AWB Chapter 466 The Shadow Has Arrived
Chapter 466 The Shadow Has Arrived
"Resolve this quickly and go help."
Gray scanned the surroundings with his mental energy and discovered that in addition to the cultists below who were trembling with fear, there were also cultists hiding above the valley. He had now discovered the anomaly below the valley.
But he didn't seem to have figured out the situation yet (meaning he hadn't seen him), and was still hiding behind the rocks, observing below.
Indeed, it would be strange not to occupy such a strategically advantageous location.
In addition, a large number of Soul-Burning Scorpions were also lurking beneath the ground.
“These insects can not only dig through yellow sand, but also through the harder valleys.”
Although Gray didn't think the cultists guarding this place were particularly strong, objectively speaking, it was a defensive line that even a sixth-tier professional would find difficult to break through alone.
"Try to control it a little, don't let it cause a large-scale collapse. If falling rocks block the exit, it will be a lot of work to deal with..."
……
Time crawled slowly across the scorching sand. Each grain of sand seemed to emit a faint hum from its taut nerves.
After the shadowy figure's fatal blow came a long, suffocating period of heightened alert.
Under the blazing sun, the gray-robed cultists, like frightened birds, leaned against the jagged black rocks, their weapons gripped tightly in their hands, their knuckles white from the force.
Their gazes, like red-hot probes, frantically scanned every rock's edge, every crease in the shadows, even every hem of a robe fluttering in the hot wind. Every subtle shift in light through the cracks in the rocks, every tiny sound of sand rolling down, was enough to make several men jump in fright, their weapons pointed at the empty air, emitting suppressed, incoherent roars.
A long time has passed...
Apart from the howling wind, the rolling sand, and their own heavy, suppressed breathing, there was no other movement. The shadow that had devoured their companions, as enigmatic as it had appeared, vanished without a trace. No more bodies fell, and the shadow was nowhere to be seen.
Apart from the howling wind, the rolling sand, and their own heavy, suppressed breathing, there was no other movement. The shadow that had devoured their companion vanished completely, just as mysteriously as it had appeared. No second body fell, no second shadow appeared.
The string, stretched to its limit, did not relax after confirming that it "seemed" safe. Instead, it hummed, releasing a distorted, almost hysterical sense of relief.
“It…it’s gone?” A young cultist’s voice came from under his hood, hoarse as sandpaper, trembling with disbelief. His grip on the scorpion spear loosened slightly, the tip pointing towards the ground, drawing a meaningless mark in the sand.
"The blazing sun's rays... dispelled that filthy shadow!"
Another voice rang out; it was that of an old believer, Kug, who had fallen.
He struggled to sit up cross-legged again, trying to straighten his hunched back. He deliberately raised his voice, attempting to dispel the lingering fear in his heart with a declaration of faith, but the last syllable still carried a slight, imperceptible tremor.
His cloudy gaze swept over the pool of blood on the ground, which had turned into a dark brown scab, and his companion's twisted corpse, before quickly shifting away to stare intently at the blazing sun overhead.
"It's the piety of High Priest Kug! It must be the elder's prayers that attracted the scorching sun's gaze, burning the reptiles in the shadows!" A cultist near Kug hurriedly echoed, his voice filled with the obsequiousness of someone who had survived a calamity and the eagerness to find someone to rely on.
He practically crawled toward Kug, as if the old cultist was the only safe place for him.
“That’s right! Under the blazing sun! How dare those shadowy minions linger in true light!” Another voice joined in, filled with the exhilaration of surviving a catastrophe.
He brandished the sun sickle in his hand, the movement exaggerated yet powerless. "It only dares to ambush! It only dares to crawl in the shadows! In the blazing sun, it has nowhere to hide!" These words were less a declaration and more a way of bolstering his own courage.
"High Priest Kug...we...we survived!" The young believer's voice trembled with a sob, mixed with ecstatic joy. He looked at Kug, his eyes filled with dependence and gratitude in the shadows beneath his hood.
Kug took a deep breath of the scorching air, striving to maintain the dignity of an elder: "Yes, the blazing sun has selected its servants. The cowardly and impure have been taken away (he glanced at the corpse), and we have withstood the test!" He emphasized the word "test," attempting to rationalize the death of his companion. "This proves the steadfastness of our faith! It proves that our defense of this place is a manifestation of the sun's will!"
"Eternal Sun! Burning Shadows!" Several believers, as if grasping at a straw, chanted the doctrinal slogans in low, uneven voices, their voices hoarse but carrying a kind of fanaticism after venting their fear.
They began to move cautiously, regrouping. Although their eyes still warily scanned the surrounding shadows, their tense bodies visibly relaxed. Some began checking if they had lost their weapons in the chaos, while others secretly wiped the cold sweat beading on their foreheads with the corners of their robes. They exchanged glances, their eyes filled with lingering fear, a trace of remaining dread, but even more so with a morbid elation at their "survival," and a blind acceptance of Kug's words.
They deliberately avoided the bodies of their comrades on the ground, as if they were an ominous stain that would tarnish their newly won "victory".
"Dispose of them...dispose of them," Kug said, pointing to the corpses, his voice regaining its usual coldness, "with 'purification' (a crude cremation ritual used by a sect to dispose of corpses). His soul has returned to the furnace of the blazing sun; his body should not defile this sacred place."
The cultist closest to the entrance hesitated for a moment, a hint of instinctive resistance flashing across his face (dealing with the charred remains of his companions was by no means a pleasant task), but under the stern gaze of Kug and the stares of the other cultists who were also "survivors," he still gritted his teeth and stepped forward, clumsily dragging the heavy corpses with his wooden staff and sickle toward a relatively open sandy area outside the valley entrance.
At the same time, all cult practitioners sensed the fluctuations in magical power.
Before they could react, the magic had already erupted.
A purplish-black light flashed, instantly engulfing all living things at the mouth of the valley.
The rocks on both sides were also affected to some extent by the burst of purplish-black magic.
However, the ground cracks and falling rocks did not have a significant impact on the passageway at the valley entrance.
"The scale is getting a bit too big; it might attract other cult members."
"No problem, just kill as many as they come."
Gray walked into the valley.
Gray would rather the waiters and orcs see the burst of magic than the cultists.
This is the signal being sent to them.
It proclaims, "The shadow of evil has arrived."