The Human Sacrifice
The path to the attacked village in Cloud City was thoroughly sealed off. No one knew what might happen to an ignorant fool who wandered in. Naturally, the city gates were blockaded, and soldiers had been stationed in that direction with absolute vigilance. The lord here was a rather timid man, after all. His control over the area must have been strict. That was why the only people who had headed toward that village were scouts. What did that mean? At the very least, anyone who could possibly have been brainwashed had to be a scout. Yet now six civilians who had never held a spear in their lives had suddenly been discovered as victims. This was not merely a matter of six more casualties. It meant someone had been brainwashed through a route we did not know. My mind fell into chaos.
“Where and how did they get caught?” I wondered. Had that bastard’s ability gained some kind of infection trait? A power that did not even exist in the game? No, that could not be. If he had an infection ability, things would not have ended here. If that were the case, he could have already destroyed this city without anyone noticing. He would have become the strongest of the Four Heavenly Kings long ago. In the end, it meant there was another route. But how?
Too many possibilities came to mind. A brainwashed scout might have slipped past the walls without the lord’s knowledge. Or perhaps someone had sneaked into the city from outside. Worst of all, the Puppeteer himself might already be inside the city. After all, he was a high-ranking mage on par with a Magic Tower Master and knew how to use polymorph magic. Of course, that was the worst-case scenario, and I hoped it was not true… Still, the sheer number of possibilities was the real problem.
Fortunately, there was one saving grace. In situations like this, we could act without restraint. I looked at my party members and spoke.
“Saintess, please treat the brainwashed people here. My lord, summon all your forces immediately and bring the villagers under control. Everyone else, assist the soldiers and subdue anyone who starts rampaging.”
“B-But the citizens will be furious if we do that…”
“Is this really the time to worry about complaints?”
It was essentially the declaration of martial law. We would mobilize the army to monitor and control civilian life. There might be complaints, but we could definitely catch the puppets. On top of that, we would treat the scouts as well. Fortunately, his authority could be cured by the holy power of priests. He mainly used psychic abilities and could not define their principles, but he was still a member of the Demon King’s army. And the natural enemy of the Demon King’s army was holy power. In other words, his authority could also be driven out by holy power.
“Ugh… Where… am I…?”
As treatment began, the scouts started regaining their senses one by one. I approached each awakened scout and asked what had happened. They would not remember the moment they were brainwashed, but they should at least retain their memories from before.
“Huh? What I did last? Well… I remember following my orders, but after that…”
Unfortunately, I gained nothing useful. Their minds were still not fully intact, so none of them could clearly recall the end. In the end, I had no choice but to move on to the final scout without obtaining any information.
The last ones were Rickby, Nelby, and Kelvin—the first people we had found. Despite eight days of scouting, they had not shown themselves until the very end. Their appearance was peculiar. Their bodies were covered in filth. Black dust clung to them as if they had rolled somewhere, and a nauseating stench rose when I approached. It was not simply that they had not washed; they looked as though they had been somewhere filthy.
When they were freed from brainwashing, their words were strange as well. Perhaps because the puppet period had been too long, they did not seem to be in their right minds.
“Kgh… Water…”
“Water?”
“Wa… ter…”
Water? What were they trying to say? Had they seen something? But I could not dwell on that thought for long. A soldier came running toward us in a panic.
“E-Emergency!”
I wished that bastard would stop having emergencies already. While grumbling inwardly, I turned my head to find out what had happened. Once all attention was on him, the soldier continued.
“P-People are suddenly acting strange!”
It meant the Puppeteer had begun to move.
*
People wandering the streets. Soldiers with spears controlling the surroundings. Among them were several citizens staggering about with unfocused eyes. They were not swinging swords or causing massacres. Instead, they were drawing pictures on their bodies. Using some kind of black ink they had obtained from somewhere, they painted bizarre patterns all over themselves. The soldiers were trying to stop them, but there were too many people drawing on their bodies to restrain them all. After all, it had not even been an hour since martial law was declared. We had not even gathered everyone yet.
“Those are spell patterns,” Lily said, having approached at some point. As expected of someone deeply versed in magic, she possessed considerable knowledge.
