Tivian, on the east coast of Prit Main Island.
During the daytime in Tivian, the light rain had just passed, and the sky was as gloomy as the previous days. In the distant suburbs of the South District, countless factories stood here, forming a forest of steel and brick, encroaching on the originally lush land and spreading towards the sky. Countless workers toiled in this steel jungle, and towering chimneys continuously spewed thick smoke, seemingly darkening the already dim sky even further. In the distance near the sea, the outline of a fortress could still be seen.
In the distance from the factory area, amidst some dry bushes, several figures were gathered, looking together at the distant city and factories. All of them wore black raincoats, concealing most of their bodies, with only their faces exposed from beneath their hoods.
Among these people, three stood at the front of the group. The one at the very front was an old man, and standing behind the old man were a young man and woman.
The old man quietly waited, gazing at the outline of the buildings ahead, as if waiting for something. Behind him, the young man and woman were somewhat restless, their eyes revealing a hint of barely concealed excitement.
"It's almost time... Are you ready?" Finally, as if a predetermined moment had arrived, the old man slowly turned around and spoke to the young man and woman behind him. Their response was swift.
"We are ready!"
"No problem, let's start now! Give us the gift! Our gift!"
The young man and woman quickly answered the old man's words, and the old man spoke again with a solemn expression.
"Let me remind you one last time, the price for accepting the gift will be eternal death, a death that will forever be unable to taste anything. Even so, are you still willing?"
"Of course we are willing! Compared to that supreme deliciousness, what does death count for?"
"Yes... As long as we can taste that deliciousness, what does it matter if we die ten thousand times? Since we tasted that fleeting flavor, the rest of our lives have been for the sake of truly feasting on that deliciousness!"
The young man and woman behind the old man responded again, their expressions still excited, their tone more urgent, answering with absolute determination. Looking at the two before him, the old man smiled slightly, then took out two boxes chained together from beneath his raincoat. Upon seeing the two boxes, the eyes of the young man and woman immediately widened.
The old man unhurriedly unlocked the chains and handed the two boxes to the young man and woman. After receiving the items, the two decisively opened them. What appeared in the boxes were two palm-sized, bloody pieces of meat, seemingly still slightly pulsating.
Upon seeing the meat in the boxes, the young man and woman could no longer suppress the restlessness in their eyes. They immediately reached out and grabbed the meat, shoving it into their mouths without a second thought, biting, chewing, and swallowing it forcefully, consuming the meat raw without any cooking.
"Eat... Eat... This is the gift Elder Duval has given you, from his essence... After tasting this deliciousness, fulfill your final value..."
Watching the scene before him, the old man spoke slowly. As his words ended, the young man and woman had completely swallowed the meat in their hands and were still greedily sucking the blood clinging to their hands and mouths. At that moment, a change occurred in their bodies.
"Ugh... Ugh oh oh..."
The young man and woman who had just devoured the supreme delicacy suddenly widened their eyes and made strange sounds while clutching their necks. Their originally enjoyable expressions suddenly turned extremely painful, with veins bulging on their exposed faces and their eyes filled with bloodshot.
"Ah ah ah!!"
Amidst a painful wail, the young man and woman both fell to the ground. Then their bodies began to mutate, their entire bodies rapidly swelling up like balloons. Their raincoats and clothes were torn open, revealing not normal skin, but black fur.
The bodies of the man and woman rapidly changed, their clothes completely torn, their faces protruding with fangs, and they rapidly transformed into werewolves. However, this seemed to have some differences from normal werewolf transformation.
Finally, the mutation was complete. What appeared before the old man were two tall, mutated werewolves. They were taller than normal werewolves, close to four meters in height. Their fur was extremely sparse and short, and their bodies were abnormally slender, so thin that countless bulging blood vessels could be seen on their skin.
In the eyes of these two mutated werewolves, there was no trace of emotion, only completely irrational madness. Their large mouths were wide open, and viscous saliva flowed down between their fangs. Their entire bodies were constantly breathing heavily, their demeanor like stray dogs with rabies.
After the complete beast transformation, the two mutated werewolves slowly raised their heads and looked at the outline of the continuous buildings in the distant city. After a long howl, they sprinted towards it on all fours at high speed.
...
North Tivian, Church District.
During the day, St. Yong Cathedral was as calm as usual. Citizens walked across the wide Church Square, coming and going to the chapel to pray. Countless Church personnel were also scattered throughout the Church District, busy with their respective duties.
