Chapter Eleven: The Conspiracy of Blood Sacrifice

  The Shamen priests standing around, blew the horns in their hands, and the long sounds pierced through the night sky, echoing under the giant war god statue. The countless beastmen gathered around immediately fell silent, and the scene was quiet.

  The most important ritual of the War God Festival, the Oracle Ritual is finally about to begin.

  Accompanied by the prolonged blast of a horn, a faint drumbeat began to sound in the air, and as the drumbeats grew more numerous, they gradually drowned out the horn's blast.

  The beat of these drums, with a strange rhythm, imperceptibly, as if in sync with the human pulse, gradually makes one's heartbeat consistent, followed by the boiling of blood throughout the body.

  Many beastmen on the scene have been affected, their eyes gradually turning red, and they unconsciously let out wave after wave of welcoming roars in sync with the drumbeats.

  In this fervent atmosphere, seven tall and unkempt barbarians were being dragged by two iron chains towards the stone platform in the arena.

  They are beastmen captured in war with the barbarians, now to be used as ritual sacrifices, prepared to be offered to the war god Pherys.

  Seeing these barbarians, the beastmen who were excited by the drumbeats immediately burst out with earth-shaking shouts. Many of the beastmen had bloodshot eyes and repeatedly chanted "Kill! Kill! Kill!" unconsciously.

  Despite being surrounded by countless frenzied beastmen, those barbarians were extremely arrogant, not a single one showing any weakness, strutting around with their heads held high, looking around fearlessly, their eyes filled with hatred.

  Drag the barbarians onto the stone platform, two incarnations of the Bimon tribe, who were more powerful than the Mong beasts, pressed them to the ground one by one and bound their limbs with iron chains.

  While making final preparations on the stone pedestal, Ramon slipped away to a corner of the square and called out: "Bast."

  Miraculously, the cat woman appeared right in front of him, and it was unclear how she had heard Raymond's call in such a deafening environment.

  "Get over to Rutz's right away and tell him there may be trouble tonight, so he should be on his guard." Raymon ordered Bastert.

  Bastet seemed reluctant: "Meow, now?" It was clear that she did not want to miss the upcoming ceremony.

  "What's so great about killing unarmed people, just go." Raymond said impatiently, annoyed by the frenzied atmosphere.

  His words immediately attracted the attention of some beastmen around him, who glared at this presumptuous guy with malice, but soon fell into the madness of faith again.

  Bast was also shocked by Raymond's outrageous words, to know that this is a serious blasphemy against the war god, and Raymond actually dared to say it out loud during the sacrifice ceremony, this is no longer a matter of courage.

  "Could it be that the master doesn't believe in the god of war?" Suddenly, a terrifying thought appeared in the cat girl's mind.

  Bastet didn't dare to think about it anymore, she'd rather pretend she hadn't heard anything. She hastily nodded at Raymond and the cat girl quickly disappeared into the frenzied crowd.

  "Good grief, did I really say that out loud?" Raymund slapped his forehead in dismay after Bastet left.

  It seems like I'm getting further and further away from these "fellow countrymen" of mine...

  Lei Meng returned to his seat, at which point the preparations on the stone platform were complete. The chief priest who was presiding over the ceremony, a Mozu shaman, walked to the center of the stone platform and raised the curved knife in his hand high into the air.

  "Waaaah!" The beastmen on site burst into a thunderous roar.

  The shaman walked up to the first barbarian, just about to strike him down, when that barbarian suddenly let out a loud cry: "God of Ice and Snow, curse these beastmen!!"

  The sound was so loud that it could be clearly heard even in the midst of the roar of thousands of beasts, as if he was using this to make a final protest for his own dignity before death.

  The barbarian's movement momentarily halted the shaman's action, but he quickly plunged the curved knife into the barbarian's chest. The angry roar ceased, and with the shaman's practiced motion, a steaming heart was soon placed on a tray held by an attendant nearby.

  The savage's chest burst forth with fresh blood, and the brown stone pedestal beneath him gradually merged into one. At the sight of the blood, the beasts on the scene became even more frantic, baring their sharp white teeth, foaming at the mouth, and shouting out Phereus' name in hoarse voices, as if at this moment, the beastly side of their genes had been completely dug up.

