Chapter 106: Egg of Chaos

Running away is not an option.

Compared to such a vulgar phrasing, Luo Yan would much rather call it a strategic relocation.

What made him wary was not just the mad knight who had grown a fourth arm, but even more so the ever-expanding rift directly above his head.

The rift coiling around the deep red beam of light seemed to be widening, as if something were being released from within.

The ritual of Chaos had been completed.

He had already done everything he could, weakening this power from Chaos as much as possible.

Before this terrifying power stabilized, perhaps avoiding the brunt of it and observing the situation was the best choice for now.

Just as Luo Yan leaped from one rooftop to another, accelerating toward the nearest wall of the town, a pitch-black ripple suddenly surged from the deep red beam connecting the ground to the dome, rapidly expanding in all directions!

The pitch-black ripples swept over the stone and wooden buildings like ocean waves, passing through them without any obstruction.

At this very moment, the adventurers on the street were looking up at the sky, their gazes all drawn by the blood-red beam.

It was not until the pitch-black ripple swept across their chests that the adventurers standing on the street faintly sensed something was wrong.

"What is that thing?!"

"Something... it felt like it passed right through me!"

"You all saw it too?!"

"Incredible..."

The seeds of doubt were sown with that pitch-black ripple, planted in the hearts of almost every adventurer present.

They looked around, uneasy, and whispered... uncontrollably offering their fear to that irresistible, majestic power.

"I have a bad feeling about this, we'd better leave here quickly..."

"Saint Xisi above... please protect your believers..."

"Does anyone know what that ripple was just now?! And this scarlet pillar... what exactly is it trying to do?!"

"Could it be... the Demon King has returned?!"

"No, it doesn't look like the power of the Netherworld to me—"

At this moment, a middle-aged adventurer in his forties, carrying a battle axe, suddenly shouted loudly.

"It's not the Demon King! It's Nuoweier! I forget who told me, but just now... I think I heard that name!"

Nuoweier...

The Mist of Deception!

It is the embodiment of knowledge and conspiracy, the root of madness and fantasy, and also one of the four gods ruling the Chaos Realm!

That is not something that can be openly discussed on the surface world.

However, in this safe zone located on the fourth layer of the labyrinth and operated by the Adventurers' Guild, that problem did not exist.

As the crowd whispered and discussed, spreading the name of Nuoweier, more and more people heard the chattering whispers.

At first, it was ten people.

Later, it was a hundred—

Eventually, thousands were drawn into it!

And with the rumors passed from mouth to mouth, the indescribable, majestic image gradually became clear in everyone's minds.

It was a smoky entity composed of thousands of twisted faces and endless nightmares.

Every pair of opening and closing lips was whispering, telling secrets that would drive one to madness just by hearing them.

The seeds sown by the black ripple began to germinate, growing stronger with the spread of panic, and finally extending twisted branches outward.

The thick gray mist not only obscured everyone's eyes but also sealed their intellect and minds, and even their souls fell toward the boundless abyss.

In the end, everyone was surrounded by the boundless darkness, becoming Nuoweier's mouthpiece, puppets manipulated by conspiracy.

Every person was a mad whisperer.

And at the same time, a culture dish for breeding Chaos.

The middle-aged adventurer who first shouted Nuoweier's name was the first to embrace this boundless, majestic power.

A blood-red thin line split from the blood-colored beam, piercing toward the top of his head like an arrow released from a bowstring.

The moment he was struck by the blood line, his pupils were immediately stained with turbid mist, and then the ethereal mist surged out from his mouth and nose.

The thick smoke wrapped around him like silkworm silk, circle by circle, gradually turning into a scarlet cocoon.

That was the egg incubating Chaos!

Finally, someone realized something was wrong, woke up from the nightmare, and let out a desperate cry toward the crowd.

"Bury your heads quickly!"

"Don't look at it!"

That voice woke up a portion of the people.

Having regained their senses, they began to run toward the outside of the town.

However, the voice of clarity was ultimately too small.

As more and more people were drawn into it, blood lines gradually wove into a giant net over the town.

