Pale Emblem

Chapter 78 Vampire Demon

Since the earth goddess sect lost its power, many strange sects have appeared at the bottom of the Disa Alliance.They tampered with the teachings of the Earth Temple, preached the doomsday and eternal life, and used intimidation and fraud to control believers and gather power.

The rise of half-elf folk sects filled the belief vacuum brought about by the fall of the Earth Temple.Folk sects grew rapidly, shaking Highland City's rule over the Alliance for a time.

Highland aristocrats believe that the initiators of folk sects are diehards who have left the temple of the earth, and there is an irreconcilable contradiction with the famous highland families.As a result, the Union Parliament mobilized elite private soldiers from various sects to suppress the folk sects.The heads of the folk sects, as well as the key members of the infiltrating legion, government affairs, and public security departments were bloodily purged.

Then, the Union Parliament promulgated a law that strictly prohibited the private propagation of beliefs among the people.Several popular folk sects disintegrated with it.

However, burning pyre is not so easy to put out.Even if the old priests who were hostile to the alliance council were slaughtered by famous private soldiers, latecomers would find that spreading their beliefs and forming a sect was a shortcut to fight for power.

The key point is that the goddess of the earth is not a true god and cannot bestow extraordinary powers on believers.The great sage Malfoy founded the Earth Goddess Sect, and of course other careerists can follow suit.

Folk sects changed from light to dark, took root in the poor class, secretly preached, and their influence was limited to lower states, and gradually became underground forces like gangs and thieves.

The old priests of the Earth Temple have been cleaned many times, and the current folk sects have nothing to do with the old priests.In order to survive, large and small folk sects move closer to famous families intentionally or unintentionally, at least they dare not openly confront the nobles.As long as the folk sects honestly defend their territory and do not spread their beliefs across regions, the Alliance Council will turn a blind eye to them.

The Eternal Sleep sect is one of them.However, its scope of spread includes many city-states, and it has touched the bottom line of tolerance of popular sects in the highlands. It belongs to an evil sect that must be completely eliminated.However, the operations of the Eternal Sleep sect are very secretive and almost unknown to the public.The objects it preaches do not see their status, and they give priority to those half-elves who are in a desperate situation and have nowhere to go.

The head of the Iron Cross regiment, Rhodes, also joined the Eternal Sleep Sect by chance.Otherwise, why would he, a servant boy whose master's family was destroyed, be transformed into a little-known slave trader?
It was the Eternal Sleep sect that first helped Rhodes to develop the slave trade, and then he was recruited by the famous Yinpanjiao family.It can also be said that Rhodes is a nail for the Eternal Sleep Sect to break into the famous Yinpanjiao gate.

No one knows how many nails like Rhodes are in the Cult of Eternal Sleep.Rhodes himself did not know the details of the Eternal Sleep Sect.He was neither fanatic nor loyal to the sect.It seems that the Eternal Sleep sect does not need these.In other words, the "Eternal Sleepers" of the Eternal Sleep Sect don't care whether the believers are devout or not.

Because, He is the "true God", an evil true God who can bring benefits to believers.

Rhode did not dare to betray at first, but later he did not want to betray.He secretly sends slaves with excellent physical fitness to the sect and will be rewarded, for example, a "living secret medicine" that can bring back the dead.

Of course, the price of this "living elixir" shows how evil the "Eternal Sleeper" is.

The tentacle worms in the "living secret medicine" will absorb the flesh and blood of the host, grow continuously, and gradually replace the host's muscles, bones, internal organs, and finally the brain.The host's strength, speed, toughness, and resilience have all been improved unimaginably, but after the host's brain was replaced by the tentacle worm, it became a clone of the "Eternal Sleeper".

This is the road of no return.

As a last resort, Rhode never wanted to use the "living secret medicine" of the eternal sleeper.However, now that he was besieged by the Bone Collector Orcs, and he was injured, the only Vertoc he could count on became arrogant and unapproachable.

After thinking about it, Rhodes felt that he couldn't pin his hope of survival on Vertok's sympathy.So, he decided to take a gamble.

