Chapter 276

What is a cultist?

"Roughly speaking, they're twisted beings who don't regard other lives as equals."

Looking at the hellish scene before him, the "slave" Wu Gu unexpectedly recalled everything he'd heard before.

"This is wrong. This is terribly wrong."

Wu Gu was sixteen years old; as a member of the Ox Clan, he stood over two meters tall and had already awakened three racial talents, his bloodline having evolved once—earning him the reputation of a combat prodigy.

But this brought him no luck.

As a "gladiator slave," he was accustomed to killing his own kind to survive, but this scene before him was something entirely different.

"He's Lamor, of the Kun family's branch line! A great noble! They often come to watch our gladiatorial fights."

"Those bastards, those damned nobles. They took my sister! My twelve-year-old sister—those beasts!"

"These trash love nothing more than watching our brothers and kin slaughter each other."

At first, when that noble was thrown into the slaves' cage, even though the slaves remained angry and resentful, they only cursed and glared with hostility.

As always, as ever, the slaves were merely monkeys bound by iron chains.

Wu Gu said nothing; he knew it was meaningless—the hatred between them had its reasons.

He, well-known among the slaves, watched the unfortunate young noble, who gazed around in confusion and shock.

This noble youth, who looked no older than a child, had probably never set foot in the filthy dock districts.

"Snap!"

The old order ended when a dagger was thrown into the cage.

"Whoever kills him gains freedom, feasts on fine food, and may choose a woman to pleasure."

The gladiator overseers outside said cheerfully.

The same thing happened repeatedly across the entire area—not just among the slaves.

The commoners were treated the same way; even among minor nobles, another faction's noble was thrown in.

To make sheep and cattle who've never seen blood shed it, they naturally evolve into lions and tigers. In breeding beasts, the sect is professional.

The cultists were patient; they watched with delight as the hostages struggled in torment, bringing food to the outside of the cages while they themselves enjoyed it merrily.

This, in fact, was also part of the "Blood Baptism."

When appetite, the lust to kill, and the lust for mating overpowered reason, and they began slaughtering their own kind.

In religious terms, it was beastliness overcoming humanity.

"Die, filthy noble!"

The first to act was the slaves' cage.

They already hated these nobles intensely; they never considered the long-term—gladiator slaves were lucky to live another day, so why think so far ahead?

For them, killing a noble before death, perhaps even eating well, was already worth it!

The noble thrown into the cage died horribly, torn apart piece by piece, no one able to determine who struck the first blow.

And the cultists outside did not break their word—they tossed in a pile of "blood food," letting the slaves feast happily.

Wu Gu did not eat. He had learned some secrets of the cultists from a comrade—he trusted none of their words, and he would never touch the food they offered.

Soon, his "experience" was proven right.

"Aaaooo!"

Unconsciously, those slaves who had eaten the food, killed their kin, and taken pleasure in females began to change.

Horns grew on their skulls, their bones shattered and regrew, their limbs twisted and expanded in agony.

Eventually, they became half-human, half-beast monsters, gazing blankly at everything around them.

"So hungry. So hungry." The monster hesitated, then reached for the minced meat on the ground.

And outside, the cultists laughed happily.

Indeed, choosing the slaves' cage was correct—other areas had not yet crossed the threshold, but here the first "Beast Child" had already emerged.

The food contained "Beast Blood," and within this "sacred place," fulfilling the sect's rituals meant gradually embracing beastliness.

"Aaaah!"

When the first beast attacked the others in the cage, fear began to spread.

But the first "Beast Child" did not prevail—the unmutated slaves, outnumbering him, surged forward and killed him.

When they finally gasped to a stop and stared at the half-human, half-beast corpse, their faces showed blank confusion—they too began to feel pain.

"I—I what happened? I didn't even eat!"