The goblins had already intercepted and stored a small portion of the source of Corruption.
“His Holiness, if I am not mistaken… it is inside that palace.”
Furthermore, it was highly likely that a Moho-level Strange existed within those palace walls.
Lutherchi did not say it aloud, but Muxuan was well aware.
To be able to fully withstand the power of Mosen’s three-ring magic array, the source of Corruption inside the palace could not possibly be small. And where there was a significant source of Corruption, the birth of a Moho-level Strange was inevitable.
Muxuan leaned against a tree, feeling somewhat exhausted as his mind raced. This situation had far exceeded his expectations. Especially after Lutherchi explained the Corruption carried by knowledge, Muxuan began to feel a deep sense of trepidation regarding the memories of the past Popes.
Thinking about it now, the missing pieces and contradictions within those memories finally made sense.
‘Knowledge is Corruption.’
Damn it, I never even considered that before!
Muxuan should have realized this back when Mosen produced that parchment scroll and detected Corruption on it. Something so silent and subtle, which could entrap someone with the slightest lapse in caution, was what he should have feared most.
“His Holiness! Commander Gelifende sent me to report. A prison has appeared where the village connects to the back mountain!”
Just as Muxuan was debating whether to push forward and investigate the palace or retreat for now, a knight arrived before him, panting heavily. The knight hastily bowed as he spoke.
“A prison?”
At the connection between the village and the mountain? Was that there before?
Hearing Muxuan’s confused tone, the knight immediately replied, “It appeared suddenly after Master Mosen activated the magic array. Master Mosen has already rushed over there.”
However, just as the knight finished speaking and waited for Muxuan’s decision, a shepherd’s staff lunged forward, instantly piercing the knight’s head.
Black liquid mixed with wriggling black maggots spilled out, but Muxuan’s pre-prepared barrier of light blocked it all.
“I thought you were just going to keep watching,” Muxuan teased, looking at Lutherchi, who was pulling back his staff with a helpless expression.
Lutherchi chuckled twice, then extended his shepherd’s staff again to pick up one of the maggots writhing in the black liquid on the ground.
“What do you think of what he said?”
Frowning, Muxuan instinctively stepped away from Lutherchi’s staff. The sight was revolting. Muxuan, who already disliked insects, felt his stomach churn at the sight of the maggot.
“What he said was true, except for the fact that he is already dead,” Lutherchi replied, spinning his staff to observe the maggot closely.
“Let’s go! If we don’t hurry, it will be too late!”
After spinning the staff once more and seeing the patterns on the maggot’s back, Lutherchi’s expression suddenly hardened. His voice was urgent and serious.
Without asking further questions, Muxuan saw Lutherchi’s grave expression and knew the severity of the situation. He quickly cast two layers of buffs on himself to increase his speed.
“Then explain while we run!”
The two of them then rushed toward the prison at extreme speed.
***
“Give me food… hungry…”
A body that looked like a dried corpse was crawling across the ground. The voice coming from its mouth was raspy and weak, sounding like rusted chains being dragged, each word punctuated by the gurgling of phlegm.
Gelifende’s brow furrowed tightly as he instinctively took a step back, as if the sound itself were a form of Corruption.
‘Is this thing even still human…?’
There was a massive hole in the dried corpse’s stomach. Its intestines and other organs were being dragged across the ground… A trail of black blood extended behind the corpse toward some unknown location.
Gelifende was filled with intense loathing, physiological disgust, and discomfort. At the same time, his emotions were a complicated mess.
“Commander…”
The knight beside him watched the scene, suppressing the urge to vomit as he looked at Gelifende for instructions.
They had indeed spent many years hiding within the Black Mist, but they had never seen such a disgusting and twisted visual horror before!
Gelifende waved his hand tiredly. The knight beside him immediately understood what he meant.
Looking at the crawling corpse with a heavy heart, the knight stepped forward with his sword and stabbed down fiercely.
“Ah—!”
A shrill, ear-piercing scream erupted from the corpse’s mouth. A pair of pitch-black eyes popped out abruptly, rolling to a stop at Gelifende’s feet. The corpse’s hands clawed at the ground repeatedly, as if trying to alleviate its own agony.
“Make it quick!”
Upon hearing the command, the knight no longer hesitated. Golden holy light flared on his blade. Accompanied by a *sizzling* sound, the corpse soon stopped its struggling.
“Commander, he is dead…”
Withdrawing his sword, the knight returned to Gelifende’s side, his mood somber.
“I know…” Gelifende’s voice was muffled.
This place offered too many twisted sights that they could never have imagined before. The constant visual assaults were battering their frayed nerves, leaving them both emotionally conflicted and exceptionally exhausted.
After Mosen took a look inside from the entrance, he immediately declared that he would not enter. For many things Gelifende couldn’t decide on, he had to send a knight out to consult Mosen.
“Commander, Master Mosen says…”
At that moment, the knight who had gone to consult Mosen returned and relayed his instructions to Gelifende. “… It is better to just kill them…”
This caused Gelifende’s heart to sink once more.
“Why…?”
“They are already dead; they are only alive in this strange, distorted way… The Light cannot save them.”
The knight repeated Mosen’s words verbatim.
After letting out a long sigh, Gelifende turned and walked back toward the previous location. He understood what Mosen meant. Light could save the Polluted and heal most wounds, but it could not bring the dead back to life.
He arrived at the cell block again. Looking through the iron bars at the thin, small woman who was repeatedly digging her own intestines out of her stomach, Gelifende closed his eyes heavily.
The woman wasn’t digging them out for any other reason than extreme hunger… she kept pulling them out, trying to stuff them into her mouth to swallow them…
However, the woman’s teeth had long since been pulled out, and since her intestines were still connected to her body… she couldn’t swallow them at all.
With his eyes closed, the sound of the woman trying to swallow was hauntingly clear in the otherwise quiet prison.
Gelifende’s grip on his sword tightened until it made a *creaking* sound. He realized now that the hardships he and his men had endured in the Black Mist were nothing… These people were the ones truly to be pitied.
If it weren’t for His Holiness, would they have ended up like this as well?
“Commander, perhaps I should do it…”
Seeing Gelifende’s internal struggle and hesitation, the knight beside him spoke up firmly, despite his own lingering fear.
“It’s fine. I will do it.”
Opening his eyes, Gelifende used brute force to tear away the rusted iron bars and stepped into the cell.
*Shing—!* The sound of a blade slicing through the air rang out.
Then, the sound of a head hitting the floor echoed throughout the entire prison.