This also started a few months ago.At that time, after Lod discovered Vertoc, he planned to introduce him into the Eternal Sleeper sect.But he sold slaves in the plantation, and heard the female shaman say that there is a god living in Vertoc's body.Rhode was dubious, until he was hunted down by the bone collectors this time, Vertok showed many extraordinary abilities, especially when he rescued Vice Captain Huck and greatly increased Huck's strength.

If you change to another professional, you may not think much, but Rhodes, who is a cultist, has a different opinion.

Anyway, with the strength of a third-level swordsman, he could neither escape nor capture Vertok, so he might as well take a gamble.

Rhodes deliberately took part in the second battle, lacerating his wounds, putting himself in danger of death, and begging Vertok to save him.If you can get the favor of the other party, you can follow a "true god", and his situation is definitely much better than that in the eternal sleep sect.

Rhodes lost the bet, and Vertok ignored his prayer at all.

The daughter of the "Eternal Sleeper" is ruthlessly devouring Rhodes' flesh and blood, turning them into nutrients for growth.This process is actually not painful, but it will bring panic to the host.Rhode clearly felt a smooth tentacle swimming in his body, wrapping around his spine.He couldn't move, he couldn't even lift a finger.

Rhode is most afraid of the tentacle occupying his head. Although this situation is inevitable in the end, the occupying time can be immediately, or it can be a few years later, a dozen years later, or even longer.The "Eternal Sleeper" will allow him to live on as long as he can prove that he is worth more than an unintelligent puppet.

Rhode prayed to the "Eternal Sleeper" in his heart, promising to offer the best sacrifice to him.Whether the "Eternal Sleeper" heard it or not, he had already described Vertok as a sleeping god.

However, how could he really know Vertok, let alone the true face of "Eternal Sleeper".

Sometimes, people are more like devils than devils, and like to use deceptive means to tempt others. As long as they can arouse the potential desires of the other party, the truth can easily be ignored by both parties.

The next morning, Wiltok woke up from his hibernation, and Huck told him that Captain Rhode was dead and asked him to come and see.

Professional swordsmen have strong attack power and relatively fragile bodies.Rhodes' internal organs were severely injured, and a major blood vessel ruptured.He has neither the talent for self-healing nor the top secret medicine that can save lives, and he is basically certain to die.

Vertok was not surprised by this result, but Rhode's body did not look normal.

The head of the Iron Cross regiment was lying on the mat with a large pool of dark red blood under him.In fact, while he was still conscious, he had already lost so much blood that it was impossible to save.

Under normal circumstances, Rhodes died of blood loss, and the surface of his corpse should be pale and bloodless.What Vertok saw was a stiff, skinny, blackened corpse, like a shriveled mummy that had been dead for many years.What's even more puzzling is that the mummified corpse's head and face are still intact, although the cheeks are sunken and there are black lines that spread, at least it can be seen that the facial features are Rhodes.

Colonel Rhodes had lost his breath and heartbeat, and his dark and empty eyes stared straight at the sky.With extraordinary perception, Vertoc determined that he was dead and that there was no sign of life.However, such a strange death is difficult to explain with common sense.The surviving half-elves are all around here, silent.

For the members of the Iron Cross, Rhodes was their companion after all, and his death was a source of grief.When the Iron Ten Regiment traversed the shadow forest, many members died tragically under the fangs and claws of the shadow beasts. Now it is Rhode's turn to die in battle. It can only be said that his luck is not good, and those who are alive have to find a way to survive. go down.

The strange death of Captain Rhodes caused everyone's unease and suspicion.

"The captain looks... like starved to death. Even if he starved to death... the corpse wouldn't turn black, right?" The only remaining professional swordsman in the Iron Cross regiment whispered, slightly nervous.

"I think it looks like poisoning." Lisen, a fourth-level archer, said while touching the short beard on his lower jaw.

He showed Vertok the machete used by the dire gnoll, and said, "The gnoll bone collector was killed by Lord Huck. This is the machete it used to slash Captain Rhodes... ...We checked the wound of the regiment commander and knew that the knife was actually slashed with great force. If Lord Huck hadn't pulled Captain Rhodes in time, the regiment leader would have been cut in half by this knife. But we didn't expect that the gnoll's The machete is smeared with poison."

The machete used by the dire gnolls was made by goblin craftsmen. The quality of the knife was very poor, and the blade was faintly green, and it looked like it had been smeared with poison.Vertoc, who is proficient in blacksmithing, knows that the greenishness of the blade is due to too many impurities, and has nothing to do with toxins.

