# Chapter 36: Cult Raid
In the year 833 of the Falling Stars Era, in the Moldova Territory, the fierce wind blowing from the extreme north gradually loosened the thick ink-black clouds in the sky under the sunlight. The blizzard that had lasted an entire month finally ceased.
In the northwest of the territory, at Mount Modess, many adventurers walked out of their tents. They looked up at the sky, where thin golden threads pierced through the gaps in the clouds one after another, falling upon the ground, dotting the white snow with patches of gold.
The blizzard was over.
This thought flashed through everyone's minds. So whether they were adventurers, scholars, mages, or knights of the Moldova Territory, they all turned their heads in unison to look at the unremarkable mountain not far away.
At the foot of Mount Modess, eight entire forces had gathered, with over fifteen Gold-rank experts among them. The Moldova Lord's Manor, the Sky-Piercing White Tower Mage Investigation Team, the Imperial Royal Ancient Ruins Investigation Group, and the Seven Luminaries Council Investigation Team were all official forces. The remaining ones were several large mercenary organizations and adventurer teams with Gold-rank experts.
To determine the first exploration rights to the ancient ruins within Mount Modess, these eight forces had been restraining each other for a long time. If the snow hadn't completely blocked the entrance and the blizzard hadn't made excavation work unsuitable, some force might have already sneaked in to explore.
But now, the blizzard had stopped, and the negotiations between the eight forces were nearing their end. Soon, they would join forces to excavate and explore the mysterious ancient ruins within Mount Modess together.
Brandon Kaos and his wife Verdani Scaret stood on the watchtower of the Scaret family camp. The blonde swordsman's right hand rested on the hilt of the sword at his waist, his gaze filled with worry. The purple-haired mage stroked the sapphire on her staff, equally troubled. The two exchanged a glance, then stood hand in hand at the edge of the watchtower, watching the other forces gathering not far away.
At the foot of the mountain, agile figures rushed from afar, assembling under their own faction's banners. Before long, the total number of all teams combined exceeded a hundred.
Eight forces, one hundred and twenty-nine people, including the two of them, a total of seventeen Gold-rank experts. Such a massive force was enough to crush a regular army head-on. If everyone fought with all their might, leveling Mount Modess and the surrounding Black Forest to the ground wouldn't be difficult. Carelessly, it could even pose a great threat to the towns within the Moldova Territory.
Brandon understood that if he and Verdani didn't both have Gold Peak strength and rely on the empire's power to make those free-spirited, powerful adventurers and mercenary teams think twice, these forces would have already broken out into a large-scale brawl over the exploration rights, let alone be preparing to excavate together like now.
But what truly made them worried, even now with furrowed brows, wasn't these minor matters.
The Plague Cult.
According to intelligence gathered by rangers scouting the territory, Brandon and Verdani knew that at least two teams of elite cultists with Gold-rank experts had been lurking in the Great Aias Mountains recently. Although one team had completely disappeared some time ago, seemingly having left Moldova, the remaining team still possessed considerable strength. If they took advantage of the time when both of them had left the main city to come near Mount Modess and attacked various cities and villages, it would undoubtedly cause great destruction.
Just two teams of elite cultists were enough to exhaust the couple, let alone an existence far more terrifying than two teams of cultists.
The Witherer, He Er La Si. Just thinking of this name made Brandon sigh deeply.
This strongest figure of the current Plague Cult, a High Priest only one step away from the Legendary realm, was from the generation of the swordsman's father. Long before Brandon was born, he had already earned a fearsome reputation in the Western Mountain region. Now He Er La Si had come to the Northern Lands and was heading toward Mount Modess. Compared to him, the hundred-plus dangerous individuals present, plus the two teams of elite cultists, were nothing more than gentle lambs.
"Darling, is there still no news from Teacher Nostradamus?"
Beside him, Verdani, showing signs of fatigue, said in a gentle voice: "With just the Northern Lands' strength alone, it's impossible to block an Ultimate-rank cult priest."
"No news yet." The blonde swordsman shook his head heavily, gripping his wife's hand.
This was a lie.
Compared to his wife, who had always been in the Northern Lands, Brandon, as a noble from the Imperial Capital, certainly knew more information. He had contacted his family through magical communication last night, but the news he received was very unfavorable.
Nostradamus was currently at the Void Prison Star Station, a top-secret location outside the world for monitoring foreign drifting objects and other worlds. Even with Brandon's security clearance, he couldn't obtain information from there. But it was an indisputable fact that the old mage was now isolated from the world. Even if the station personnel notified Nostradamus, he couldn't return to the Mycroft Continent immediately.