“All the brainwashed people are drawing spell patterns on their own bodies. What is this…? I can tell it is spellwork, but I cannot figure out what kind of spell it is…”
It was unfortunate that she could not identify the exact form of the spell. Still, it did not matter. The moment I heard the word “spell,” one scene came to mind. Brainwashed people, spellwork, one of the Puppeteer’s subordinates. As the words combined in my head, the worst possibility surfaced. I muttered with a faint chill running down my spine.
“…Human sacrifice.”
“What?”
“It is human sacrifice. They are trying to cast some kind of magic using people’s lives right now.”
“What?! Then we have to stop them immediately!!”
Lily cried out urgently. Ironically, the answer came from among the citizens.
“It is already too late.”
He was an elderly man whose beard covered his entire chin. His eyes held a strange turbidity. The moment he spoke, I realized he was not the original owner of that body. In short, someone was controlling the brainwashed old man. And that someone was not the Puppeteer. The Puppeteer had handed over control to someone else, and that person was now manipulating the old man.
I called out the name of the one behind the old man.
“…Oleg.”
Oleg the dark mage. The Puppeteer’s most loyal subordinate.
“Haha, I did not expect you to recognize me. It is an honor. It was worth participating diligently in the last war.”
“I had my suspicions, but I never thought you would be involved as well.”
“I was surprised myself. To think I would meet the hero in such a remote city. I had heard rumors of your incompetence and assumed you would still be sucking your thumb in the Empire. It seems you were more capable than expected?”
The face of the man who had been speaking leisurely suddenly turned cold.
“Thanks to you, my plans have gone slightly awry.”
“……”
“I originally intended to offer over five hundred sacrifices… but thanks to you, I could not even fill half of that. Haha, I never thought you would find and sever the strings of so many scouts.”
It seemed my swift, sweeping actions had helped. Thanks to that, we had saved over one hundred and ninety people. Now I understood why they had tried to brainwash so many. They had wanted to offer as many people as possible as offerings. Although his plan had been greatly disrupted, Oleg did not seem particularly concerned.
“Well, it is a shame.”
Immediately afterward, the offering began.
Shaaaaak!
The grotesque patterns on the brainwashed people’s bodies began to glow. The patterns absorbed their souls in real time and gathered the power into one place. I ordered the soldiers and my party members to stop the offering even if they had to cut the people down. What exactly were they trying to cast by offering so many lives?
“My master Net’s power is certainly formidable. However, its weaknesses are equally clear. Once a certain distance is reached, he cannot use his psychic abilities. In the end, brainwashing also requires some time.”
He quickly answered my question.
“Originally, we planned to brainwash the monsters and have them attack this village, but I opposed it. Is it not inefficient? When would we finish brainwashing so many monsters?”
He continued.
“It would be simpler to just lure them.”
Cloud Village, a remote city. It was located particularly close to the demon realm even among human territories. That meant there were an enormous number of monsters nearby.
“I let them smell human flesh. I told them to come here. To come and enjoy a feast. I originally planned to gather monsters from a five-hundred-li radius, but thanks to you, I could only gather those within a hundred li. Keh keh keh…”
I no longer needed to listen. I swiftly beheaded him. I felt sorry for the old man whose body had been stolen, but I had to prevent even one more sacrifice.
“It is too late…”
But it was already too late. The old man had not been the caster. He was merely another victim. This spell was being cast by all the brainwashed puppets together!
“Haa…”
I let out a sigh. The Puppeteer was not the strongest among the Four Heavenly Kings, but I had always hated this bastard the most. After all, both the Puppeteer and Oleg played this game in the most infuriating way possible.
Pop! Pop!
The sound of bodies bursting echoed from all directions. The puppets whose life force had been exhausted were literally “exploding.” People suddenly drenched in blood screamed. It was an apocalyptic scene, yet the real game had not even begun. I quickly headed toward the city walls. Interrupting the offering? I had already given up. The spell was already in progress. By the puppets’ own will. I could not save each and every one of them, and in the time it would take, stopping even one of the approaching monsters was the best I could do.
When I finally reached the top of the walls, I saw the monsters gradually gathering. At the edge of my vision, a black mass was surging forward. Each of those black dots was a monster. I muttered as if complaining.
“This game really is played like shit.”
But what could I do? This was the kind of game it had always been. I had been through so much that my mind had not broken from something like this. Still, there was one fortunate thing. The situation was not the worst. It was certainly bad, but at least we had created the second-worst outcome. That much, we could handle. Holding onto a faint hope, I drew my sword.