He took the machete and checked it again, shook his head and said, "Gnolls like to eat the flesh of their prey, and they generally don't use poison on their weapons... Goblin throwers are used to soaking stone bullets with feces. The situation of Captain Rhodes Not poisoning."

Because the team prepared two large wooden rafts in advance, no one has been hit by the goblin's stone bullets so far.It should have nothing to do with the Orc Bone Collector that Rhode's body turned into this state.

"Well, it's definitely not poisoning!"

The undercover hunter Max echoed Vertoc's point of view. He looked left and right, as if he was on guard for something, and then asked in a low voice with a serious face: "Have you all heard of vampires?"

Vampire, a kind of vampire monster widely circulated in the Dissa Alliance, frequently appears in absurd, terrifying and bizarre stories.There are countless versions of the legend of the vampire, and each description of it has its own characteristics.But there is one thing in common, vampires will suck the flesh and blood of half-elves, turning their victims into skinny corpses.

Many half-elves believed that vampires were real, and Max apparently believed in such things as vampires.Max is in his 50s, has a lot of life experience, and is still a talker.He told a few rumors of vampires vividly, as if he had experienced it and witnessed it with his own eyes.

Not to mention, the condition of Captain Rhode's body is more in line with the half-elves' common cognition of vampires.

Everyone was dumbfounded, but Vertok didn't believe in those vampire incidents at all, he interrupted Max and asked, "How many stories did you tell, the victims are dead, that vampire Who came up with the story of the murder? Did the vampire tell others by himself?"

Max was stunned for a moment, then nodded solemnly: "Maybe, it was really told by the vampire, otherwise how could these stories be spread?"

"Well, I've also heard that vampires can change shape. They can turn into victims, and even the victims' relatives and partners can't tell the difference." Huck said with a solemn expression.

The half-elf professionals all began to look at each other, looking at each other with vigilance and scrutiny in their eyes.At this time, none of them dared to move, for fear that they would be misunderstood as a vampire who infiltrated the team.

The atmosphere at the scene suddenly became weird, even a little scary.

In a civilized country without the belief in a true God, there will always be many superstitions about demons and ghosts.The so-called rumors stop at the wise, but how many people can be called wise?

Even powerful half-elf professionals are not exempt, and because of this, Vertoc seems to be out of tune with everyone.He didn't take the vampire rumors seriously, and he couldn't understand how badly it affected his companions.

Of course, who is right and who is wrong is still uncertain.

Vertoc was too lazy to pay attention to the half-elf who stared at each other. He pulled out a fine iron dagger, and half-knelt down, he was about to attack Rhodes' corpse.

Lisen of the Iron Cross was shocked when he saw this, and quickly asked: "Mr. Vertoc, you...what are you doing?"

Vertok untied Rhode's leather armor, and said without raising his head: "I am going to dissect the body of Captain Rhodes, maybe I can know why his skin and muscles are black, and why the body is there Become skinny in a short period of time?"

The professionals of the Iron Ten regiment all changed their faces when they heard Vertok's words.It was Max who reminded next to him: "Vill, Captain Rhodes is dead."

Vertok stopped what he was doing, tilted his head and squinted at Max, and asked, "What do you mean? Did he just not die?"

The earth sect claims that the earth goddess first created all living beings from soil, and then collected underground rocks to create a family of rock elves and half elves.The half-elves believed that the goddess would introduce the soul of the Desa half-elves into the kingdom of God, and only when their body was complete could their soul be complete.Therefore, after his death, he should be completely buried in the ground and return to the embrace of the goddess.

Half-elf adventurers especially value this.Vertok became angry when he wanted to dissect Rhodes' body in public, at least the professionals of the Iron Cross couldn't accept his approach.

One by one, they stared at Vertok with unpleasant expressions.Huck was instantly furious when he saw this, and was about to scold and yell when Max quickly said, "I mean, we should bury poor Rhodes, this is the last thing we can do for him."

Vertok shrugged his shoulders indifferently and said, "If that's the case, then forget it... Please dig a pit to bury Captain Rhodes. May he return to Mother Earth's embrace."

(End of this chapter)