The empire's ruler, Israel, was also not in the Imperial Capital now. In fact, not just the Northern Empire, but most Legendary experts had lost contact in recent days. Rumors had it that the Pope of the Church of the Seven Gods, Eagle, had convened a Legendary Council at the Holy Mountain, inviting all famous Legendary experts to discuss a major matter.
Besides that, the empire's other Ultimate-rank experts, such as the various legion commanders, all had important matters. Without exception, they were in various Black Forests or dangerous forbidden lands, conducting large-scale winter cleansing operations.
Even if the blonde swordsman were as stupid as a pig, with so much information, he could guess that undercurrents were stirring and something big was about to happen. Not only was Brandon not stupid, but his thinking was also as quick as lightning. Through some information he had obtained earlier from exchanges with Nostradamus and Joshua, he had vaguely understood what this big matter was.
So he knew that this time, when the Plague Cult attacked, reinforcements definitely wouldn't arrive in time. All he could do was wait as long as possible and buy time. Thinking of this, Brandon's heart grew heavier, but he couldn't tell the person beside him. Even telling Verdani this bad news wouldn't help; it would only cause panic. The blonde swordsman knew his wife's personality well—she was a stubborn person who would rather die than abandon the territory's people. If He Er La Si really came, she definitely wouldn't run but would fight to the death for the territory.
Thinking of this, Brandon raised his right hand, which was gripping his sword hilt, and stared at the palm lines on his hand.
He was already at Gold Peak.
The blonde swordsman remained silent. No one in this world knew better than himself how close he was to the Ultimate realm.
The Ultimate Essence of Technique, the Ultimate Essence of Force, the Ultimate Essence of Soul—he had dabbled in all three, but the one he was most familiar with was the Ultimate Essence of Technique. Brandon had been immersed in the Gold realm for many years and often received guidance from Legendary experts. He naturally understood that if he was willing to calm down and communicate with his insights, he could break through the Ultimate wall in just a few minutes and reach this transcendent realm. If he really had such a realm, then facing He Er La Si, even if he couldn't win, he could easily take people and escape.
However, such a breakthrough wouldn't be solid, not a natural progression, and would greatly hinder his future advancement to Legendary.
But... Brandon turned to look at his wife. Verdani Scaret was tiredly rubbing her eyes. Although the purple-haired female mage's appearance didn't age due to her strength, the hard work of the past few months had brought some indelible wrinkles to the corners of her eyes.
The blonde swordsman gripped the female mage's hand tightly. He watched her tilt her head in slight confusion. As their eyes met, Brandon knew he had nothing left to hesitate about.
When the most dangerous moment truly came, he would break through to the Ultimate realm without hesitation and take Verdani away.
But just as Brandon made up his mind, suddenly, from the northwest in the distant Great Aias Mountains, an extremely dazzling red light flashed. This red light was like fire and sun, carrying a scorching, boiling airflow that shot into the sky, piercing through the gloomy clouds of the Northern Lands like an unmatched sharp sword, reaching the end of the sky. The next moment, a terrifying life radiation that made people feel restless and hot swept from far to near, crossing dozens of snowy mountains, then sweeping toward Mount Modess.
No one present reacted in time, except for Brandon. He opened his eyes wide, watching this familiar life radiation sweep past the foot of the mountain in an instant, then extend further away. The blonde swordsman's gaze was full of shock.
"Jo... Joshua?!"
When did he get here?!
Because of his familiarity with his friend, Brandon easily recognized the owner of this domineering, all-ignoring life radiation—it was the lord of the Moldavia Territory, Joshua von Radcliffe. As for the purpose of his coming here, with the blonde swordsman's thinking speed, he only needed a hundredth of a second to figure out the answer.
The Witherer, He Er La Si! Only this Ultimate Peak expert could provoke his battle-loving friend to leave his territory and use such a grand search method to find traces!
It wasn't just Brandon. The other seven forces at the foot of the mountain were also thrown into chaos by this life radiation, which was so grand it was shocking. For a moment, everyone drew their weapons, nervously on guard around them. They hadn't yet identified the source of the radiation and thought some terrifying magical beast was spying on them from nearby.
At this moment, in the Black Forest not far from Mount Modess, a team wearing gray and black robes also fell into panic.
When the Plague Cult Priest Randall was swept by that life radiation like the light of a blazing sun, he felt his heart being tightly gripped by an invisible hand. Extreme fear even caused this Gold High-rank gray-robed priest to temporarily lose his voice and suffocate. His lungs heaved, but he couldn't inhale a single breath of air.
After a long while, he gradually recovered his spirit. Beside Randall, a large group of cultists performed even more poorly. They looked around in panic and fear, screaming out words no one understood, as if this would make the owner of the life radiation reveal his true form and put them at ease.
