Chapter 134
Chapter 134
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 134
Chapter Title: The Cultists
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This was undoubtedly a famous public sports facility located in Sejong City.
During the day, it would have been used for public welfare or government-sponsored events.
But not today.
Whether they had rented the place using special connections or slipped in overnight using some bizarre spell accessible only to cultists, a strange gathering was underway right now in this location—a gathering that could never happen in reality.
"Masquerade."
A party with a grotesque atmosphere in every sense of the word.
A massive stage positioned high up.
Overly loud, monotonous music playing from that stage. Murmuring lyrics repeating like a chant.
*That sound alone is already putting me in a foul mood.*
But that was just the beginning.
Golden decorations covering the entire wide hall, extravagantly red carpets and beautiful curtains, balconies installed here and there on the high inner walls, dozens of chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.
None of it had been there originally.
*Damn, this is no joke.*
In stark contrast to such flashy tastes, the venue was dim.
Dimly set indirect lighting, curtains draped everywhere, decorative items placed in oddly obstructive positions that hindered movement.
All intentionally arranged so you couldn't survey the entire place at a glance.
*But more than that...*
Of course, the mana density was high.
Some areas even had unnatural shadows cast over them because of it.
*Here we go again.*
Battlefield fog.
Unless you approached directly, you couldn't tell what was happening beyond those shadows. A game mechanic designed for resource management and to keep players on edge.
If I were to play along with the lore, it was consideration for the invited guests.
After all, this was a party for cultists—non-human deviants who couldn't, and shouldn't, reveal their true identities to each other.
Smoke rising from various spots, glittering powder visible on corner tables, mysterious devices of unknown purpose. All forbidden in the light of day.
"Haaah...!"
A groan from behind a curtained-off space. The faint shadow of a person visible beyond it.
No need to imagine some contrived sexual fantasy at a party like this. Sure, some cultists pursued that sort of thing, but tonight's gathering favored something else.
Soon, a stream of bright red blood poured down from under the curtain.
Geometric grooves were carved into the floor here and there. Blood spilled from various places flowed along those grooves.
I had no idea how precisely they'd engineered the drainage, but the blood flowed in unison toward one direction, defying gravity.
*The fact that this is a public sports facility has been completely ignored.*
There were no longer any traces of a gymnasium in this vast hall.
You could forget that a building with the same name existed in my old world.
No amount of money could make something like this possible.
But tonight was special.
Common sense was ignored just for this night. The building's shape and structure were completely different.
Given the bizarre nature of the venue, the attendees were far from normal.
Cultists whose bodies and minds had fallen so far they'd shed their humanity entirely, and madmen desperate to reach some level of power even if it meant borrowing a demon's strength.
People in outfits even stranger than the fixers gathered in Basilissa.
Mutants with forms so grotesque you had to wonder if they were human at all.
And mana so ferocious and evil it dwarfed anything in Basilissa.
*But they check names at the entrance, so what's the point of all this anonymity?*
Sure, they hid behind masks and such, but these were people who pretty much knew each other anyway.
Take that eye-catching woman over there, for example.
A pitch-black lace mask barely covering her eyes, a flowing dress. There might be some disagreement, but it evoked the image of a witch.
Baba Yaga, worshiper of an abyssal entity called [Terror of Salem] or [Night Visitor]. It meant "hag" or "boogeywoman" in Russian.
She wandered the venue with what looked like a pleased smile, then greeted someone warmly.
"I've heard some unsettling things have been happening in Paju lately, right?"
"Oh, I know. Didn't the famous descendants of Fomalhaut lose a ton of face this time?"
See? They all knew each other.
That wolf-pelt mask cultist who abruptly swerved the Paju talk into trash-talking others was a follower of an abyssal entity called [Wandering Ice] or [Howling Glacier]. Their cult was called the Winter Arrival Cult. Pretty funny name—claiming some cosmic-level winter was coming to this world?
The temperature around him seemed lower; white breath puffed from the wolf mouth of his mask with every word.
As the foreign witch and the doomsaying shaman chatted amiably, another joined in.
"They strutted around without knowing their place, and it was a sight to behold. Why attack another cult right before the Masquerade?"
A beak mask reminiscent of plague doctors from the Black Death era. No relation to medicine. The Crescent Moon Society, worshipers of [The Hermit of the Sleeping Forest]. Not Korean—more like the Korean branch of Japanese yakuza.
The Crescent Moon Society's beak mask spoke rudely with a swaggering attitude, but Baba Yaga's lace mask replied politely.
"Well, it was right before the Masquerade, after all. With their recent history of their sanctum being attacked by an unknown intruder, they probably wanted to bolster their voice even a little before it."
"By the way, I heard that crazy skeleton from the Hungry Manor toyed with Fomalhaut's arsonist spawn. Since when was that old bag of bones that strong?"
Unlike the polite lace mask, the Winter Arrival Cult's wolf mask openly showed his discomfort.
"The master of the Hungry Manor earned the right to judge the Masquerade single-handedly. Anyone with a brain could see that ignoring someone like that is a mistake."
