Chapter 50: Sacrifice

Ten minutes earlier, in the sky above the Abandoned City District.

The soul-capturing demonic cloud stretched out a hand as pale as a giant’s, seemingly trying to touch the buildings within Dayuan City, but as soon as it reached out, it was repelled by the starlight barrier.

A multitude of cracks appeared on the arm, like shattered porcelain, and with a swift snap, it broke apart, the fragments in the air turning into dozens of mini versions—cracked soul-capturing demonic clouds following in its wake.

Despite the absence of eyes, Lu Yu could feel that it was greedily eyeing the living beings on the ground.

Is it going to attack?

Lu Yu couldn’t help but hold his breath, his mind taut with tension.

However, the next moment, the soul-capturing demonic cloud did not continue its attack; instead, it changed direction, concealed its form, and returned to the Abandoned City District.

“It seems it’s also afraid of the League’s power…”

Upon seeing this, Lu Yu felt relieved.

If a real fight ensued, he would not be able to cry out, “Stop fighting, stop it,” after all, this creature could really kill someone.

Fortunately, the foundation of Dayuan City was much stronger than he had imagined; not only was the soul-capturing demonic cloud unable to threaten Dayuan City, but it was directly repelled and injured—an entire level weaker.

No wonder it had been standing firm on the frontier for many years.

Lu Yu was pleasantly surprised by this, as his status is also considered an acknowledged member of the League. Rounded up, he’s the future successor of the League, although he may not necessarily be the one to take over, but at least he can cling to the golden thigh when things go south.

“I’m nearly suffocated, squeak squeak!”

The hamster struggled to squeeze its fluffy head out of Lu Yu’s hands, peeping through the gap. Its tiny eyes revealed happiness: “Phew… it’s finally over. This big guy has been coming out more frequently lately. I don’t know what it’s peeping at the city outskirts every day for. Does it also want to go in and play like squeak squeak?”

Lu Yu was shocked: “Wait a minute, you’re saying it’s not the first time it has approached the city?”

“Yeah, this guy came with those in black, strolls around every few days, and each time it gets closer to the city. Frightening! But the stuff those guys leave behind after the ritual is quite tasty, and it even gave me the ability to manipulate shadows,” the hamster said, wiping its mouth.

This answer startled Lu Yu, a lightbulb went off in his mind, and he quickly asked, “When did you become a supernatural creature?”

“By your human reckoning, I believe it was two and a half months ago…”

The hamster answered without hesitation—after all, lazing around under great pressure every day meant it remembered the timeline quite clearly.

As it spoke, it subconsciously twisted its body into a position that made it easier for Lu Yu to pet it. But in the process, it suddenly froze.

What happened!?

When did it become this perverted human shape?

Was this human using some illusion to confuse its consciousness?

Or was it something it saw on the TV at its first little girl owner’s home…

Fallen?

The hamster’s expression turned dim as it entered into autism mode.

Meanwhile, Lu Yu paid no attention to it and squinted his eyes, realizing an important clue that had been overlooked:

‘The Eye of Truth had mentioned in the information about the hamster that it had transformed after stealing and eating the blood of a deity’s familiar during a sacrificial ritual.’

Because the information disclosed by the League stated that the Abandoned City District was abandoned due to rust corruption after killing a deity’s familiar, and after it had been quiet for decades, he hadn’t initially thought about the existence of a seal there.

Lu Yu thought the hamster fed on the familiar’s blood somewhere else and then fled to the demon-infested Abandoned City District to live.

But in reality, a careful consideration would reveal issues…

Despite the trouble of rust, would the cost of removing it be more expensive than building a new city?

Impossible!

In a world where pet beasts are integrated into all industries, it’s entirely possible to employ rust-eating beasts for cleanup.

The League’s decision not to go this route implies some unstable element in the Abandoned City District, likely to cause greater loss. But rather than moving away, they established a new city right next door.

It’s said to be a buffer zone, but it seems more like they’re standing guard over something—

Perhaps the deity’s familiar from decades ago didn’t die, but was sealed within.

The proximity of the new city allows constant surveillance of the situation. If the sealed being breaks free, it could be suppressed immediately using the Star Beast Tower.

Then, everything becomes clear.

Drawing from what the hamster told him and piecing together the various clues, Lu Yu summarized a complete timeline in his mind:

Two and a half months ago, the mysterious individuals arrived with the soul-capturing demonic cloud, located the sealed deity’s familiar, performed a ritual, but ultimately failed to break the seal.