Inside the Archbishop's office, Sister Vanya, dressed in a white nun's habit, was still busy behind her desk. She, who had been buried in reviewing complex documents, suddenly felt something, frowned, and raised her head to look at the southern sky outside the window.
"They're here..."
Muttering softly, Sister Vanya immediately put down her pen, then closed her eyes and began to pray devoutly in her heart.
"Great Aka, recorder of all things... Please connect me with Miss Dorothy..."
"Miss Dorothy, the Tier Vision has reacted. I sense the reaction of Scarlet Tier Extraordinary power, approaching Tivian..."
...
In a tea house on a street near the Church District, Miss Dorothy was originally drinking coffee in a private room while enjoying the street view outside the window. After receiving the prayer from Sister Vanya, she paused slightly, put down her coffee cup, and then thoughtfully responded to the other party in her heart.
"I understand. Where is the Scarlet reaction now?"
"In the south, on the edge of the distant suburbs of the South District, near Grey Cliff Fortress and Blackwater District. There are two Scarlet-level Extraordinary entities. Their Spirituality structures are primarily 'Cup' and secondarily'Shadow'. They are now rapidly approaching Grey Cliff Fortress and Blackwater District. They should be the Scarlet from the Wolf Blood Society!"
Sister Vanya quickly responded to Miss Dorothy. Listening to her words, Miss Dorothy paused slightly, then began to think rapidly in her heart.
'The Scarlet from the Wolf Blood Society has started to act... But the location where this Scarlet appeared is a bit problematic. Their target is the Forbidden Library of Saint Chant Church, which is in the North District. The location of these two Scarlet reactions in the suburbs of the South District is quite far away. Rushing from there to Saint Chant Church is almost equivalent to crossing the entire Tivian City from south to north, almost entering the monitoring range of the Tier Vision from the farthest location from the Church District.
'Not to mention that the appearance locations are so far apart, there are also two Scarlet reactions. According to Vaughn's previous statement, they only had one Scarlet as the leader of this operation...'
Dorothy thought this to herself. Regarding the Wolf Blood Society's strange arrangement, she almost immediately understood it. At this moment, Sister Vanya prayed and asked.
"Miss Dorothy, should I immediately notify the An Yin Bureau to send a Scarlet Tier to deal with it? If I remember correctly, there is a military zone and an industrial key area there."
Listening to Sister Vanya's words, Dorothy paused slightly, then immediately responded in her mind.
"Yes, you can. Immediately notify the An Yin Bureau of the relevant intelligence. However, report a little less on the number of Scarlet Tier reactions, only report one, do not let them send all the Scarlet Tier there, at least leave one to stay in the City."
"Only send one? If one Scarlet Tier goes against two..."
"The Scarlet Tier Extraordinary reaction is not necessarily the Scarlet Tier Extraordinary's main body. Those two Extraordinary reactions are a bit suspicious, and we cannot put all our strength there in one go."
Dorothy calmly responded to Sister Vanya's confusion. In Dorothy's opinion, the two Scarlet Tier Extraordinary reactions there were likely a bait, so the key forces could not be sent there in one go. However, this bait still had the risk of causing large-scale innocent casualties, and from Sister Vanya's standpoint, it could not be ignored.
Listening to Dorothy's reply, Sister Vanya was stunned for a moment, then suddenly spoke.
"I understand..."
Inside the Archbishop's office in the Church District, after hearing Dorothy's suggestion, Sister Vanya immediately stood up, walked quickly to the office door, opened it, and said loudly.
"Gasparre Priest, Anleifusi Priest."
Soon after Sister Vanya spoke, two men wearing priest robes, who were waiting in the distance, quickly came to Sister Vanya and bowed slightly before respectfully saying.
"What are your orders, Sister Vanya?"
"The Tier Vision has sensed the presence of Scarlet Tier Extraordinary power entities. The location is near the Blackwater District in the South District and Grey Cliff Fortress. The Spirituality composition is primarily 'Cup' and secondarily'Shadow', suspected to be the Wolf Blood Society's Treading the Path of the Beast. Anleifusi Priest, you immediately go and notify the An Yin Bureau and the Royal Family, and ask them to arrange a Scarlet Tier to go and investigate and intercept!" Sister Vanya said solemnly to the two priests in front of her. After hearing about the Scarlet Tier Extraordinary entities, their expressions also changed immediately.
"Understood, I will go and notify them now."
