As darkness fully enveloped the surroundings, John felt the temperature around him begin to change subtly.


    The air seemed to be filled with something indescribable, yet distinctly elusive.


    If it weren''t for his already high mind power, he might not have noticed this faint alteration in the atmosphere.


    The High Priest spoke iprehensible words from the tform above, and due to the environment, many echoes resonated around.


    It was as if countless voices were continuously arising, endlessly chanting.


    John suddenly felt an intense headache; it was as if he was hearing countless whispers again, which had been incessantly echoing in his ears for days, almost driving him to the brink of copse.


    These sounds were like chants whispering in his ears, which he greatly resisted, yet he had no choice but to endure forcibly.


    This world belongs to the great deity.


    Everything you have now is because of the deity''s mercy towards you.


    Only those who worship the great deity will possess the most unique power in this world.


    Come, join me in worshipping the great deity.


    When the deityes to this world, we will all be his most loyal servants.


    We will receive the best of everything this world has to offer.


    We are the servants of the creator.


    The murmurs were disorganized, yet they carried a seductive undertone.


    John bit down on his tongue hard, and the next second, he felt the Heart of Dwarf in his chest grow warm.


    In that instant, his mind cleared somewhat.


    When he looked at the High Priest on the tform again, the terrifying sensation he had felt before was gone.


    It seemed these mental attacks could only take effect once.


    Once he had seen through this mental attack, the path forward seemed much smoother.


    The divine artifacts on the faces of the vigers kneeling below had begun to look confused and then slowly turned fervent.


    Even though some managed a brief struggle, their expressions were quickly altered.


    These people were like clean sheets of paper not yet tainted, but in this sea of ink, they rapidly became muddied again.


    In this ce, no one could keep themselves from being contaminated, just like before; the emotion was terrifying, silently assimting them.


    Even though John had mentally prepared himself, witnessing all this was still profoundly disturbing.


    This type of mental control, if leaked, could be a lethal blow to others.


    As the High Priest''s chanting ceased, a rumbling sound emanated from around the tform.


    John keenly sensed the ck mist from the vigers bing more pronounced.


    This ck mist slowly gathered above on the statue on the tform, even covering the red cloth with its dark hue.


    "Great deity, I offer a sacrifice to you! We sacrifice all that is purest! Your delight is our greatest honor!"


    The High Priest spoke fervently, and at the same time, John noticed a pnquin being slowly carried over from a distance.


    Atop the pnquin were the two brides he had seen earlier in the day, now marked with green names.


    John breathed a slight sigh of relief internally.


    At least the preparations made during the day were correct; these could still be utilized.


    He wondered how Archibald and Amelia were faring.


    As the brides appeared, everyone bowed their heads respectfully and knelt on the ground, not daring to raise their heads.


    The brides, like paper dolls, still wore their stiff, programmed smiles, yet a single tear trickled from the corner of an eye.


    It was clearly such a sorrowful emotion, yet their faces bore a strong and eerie smile.


    This seemed illogical to anyone observing, but no one seemed to think it amiss.


    The devotees nearby wore very excited expressions, proudly beating drums and gongs, their faces marked with fervor.


    It was as if at this moment, they were truly holding a wedding ceremony for the deity they worshiped.


    The brides followed the devotees, step by step, walking towards the tform.


    As they were about to step onto the tform, John distinctly saw a moment of conflict on the faces of the two brides, as if they were struggling against something.


    But the next second, the High Priest uttered words John couldn''t understand, and instantly the brides'' normal expressions were suppressed, reced by those eerie smiles.


    They then slowly walked step by step towards the tform.


    As the brides moved closer to the wooden statue, John was surprised to see the friendly green names above their heads start to flicker yellow.


    It seemed that the wooden statue indeed had the power to influence the brides'' allegiance.


    John nced at the tform''s pir, which he had previously cut.


    He knew that once the brides were fully on it, it would surely copse.


    He was curious about what would happen to the wooden statue once the tform fell apart.


    As the two brides slowly ascended the tform, the pirs began to creak ominously.


    The High Priest wore a puzzled expression, wondering where the noise wasing from, but before he could react,


    Boom!


    The tform finally gave way under the weight, copsing entirely.


    The High Priest''s face showed a look of terror as he fell into a heap of wood.


    The two brides also tumbled down, and the wooden statue fellpletely.


    In an instant, a thick ck mist emanated from the statue, swiftly enveloping the entire tform.


    The fog was so dense that it was impossible to see what was happening inside, and no one knew exactly what had urred.


    "Ah!!"


    A terrified scream from the High Priest came from within the mist, seemingly concealing some extreme pain.


    The dense fog roiled and surged as if brewing boundless sin.


    The vigers and devotees below were stunned, never having anticipated such an event.


    The vigers cried out, instinctively wanting to flee, but were immediately blocked by the devotees.


    "Why are you running? Hurry and save the High Priest!"


    "If anything happens to the High Priest and the brides, all of you will pay with your lives."


    "Oh, my deity, my great deity!"


    The devotees were thrown into chaos; some wanted to rescue those on the tform, while others tried to rebuild the copsed structure.


    But the dark mist instilled fear in everyone.


    The captains of the devotees knelt in terror, continuously bowing toward the direction of the tform.


    "The deity is wrathful, we are doomed, we''re all going to die here!"


    A few captains regained some sense and attempted to rescue the High Priest, but at that moment, several other priests appeared.


    While a priest was still ranked below the High Priest, in his absence, everyone had to obey the priests''mands.


    "Everyone, step back! The great deity is about to arrive, and we must wee him with reverence!"


    One of the priests said this and then took a few steps back, leading by example.


    Although a few of the squad leaders felt puzzled, with the priests dering thus, they had no choice but to follow and retreat as well.


    Years of habituation had conditioned them to submit reflexively.


    They dared not raise any objections!


    Although the thick ck fog enveloped the entire sacrificial tform, obscuring visibility and making it impossible to see exactly what was happening inside, John knew it couldn''t be anything good.


    Yet, these priests still chose to conceal the truth! This meant that at night, these priests could indeed be utilized.


    Roar!


    A chilling roar suddenly emanated from within the ck fog.


    The sound wasden with boundless despair and anger, and seemed to also carry the moans of someone enduring immense pain.


    Just hearing this sound made one''s heart shudder!