That the Abandoned City District is left to the monsters indicates that the seal isn’t in danger of being breached, probably because the core of the seal resides within Dayuan City, highly likely within the guardian-like Star Beast Tower.

Therefore, they could only hide in the Abandoned City District, looking for opportunities to undermine the Star Beast Tower.

Given that powerful creatures like the soul-capturing demonic cloud need to feed on numerous souls regularly, they frequently come out to hunt. The bodies whose souls are devoured naturally get scavenged by other demons, and the abundant spirituality promotes their evolution.

For example, a certain individual among the Blood Frenzied Hyenas suppresses its insane evolution into a Blood Frenzied Hyena, gains wisdom, discovers the existence of the soul-capturing demonic cloud, and because of fear, runs to occupy the edge of the demon-sparse Abandoned City District to avoid being hunted.

Unfortunately, the soul-capturing demonic cloud doesn’t prey on instinct; it’s being manipulated from behind, so its hunting path will increasingly approach the edge of Dayuan City, probing the power of the Star Beast Tower.

Every arrival sets off alarms in the intuitively sharp, tentacle-enhanced hyenas, feeling threatened.

Madness does not mean mindlessly courting death, and due to fear, they may regain their sanity before a highly positioned demon, and the lower-intelligence creatures will naturally flee in the opposite direction, breaking through the rune iron net that marks the territory’s edge.

This inference isn’t just Lu Yu’s wild speculation, but because he had seen the rune iron net before when he arrived and noticed attacks. However, they were all messy and varied in location, like the frustrated scratches left by the Blood Frenzied Hyenas in a panic.

After being discovered by residents of the Emerald Community, it still caused panic, and a joint task was issued—exterminating the Blood Frenzied Hyenas.

Yet even so, ordinary people completing the task, even after witnessing the soul-capturing demonic cloud, would think at most that a terrifying demon has taken residence in the Abandoned City District.

Even official sources may not be aware of their specific goals but feel that, like other deity cults, they want to attack the city, sacrificing humans.

However, Lu Yu, with the hints from the Eye of Truth, was able to connect all these fragmented events.

He realized that this iteration of the deity cult is different from the usual skirmishes; they not only knew about the seal’s existence but had already collected some of the familiar’s blood. Utilizing the soul-capturing demonic cloud to test the tower’s operational mechanisms, they plan to destroy it and free the sealed deity’s familiar.

If successful, millions of people in Dayuan City could be sacrificed, becoming food for the deity.

“Why do I feel like I’ve become the detective protagonist of a novel who just stumbled into an evil organization’s plan…”

Lu Yu commented wryly, wondering why, since his transference, his luck has always been terrible.

Could it be that handsome people are targeted more?

If so, I should aim to be less fortunate, lest I don’t live up to this appearance!

Moreover, he discovered another problem.

If these mysterious followers of the deity arrived two and a half months ago, considering the time for ritual preparation and extraction of the familiar’s blood, it coincides with the time of his parents’ accident and his awakening of the Eye of Truth.

Could this all be mere coincidence?

Sadly, the Eye of Truth is not all-knowing; the information it can retrieve is limited and cannot explore their origin and next steps.

Even if he knew, he wouldn’t act like the detective heroes, rashly meddling in such grand schemes without the protection of plot armor seen in fiction.

In reality, without such guarantees, one careless step could lead to serious risk.

His best course of action is to…

Call the police!

Send an anonymous letter to the League via Mist Crow, inserting some information to boost credibility and inform them that the seal is being tampered with, urging them to confront this deity cult with full force.

This was a strategy to pit one threat against another.

Even if it won’t annihilate them, it could pressure them into hiding, unable to carry out their plans, buying him time to improve his own strength.

“I’m still too weak; I’m missing such a good opportunity.”

Lu Yu sighed. If he had the strength above that of the Morning Star, he could very well extract the demonic essence of the soul-capturing cloud and even the sealed deity’s familiar as materials.

For a capitalist, not profiting means a loss.

Has it left?

After waiting a while, he looked up at the sky and saw, although the soul-capturing demonic cloud had flown far away, the pallid arm fragments that had broken off and became progeny did not return. Instead, they descended upon the earth and began indiscriminately attacking demons.

“Gurgle gurgle…”

With its unique soul-disturbing magnetic field, it was a dimensional attack for ordinary beasts, and after intimidating them, it wrapped its tentacles around the prey’s head, wriggling and feeding on their souls.

As one demon after another fell, the cracks on their bodies gradually began to heal.

Watching these terrifying offspring, Lu Yu wasn’t fearful but rather had a bold idea brewing in his mind…