And in those crooked streets and alleys, everywhere were eggs of Chaos wrapped in red lines spat out by the scarlet blood pillar! Looking at the streetscape flying by beneath him, a look of astonishment appeared on Luo Yan's face.

"Damn it..."

Is this going to sacrifice the entire settlement?! "Hearing You You, what exactly is going on?!"

Floating beside Luo Yan, Hearing You You said nervously.

"I, I, I don't know either, Master Demon King, in any case, let's leave here quickly... I feel like those red eggs are hatching something incredible."

If that were true, wouldn't now be the best time to destroy them? Just as Luo Yan was thinking this, a harsh buzzing sound suddenly rang out from above his head, overpowering all the noisy and chaotic sounds.

"Buzz—!"

The whole world suddenly went quiet.

The rift torn open by the scarlet blood pillar suddenly grew larger, and immediately after, a giant head composed of smoky matter stretched out from the abyss-like rift.

It was a face without features, or rather, its features were already completely hidden in that scarlet thick fog.

A hair-raising feeling crawled into Luo Yan's heart.

Although he did not meet the gaze of that faceless person, he could still clearly feel those eyes hidden behind the mist, watching him triumphantly.

Nuoweier...

That was Its name.

He heard the whisper in the mist.

"You cannot escape..."

Escape? "Which eye of yours saw me escaping!"

Luo Yan raised an eyebrow and retorted unceremoniously.

"This is called a strategic relocation!"

The whisper from the void was silent for a few seconds, then let out a soft chuckle, saying the words that made Luo Yan's skin crawl.

"I really didn't misjudge..."

"You are an interesting fellow."

"I will definitely obtain you."

The white fog shrouding Mist Town was dyed red by the blood-colored beam.

Looking at the giant nets appearing out of thin air on the street, the members of the Knights stationed at "Quiet Forest Rest" all showed expressions of astonishment.

"What is this thing?!"

Looking up at the sky outside the window, Alex stared blankly at the giant net covering the dome, muttering to himself.

"That is an evil spirit from Chaos! Don't listen to that guy's self-talk!"

The Armed Priest drew his mace, and while reciting a spell, shouted to the people around him, "Gather toward me!"

Just as his voice fell, a holy radiance emerged from mid-air, shrouding the entire inn.

It was not just him reciting the spell, but also the other priests accompanying the group.

Bathed in that holy radiance, Alex felt his dizzy brain clear up quite a bit, and the whispering sound in his ears also disappeared rapidly.

It seems that the evil spirit of Chaos is not omnipotent, and still belongs to the evil that can be dispersed by the Holy Light.

Discovering this sanctuary protected by the Holy Light, many people on the street who had not yet been eroded by the power of Chaos ran inside one after another.

Among them were adventurers, merchants, as well as staff from the Adventurers' Guild and mercenary guards...

The already crowded inn lobby became even more packed, and even the old stairs were full of people.

The shaken people exchanged fearful glances, whispering in despair.

"Saint Xisi above..."

"The evil spirit of Chaos... how could it appear here?!"

"Could it be that the Netherworld and Chaos have colluded?"

"This kind of thing has never happened before! Now I need you all to shut your mouths and listen to me!"

Interrupting the crowd's whispering conversation, the Knight Commander's deputy stared at the increasingly ominous thick fog outside the window, his voice serious.

"The holy barrier won't hold for long, we must leave here as soon as possible!"

The Armed Priest holding the mace and casting the spell turned to look at him.

"What about Knight Commander Meier?"

Glancing around at the shaken faces in the inn lobby, the Knight Commander's deputy gritted his teeth and finally made a decision.

"I'll take a few brothers to find him! The rest follow Charles and escort the adventurers and civilians to evacuate!"

Adventurers actually don't need escorting, but besides adventurers, there were many ordinary civilians here.

Such as the innkeeper, the cook, and the waiters, etc...

The Trident Knights have an obligation to protect the subjects of Grand Duke Campbell, as well as the subjects who serve Saint Xisi.

Even if this is not the territory of Grand Duke Campbell, the believers here cannot be said to be very pious.

