Hao Ren was not entirely sure if the cult members who performed the evil ritual were the ones behind the trouble in Beinz. However, their appeareance in a troubling situation during a troubling time was enough to implicate them of the strange phenomenon in Dragonspine Ridge. Even if he disregarded this, he was not going to sit by and watch these people perform a human sacrifice.
Hao Ren had been hiding behind Nangong Wuyue's mist barrier the entire time. The cult members were immersed in the their ceremony and did not expect them. Everyone was in a daze when Hao Ren lunged out at them. It was only when the MDT hit the man in the mask that they began to come to their senses. Someone shouted, "Heretic! A heretic is in the sacred temple!"
In an instant, the followers took out long knives, daggers, sticks and hooks out of nowhere, turning into combatants in mere seconds. Hao Ren was totally flabbergasted. He had no clue how they managed to hide those things under their robes; he could see how they hid the knives, swords and sticks, but he was totally blown away when he saw a pair of spiked flails.
Hao Ren was not going to take this fight lightly. He was worried that even with his Steel Membrane Shield, he would not be able to take on these four-dimensional "chrysanthemums" and any other weird stuff they may yank out...
It was chaotic in the beginning. The cult followers in black robes appeared to be a band of disorganised, inferior army. But, Hao Ren quickly learned that most of them had backgrounds in military training and all of them had help from magical powers. Their bodies were entwined in an unknown blackish-red air, which spread to their weapons through their hands. They looked like they had just come out of a pool filled with corpses and blood. Hao Ren wielded his alloy baton, fending off their attacks with his superhuman reflexes and strength. But, he was still hit here and there around his Steel Membrane Shield, which gave out bursts of spark.
The cult member wielding a pair of spiked flails attacked Hao Ren from behind. Hao Ren managed to dodge the move as the flails impacted the ground with a bam. From the corner of his eyes, Hao Ren could see the spiked flails, which were shrouded in a blackish-red air blowing a deep crater into the ground with its corrosive power!
No wonder he could feel his shield weakening at a faster rate than usual. That weapon, when coupled with magical power, could be so dangerous.
Hao Ren returned the favour by smashing his attacker with his alloy baton and the latter was flung away by the hit. Hao Ren knew, even with skin as thick as that of a werewolf, no one could have taken the strike without being dead. With his hitting hand, he could roughly gauge that the cult follower was going to suffer at least multiple bone fractures, or worse, be broken in half. However, the guy fell and lay motionless on the ground for just a moment before he got up again, looking completely fine.
The follower was now shrouded with the blackish-red air. Although his face was rotting away and peeling off as if he was being corroded by sulphuric acid, he seemed to feel no pain. His broken bones snapped back into their position and he lunged out to attack Hao Ren again.
This time, the man seemed to be even more ferocious.
The same thing happened to all the other cult believers as well; they felt no pain and healed in seconds. Hao Ren was not prepared to see this, but he was not nervous either; he believed that they were still mortals and they were not going to be able to resurrect themselves indefinitely.
On the other end of the chamber, the man in the mask who was hit by the MDT stood up. His mask had been smashed into half, revealing the face of a middle-aged man with little features. The cult leader was surprised to see that Hao Ren was able to fight multiple men at the same time. He made a decision before chanting a few incantations quietly and thrusting his staff into the ground.
As the staff came in contact with the blood-soaked patterns on the ground, a soft hum filled the chamber. The altar in the centre also began to resonate with the hum as the blood in the altar began to surge and a dark red mist began to rise. It looked like it was nurturing something.
Amid the chaos, the sleeping child who was laying unattended on the altar began to be consumed by the bloody mist. Suddenly, a shadow shrouded in light blue mist lunged in from outside the door. Nangong Wuyue seized the opportunity and saved the child from the bloody mist—a move she had secretly discussed with Hao Ren a while ago.
After saving the child from the altar, Nangong Wuyue did not leave the chamber. Instead she began to setup a position in a corner, ready to come to Hao Ren's assistance at any moment. She summoned the mist barrier, placed the child on the floor. She curled the child up with her tail as protection while her upper body and head danced around with a menacing hiss. A few believers who came to snatch the 'offering' stopped in their track as they saw Nangong Wuyue, the strange creature. One of them even screamed, "Don't bother with this lump of snake! The mist surrounding it must be poisonous!"
So they turned around and went for Hao Ren, leaving Nangong Wuyue dumbstruck. "...lump?"
The siren's face had several changes of expression, apparently she wanted to join the fight but was reluctant. She ducked as if she was scared. Her fight aversion seemed to be worse than people had thought.
Hao Ren had noticed her condition. He was always curious about her fight aversion condition but hadn't really examined it. To him, she was a gentle aquatic creature who disliked fighthing. What's more, he couldn't afford to divert his attention to take care of her for the moment.
He knew he had to finish off these cult followers as quick as possible and capture one or two alive. The fact that these fellow were performing mysterious ritual in here must have something to do with Dragonspine Ridge. Even if there wasn't a relationship, there must be some big secrets behind these people, their weird religious ritual, and their view on Disciples of Glory.
As he had expected, the resurrective ability of these people was finite. No matter what kind of power they had gotten from the strange ceremony of fresh and blood, this power couldn't inject into the mortals indefinitely. After rounds of fatal attack were unleased upon them, the the body of the cult followers started to crumble.
Each injury they suffered, part of their bodies would fester. As the injuries built up, the wound just got bigger and spread throughout their bodies and ultimately became fatal. Some of the cult followers had already turned into a lump of carrion under the constant exhaustive attack. Though they were still attacking with no fear of death, their movement was visibly slower.
A stocky man, draped in black robe but with expensive clothes inside, was wielding a machete towards Hao Ren. with a swing of a hand, Hao Ren flung him away. The man's body burst in mid air and fell back on the ground in a pool of black and red mud.
This was the first cult follower who was completely killed.
Knowing these guys could be killed, Hao Ren became more confident. He motioned the MDT, which was hovering in the air sniping, and said to it. "Capture one of them alive!"
"I'm on it!" The MDT yelled back. It repeatedly hit the head of one of the cult followers, who looked more like a zombie than a ghost, trying not to kill him in the process.
With his inexhaustible strength and unbreakable body shield, Hao Ren quickly finished off the rest. The chamber was filled with disgusting corpses of the 'monsters'. But just when he thought he had finished them all, a strange sounding incantation was heard from not far away.
The leader of the cult, who had been ignored all this while, raised the long staff in his hand. His face was twisted with fanaticsm as he pointed the staff at Hao Ren. "Heretic! The goddess has answered my call. Be ready to face the power of goddess!"
Hao Ren was half-stunned. Suddenly he felt an overwhelmingly horric force was felt coming from the altar.