Lord of Mysterious Wizard
Chapter 524 - 485: Gafaro’s Country (Additional - 4 for Alliance Hierarch with the last digits 9483!)

Chapter 524: Chapter 485: Gafaro’s Country (Additional Chapter 4 for Alliance Hierarch with the last digits 9483!)

Within the earth cave filled with a warm aroma, at this moment, it was not only McGraw who understood the meaning of the phrase "Only after a full meal, are we family"; the other trialists captured and brought here also realized its significance.

At the same time, they also came to a clear understanding of the source of the horrifying smiles on the faces of the abnormal cultists when they were thrown into the earth cave.

As they exhausted all efforts to maintain their calm, they saw shadows casting down from above.

Outside the gap of the earth cave, hovering above that bizarre, rotten "Corpse Mountain," dozens of human figures appeared. They were all dressed in yellow robes, embroidered with a symbol that resembled a Cross, but with an additional half-circle symbol at the top.

After starting to "work" for Tang Qi, McGraw developed a fondness for reading and learning.

That symbol, he had seen it in many books related to mysticism, and even in reality-based books discussing religion and the Divine, signifying an ancient symbol of "end" and "rebirth."

"Could that Evil God called Gafaro really intend to replace the Lord of Light?"

McGraw lifted his head in surprise, watching those dozens of cultists gathering around.

On the other end of Sun Badge Valley, Tang Qi showed no sign of surprise.

"Most Evil Gods seek to replace the Lord of Light, at least until they reveal their true faces," Tang Qi expressed to McGraw as the yellow-robed cultists finally approached.

Skulls peered through the gap atop Corpse Mountain, gazing at the total of thirteen survivors.

Among them were men and women, old and the young, merely in their teens. McGraw had seen most of the "missing persons" files; some with photographs, some without. Now, he struggled but managed to identify a few.

In the files, they were prostitutes or vagrants, their faces either caked with cheap makeup or covered in filth.

But now, their faces were washed clean, almost excessively so, as if veiled with a faint glow. Absurdly, they seemed somewhat "sacred."

The hands and fingernails revealed beneath their yellow robes were exceptionally clean and tidy.

Perhaps, they had been reborn?

Faced with the survivors’ cries, insults, or pleas, these dozens of cultists remained silent, merely looking at them with a "compassionate" gaze that sent shivers down the spine of every survivor.

Soon, soft footsteps began to sound.

They parted to make way, and a figure in a red robe slowly approached.

This was an old man, with the stature of a Dwarf, his blood-red robe dragging on the ground, rustling with a "shasha" sound with his approach. As he drew closer, everyone, including the survivors, could see his body.

"Eh?"

A look of surprise crossed McGraw’s eyes.

This seemed to be the leader, an old man who, paradoxically, was far from the cleanliness and orderliness of the other cultists. Beneath the red robe was a hunched, foul-smelling, and incomplete body. He was nearly naked, save for a piece of cloth covering his lower waist.

His body was frail, his skin loose and covered in liver spots, as well as rot and sores from various diseases. Accumulated filth from years of uncleanliness attracted maggots, flies, and cockroaches, which happily crawled all over, enjoying a "special feast."

His hair, oily and clumped together, rested upon a face void of any hope, that of a walking dead.

Everyone saw his eyes, stagnant and foul like dead water.

Including McGraw, these eyes were all too familiar. He had seen them countless times while he was a beggar.

"Once in the Blank District of Messer City, there were many such people, not just the old. Homeless children, prostitutes who were expelled from Red Bird Street due to incurable venereal diseases, the destitute, the terminally ill... They were the rotten flesh cast aside by the world beneath the bustling metropolis."

"Once, I was one of them."

McGraw murmured in a very low voice.

On the fourth floor of the Library Tower, Tang Qi, holding the Sun Badge and with drooping brows, remained silent.

...

"Huff~huff, huff"

Suddenly, rapid breathing sounds abruptly pierced everyone’s ears.

Unable to resist an inexplicable urge, the survivors’ eyes all turned to the old man beneath the crimson robe.

They watched as the old man, originally resembling a walking corpse, seemed to suddenly come back to life, like a drowning victim finally breathing fresh air, or someone breaking free from illness, as his chest rapidly rose and fell.

Then came an unbelievable strong heartbeat.

Such vibrant pulsation, like that of a newborn, caused the survivors’ own heartbeats to involuntarily sync with its rhythm.

Snap!

A soft sound. The old man’s robe fell to the ground.

Suddenly, amidst the rapid breathing and rhythm full of life force, the body began to undergo a shocking transformation.

Through the "Sun Badge," Tang Qi watched fuzzily as the hunched, fetid body began to rejuvenate. The filth, the sores, the rot... along with the entire layer of skin and flesh, silently peeled away, revealing a pale, glowing physique.

