157: Sacrifice

In an instant, Father Paul's body twisted, and his figure expanded by a circle, almost ripping his loose black robe.

Bumps grew on the top of his head, then his flesh tore open, revealing horrifying eyes that oozed thick liquid.

Even his entire face was completely distorted and became larger, and sharp teeth were exposed from his opened mouth.

"Is this the real world?!"

"O the great lord of eternal life, Paul offers you eternal faith and loyalty!"

Paul's face was filled with madness and fanaticism, dozens of his eyeballs spewing insanity, as he knelt on the ground, seemingly worshipping some great existence.

This bizarre and strange scene made everyone around him change their expressions dramatically.

In the blink of an eye, Father Paul, who had just been kind-faced, transformed into something more terrifying than those zombies.

Could it be that everything before was just Father Paul's disguise?

Could it be that all this time, they had been living with a great Devil Head?

"Father Paul? What's wrong with you?"

The Sturdy Man frowned, moving away from Father Paul.

"Children, don't be afraid. It is watching here. All of us, under the gaze of the great lord of eternal life, can break free from the false world and find liberation."

The dozens of eyeballs on top of Father Paul's head suddenly stared at the Sturdy Man in unison.

This was a terrifying scene; intense fear, impossible to suppress, was devouring the Sturdy Man's sanity.

The Sturdy Man almost broke out in a cold sweat, his body chilling.

Just then, an Infected rushed over, charging menacingly towards Father Paul.

From Father Paul's sleeve, two tentacles suddenly shot out, oozing slime and even covered with suckers, instantly coiling around the zombie's head!

Under that immense coiling force, the Infected's head was twisted off!

"This..."

The Sturdy Man swallowed, his heart filled with extreme fear.

Just then, he saw the others also stiffen, their figures expanding in an instant, seemingly becoming bloated all at once.

Their faces also became distorted; although not as grotesque as Father Paul's, the difference from humans was evident.

The next moment, they all opened their eyes, and the madness and fanaticism in their gaze sent shivers down his spine.

"High-grade sacrifices, they've delivered themselves to us!"

"Offer these sacrifices to the primordial lord of eternal life! The creator of the real world!"

Looking at the Infected rushing in, they showed maniacal smiles.

The transformed Evil Human Kin looked at the Infected as if a wolf sees a rabbit.

A once beautiful woman, now with a twisted and ugly face, choked an Infected by the neck with one hand, lifting it into the air, while with the other hand, she plunged it into the Infected's chest, digging out a fresh, beating heart!

The Host of this Infected was not yet dead, its bodily functions normal, so its heart was fresh.

"Why do all my Kin like to dig out hearts? Thankfully, they didn't learn from the African hyenas, otherwise, I'd be too embarrassed to mention it."

Outside the church window, Su Yuan stood there, observing everything calmly.

"This... what exactly is going on?"

The Sturdy Man looked shocked; it couldn't be that he had been living with a group of monsters all this time, could it?

But the next moment, he heard a strange whisper echoing deep within his mind.

This whisper seemed to come from the endless abyss of purgatory, and all sanity before It was like a flickering candle in the wind.

"Do you want to survive? Do you want to possess power, to be immune to the Infected's contagion? Worship... Believe..."

Amidst that eerie whisper, the Sturdy Man's expression turned maniacal, and his body became bloated.

His arms twisted, visibly transforming into two long, narrow tentacles, their ends horrifying mouths filled with sharp, dense teeth.

The moment he fully transformed, there was no longer a single human left in the entire church.

These Evil Human Kin, at a genetic level, were already different from humans; they were a completely new species!

Outside the church, large numbers of Infected still rushed in upon hearing the commotion.

But at this moment, there were eighteen Evil Human Kin inside the church!

This was equivalent to eighteen Awakened Ones! And they were not afraid of the Infected's contagion!

Especially Father Paul, whose strength was surprisingly powerful, exceeding Su Yuan's expectations.

He was practically taking down an Infected with every blow.

Those Infected couldn't last a single round against his two tentacle attacks.

A terrifying and chilling tentacle choked an Infected, and with a squeeze, it ripped the Infected's head clean off!

Besides Father Paul, the Sturdy Man was also exceptionally powerful; though his two tentacles' attack power was not as great as Father Paul's, he could still sever an Infected's head.

Even ordinary Evil Human Kin, while unable to gouge out an Infected's brain tissue with bare hands, could still attack their necks and sever their heads.

The physical strength of the Evil Human Kin was also incredibly high; they slaughtered the Infected seemingly effortlessly.

A simple punch from them could send an Infected flying backward, easily breaking their legs.

In the sky, it was clear and cloudless, the blue sky like a freshly washed canvas.

The scorching sunlight streamed through the stained-glass windows, illuminating the sacred interior of the church.

The once holy church was now filled with corpses, and fresh red blood stained the pristine floor, a pungent smell of blood permeating the air.

A hundred Infected lay on the pure white floor of the church, their detached heads still staring at the Evil Human Kin, displaying bloodthirsty and ferocious expressions.

The eighteen Evil Human Kin were not entirely unharmed; they had many wounds on their bodies, some severe enough to expose their stark white bones.

But they didn't even flinch, displaying eerie smiles, and the wounds on their bodies were slowly healing.

That healing speed far surpassed that of ordinary people.

"Quick, offer these sacrifices to the great lord of eternal life!"

Father Paul stood in the very center, looking at the floor covered with Infected and the blood-red ground, a maniacal yet satisfied smile on his face.

The other seventeen Evil Human Kin, with fanaticism and madness on their faces, moved all the Infected, not caring at all about the Infected's biting heads.

"This... it's not going to be like General Yang and Secretary Huang before, with some bizarre symbols, is it?"

Su Yuan recalled the two Evil Human Kin from earlier.

Last time, he found it strange how killing someone was treated like a real sacrifice, even arranging the bodies into a special symbol.

He hadn't instructed these Kin to create such a symbol.

However, he personally found the symbol acceptable, as it fit his aesthetic, so he didn't intervene.

Under Su Yuan's gaze, these Evil Human Kin, with the highest faith and the most bizarre and fanatical smiles, moved all the corpses, as if constructing some special shape.

Su Yuan simply watched.

It took over an hour for all the Infected corpses to be combined, twisted, beaten, and arranged by the Evil Human Kin into a massive, eerie symbol.

Sunlight streamed through the windows, falling into the quiet and solemn church, and also illuminating this bizarre and bloody giant symbol.

This massive symbol was composed of over a hundred Infected corpses.

Some corpses were even completely twisted by powerful forces, becoming some of the lines within the symbol.

"Next, is the sacrifice ritual."

Father Paul stood at the very front, eerily and solemnly, and spoke.

All the Kin, filled with the most fervent faith and maniacal smiles, began to cut their palms with various tools, letting their crimson and frenzied blood drip onto the giant corpse symbol.

"It is One, and also Ten Thousand! It is the creator of the endless abyss! the primordial lord of eternal life! The pioneer of the real world! The almighty Lord of Darkness!"

"O the primordial lord of eternal life, You are the Universe itself, the truth of the world, the God of all gods, please accept this sacrifice, let Your power shine like the stars, reshape this false world, and guide us to the other shore."

As Father Paul prayed, all the Evil Human Kin joined in, reciting the frenzied words.

The blood on the ground seemed to be affected by an invisible force, winding and flowing into a strange shape.

After a long time, the prayer finally ended.