The Armed Priest named Charles nodded, gripped the Knight Commander's deputy's shoulder, said "Take care," and then looked seriously at the guests staying at the inn and the merchants and adventurers who ran in to take refuge. "You have all seen the situation here; it is not a place where we can continue to stay. We plan to evacuate from here before the situation deteriorates further! At least leave the fourth layer of the labyrinth! I won't force you all to follow us, and in fact, we can't guarantee everyone's safety, but if you are willing to trust us, then follow along!"

No one was willing to continue staying here.

Although the innkeeper was reluctant to part with this shop, seeing that everyone intended to leave, he could only make the decision through gritted teeth.

Hopefully, his shop would still be there after everything was over...

The group parted ways.

The Knight Commander's deputy took ten knights to the center of the town, while the Armed Priest named Charles took the others to the nearest city gate.

The guards at the city gate had already run away completely, and those who didn't manage to run away were also wrapped in the scarlet eggs. 【113】 This is simply a natural disaster...

This is simply a natural disaster...

Alex couldn't help thinking in his heart.

And just as the group arrived at the city gate of the town wall, he suddenly saw a familiar figure standing at the entrance.

"Luo Luo?!"

No—

That face was clearly the person on the wanted poster.

It was clearly not just him who discovered the clue.

Including Charles, all the members of the Knights placed their hands on their weapons in unison, looking at the man standing at the city gate as if facing a great enemy.

"Are you Miranda?!" Charles was the first to break the silence, walking up with the mace, his eyes staring fixedly at him.

"Miranda?"

Luo Yan couldn't help but mock.

"Do you still not realize that you've been played?"

Charles stared at him without blinking.

"What do you mean..."

Luo Yan said with a calm expression.

"The charges on the wanted poster are all fake. That guy named Miranda was the first mad whisperer, and your Knight Commander is the second."

Charles did not speak, and a knight on the side drew his sword first, pointing the blade at him with an angry glare.

"What a blasphemy... Do you think I would believe your nonsense?"

"You don't have to believe it, you just need to answer me: if the murderer you were chasing was the correct one, why was the ritual of Chaos still completed?"

Luo Yan did not look at that knight, but cast his gaze toward the battle priest holding the mace.

According to his understanding of surface human society, these priests mostly received professional education in the Shenxue Academy.

Even if the human church might not teach them exactly what the ritual of Chaos looks like, they would at least be told the relevant principles.

The evil spirit in charge of destruction and slaughter needs to be pleased with the bloodiest slaughter, and the evil spirit in charge of conspiracy naturally needs conspiracy and lies as sacrifices...

Obviously.

If they had been on the right path from the beginning, then Nuoweier would have had no chance to descend, and the cost of erosion would not have had to be borne by the residents of Mist Town.

As Luo Yan expected, an expression of astonishment appeared on Charles's face.

Without stopping, Luo Yan struck while the iron was hot and continued.

"If I'm not mistaken, you killed eleven suspects during the interrogation."

"Suspects?! They were no suspects! We saw with our own eyes the aura of evil spirits emerging from their bodies—" that greenhorn knight pointing his sword at him tried to interrupt his speech again, but this time he was stopped by Charles on the side.

Charles stared at Luo Yan without blinking, asking with a serious tone.

"How do you know?"

Luo Yan said calmly.

"Because I saw twelve sacrifices flying into the sky. Those are the souls of the unjustly dead, and the twelfth sacrifice is Miranda himself, the guy who broke the window and fled... Unfortunately, he was just killed by your Knight Commander."

As he said this, Luo Yan looked at the forest outside the city gate with disdain.

"This coward... I didn't even hold it against him for plotting against me, and even pulled him back from the gates of hell, but he, on the other hand, just ran away without a trace."

Faced with the undeniable truth, expressions of wavering appeared on the faces of the knights present... including that greenhorn who pointed his sword at him.

Luo Yan could tell that they were truly pious believers.

If it weren't for a trace of awe in their hearts, they wouldn't have to show expressions of wavering or repentance for their momentary confusion.

Charles took a deep breath, suppressing his emotions in his heart.

