Chapter 83: The Demonic Sword’s Emergence (1)
Ten days ago, a mass slaughter occurred in Mareda, a small rural village in the Zetelba region. Not only were all the villagers killed, but even their livestock fell victim to the carnage. The most notable aspect was the state of the corpses. Humans and animals alike were drained of blood, leaving them shriveled and mummified.
Believing it to be the work of a vampire or a similar creature, the local temple initiated an investigation. However, the investigators, too, were later found dead, their bodies in the same drained state.
The mysterious massacres continued. Starting with Mareda, four villages were wiped off the map in just five days. With hundreds of casualties, the kingdom was thrown into chaos. Eventually, even Achenbart City, the largest in Zetelba, reported mass casualties. But even a monster couldn’t kill everyone it encountered in a large city. Thus, after a spree of killings, the creature fled, leaving behind many witnesses.
Only at this point did the churches of the seven goddesses confront the source of the carnage head-on. The perpetrator of the massacre was finally revealed. It was a small girl, no older than twelve or thirteen, wielding a bizarre dual-edged sword.
In the past, such a seemingly insignificant child committing such atrocities would have been incomprehensible. But times had changed. With the spread of the Shadow of Doom across the continent, necromancy was rampant.
The church assessed the situation with cold rationality and quickly identified the true cause: the demonic sword controlling the girl. Indeed, the weapon's overwhelming aura of malice and bloodlust was impossible to overlook.
Combining witness testimonies, traces left at the scene, and the ominous energy radiating from the locations, the church cross-referenced ancient texts and arrived at a precise conclusion.
“It appears to be a cursed blade, one that uses a human host to manifest its power.”
“It seems to belong to the Blood Eater lineage of demonic swords.”
Dispersing malevolent artifacts to sow chaos was one of the cultists' favorite tactics. Furthermore, the rapid succession of massacres and their widespread locations suggested an organized effort rather than the actions of a single individual. Naturally, the church suspected the Cult of the Black God.
If cultists were involved, the King’s Order was needed. Drunta was contacted, and the 5th Squad was dispatched to handle the mission.
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