  Then Shaman walked towards the second barbarian.

  The second, the third... all the way to the last one, each of these savages, before dying, let out a fierce and violent roar, expressing their unwillingness and resentment.

  Raymond quietly watched the entire sacrifice process, from start to finish he did not utter a sound. In the midst of the turbulent beastmen, like a small reef standing proudly in the raging waves, insignificant but unyielding.

  Because Raymond can never blend himself into such an atmosphere, it didn't work in the past, it doesn't work now and it won't work in the future.

  When the tray bearing seven hearts was finally placed at the feet of the war god statue, the scene that had been on the verge of boiling over and exploding suddenly subsided into gradual quiet. The beastmen gazed intently at the shaman priest kneeling on the ground, for it was now that he would carry the offerings and communicate with Physis.

  The shaman priest knelt down at the foot of the god, his hands raised high above his head, and assumed a most reverent posture. His mouth was muttering incantations that no one could hear, and gradually, the shaman's body began to shake violently, with increasing amplitude.

  Suddenly, he didn't know what kind of magic was used, and the seven hearts on the altar suddenly burst open, splashing flesh and blood onto the statue, as well as splattering the shaman priest's body and face.

  At this time, all the beastmen on the scene cheered up, because this meant that the God of War had accepted their offerings.

  The priest stood up, and the blood on his body seemed to have a life of its own, flowing slowly and drawing patterns like armor on the shaman's robes. On the shaman's face, the blood also formed a ferocious pattern.

  It's strange that it's exactly the same as the pattern on the War God statue. No wonder the beastmen are so fanatical, and regardless of whether the War God has really descended into his body, just this one move is enough to push the festival to its climax.

  "Ferris says, I'm satisfied!"

  As if on cue, the priest raised his hands and closed his eyes, shouting in extreme ecstasy.

  The cheers of the beastmen grew louder and louder.

  "Ferris said, I will bless the brave beastmen, you must defeat the barbarians!"

  Hurray.

  "Ferris said, 'The rich land of humanity will ultimately belong to you.'"

  Loud cheers.

  "Ferris said, 'The beastmen's thousand-year glory will surely reign over the entire continent.'"

  Extreme cheers.

  ……

  Every time the priest spoke in a high-pitched voice, saying an "oracle", it would be met with frenzied responses from the beastmen. Of course, who doesn't want to hear good words, especially such lofty and profound ones?

  Just as the atmosphere at the scene was being pushed to a climax, something unexpected happened.

  The priest, who had been using his chest cavity to resonate his voice to a higher pitch, suddenly dropped it by an octave and in a stern, anger-filled tone, pointed at Amada: "Ferris is very angry, beastmen, why is your king a woman?"

  This change came too suddenly, and for a moment almost everyone was stunned. Some beastmen who hadn't turned their brains around were still subconsciously cheering, but they quickly realized something was wrong and hastily swallowed their voices back.

  In an instant, the scene which was just filled with thunderous applause had turned into a place where one could hear a pin drop.

  Only that priest possessed by the war god was still muttering in a low voice: "Why, why would the king of the beastmen be a woman? Phyllis is very angry!"

  Gradually, the crowd began to come back to their senses. Although they still didn't understand why the great war god would suddenly point his spearhead at Her Majesty the Queen, the beasts present shifted their gaze towards Amada.

  At this time, Amada was also in a state of confusion and astonishment. With her intelligence, she couldn't figure out for the time being how the peaceful ceremony had turned into this. On the other side, Robard was both shocked and angry, but since this was a sacred ceremonial ground, even someone as noble as him couldn't rashly interrupt.

  Just as everyone was stunned by this sudden change, the elderly Korte of the Baiman tribe suddenly stood up: "Great God of War, please clarify what you just said."

  "Ferris said, 'A woman as king would only lead the beastmen to ruin. She must step down.' Only a true warrior can inherit my will,' the priest on stage chimed in."

  At this point, the situation couldn't be clearer. The beastmen burst into a buzz, all of them whispering to each other with their heads together. Amada also vaguely guessed what had happened and his face turned extremely ugly.

  Robard could no longer bear it, he stood up: "Wait a minute, this priest is not right."