through the grooves in its surface, gathering in an eerie pattern at the center.
The pattern resembled the head of some demon, its gaping mouth greedily devouring the blood.
Two women were bound on it.
One had already been stripped down to nothing but a head attached to a skeleton.
Her flesh had been scraped away completely, leaving knife marks on the stark white bones, which gleamed pallidly in the firelight.
The other woman was watching it all in terror.
Her body was still intact.
But the tip of each of her ten fingers had been cut open, and blood dripped down into the pattern of the demon's head.
Up on the platform, a group dressed in bizarre clothing were feasting.
Their hands were covered in blood, and they chewed on something, juices running from the corners of their mouths and dripping down their chins onto their chests.
Blood smeared their mouths, scraps of meat lodged between their teeth, and their chewing made crunching sounds.
Everyone understood at a glance what it was.
They were furious.
Even an old schemer like Cao Xianming charged forward with the others