The warehouse, filled with flesh and blood, gave off a red glow that illuminated everything before the door, including Silas's pale face.
The Abyss of Blood and Flesh was considered one of the most insane and depraved rituals among the Secrets Suppliants' evil ceremonies.
It required sacrificing a large number of lives as materials, collecting their emotions of extreme suffering to pray for the descent of the evil god, the True Creator.
The way this ritual succeeded was also simple: the more you sacrificed, the greater the probability.
Afterward, the descended evil god would gradually grow stronger and continue devouring the lives of the entire city until it truly descended.
Only now did Silas finally understand why the Aurora Order had gotten involved in the human trafficking trade on the Southern Continent.
"Quite spectacular, isn't it?"
Lady M said with some regret from beside him, "But it's still a bit of a shame.
My original plan was to keep only the purest boys and girls from each shipment until we had enough for the ritual.
Who knew you would discover it early and block the transport route? I had no choice but to use all the slaves to make up the numbers."
In other words, the Aurora Order was just a middleman for these slaves, and someone else truly needed them in large quantities?
"So where were these slaves originally supposed to be transported to?"
Silas asked.
"They were to be transported to..."
Lady M had only gotten halfway through when she realized what she was doing and stopped, smiling at Silas. "You don't need to know anymore."
Swish!
She raised both hands high toward the mass of flesh, devoutly chanting in ancient Hermes:
"Master of all creation,
Ruler behind the curtain of shadows,
The fallen nature of all living beings!"
Accompanying her invocation of the honorific name, all the mouths on the flesh mass began chanting in unison.
"Master! Great Master!
May your will cover the earth,
May all corruption be born for you!"
The flesh mass accelerated its wriggling and split open in the middle, leaving a space for someone to sit.
No, rather, a chair of flesh and blood appeared in the center of the flesh ball, waiting for some lucky person to sit on it.
And that lucky person's expression at this moment wasn't looking very good.
Silas could feel the illusory sound of ocean tides ringing in his mind.
His body, originally controlled by Lady M's golden eyes, had already regained autonomy.
And that lady was still praying to the flesh ball, continuing the ritual, not noticing that Silas had already broken free from her control.
What should he do next? Turn the tables and kill her?
When this thought emerged, despite the urgency of the situation, Silas almost laughed at himself.
Me, take on a Shepherd one-on-one? Really?
So then, should he run away after all?
In the pocket on his chest, he still had Mr. Azik's bone whistle hidden.
The undead creatures summoned should be able to hold her off for a bit, and Lady M was at a critical moment in the ritual...
The moment the thought of retreat sprouted, Silas's eyes couldn't help but sweep across the three Nighthawk corpses on the ground.
Lady Daly no longer had her familiar smile, the just-met Léon's head was shattered, and Edward's mean, annoying face still had an expression of anger frozen on it.
I'm just a guy with a nasty personality, and I don't have much of a Nighthawk's sense of duty. Besides, that Edward and I had beef.
He looked again at the flesh mass, where so many innocent people were showing expressions of pain.
How selfish I am. What do other people's lives have to do with me?
As the flesh mass wriggled, a face that had been in a blind spot appeared in Silas's view.
It was a very young girl with a cute face, her eyes and brows seeming somewhat like Cecilia's. Right next to her was a slightly older boy; the two looked quite similar.
Even though they had already become part of the ritual, the boy's limbs still tightly protected the girl, just as they must have when they were alive.
If Silas hadn't transmigrated, the Londor siblings would probably have met the same fate, wouldn't they?
Silas stared blankly at those two tender faces, feeling his head roar with a bang as an indescribable anger surged into his heart.
Damn it, damn it!
Kill her, kill her!
To hell with her and her master!
Who cares about reasons?
Whether it's the frustration of being toyed with all along, whether it's fighting back when there's no escape, whether it's revenge, I just can't stand this crazy bitch. Kill her, kill her!
Nameless fury burned in his heart, but the cold touch of the bone whistle on his chest reminded him to stay calm.
Think, think fast! What method could possibly kill her?
Could he use the ritual to frame her like he did with Lanevus before?
Right, I have the bone whistle.
She doesn't know I've already broken free from her control through my cheat. As long as the summoned undead creature can restrain her for just a moment, it might work.
But what if Lady M uses a substitute again?
Not just a substitute; she very likely has even more abilities I don't know about...
Screw it! So what!
Resisting means death at most. Obediently letting her toy with me and become a sacrifice is also death. At least I should give her some trouble, splash some blood on her!
Having made up his mind, Silas hesitated no longer and looked coldly at Lady M.
