There is a valley near Lavender City that locals never go near. The location here is very peculiar. It is surrounded by tall pine peaks, so even during the day, it cannot be illuminated by the sun from the sky, and the high altitudes in the valley

The place is also shrouded in gloomy and cold fog all year round, so almost no animals live here, and even plants are rare.

But at this moment, there are bright lights deep in the dark valley, and there is a group of people wearing dark orange cloaks on the ground, kneeling on the ground and praying around a strange statue. Everyone's cloaks cover their faces tightly.

You can't see their appearance at all, and at the same time, their whole bodies are wrapped in clothes.

Yan Shi couldn't see the slightest trace of inner nature at all, and the positions of all of them seemed to have a certain pattern, forming a certain pattern in twos and threes. Some people's bodies were even entangled by vines growing from the ground. It was obvious that this

The strange atmosphere of prayer has been going on for a long time.

As for the statue in the center, there is almost no specific image, but it seems to contain many elements, such as flesh and limbs, and many other unclear and obscure things mixed together. The whole statue does not look like it.

It is the product of artificial carving. For example, some parts that clearly look like human faces are so lifelike that they look like real ones, but other parts look very hazy and blurry at first glance because there is no reasonable explanation.

What's even more creepy is that the statue is constantly leaking red liquid along with the vague prayers uttered by everyone. Under the statue, there are several people wearing extremely bright orange-red cloaks who are busy. They keep

They used some kind of container carved with many similar religious meanings to collect the liquid flowing in the groove under the statue, and after each collection, they would hold the container with both hands and kneel down to the statue very devoutly.

There is a high platform made of stone bricks directly in front of the statue. There is a very ancient podium placed on the platform, but it is covered with some indescribable stains so it is almost impossible to tell what it is made of. At the same time,

At this moment, there was a guy who looked like the host of the ceremony standing behind the stage. This figure, who was almost two meters tall, was wearing a very tattered crimson cloak, but this cloak

It also seemed to be very old, so much so that the bottom hem of the clothes had been worn into pieces and could not completely cover the person's feet, and the gloves on the hands were also worn so badly that the fingers were exposed. But that's exactly what happened.

Because of this, it can be seen from the exposed fingers and feet that this guy is different from ordinary people. It seems that he does not have any toes on his feet. At the same time, his fingers are more slender than ordinary people and even have a few more knuckles.

At this moment, this man is touching a strange book on the podium that looks like some kind of religious classic and muttering something to himself. The red and black cover of this book seems to be very elastic, like skin, and can even be vaguely seen.

There are traces of blood vessels below, and when the person's palm is placed on the cover of the book, it is even obvious that the fingers are shaking very regularly, as if something is vibrating under the cover of the book.

Just when this person was repeatedly mumbling a few unintelligible words, suddenly there was a slight sound of footsteps behind him, as if someone was coming behind him. He slowly took his hand back, and then said

In an incredible way, he twisted the area above the waist to the rear. At the same time, the person behind him also knelt down on his knees at the moment he turned around.

"Master Sacrifice, the Star Chrysalis is here."

The man called the priest did not respond. He just slowly turned his lower body around and then stepped off the stone platform and walked towards the back. On a high ground a few hundred meters away from the statue, Toler

He was stretching his several-meter-high neck to watch the sunset in the distance with great interest.

Ever since he became like this, he has actually been afraid of the sun. Just like the priest who guided him said, he is still just a chrysalis, one step away from the real son of the stars, a chrysalis that has not yet formed.

Of course, I will be afraid of the majesty of the sun, because the light of the stars can only bloom in the dark night. The sun is the mortal enemy of the stars. Before I am mature, I cannot look directly at the majesty of the sun. So I never go outside during the day, but

This does not prevent me from coming out at dusk in the evening to watch the sun set.

"After tonight, I will become a child of the stars, an existence that can rival the sun."

Toller stared at the sun in the dusk for a long time, and inadvertently remembered what Liz said before. Although he didn't care about her nonsense at the time, but now that he thought about it carefully, he felt that her words were very harsh.

"In the past...? I've really almost forgotten the past. Maybe it's because the levels are different. After tonight, how will those mortals who bullied me and looked down on me in the past view me now? Maybe...

It should be a good fun for them to lie down on the ground and learn how to bark. Ah...I’m really looking forward to it..."

"What are you expecting? Star Chrysalis."

After hearing the familiar and old voice coming from behind, Toler hurriedly retracted his neck and then turned around with his heavy body and said: "Hello, respected priest. I am looking forward to tonight's sublimation ceremony.

"

The priest strode to Toler's side and looked at the afterglow of the setting sun. However, although he seemed to be looking up into the distance, in fact, the face of the priest's cloak was a complete piece of cloth, with no gaps at all to expose the back.

Regarding the eyes, Toller is not sure how the priest sees things. The same question actually includes other brothers in the cult.

And there is a small problem, that is, when this tall priest speaks, his voice does not come from his head, but from his chest, although he did feel a little bit earlier.

It's strange, but it doesn't matter to Toller now. Because since he became a star chrysalis, he feels that whether the body maintains a human shape is no longer important. After all, for a true child of the star, the body is just a mass used to carry the soul.

The piece of meat can be transformed into any shape at any time if necessary.

Toller often even wonders whether the priest next to him has become a child of the stars, and the reason why the priest stayed on the ground and did not "ascend" may be that he cannot let go of these "brothers and sisters" who are sympathizing with each other. Toller always thinks about this.

I couldn't help but admire this great star priest.

