Mithra and Redwyn calmly exited the small chapel.
Just as Redwyn was about to remark that this approach might not be the wisest choice, his peripheral vision caught a window in a building on the same road as the chapel abruptly slamming shut, a figure quickly vanishing behind it.
Before he could alert Mithra, he saw her already bolt out, charging toward that very building.
A hammer strike instantly pulverized the room's door. They caught a brief glimpse of a slender figure frantically rushing down the stairs.
The figure froze momentarily, clearly not anticipating Mithra's lightning-fast reaction.
A red glow instantly manifested on Mithra's left hand.
The figure immediately dropped to both knees on the stairs: "Spare me! Spare me! Believer lord, please let me go! It was my fault for looking around carelessly! Do not gouge out my eyes!"
The hammer, already mid-swing, was recalled. Redwyn caught up from behind almost simultaneously, and as soon as he entered, he heard the person's frantic pleas.
"Close the door," Mithra instructed him.
Redwyn gestured toward the door frame, which was warped by the hammer blow: "Can this even be closed properly?"
"Then barricade it."
"Understood." Redwyn used Object Manipulation to drag several items from inside the dwelling to hastily secure the door after it was shut.
Mithra looked at the terrified individual, cleared her throat, feeling she should soften her tone now to soothe the victim's emotions.
"We are not hostile people." She stated expressionlessly, but her voice carried absolutely no inflection. To demonstrate openness, she spread both hands, intending to show sincerity, but because she was still gripping the hammer, she accidentally knocked over a dusty, years-old wooden table.
The townsman in front, along with Redwyn, fell silent, unsure how to respond.
"This is clearly the table's fault," Mithra declared, wiping down the hammer, then casually stored the weapon inside her own body to prevent any further accidental impacts.
Redwyn was somewhat accustomed to Mithra retrieving objects from within her person, but the townsman clearly was not.
The person's eyes widened, and his body pressed back against the wall. His mouth opened but he could not utter coherent words. His finger trembled as he pointed at Mithra.
"Monster… Monster! Monster!"
Redwyn cautiously stepped forward and suggested: "This… perhaps I should handle this?"
Mithra narrowed her eyes, seemingly displeased: "Fine."
...
Redwyn's relatively naive and ordinary demeanor successfully calmed the townsman who had been terrified by Mithra.
Mithra looked out the upstairs window toward the surroundings of the town and noticed something peculiar. Just like that morning, there was no one else in sight. After coming downstairs, she saw the townsman seemed slightly calmer and turned her attention to Redwyn.
Redwyn nodded and spoke to the townsman in the common language of the Dream Nexus, his voice stern: "It is alright. You are an ordinary person; we will not harm you. We are not those cultists; we will not remove your eyes. We merely have a few questions."
The townsman calmed down considerably. His basic cognitive functions resumed, but residual fear lingered when he looked at Mithra, causing him to keep shaking his head.
Then he asked: "Are you people from another realm?"
Redwyn replied: "Yes, we are from outside. But this town seems rather strange. Many of our supposed neighbors don't seem very amicable. We don't know what exactly transpired here?"
The townsman sighed and explained: "You emerged from that secret tunnel. I initially thought you were also one of them. That passage was originally dug covertly by certain individuals to illegally excavate forbidden relics for mineral resources. After those cultists arrived, they began exploiting it as a swift shortcut."
"A shortcut implies they traveled back and forth here frequently?"
"They were originally stationed at the main tunnel entrance, but one day, some outsiders suddenly arrived. They instructed us to use methods like poisoning to harm those intruders, but those outsiders still managed to breach the tunnel."
Fear flashed in the townsman's eyes: "The cultists followed them into the mine. No one in the town knows what transpired next. It was only for a single day, and the entire mountain range shook. In the end, those outsiders never emerged; they must have perished in the tunnel. But many cultists also never returned, suggesting a major conflict occurred."
"It was after that incident that the cultists declared the mountain tunnel entrance unusable, necessitating the discovery of an alternative route. That's when someone dug that clandestine passage. For a long time, they transported goods back and forth through that secret tunnel. They even modified the statue in that chapel, hoping to receive some divine favor, but it proved useless. They still incurred heavy losses."
At this point, the townsman couldn't help but offer a wry smile, as if mocking some past folly.
"Heavy casualties? Do you realize what they were actually trying to accomplish by utilizing that tunnel?"
"They sought to acquire the artifacts within the tunnel ruins, preparing elaborate rituals, collecting ocular organs, all to seize the latent power hidden deep within the mine. Everyone in this paltry settlement is a fool blinded by self-interest. Merely for that initial taste of wealth, they discarded morality, surrendered their dignity, disregarded their own sight, and ultimately, they even forfeited their very lives—the lives of the entire town!"
The townsman spoke, his emotions surging, his frail body trembling slightly. But after delivering such a lengthy explanation, he needed to pause, catching his breath.
Redwyn turned to observe Mithra. Mithra, however, was casually examining the room, displaying complete detachment.
But after the townsman finished speaking and regained some composure, Mithra suddenly articulated: "They finally secured the artifact."
"...Yes, they acquired it, not long ago," the townsman confirmed with a tone tinged with sorrow. "After enduring for so many years, they finally achieved their goal. This town will likely be abandoned now. If they had simply departed, that would have been acceptable, but you mentioned, could they possibly choose to silence everyone remaining?"
Redwyn looked at the sorrowful eyes, uncertain of what to reply.
"What item did they take? A tooth?" Mithra, uninterested in sentiment, pressed on with her inquiry.