After hearing Sister Vanya's words, Anleifusi immediately turned and walked away quickly, while Gaspare, who remained, also spoke with a solemn expression.
"Sister Vanya, I didn't expect that there are cultists of the Scarlet Tier invading this city now. Let's quickly organize our forces and head to the South District to support the Kingdom's Scarlet Tier and protect the devout mortal Kingdom from the claws of the evil gods. This is the duty of the saint church!"
Gaspare said somewhat eagerly, but Sister Vanya's next words poured cold water on him.
"Now is not the time, Gaspare Priest. Please pass on my religious order. The entire Saint Chant Church... the entire Tivian Diocese, is now officially in a state of readiness. Disperse all ordinary believers. Except for the Holy War Army, all other clergy without religious ranks should enter the shelter. The Holy War Army will enforce martial law at all entrances and exits. Those of the third and fourth religious ranks, regardless of their previous affiliated departments, should all be prepared for battle. Those of the fifth religious rank, unless they belong to the Judge, Holy War Army, or Holy War Army, will also enter the underground shelter."
Sister Vanya quickly conveyed her orders to Gaspare. Gaspare was slightly stunned after hearing this order, and then spoke in confusion.
"Sister Vanya... aren't we going to actively support them?"
"No, now is not the time to ask questions, Priest. Please execute the order immediately!" Although the words were still polite, the words spoken by Sister Vanya at this time revealed a hint of undeniable coldness and determination. After hearing her words, Gaspare did not retort anything for a while. He responded simply.
"Yes."
...
Following Sister Vanya's order, the entire Saint Chant Church became busy for a while. Upstairs, downstairs, inside and outside, there were busy priests, sisters, and Holy War Army everywhere for a while. Amidst the hustle and bustle, the ordinary citizens and believers who were originally coming and going in the Church began to be orderly arranged and led away, leaving the St. Yong Cathedral in a series of confusions.
And at this time, in front of the vast Saint Chant Chapel, among the citizens and believers who were being persuaded to leave, there were three people standing aside, coldly watching everything that was happening around them. They were three men dressed in plain clothes. One of them was Sand, one was Vaughn, and at this moment, they were quietly communicating in languages other than prite language.
"These Fanatics are making a move. Our people in other places have already started to act. Is this the signal for us to make our move?" Looking at everything in front of him, the Werewolf named Vaughn said directly, while Sand next to him replied with a frown.
"It should be like this... but the actions of these Fanatics are a bit different from what was expected. They actually have no intention of going out to support. Not only are they all holed up here, but they are also starting to drive people away. Have they noticed something?"
"Hmph... It's probably because Francesco isn't here, so everyone is cowardly. These Fanatics are just a bunch of timid people after all. Once they leave the protection of their own Scarlet Tier, they are nothing. All that talk about fearless sacrifice for faith is just a bunch of nonsense." Besides Vaughn and Sand, another middle-aged man with a beard said disdainfully, and soon Sand continued urgently.
"Anyway, since these guys are going to drive people away, we must act immediately. Brand, wake up all the beastmen now and start the attack."
Sand said this to the Werewolf beside him. Listening to his words, Brand silently nodded, and then began to concentrate, calling out the beastmen who were already prepared and belonged to them.
At the edge of the Church District, in the corners of some streets and alleys, there were several large carriages parked in these places at this moment. Inside the sealed compartments of these several carriages in different locations, countless monsters with black fur all over, ferocious faces, sharp teeth and claws, and ape-like forms were squeezed together. They were all beastmen created by the Werewolf using his wolf poison ability.
These many beastmen were all squeezed into these several carriages, sleeping soundly and unconscious, without any movement. All the beasts seemed to be sleeping peacefully.
At this moment, among these beastmen, one of them seemed to be called by some power, and gradually woke up with a slight trembling of its eyelids. And when it opened its eyes and began to bare its teeth ferociously, something unexpected happened.
Above the head of that beastman, a faintly glowing red silk thread suddenly hung down at some point, drilling into the top of the head of that awakened beastman. After that silk thread was connected to the beastman, its entire body paused slightly, and then it seemed to fall asleep again as if drowsiness had returned. When the beastman closed its eyes again and became silent, the obvious red silk thread gradually faded and disappeared, becoming invisible.
And there were many such invisible silk threads densely packed in this carriage.
And above the carriage, a crow was standing on the roof of the carriage at this time. After the last beastman was connected by the red silk thread, it also spread its wings and flew into the sky. Its figure appeared ethereal and distorted under the weak sunlight.