Chapter 507: Turtle in a Jar
The "Antember of Truth" where everyone is located does indeed look like a spacious and grand hall from the outside.
The so-called front hall alone is nearly a thousand square meters in size according to visual inspection!
The walls, ceiling, and floor were perfectly smooth and seamless, with no gaps in the masonry to be found.
A bright light source somewhere was emitting soft white light.
It's not as hot as inside the stone castle, it's the kind of temperature that feels quite comfortable.
The smell in the air also becomes quite fresh.
The strong sulfurous stench I smelled in the basement of that tapestry shop seemed like an illusion.
The only drawback is that strange arrays of different shapes and specifications are painted on the ground and walls with different colors and paints.
It's like a few hunched-over guys appearing in a neat queue.
It immediately ruins the overall beauty and looks incompatible with the neat and regular layout of the surrounding front hall.
Peter turned his head cautiously and looked around.
Besides them and the female dwarf who spoke to them, there were other people in the front hall.
Judging from the body shape, they are mostly dwarfs.
Some were wearing hoods or masks that obscured their faces, and some were not wearing any, just showing their true colors openly and openly.
"Aren't they afraid of revealing their identities? Are these people really cultists?"
Peter was slightly surprised.
"What if a spy sneaks in and the others are seen here? If we go back to the stone castle and arrest them, wouldn't we be able to catch them all in one go?"
It was only then that Pat realized a somewhat serious problem.
"Huh? Wait a minute!"
"How are we going to get back?!"
The antechamber of truth is semi-enclosed.
There are no windows and no entrances or exits.
According to the female dwarf, the only way is to move forward, that is, to go deeper.
The way to get here is neither a secret passage nor a mechanism, but a rather mysterious summons!
That specially carved skull probably served as some kind of ritual prop!
After you come in, you are here and you can't leave even if you want to.
With no other option, Peter and others could only move deeper into the area.
…
On the way, the more they looked at the surrounding environment, the weirder they felt.
This really doesn't look like a "cultist" stronghold.
What kind of cultists and men in black robes did they see when they passed by?
His whereabouts are secretive and his actions are sneaky.
The stronghold is equipped with an altar to offer sacrifices to the evil god.
Many cultists believe in a rule: as long as you offer a sacrifice that he likes to the evil god in the void, he will send the corresponding power down in the form of a "blessing".
The problem is, no one knows what the "favorite sacrifice" is.
Therefore, cultists like to offer sacrifices to evil gods whenever they have nothing to do.
From bloody and cruel living sacrifices to unknown filth collected from the sewers, they may all be used to sacrifice it to the evil god.
Cultists' strongholds tend to be filled with a lot of messy things because of this.
What made Pat feel even more abnormal was that.
No one else here seems to be surprised by their arrival!
This is very impressive.
Logically speaking, their unfamiliar faces should attract the attention of others.
Whether you are vigilant or curious, you should have some reaction, right?
But, no.
At best, they glanced at Pet and the others in surprise, probably because they were surprised to see humans here.
Except for Peter and his party, the others who appeared here were all dwarves. Peter secretly speculated that these dwarves were probably confident and thought they had absolute certainty.
Even if a mole sneaks in, they are confident that they can easily control or kill them, so they don't care about exposing themselves.
And - I'm afraid there are always new faces here, so they have become accustomed to it.
"What kind of cultist base would require constantly bringing in a large number of new people?"
One possibility comes to mind:
"...Sacrifice?"
After walking out of the antechamber of truth and entering a new area, the scene he saw quickly confirmed Peter's suspicion.
…
The new area is a more spacious space with a height of more than ten meters!
There is also an unknown source of light, which illuminates this place brightly.
In the center of the inner grounds stands a majestic altar, probably in the shape of a pyramid.
The materials used to build the altar immediately gave Peter a familiar feeling!
A large number of skulls are piled together to form a solid base.
Going up are layers of flesh and blood covering each other, stacked, entangled, twisted, and beating.
The thick blood vessels can be seen clearly even from such a long distance.
"That's right!"
Peter was relieved.
Although they are highly vigilant mentally, Pet and others are very relaxed.
The main reason is that they are confident.
The worst outcome is death!
The soul is protected by the great God of Knowledge. Even the devils in hell have to make concessions before Noven's intimidation. There is no need to worry about the soul being extracted and refined.
Although not being able to retrieve the corpse will result in the loss of a large amount of legendary experience, as a believer of Noven, it is completely normal for the legendary level to be reset due to an adventure.
Who hasn't reset to zero a few times?
Pete's current legendary level is level 35. To upgrade to the next level, he needs to accumulate 60,000 legendary experience points!
The experience required to upgrade this level alone exceeds the total from level 1 to level 31.
Although Pete has accumulated enough experience, he did not upgrade his level immediately.
The effect of upgrading one level is only 3 free attributes, which is actually very small, far from the obvious effect of upgrading from level 39 to level 40.
In other words.
Even if he really died, Pete could immediately return to level 3 with the legendary experience in his hand.
As long as there are no consecutive deaths in a short period of time where the body cannot be retrieved, the loss of strength will be minimal.
If you are not afraid of dying here, then you have nothing to fear.
Finally seeing the "evil god altar" that is the symbol of the cultists, Pete's originally somewhat nervous mood immediately relaxed.
They did not come to the wrong place!
They found the real master!
And, just as Pete guessed.
Near this altar, there is a group of dwarves with different clothes and strange expressions gathered together, making waves of commotion.
Some are nervous, some are afraid, some are panicked, some are crying, some are begging for mercy, and some are simply desperate!
Obviously!
These guys are also here for the first time, and they didn't know the situation here before.
But the moment they saw the altar, they understood everything.
This place doesn't seem to have any entrances and exits connected to the outside world. I'm afraid that the entry and exit are all teleported by the [Summoning Ceremony].
Although no one is watching or controlling them, they can't escape even if they want to!
A turtle in a jar, a bird in a cage.
This is simply the rhythm of using them as sacrifices to the evil god!
...
There is no more tonight, I owe two more chapters tomorrow to make up for it, and sort out the ideas for the ending of the fourth volume.
Thank you for your monthly tickets and recommendation tickets, thank you very much!
Currently owed: 15+2 chapters