"The preparations for the ceremony have been completed, but what about your preparations?"

"Master Priest, are you referring to sacred objects?"

"Is there anything else?"

The priest's question made Toler instantly feel extremely nervous. He asked tremblingly: "Didn't you say that the holy objects do not affect the process of the ceremony?"

"It does not affect...but are you going to perform the ceremony empty-handed? It seems that your faith in the God of the Stars is not enough..."

The priest's words completely frightened Toller. His heavy body trembled and collapsed on the ground, and he put his head at the feet of the priest and pressed against the ground to express repentance.

"My subordinate is stupid, I will go back and eat that mortal, and I will definitely retrieve the sacred object before the ceremony!"

Although Toller said this, he still did not have the courage to raise his head, and his body did not even move at all, because he was waiting for the sacrifice's forgiveness.

"There's no need to eat. You need to remain pure during the ceremony and no longer allow dirty mortal flesh to pollute your body."

The priest was silent for a long time without speaking, so Toller's body was shaking more and more seriously. It wasn't until he felt that he was about to die that the priest leaned down and touched Toller's forehead with his strange palm.

head and slowly lift it up.

"You are the most promising chrysalis in the past few decades. Remember, abandoning those distracting thoughts when you were a mortal and wholeheartedly pursuing the path to promotion is what you should do most."

"Yes...I understand." Hearing the priest praise himself so much, Toler couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and at the same time, he became more and more excited.

"But there is still some time before the ceremony starts, and I noticed that you still seem a little concerned. After you get the sacred object, you can try to get rid of those chores, but you must come back with the sacred object safely before the ceremony."

"Yes...yes! Lord Priest! I will not let you down."

"Then go and come back quickly."

Toler stretched his neck again and put his face at the feet of the sacrifice to worship, then used his tentacles to prop up his heavy body and hurried towards a masonry passage not far away.

The priest looked at Toler's retreating back and silently turned around and returned to the previous ceremony venue.

"Don't let me down, Star Chrysalis."

"Erica! Fire over there!"

"Stay away!"

After hearing Diana's request, I rushed behind her with the PKP and fired straight ahead. The bullets enchanted with explosive flames instantly exploded into gorgeous fireballs when they hit the group of big rats.

, and after a while, there was only a pile of half-cooked minced meat left in that place.

After finishing this part of the rats, I didn't stop. Instead, I put down the PKP and took out the Super-Shorty from the leg holster. I fired at the big humanoid rat that had just been smashed away by Clander's axe.

With an explosive flame shot out of the barrel, the humanoid mouse

His head was turned into carbon slag. I then opened fire on two humanoid rats nearby. After emptying three rounds of shotguns, I quickly raised my machine gun and pointed it at the group of large rats in the distance that were about to charge.

After shooting and killing a group of large humanoid rats with stone spears again, they finally stopped attacking and fled in all directions.

After seeing the monsters evacuate, I cautiously retreated to Diana. She had just been injured in the leg by several jackals and was now being treated by Hannah.

"How's the situation?"

"Well, it's safe for now. The rat monsters and jackals have retreated."

Diana breathed a long sigh of relief after checking the magic map, and I also took advantage of the situation and lay on the ground intending to relax for a while.

The battle just now was not fierce, but I felt some psychological pressure inexplicably. Just after we entered the sewer and walked for about ten minutes, we encountered a group of attacks. At first, it was just a tentative attack by a few jackals. At that time, I

I was frightened by this kind of rat that was as big as a hound. Diana told me that this kind of rat is actually a small animal monster like the fire badger. Although it is big, it is still a beast in nature, so I used flames to disperse it.

That’s okay, because although jackals are weak, they are still social animals after all. If we fail to attract the entire group, we won’t be able to bear it.

But the problem is that we dispersed nearly a dozen waves of jackals before Diana issued a warning. She said that these jackals were not wild but domesticated, and they were not wandering aimlessly.

Instead of besieging us, they purposefully drove us to a certain place. Just when we were tired of avoiding the siege of jackals, the masterminds behind the domesticated jackals finally appeared, but I didn't expect them at all.

Still a bunch of rats.

Although it may be a bit of a misunderstanding to say this, these guys that Diana calls rat monsters do have heads that resemble rats. When I first saw them, I almost thought they were having a nightmare, because I once

I watched a horror movie about a giant rat, and I also experienced nightmares for a period of time after watching it.

"It feels really bad."

"Are you afraid of mice?" Diana seemed to have misunderstood me.

"It's not that I'm afraid, it's just that... I have some bad memories. By the way, what's the name of this thing? I just heard you call them 'rat monsters'?"

"Yes, a rat monster. But even though it is called that, it is different from a jackal. It is a completely alien monster."

"What's the origin?

"This is really unclear. There is some confusion about the origins of the monsters in the world. Some were created by Severna. Of course, some are actually more like self-evolution or the result of interference. As for the rat monsters, it is rumored that they were underground in those days.

The remaining humans in the city are degenerated, but the credibility is not high because there are rat monsters in other places besides the sewers of Lavender."

Diana thanked Hannah who healed her wounds, and then she left to treat Klande. I took the opportunity to take a look at the strong man, and found that his injuries seemed to be lighter than Diana's, probably just a few scratches.

And so on.

After making sure that everyone was okay, I took out three 12-gauge shotguns enchanted by Severna from my pocket and started loading them. But to be honest, judging from the battle performance just now, it seemed that these magic bullets were not very effective.

It didn't give me the pleasure I imagined, and this unpleasantness seemed to show up on my face inadvertently.
To be continued...