Mercenary Wars

Chapter 7 Blood Sacrifice

Reverend Green rose from his chair and first found a ladder, climbed up and removed part of the roof to let the full moonlight in.

He lifted up a few more floorboards.

Under the lifted wooden floor, there was a square marble slab about two meters long and wide. It was Patrick marble, a white stone that symbolizes holiness. It has a solid texture and no other colors. It is usually used to make statues of saints or angels.

A magic circle pattern was carved on the stone slab. The main body of the pattern was three concentric circles with various strange symbols arranged in between. The central circle was divided into two parts, one large and one small, by an arc. The smaller part looked like a crescent moon.

Looking at the magic circle pattern, a trace of struggle flashed in Pastor Green's eyes, but it was quickly suppressed.

"I decide my own destiny!" he muttered.

As he spoke, he dragged the unconscious Raymond to the center of the marble slab and made him lie on his side so that it matched the crescent moon pattern.

After doing all this, Pastor Green looked up at the full moon in the sky and waited for a while.

When the moon's brightness almost reached its peak, he immediately sat down in front of Raymond, placed his hands on the magic circle, and began to chant obscure spells.

As the mysterious incantation echoed in the room, Gao Jianuo clearly felt an indescribable evil force enveloping the place, and the increasingly strong smell of blood made his scalp tingle.

Because he was thrown into the corner facing the wall, he could not see most of Pastor Green's actions, but when the evil power and the smell of blood hit him, he roughly guessed what Pastor Green was going to do.

Blood sacrifice ceremony.

Regardless of his past or present life, Gao Jianuo had heard some rumors about mysterious rituals on the night of the full moon. In addition, Pastor Green immediately lost interest after discovering that he was "dead", so it was easy to associate it with a blood sacrifice ritual.

It seems that Pastor Green wants to sacrifice Raymond to gain power for himself.

Thinking of this, Gao Jianuo's face suddenly became gloomy.

Although he and Raymond didn't have much in common, they were friends who grew up together in the church, and Raymond had helped him a lot. He thought it was difficult for him to just sit back and watch Raymond die.

And if I do nothing, what will happen to myself after Pastor Green completes the ceremony?
The best outcome Gao Jianuo could imagine was being buried alive.

After a brief thought, he realized that this might be his only chance to resist and he had to do something.

He moved slightly at first, then listened carefully.

The chanting continued without a pause.

Gao Jianuo moved a few more times and found that Pastor Green's spell still maintained the original rhythm and was not affected at all.

Obviously, Pastor Green focused most of his attention on the sacrifice ceremony at this time and had no time to pay attention to Gao Jianuo in the corner.

After confirming this, Gao Jianuo turned his head and looked over.

Then his pupils couldn't help but shrink.

Raymond, who was lying in the center of the magic circle, had already turned into a skinny and bloody man. Blood was oozing out of his skin and pouring into the magic circle grooves on the marble slab.

The magic circle pattern that was originally composed of white carvings has now been completely dyed blood-red. Under the illumination of the full moon, it flashes an unusually bright scarlet, and the face of Pastor Green who is casting the spell is also reflected in a bloody face.

Gao Jianuo was not sure whether Raymond was still alive, but there was no doubt that it would be too late if he didn't act now.

So he acted decisively, took an arrow in his hand, and rushed towards Pastor Green.

Seeing him jump up from the ground, Pastor Green was obviously stunned for a moment, and then hesitated for another moment.

In two moments, life or death is decided.

When Pastor Green finally made up his mind to stop the ceremony, Gao Jianuo had already inserted the arrow into his chest!
"Ah!" Pastor Green screamed and tried to push Gao Jianuo away. Gao Jianuo used the force of the push to pull out the arrow, and then thrust it hard again, piercing Pastor Green's chest again.

Pastor Green used his hands and feet and finally kicked Gao Jianuo aside. Then he quickly put his hands on his chest, and holy light shone brightly in his palms, quickly healing his injuries.

How could Gao Jianuo give him a chance? He quickly got up from the ground and prepared to shoot another arrow.

Pastor Green reacted quickly as well. Seeing him stand up, he immediately paused the healing spell and shot out a ray of holy light.

Gao Jianuo only felt a sharp pain in his chest, and his legs went weak and he fell down again.

But this instantaneous spell obviously did not have fatal power. He endured the burning pain in his chest, looked around, and then noticed Raymond's hammer and shield not far away.

Gao Jianuo's eyes lit up, and he quickly picked up the hammer and shield, and climbed up again with the shield on his head.

Looking at the shield in his hand, Pastor Green's face turned pale.

He trembled and made a mind-shaking gesture, aiming it at Gao Jianuo.

The shield was obviously unable to withstand the mental shock. Gao Jianuo groaned and was knocked to the ground again. He couldn't get up for a while.

But Pastor Green had also exhausted all his magic power, and the wound on his chest was still serious. The blood stained the upper part of his priest robe, making him unable to get up.

So the two of them lay paralyzed on the ground for a while until Gao Jianuo got up again.

Pastor Green's face had already turned pale, and his voice was weak: "You...why did you recover so quickly?"

Gao Jianuo panted slightly. "I don't look like a weak soul, do I?"

Pastor Green laughed bitterly. "I see. It's the art of feigning death... Where did you learn it? As far as I know, no one in Driftwood Town knows how to do it."

"A wounded person who was rejected by you." Gao Jianuo said only.

Pastor Green was confused for a moment.

Obviously he had forgotten about Ryan a long time ago. He never thought that he would end up in despair because of such a small matter.

Gao Jianuo walked up to Pastor Green with his warhammer in hand and said coldly, "Any last words?"

Pastor Green's face twitched slightly. "Don't tell the church about this... This will not only save my reputation, but also benefit you..."

Gao Jianuo admitted that he had a point.

The priest was engaging in the black magic of human sacrifice. This major case was bound to alarm Archbishop Nordalon, and it was not impossible that it would even reach the ears of the Pope. Even if Gao Jianuo was eventually proven to be completely innocent, the series of investigation processes in between would be extremely troublesome, and all the people involved would definitely be investigated thoroughly.

During this process, if the church decided to revive the glorious historical tradition of the presumption of guilt, Gao Jianuo, as Pastor Green's apprentice, would most likely be doomed.

"Then how should I explain this?" He pointed around.

Green's gaze shifted to the Fire Wolf. "Now is the season most prone to fires. The Fire Wolf's corpse could easily cause an accident that could cover up everything..."

"Indeed," Corgano asked again, "Do you have any other last words?"

A trace of pleading appeared on Pastor Green's face: "If you can let me go——"

"Bang!" Gao Jianuo raised the war hammer with both hands and smashed it hard on his head, interrupting his last words in his life.

"No."

(End of this chapter)