"Aang? Sounds like you're talking to me right now."
"Oh, so you have the wits to pick up on that much?"
Mana suddenly concentrated around the two.
Oh, they're gonna fight. Fight.
As the mood turned openly hostile, masks of all kinds swarmed in from all directions. Normal people or cultists, everyone loved a good spectacle.
"Esteemed guests, violence or ability use against each other at the party is forbidden."
It was that guide with the disheveled hair from earlier. He mediated between them with a gloomy expression, as if even speaking was a chore.
"If you want to use your power, there are plenty of sacrifices, so why not over there... Ah, right? Hard to come by in times like these."
"Hmph. Who'd waste their abilities on trash like this?"
"Yeah, fights are for people on your level."
They said that, but everyone present could tell their mana and presence had deflated.
"Boring. If you're gonna draw swords, then fight."
"Kuh, who'd be dumb enough to make an enemy of the Eternal Origin Cult at the Masquerade?"
Eternal Origin Cult.
A powerful cult worshiping the [Ruler of the Boundary Line].
In principle, the Masquerade rotated hosting among the cults, but that was just in principle.
Every gathering held under the Masquerade's name so far had been hosted by the Eternal Origin Cult.
*More precisely, by Dokgo Gyeom, the cult's judge for the Masquerade.*
He was the one who'd originally gathered the scattered cultists and created the Masquerade in the first place.
Anyway, the commotion settled quickly.
Meanwhile, there were also attendees who didn't fit neatly into religious categories.
"Kuhahaha! Ever eaten a Mongolian Death Worm? It's a delicacy that puts this venue's food to shame!"
"You actually eat things like that?"
The big, loud guy in the wild boar mask was from the Gourmet Expedition Team, followers of [Predator of the Mountains].
They captured and devoured monsters from around the world according to their god's commandments—utter lunatics and poachers.
They had the ability to absorb the power of the monsters they ate and make it their own. That giant must have eaten plenty; he stood a full three meters tall.
"You really don't know fine dining. Come to one of our gatherings next time. I'll prepare a proper delicacy for you."
"No, thank you. I'm a picky eater, so even if I tried something new, I wouldn't appreciate it. Instead, I'd love to invite you to our restaurant."
And that modest woman was probably from Slow Kitchen.
They were chefs obsessed with one type of ingredient since ancient times, with notoriously monotonous tastes.
The god they worshiped was a minor entity called [The Hungry Seed], which endlessly whispered to its followers, "Eat your kin."
Lately, they'd been complaining that it was getting hard to source ingredients since everyone preferred cremation.
I hid in the ambiguous gap between a curtain and some decorations for a moment and took a deep breath. I needed even a little rest.
"Hoo..."
I'm tired.
Of course, penalties like [Stamina Drain] made walking through crowds like this exhausting, but more than that, my mind and body were worn out.
Still, Baba Yaga, Winter Arrival Cult, Crescent Moon Society, Gourmet Expedition Team, Slow Kitchen.
*That's five so far? If I can just mark one more named one...*
I wasn't eavesdropping on cultists' conversations out of boredom.
It was foreshadowing for the main event to come.
I was planting magical markers on anyone who might cause trouble in the upcoming mask scramble.
*Just one more. Any more would just get in the way.*
Mental strength was the stat for maintaining spells over long periods. I was supplementing it with intelligence, but I had too many spells active right now.
My focus was scattering. Ever since the Cheongho incident, pointless irritation had kept me from resting even a day. I'm tired.
Alright, time to move again. The main event would start soon. I needed to make contact with one more cult before then.
*Should be around here somewhere?*
Not those guys, not that one either. Cultist, cultist, monster, cultist again, behind that curtain? No. Another cultist.
And the blood rituals openly underway everywhere, the ceaseless shamanic music.
*Ah, I'm really tired.*
On top of that, this complicated layout. Endless obstacles turned the already vast space into a endless maze.
Just as irritation started bubbling up, I found my targets.
*There. Perfect, all gathered together.*
Ten in total. This cult was a completely different style from the ones I'd seen so far.
The most typical yet most insidious type: ones mimicking real-world religious groups to infiltrate society.
Uniform black suits without individuality, masks of similar shapes.
And golden crosses hanging from every neck.
*Found them. Golden Forest Church.*
Contacting them would complete my preparations.
*But what are they doing right now?*
The Golden Forest Church cultists had a weird vibe.
Not participating in the party, scattered at a moderate distance, on alert? Guarding? Why? Why come to a party and not have fun? Did someone pick a fight?
Pretending to look around from a suitable spot, I expanded my detection range.
"Tch. Tricky."
I didn't know what the problem was, but they looked seriously pissed off. This wouldn't be easy.
Ah, annoying. Should I skip the Golden Forest Church?
*No, better not regret it later. Stick to the plan.*
The plan was a bit complicated for them.
I picked the one who looked easiest and brushed past him...
"Hey, who the hell are you?"
Wrong direction.
A man and woman in the exact same suits as the other Golden Forest Church cultists approached me.
"What's this? Spying on us up close?"