Her chanting was nearing its end.
"...Great Master! Please accept your humble servant's sacrifice, temporarily use this unworthy shell to descend into the world and guide our path forward..."
The flesh mass trembled. A lofty and mad will suddenly descended, as if an invisible giant eye had appeared above the dark and ignorant void, examining everything below.
"Master... Master is about to descend."
Lady M's voice carried extreme joy and excitement as she trembled. "Silas, what are you still waiting for?"
She was signaling for Silas to sit down.
Right, what was Silas still waiting for?
He nodded and stepped forward, as if he truly was going to enter the flesh and blood.
However, just as Silas passed Lady M, blocking her line of sight for that brief instant...
His left hand shot into his chest pocket and pulled out the bone whistle that had been hidden inside all along, concealed by a wall of spirituality.
Bringing it to his lips, he blew hard. No sound emerged, only the spirituality within his body pouring out like water in a torrent!
"Creeeeak..."
With a teeth-grinding sound of opening, a bronze door suddenly appeared behind Lady M. The door opened, and a white skeletal giant hand fiercely reached out from within.
Lady M was completely focused at this moment. She was so excited by the True Creator's will descending that she never expected the controlled Silas to pull something like this.
Before she could react, she was firmly grasped by the bone hand!
The massive skeleton stood behind the bronze door, its eye sockets flashing with ghostly blue light, its aura powerful and terrifying.
"You!"
Lady M cried out in disbelief.
Silas had no time to watch the bone whistle's effect. In one breath, he pressed his lips to the bone whistle and continued blowing.
From the depths of the door emerged a pale, rotting eyeball, with every eyelash burning with pale flames. It floated out and fixed its gaze on Lady M. Her body suddenly stiffened, unable to move, unable even to speak!
"Throw her into the flesh!"
Feeling that the spirituality within his body was insufficient to support another blow, Silas shouted at the two seemingly high-ranking undead creatures.
The massive skeleton acted without hesitation, throwing Lady M's beautiful body into the flesh's seat.
"Ahhhhh! Master!"
The moment she made contact, the flesh eagerly burrowed into Lady M's body, as if wanting to become one with her.
A mysterious and terrifying will enveloped her. She was almost immediately buried, with only her face still outside, unable to break free!
An expression of both joy and anger surged across Lady M's face. "My humble body is not worthy to be your vessel. Please let me down. I'll replace it with a better one for you!"
Part of the flesh obeyed her words and retreated, but another part still clung to her, difficult to remove for the moment.
"Kill her!"
Seeing how effective the two undead were, Silas couldn't help but shout.
But when he turned around, he was dumbfounded. The bronze door had already closed. The two undead had literally only given him a hand, then left!
Damn it!
He cursed angrily and didn't dare delay.
He turned and rushed into the warehouse, using the ritual dagger to cut his finger and pressed it on the array on the floor, trying to modify and destroy the ritual!
Although he could run away now, screw that!
Blood seeped through his fingertip and made contact with the patterns on the ground. With a slight distortion, they became a different design.
Silas felt the feedback from the array. The good news was that the array could indeed be modified. The bad news was that the modification might take a minute or two... By then, Lady M would have broken free!
"It's useless."
Lady M also saw his efforts and said with a smile.
Seeing Silas modifying with all his strength, paying her no mind, she struggled to pull an arm free from the flesh and pointed it at Silas like a gun.
"Bang!"
An air bullet shot through Silas's chest, but he didn't even glance at Lady M, just kept his head down, drawing and writing. Through the hole in his torn clothes, you could see that his mangled wound had already begun to heal.
"Blasphemous wretch!"
Anger flashed in Lady M's eyes. Her thin, beautiful lips parted slightly, and invisible disease spread through the air. Before long, Silas began coughing and running a fever, as if suffering from severe pneumonia.
His vision was blurring, his fingers growing weak, but Silas kept persisting because this was his only remaining means!
However, even with all his effort, he couldn't finish the modifications before Lady M broke free.
She had already freed half her body from the flesh, with only one foot still stuck inside, her expression gradually stabilizing. But he still had a small portion of the array left to paint.
Silas gritted his teeth, persisting for reasons he didn't even understand.
"You've already tried very hard. You deserve praise."
Lady M said in a gentle yet cruel tone, reaching her hand toward Silas.
"Thud."
Just at that moment, a dull sound drew Lady M's attention.
Outside the warehouse door on the ground, the damaged Captain Edward half-knelt, his right hand gripping a black, translucent, gem-like staff, striking the ground once with difficulty and all his strength.
Grade 1 Sealed Artifact, 1-114!