The city of Essence was once the economic and cultural centre of the west, but now, it was strangely calm and quiet.
The City Lord's Mansion was no longer a mansion, but a large altar made of bones. Unlike the concave altars that Adam's team previously encountered, this altar was built on the horizon, surrounded by countless kneeling people, muttering their silent prayers.
The prayers were endless and unending, and the people threw their health and sanity away to channel their prayers. Some would starve to death, some would wither away, some would have their life forces absorbed by the altar.
The deaths didn't phase anyone either. Dying was a huge honour to them.
At the top of the altar, stood a tall statue with a blurred face. The statue was holding a skeleton of a young girl, similar to the cane of bones. However, the skeleton was transparent, like a crystal, and energy was constantly being fed to it.
Under the huge statue, dozens of priests, and thousands of men and women donned the same white robes -- the only thing distinguishing them were the different silk threads woven onto their robes.
On the altar leading them was a priestess, her white robe decorated with beautiful and intricate silver threads.
The other priests prayed under her lead, and strange, unknown language was muttered under their breaths.
"Praise the great Supreme God, may your glory come onto this world as soon as possible!"
"Golden Silk Priests, stay with me. The rest may leave," the priestess ordered. Her voice was unexpectedly pleasant, sweet like honey, as if her voice was able to heal the wounds of the wounded.
The other priests left silently, and a priest donning golden silk reported, "No casualties today. Most of them died at the hands of the four blasphemers."
The other priests nodded in agreement.
The priestess simply nodded, as if she didn't care.
"These four blasphemers seem to be as powerful as our god, and the children of the Supreme God are unable to resist them. If this continues, these blasphemers will enter his kingdom, while we will be left behind!"
"Luke," the priestess addressed. "Is your faith wavering?"
"No!" the priest named Luke shouted, kneeling on the ground. "My faith in the Supreme God is as firm as ever!" Despite saying this, he was more afraid of the priestess compared to the Supreme God -- he knew of her foul acts of massacre, since she was the one who ordered it.
"That is correct," the priestess smiled. "All glory belongs to the Supreme God; all power belongs to the Supreme God. Nobody can hide from his glory."
"Praise the Supreme God..." Luke muttered, tears staining his face.
"Are you willing to prove your loyalty to the Supreme God?" the priestess offered, stepping forward and grabbing at Luke's hand.
"No... don't kill me!"
Boom.
Luke immediately exploded into gore and blood, and his life force was immediately absorbed by the crystal skeleton. His skull gently hovered towards the altar, adding to its structure.
"Seems that Luke has betrayed the Supreme God. Hence, the price will be his life. Let us pray that he is able to find forgiveness in the Supreme God," the priestess said reverently.
All of the other priests bowed their heads in fear, muttering their praises and prayers to the Supreme God.
The crystal skeleton radiated an eerie red light, blessing the priests. The joy entering their bodies made them forget their fears, and raised their heads in praise and happiness.
"Great Priestess, what does the Supreme God order of us?"
The priestess did not answer him, but instead asked, "How long has Brown betrayed our people and left us?"
"It's been fifteen days," someone replied in a low voice. "If it goes according to plan, he should be arriving at the royal city soon."
The priestess nodded, "The Supreme God is dissatisfied with us. He needs more believers to prepare his kingdom. Brown was bestowed with power, so I will see to it that he carries out the Supreme God's task."
...
Although Adam's team worked as fast as they could, Viscount Brown and his knights were lucky enough to evade capture.
Viscount Brown abandoned all of their supplies, looting what necessities they could. When he encountered a priest, he directly ordered his knights to surrender, showing obedience to the Supreme God.
The priestess gladly welcomed him with opened arms. After Viscount Brown discovered her powers, he made a wise choice to remain dormant, obeying her orders.
However, the priestess knew of his intentions. She didn't kill him immediately, but allowed Viscount Brown to continue with his operations and sacrifices.
After gaining power, Viscount Brown was overjoyed and directly asked the priestess for orders. He was ordered to capture the king's city in order to prepare a new kingdom for their Supreme God.
His plan went incredibly smooth -- he cruelly ordered a massacre, not even sparing a single corpse along the streets of the city. Now, he has successfully occupied the royal city and launched the largest scale sacrifice so far in the cult's history.