Lynch peeked through the crack in the door at the barn interior, which was brightly lit. It was not the steady, spray-like flame of a gas lamp, but an erratic, natural fire, as if someone had ignited a bonfire inside the massive barn.
Figures swayed within the firelight, and a rhythmic chanting began. The ghoul cries, which sounded like infants wailing, now became synchronized. Under the lead of a deep, guttural voice, they chanted phrases that Lynch could not understand.
Lynch's heart sank. This was definitely a ritual. Could everything Elder Bruno said be true? The hillmen had finished their preparations and were so impatient they weren't even willing to wait one night; they intended to move against Maya tonight?
The crack in the door was too narrow to see the full picture. Lynch looked around, reactivated his Phantasmal Sound ability, and then, moving like an agile cat, scrambled up the outer wall of the barn to its height.
Pushing aside a roof tile, Lynch held his breath and peered down with one eye.
The interior of the barn had been cleared out. It was an open space, with four giant kerosene braziers burning fiercely in the corners, illuminating every detail of the warehouse.
From his vantage point, he could see the entire center of the barn floor, where a bizarre pentagram was carved.
The pentagram spanned nearly the entire barn. Its lines were filled with a flowing, bright red liquid that emitted a pungent, bloody stench.
Each of the five points extended into a circle. At the center of each circle lay a carcass—a cow, a sheep, a pig, a deer, and a horse. These five types of large to medium animals had been skinned and placed precisely at the centers. Their bright red muscles still twitched slightly, as if life had not yet departed the dying bodies. In this moment, a grotesque balance between life and death had been achieved.
Inside the five circles, surrounding the carcasses, the floor was inscribed with dense, complex text. Lynch could not make out the small characters, but they also appeared to be written in blood, a bright red that caused a wave of dizziness to wash over him.
Outside the circles were carved numerous eerie patterns. These were not human figures or stories, but rather mysterious and strange symbols. When combined, they exuded an aura that made one's heart and soul tremble with terror.
Lynch immediately averted his gaze from the symbols, feeling his hair drenched in cold sweat. Every symbol contained a rich, foul sense of mystery. Just one glance, without even attempting to understand them, had filled his consciousness with fear and chaos. Had he subconsciously tried to interpret them, he would likely have fallen into total madness by now.
Surrounding this area were eight figures: six ghouls and two humans draped in ghoul props. These bizarre, hideous monsters stood around the massive pentagram in a circle, beating unknown giant animal bones while twisting their bodies to a strange rhythm. They chanted in piercing, harsh tones—a language that seemed difficult to comprehend, filled with a primal, savage aura.
"Bang, bang, bang..."
The drumming grew faster. The lead ghoul shook its head, which was covered in white hair, and its infant-like wailing grew more piercing. The other monsters shrieked and danced along, turning the barn into a scene of chaotic revelry.
"Awoooo!"
The white-haired ghoul howled again, raising the animal bones high with both hands and tilting its head toward the sky. This movement made Lynch break out in a cold sweat, fearing that it would discover him from a hundred meters away, just as it had days ago.
Fortunately, it seemed to be a false alarm. Perhaps due to the fire or its intense concentration, the old ghoul's face flickered past the tile he was peeking through without any reaction, continuing its frenzied howling.
Lynch let out a breath, watching it continue to strike the bones. With its movements, the surrounding braziers also flared up, casting an even more dazzling light that illuminated everything.
Lynch's pupils contracted as he gasped. He had just noticed that a person was also lying in the center of the pentagram.
Even with his shallow knowledge of mysticism, Lynch could tell that nothing good was happening down there.
The pentagram represented the summoning of evil; the corpses suspended between life and death represented a dual blasphemy of both; the flowing blood, though its symbolism was unclear, also radiated an eerie, sinister aura.
Especially since there was a living person in the center—and Lynch recognized her.
On May 15, when he and Officer Angel went to the city hall to investigate a case, he had seen her. This was Diana de Valente, the true appearance of the Valente family's eldest daughter. During their subsequent meetings, whether as an old woman or a middle-aged noblewoman, she had been using the mystery relic, Karina's Exquisite Makeup, to simulate her appearance. Now, she had returned to her original look.
With delicate, beautiful features, she wore a goose-yellow lady's dress, her hands clutching a familiar folding fan to her chest as she lay quietly in the center of the pentagram.
The woman's eyes were tightly shut, as if she were dead, but her expression was quite pained. Her body, like the five skinned carcasses, trembled slightly, as if she were enduring immense agony yet unable to wake from the nightmare.
What was going on?
Lynch was momentarily bewildered. Weren't they on the same side? Why would they put her on the altar?
Had they suddenly fallen out? Or was this ritual unrelated to Maya and intended only for Miss Valente, from which she could profit?
As he analyzed this in his mind, the chanting below grew increasingly urgent and shrill. Looking down, he saw the white-haired ghoul had stopped its dancing and was focused on loudly chanting prayers, while the other ghouls beat their bones with a frequency so fast they nearly merged into a single sound.
Even an outsider could see that the ritual had reached its most critical moment and would soon conclude.
Should he watch the ritual end? Or should he intervene midway?
Lynch's brain spun rapidly.
If this ritual was targeting Maya, then he had to find a way to disrupt it. This was also what the sewer ghouls wanted him to do.
If this ritual was targeting Miss Valente and would harm her, then given their current stances, there was no downside to saving her.
If this ritual was not meant to harm Miss Valente, but rather she was truly colluding with the hillmen to gain some benefit, then interrupting the ritual now would make it easier for him when he eventually faced them as enemies.
Once the possibilities were laid out, Lynch realized that almost every scenario supported his decision to disrupt the ritual.
Only one exception existed: if the ritual below was helping Maya, then he would truly be doing a disservice with good intentions.
But how could that be?
Maya's narrative made it clear that she had been trapped by these hillmen. Elder Bruno's words confirmed it as well; these hillmen were not only Maya's enemies but harbored great malice, wishing only to resurrect the Mordiggian they worshipped. The two sides could verify each other; he was surely overthinking it.
Therefore, the ritual below had to be disrupted. It was the safest choice.
Actually, the method of disruption was simple. Lynch had thought of it from the beginning.
A barn was always the easiest structure to set ablaze. It contained the best accelerant—kerosene—and there were four large basins of it.
As long as he took advantage of the hillman elder's focus on presiding over the ritual, he could slip down along the dark edges and directly overturn the braziers. Any ritual would be interrupted, and once a fire started, he would not have to worry about being discovered. Even if they did notice, no one would be able to spare any attention for him.
Lynch quickly pried off a few more tiles and ran through the plan in his mind once more.
Using Cat's Favor, he would land silently like a cat, then sneak toward the braziers at maximum speed. If he were discovered by the old hillman then, and he used the authority of the earth to displace him like yesterday... hmm?
Just as he was about to jump down and set the fire, Lynch suddenly froze.
Wait. When they fought yesterday, the old hillman used a displacement-like ability. At the time, Lady Red Moon's verification was that it was the Authority of the Earth.
Yet, within the divine authority of Mordiggian, there was only death, cold, and disease.
Was he truly a follower of Mordiggian?
In an instant, Lynch felt his heart descend into chaos. He was at a loss.
Whether to light the fire or not—that was the question.
Rate on N.U.