Compared to repenting before the cross, there were more important things now—

"I don't believe Knight Commander Meier would betray Saint Xisi, but I admit what you said makes some sense. We may have been deceived by the Mist of Deception and unknowingly became accomplices to the evil spirit... I will take him and everyone else to the church in Lei Ming City to repent."

Pausing, he looked at Luo Yan and continued.

"That's a matter for later, now... I want to know who you are?"

Luo Yan looked straight into his eyes.

"You can guess who I am, but I can guarantee that if I say it here, we will have no possibility of cooperation."

Charles frowned.

"Cooperation?"

"That's right," Luo Yan looked up at the deep red blood pillar, and the faceless head emerging from the rift, "Just this once, the true lord of Mist Town wants to join forces with you."

On the other side, in the center of Mist Town, the disheveled Knight Commander Meier was stumbling out of an alley.

Deep red fog shrouded everything.

Looking at the scarlet egg bubbles on the street, a joyful and even manic laugh gradually appeared on that enthusiastic face.

"The Kingdom of Heaven is standing right here! The Gate of Truth is opening to me! Angel eggs... what could prove better than this that this is paradise!"

"Hahahaha... I was right after all! Only I discovered it... a secret that even the Pope and the God-chosen Emperor have never discovered!"

"Must—tell more people about it!"

Rapid footsteps came from afar, eleven knights ran along the eroded street, and the leader was his deputy.

Looking at the Knight Commander who had grown four arms, the deputy couldn't help but widen his eyes, his pupils full of astonishment trembling slightly.

That is...

Their superior?!

"Meier White..." he called out his superior's name unconsciously, trying to wake him up, "Can you hear me?"

As he said this, his right hand was already pressed on the hilt of his sword.

"Ah, Verne... you're here," looking at his dear subordinate, a joyful smile appeared on Meier's face, and he enthusiastically opened his arms to welcome the group, "You came just in time, I discovered an incredible secret and was planning to share it with you... guess what happened?"

"Saint Xisi and Nuoweier are actually the same person. Such an obvious truth that no one guessed it. Sure enough, truth is only in the hands of the truly smart—"

"What a blasphemy!!"

Before he could finish his words, the knight standing next to Verne had already drawn his sword and roared as he rushed toward Knight Commander Meier.

This was the last bit of dignity he could preserve for his superior—killing him before he blasphemed the great Saint Xisi.

However, he ultimately underestimated the power of the God-chosen.

That power beyond common sense was something even the Demon King chose to avoid for the time being.

A scarlet light flashed, and before the charging knight could swing the sword in his hand, he turned into a rain of blood and scattered into the red mist.

There was a deathly silence on the street.

Including Verne, all the knights stared at him fixedly.

So fast—

They didn't even see what happened! And just at this moment, the egg bubbles covering the street underwent new changes, and the first cocoons to condense were the first to sprout scarlet tender buds.

"Ya—!"

A shrill cry broke out of the shell along with thick arms, and what crawled out of the egg bubbles were four-handed, two-legged monsters.

It had no head.

Or rather, the body was its head.

A bloody mouth opened from the position of the navel, and a two-meter-long tongue probed out like a python, dancing in the blood-colored mist along with the waving long arms.

"... Heart-Eater."

An expression of despair appeared on every face.

Looking at his subordinates who looked like dead ashes, Meier let out a joyful laugh again.

"See? My angels are growing sturdily, how beautiful their wings are... do you want me to help you get a pair too?"

"Prepare for battle!!!" Verne let out a desperate roar, drew his long sword, and rushed toward his former superior.

He knew it was meaningless.

But he had no choice!

Looking at these ants who couldn't accept reality, a heartfelt disgust appeared on Meier's face.

"Tsk... what overconfident guys."

So be it.

Let the flesh and blood of these guys feed his hungry servants.

"Kill them all!"

"Ya—!"

The screaming Heart-Eaters swarmed up, and in just a few breaths, they submerged the remaining ten knights in a fleshy red ocean.

Looking at his former subordinates being dismembered, a cruel smile appeared on Meier's face, his gaze crossing the sea of blood toward the city gate to the north.

Nuoweier is craving more sacrifices—

Must feed that lord.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 107 =====