"Quiet!"
Although Randall himself still had a trace of fear in his heart, he had to stabilize the team. He loudly scolded the most panicked among the cultists, then calmed everyone down one by one. After finishing this, the gray-robed priest took a deep breath and said in a deep voice: "That might have been a special reconnaissance spell from the Moldova Territory. We've been discovered by the forces at the foot of Mount Modess. Cancel the infiltration plan, switch to a raid!"
At this point, his voice carried a hint of fanaticism: "Follow the Father's will, sacrifice the blood of the unbelievers!"
"Father above! Sacrifice with blood!"
"May the Light of Life protect us, all things return to the Father's embrace!"
The many cultists responded in unison, their faces showing fanatical expressions as they tore off their clothes. The next moment, these cultists' bodies began to rapidly deform and expand. Within a few seconds, they had all turned into monsters about three meters tall.
Pfft. With a series of soft sounds, dozens of small openings split open on the expanded cultists' bodies. Beneath the red flesh, jointed tentacles similar to those of spiders or crabs stabbed out, plunging into the ground. The originally expanded bodies completely shattered, revealing colorful, strange carapaces beneath. Dozens of slippery, strange tentacles flailed about, splashing highly corrosive mucus.
Before long, dozens of cultists had all transformed into giant, deformed spider monsters about three meters tall. Human heads were embedded in the spider monsters' heads, firmly covered by a layer of translucent carapace.
Plague Cult, human body modification secret art, Blasphemous Spider Demon. Humans modified by this evil magic could, when necessary, transform into terrifying spider demons with immense strength and incurable deadly plagues. Their carapaces were hard, easily resisting sword slashes. Each spider demon had at least Silver High-rank strength, and powerful ones could even rival Gold-rank for a short time. On the battlefield, they were unquestionably super meat grinders.
Only the most elite cultists had the opportunity to be modified into such plague monsters. After transformation, their rationality would gradually dissipate, only returning when they reverted to human form. But even so, all the spider demons didn't make any unusual moves. They obediently stayed in place, watching in front of them.
And in front of the many spider demons, Priest Randall also began his transformation. With a cold snort, the gray-robed priest's body rapidly expanded. Two antennae that looked extremely hard protruded from his eye sockets, then condensed into giant upward-pointing horns like those of a giant beetle.
Human body modification secret art, Abyss Giant Armor.
Sounds like bones cracking and steel grinding rang out continuously. After a moment, a half-human, half-insect monster, its entire body covered in solid chitinous armor and explosively developed muscles, raised its head. Its mouthparts emitted a piercing sound like insect chirping: "Kaka kaka!"
"Hiss! Hiss!"
The spider demons responded with rising and falling sounds. The next moment, this group of terrifying monsters, as if from an alien abyss, raised their jointed legs and rushed rapidly toward Mount Modess.
The scouts at the outer edge of Mount Modess's foot immediately discovered this group of monsters that had no concept of concealment. The people who had been tense because of the earlier life radiation finally found an outlet. They immediately made thorough preparations and faced them head-on.
"It's those fanatical cultists of the Plague Cult!"
Brandon and Verdani naturally noticed the distant monsters. The purple-haired female mage frowned. Standing at the edge of the watchtower, she used magic to amplify her voice toward the camp below: "By order! Prepare to engage the enemy!"
But the blonde swordsman was somewhat distracted. His gaze still lingered on the distant sky. Under his spiritual sense, Brandon could perceive that dozens of miles away, a red star like the sun, releasing endless life radiation, was breaking through the atmosphere at high speed, flying toward the banks of the Maize Non-Freezing River.
And there, there was an extremely black vortex, as if it could devour everything and annihilate everything.
At the banks of the Maize Non-Freezing River.
The blizzard hadn't dispersed here. Dense, suffocating snowflakes, as if poured by the gods, crashed down from the sky, covering the surrounding forests and snowfields with layer upon layer of ice and frost.
But in the sky southwest of the riverbank, it suddenly became clear for thousands of miles. A red star broke through the atmosphere at over a dozen times the speed of sound, arriving above this area. Piercing shrieks, accompanied by rolling thunder and shockwaves, spread in all directions, easily dispersing the clouds of half the sky.
At this moment, the sky was divided into two distinct parts. One part was blazing like a scorching sun, red as fire. Two suns in the sky and on earth released scorching, unbearable hot light. The other part was silent and soundless, where all colors and sounds were devoured by some existence, leaving only a cold, empty, dead gray-white.
In mid-air, the black-haired, red-eyed man looked down at the earth.
On the earth, the dark-green-haired man looked up at the sky.