Chapter 132: Inverted Position

Blood dripped, drop by drop, onto the ground, merging into intricate patterns carved into the stone, forming a winding stream that transformed into a blood-colored magic circle.

At the top of the cave walls, the source of the dripping blood was eerily fixed in place.

It was an inverted blood cross, secured to the stone wall, with a living being bound and hanging from it.

Most of them were clearly ordinary residents from the Holy Empire, some dressed as clergy, and even a few slain knights from the Expeditionary Army, their races varied without any discernible pattern.

Their arteries severed and drained, regardless of what they were like now, they had surely been dead for quite some time. However, the sharp-eyed Priestess almost immediately noticed the one thing these individuals had in common.

All of their hanging bodies wore emblems representing their identity as Church of the Goddess cultists, at least of the white wing class.

This detail was nearly identical to those “sinners” discovered underground along the Holy Spirit Path, but… there were some subtle differences.

These martyred souls bore a noticeably higher status within the church than their predecessors.

The Temple Knights were self-explanatory, but any clergy members present were at least of silver or even golden-winged rank, while even among the common folk, the lowest rank of white wing was quite scarce, forming a stark contrast to the majority of the lowest-level cultists found underground along the Holy Spirit Path…

“Inverted blood of the cross, hanging upside down… hmm… could there be upright ‘blood of the cross’ as well? But what does the ‘inverse’ signify specifically? Just the positioning of these crosses and sacrifices?”

Though murmuring to herself, since the sacrifices were already dead, Vilyric wouldn’t waste any effort trying to rescue them; after all, there was no time for that now.

Within the depths of this cave, there were indeed living creatures.

However, unlike what the scouting team leader Felix described as “strange personnel”, what appeared near this blood cross magic circle were over a dozen towering, menacing creatures, nearly twice the height of an average human.

“Master, it’s a demon.”

“Uh-huh.”

Just as Little Dragon Daughter said, these were the invaders from another world, universally despised by the majority of the Holy Nation, collectively referred to as “demons.”

They appeared in a gray-black hue similar to the dim light of the cave, their bodies unscaled and unarmored, mostly protected by a hard, keratin-like material that didn’t cover their entire bodies. Only areas less likely to be attacked, such as their bellies, seemed tender and weak.

On two feet, their clawed hands were sharp like a ferocious beast’s, but longer and more powerful, capable of performing gripping actions.

These creatures sported a pair of somewhat crude, broken black bat wings on their backs that seemed mismatched with their bodies. They likely had once possessed the ability to fly but had since degenerated due to some reason; now, they could at most glide.

As for their faces, they somewhat resembled black lizards but didn’t reach the same slender proportions. Their mouths were especially wide, and those sharp, menacing teeth were easily visible even in the faint light provided by the Light Element Spirit, thanks to the Priestess’s excellent night vision.

Demonic Beasts, a basic type of demon from the demon realm, are characterized by their large numbers, rapid reproduction, short maturation period, and they can endure most harsh environments — much like the humans commonly found in this world, but with greater physical strength and relatively lower intelligence.

Or rather, they resemble goblins or slimes, but the combat capabilities of Demonic Beasts are clearly far superior to the latter two.

Though Demonic Beasts don’t belong to any specific demon lord, their individual power is less than that of most high-ranking demons. However, this became their greatest advantage during the invasion, allowing them to relatively easily cross the barriers of worlds and respond to summoning.

Therefore, during the past three Demon Wars and most demon upheavals, it’s said that Demonic Beasts were always active at the forefront of the invasion, becoming one of the almost universally known classic demonic figures within the Holy Nation.

Moreover, Demonic Beasts are among the few demons that have a strong craving for material blood and flesh, and due to their low intelligence, they can be easily driven by instinct; slaughtering defenseless civilians for food is something they frequently do — earning a notorious reputation.

However, Demonic Beasts never move in groups of their own accord; once they gather, it signifies that there are certainly stronger high-ranking demons leading them, so…

Oh, sorry, they’ve already surrounded us.

Demonic Beasts can walk on two legs, but during a full sprint, they choose to run on all fours, like mountain wolves, with claws that can dig deep into solid walls, achieving a near-gripping effect akin to clinging to edges.

Here, however, they chose not to employ evasive tactics. Instead, they spread out and slowly surrounded the two girls from all sides of the cave, indicating that these Demonic Beasts’ claws likely weren’t strong enough to penetrate the notoriously tough mountain structure of St. Bergon.

“They look just like hungry wolves catching the scent of blood.”

Surveying the circle of Demonic Beasts that had formed a semi-circle around them, with a few even maneuvering behind to block the retreat routes of the two girls, Vilyric couldn’t help but make such an assessment.

In the dim stone cave, she could clearly see the creatures closing in, saliva dripping from their bared teeth, clearly drooling over the fresh blood meal they had just been delivered.

Yet, even so, these Demonic Beasts did not — or rather, were not allowed to — lash out at the corpses hanging from the inverted blood crosses above, reinforcing the Priestess’s belief that there must be a higher entity commanding them.

“Master, would you like me to clean up these ugly pests?”

“Uh… that’s not urgent…”

Ordinary Demonic Beasts match evenly against entry-level holy knights—sometimes referred to as devout knights—and second or third-tier Arbiters, or novice priests below level 20.

While that sounds quite impressive, remember they are relatively low in intelligence and won’t use equipment or tactics, essentially being used as cannon fodder by high-ranking demons in large-scale wars.

Given Vilyric and her companion’s strength, clearing out these Demonic Beasts would only take a casual flick of the wrist. However, the Priestess was not currently contemplating how to defeat these nuisance demons, but rather what exactly the “blood of the inverted cross” magic circle here was, and…

Why were these Demonic Beasts appearing here?

Guardians? That seemed to be the most reasonable and appropriate explanation. But if that were the case, why didn’t they set up a watch at the cave entrance, but instead gathered in droves here?

Besides, with just about ten Demonic Beasts, compared to the magical foundation known as a forbidden spell… wouldn’t the guarding force be too weak? Shouldn’t there be some higher-ranking demons deployed too?

It felt much like assigning a dozen untrained ordinary farmers to guard the Lingyin Merchant Association’s treasury — an oddly mismatched situation.

Ultimately, what purpose does this so-called “blood of the inverted cross” magic serve? Who built it, and why was it set up here in the St. Bergon Mountains?

Yuna said preparing forbidden spells could take ten years or even decades, so it wouldn’t be specifically aimed at the Expeditionary Army or this war — it seemed more like both sides coincidentally collided, or someone just happened to want to annihilate the Holy Nation’s army using this nearly completed magic.

Lost in thought, the black-haired girl stepped forward.

She decided to personally give it a try.

“Ga!”

At last, a Demonic Beast unable to suppress its urge for blood lunged toward her!

However, without any command, the golden light orbs floating beside the girl suddenly erupted with dazzling rays, slicing through the menacing beast effortlessly, splitting it in two with ease.

An absolute crushing victory; an undeniable kill.

The gap in strength between the two sides reached a point of such… near impossibility to be deemed a battle.

“Thud…”

Two pieces of flesh, now blackened, fell from mid-air onto the ground, creating an eerie echo in the somewhat quiet cave.

   

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