The old man began to regrow anew.

As he took his final step, the decaying old man vanished.

In his place, what appeared before the eyes of McGraw and the others was a naked young man with a "perfect body."

Even McGraw, who had experienced many extraordinary events, didn’t know how to react at this moment, nor did he have the words to describe such a body.

He was like a creation of the Master that had stepped out of an "ancient oil painting," with a handsome face that glowed, muscles without a single flaw, perfection to the point where not a single error could be identified.

He stood above the heads of the survivors, akin to a piece of art.

Unabashedly, he displayed his totality to the crowd.

This man, who seemed to be the leader of the "Holy Guidance Sect," did not use any seductive language, nor did he portray impassioned preaching; he merely used silent imagery to present himself to the survivors.

As if a silent film from an era of confusion, imbued with religious fervor, yet inescapably captivating.

On the man’s forehead, strands of crimson radiance suddenly appeared, as if a pair of invisible hands held a pen, slowly engraving the ghastly "Cross" symbol.

And when the final stroke of that symbol, which signified end and Resurrection, was drawn, low yet holy Chanting began to sound.

"Light dies, Dark is reborn."

"Fallen demons slay the Good."

"Crimson blood spills, gathering into a sea."

"Fools’ vessels drift in the ocean; together on board, pummeled by the wine of Desire, brushed by the winds of decay."

"May the Divine aid me, send down the Sweet Rain."

"May the Divine aid me, gift the feast."

"Ah, I shall return, to the beautiful and peaceful... Gafaro’s Country."

"Boom!"

From the moment the Chanting began, an unknown horror oppressed all survivors in place; they were paralyzed, incapable of thought, forced to watch the naked man rise slowly as the chant progressed.

He was glowing, a light of unmatched sanctity.

Every Cultist was glowing.

A vast "cloud" drifted over, and the warm Sunlight penetrated it, instantly turning a deep yellow. Within the cloud, a patter of sounds, hard to believe, a Miracle-like vision, raindrops with a rich sweet taste, continuously falling.

"Sweet Rain descending?"

On the fourth floor of the Library Tower, Tang Qi’s expression tightened with vague images flashing in his mind.

Instantly, he had McGraw look towards the "Corpse Mountain," formed and fermented from the accumulation of incomplete humans. Silently, as the rain fell and the yellow Sunlight shone, plumes of yellow smoke rose, concealing the horror and neutralizing the stench.

When McGraw’s focus returned, what appeared before his eyes was cuisine.

The endless delicacies that McGraw, once a "beggar," had dreamed of night after night, so tempting they were unimaginable, enticing McGraw to approach, to touch, to indulge.

But quicker than him were the other survivors.

Those seven men and women who had emerged from different passages rushed almost simultaneously with a roar uncharacteristic of Humans, aggressively climbing Corpse Mountain, stuffingly crazily the rotten Flesh, melted viscera, and viscous Corpse Fluid into their mouths.

Five individuals behind McGraw acted similarly.

"Stop them!"

The words that passed through the Sun Badge seemed to carry a scorching breath, instantly snapping McGraw to clarity.

He lashed out like lightning, yet even so, managed to only knock out three of them.

Two others broke through the Defense, about to step onto Corpse Mountain.

As McGraw was about to chase after them, overhead, within the dense yellow smoke, an even deeper, more powerful Chanting relentlessly invaded McGraw’s ears.

"After feasting, then we are family."

"After feasting, then we are family."

None of the Cultists intervened; it was only Chanting, the Extraordinary Power bursting from within McGraw unable to halt the ever-growing and increasingly true Illusions in his mind, the intense hunger in his belly about to take over his heart.

Hiss!

Without hesitation, McGraw took a sharp stone fragment from his bosom, forcefully stabbed it into his thigh.

The acute pain brought him a fleeting clarity.

At that moment, a voice that instantly calmed his mind sounded from within the "Sun Badge" he carried.

...

On the fourth floor of the Library Tower, before McGraw acted, right when the eerie Chanting was halfway, Tang Qi abruptly stood up; beside him, the body of Diana slowly emerged then disappeared again, along with the "Rubber Man Secret Medicine" in Tang Qi’s hand.

He then solemnly addressed the Sun Badge: "Hold out for ten breaths!"

"Sizzle!"

At the base of Corpse Mountain, amidst the thick yellow smoke, McGraw gripped the piece of stone, stirring it fiercely within the wound.

He bit down hard on his teeth, resolutely saying, "Yes, sir."

ps: Adding a Chapter for Alliance Hierarch 20180414035619483, and thank you to 书友瑾祭丶 for the generous reward, the four-Chapter release is complete.