The townsman nodded quickly: "Yes! I was spying from upstairs at the time. They extracted a… a tooth larger than the combined length of my fingers!"
Redwyn looked curiously at Mithra: "How did you ascertain that?"
"The wolf informed me."
"Huh?"
Mithra had specifically questioned the wolf guarding the tunnel to learn the nature of the cultists' activities within the mine.
The wolf had detailed how they eventually utilized a significant number of eyes to perform a miraculous rite, requiring human corpses to dilute the curse concentration. After years of perseverance, they finally succeeded in retrieving a beast tooth that glowed faintly from a table situated at the heart of the ruins.
But they weren't truly jubilant. Because crucial elements remained unobtained. The wolf overheard those humans lamenting that a specific weapon, which should have been on a rack beside the table, was the object the Nightborne cultists desired most.
Regrettably, that weapon had vanished by the time they successfully infiltrated the ruins.
Now, comparing that account with the townsman's testimony, the wolf had not been dishonest.
Indeed, a physical body exchange proved to be a very straightforward method for establishing mutual trust.
"Did their demand for eyes increase after they obtained that tooth?" Mithra continued her interrogation.
The townsman responded: "You are remarkably insightful. It is terrifying. When they brought out that tooth, the monsters within the mine went into a frenzy, surging out as if desperate to reclaim the tooth. But the monsters didn't seem to care who possessed it. Many people perished—so many, many people... It was virtually an outright riot."
A riot...
Mithra suddenly recalled her own initial arrival in this realm.
The moment she had antagonized a single Cursed Being, a massive contingent of Cursed Beings materialized to surround her.
Safin had also mentioned that the Cursed Beings in the shallow levels of the tunnel were timid, barely capable of assembling, and their offensive power was not exaggeratedly high.
But what Mithra had personally encountered was undeniably real.
Now, it seemed the lingering anomaly from before finally had a plausible explanation.
This was how the peeking townsman revealed everything he knew.
Since the town was entirely under the dominion of the Nightborne Church, many residents who possessed any degree of foresight chose to remain deep within their homes, avoiding the streets. While this offered no absolute guarantee against attracting the Church's notice, fortunately, there were ample fools willing to serve the cult by providing necessary manpower and even eyes. The Nightborne Church, therefore, did not need to actively capture strong recruits. Consequently, the townsfolk's luck was relatively good; clinging to life and sidestepping death was not an entirely impossible endeavor here.
This specific townsman, despite being starved to the point where his chest nearly touched his back and being frighteningly emaciated, had managed to subsist in this area for several years.
However, when Mithra and Redwyn had previously escaped the town, they had taken the child with them.
The child's father, in a desperate attempt to prevent his entire family from being implicated, willingly offered his services to the Nightborne Church but was ultimately discovered by his own relatives.
The Nightborne Church had already extracted what they needed from the tunnel ruins. As a result, their requirement for physical laborers had significantly decreased. Judging by their recent activities, their most pressing need was for surveillance—eyes.
Those residents whose surplus value had been completely exploited were now being forced to offer up their own eyes.
After assimilating all this grim information, Redwyn and Mithra exchanged farewells with the well-meaning but starving townsman, left his dwelling, and kindly utilized some ancient household implements to reinforce the door Mithra had damaged earlier.
"This situation doesn't look favorable, Mithra. He mentioned those cultists rarely venture out recently; they are all concentrated in the main chapel performing some ritual. Stealing supplies might be manageable, but if we stumble head-on into several knights, we definitely won't be able to handle that fight," Redwyn stated with alarm after they stepped out onto the road.
"Let's first scout for any vulnerable strike points. There's no need to rush. Besides, since they are all gathered in one place, staying away from the town center makes it easier for us to operate within the town's outskirts," Mithra reasoned.
Redwyn conceded that this held logic, but looking at Mithra's resolute back, he felt a strange prickle of anxiety: "Mithra, please don't be in such a hurry. Honestly, tracking down a pendant in a town like this is incredibly difficult, not to mention the cultists on watch."
Mithra offered no reply, simply continuing forward with quiet determination.
Redwyn felt somewhat helpless but refrained from further argument, quickening his pace to match Mithra's stride.
...
The pair carefully searched several large structures within the town. During the search, their activity felt less like looking for a specific item and more akin to systematic looting.
Redwyn experienced a fleeting moment of self-reproach but quickly dismissed his reservations.
It was genuinely satisfying to ransack an empty, large room.
Unfortunately, many rooms appeared to have already been thoroughly picked over by others. Numerous locations that should have contained valuables were completely barren, which proved subtly irritating.
Consequently, aside from some low-weight gold and silver jewelry, they acquired no particularly significant gains.
While they were searching, Redwyn suddenly detected a strange Ki emanating from the street just outside the building.
Naturally, if Redwyn could sense it, Mithra, possessing superior abilities, would perceive it with even greater clarity.
Placing down the empty drawer in her hand, Mithra turned to Redwyn: "It's Cursed Being Ki."
Mithra, having faced Cursed Beings more frequently, immediately recognized the energy signature.
"It appears so, but why is it here? We sealed the secret passage, and with the bear and wolf guarding it, ordinary Cursed Beings shouldn't be able to get through," Redwyn frowned, speculating aloud.
He moved to the window. Under the moonlight, he quickly spotted several Cursed Beings crawling and scurrying in the darkened street.
Suddenly, a sharp scream echoed from not far away.
Redwyn quickly stuck his head out to look, his eyes widening: "There are still people outside?!"
"This is a town. Isn't it normal for there to be people outside?" Mithra walked up beside him and stated calmly.
"No, this place isn't a proper town… Wait, this isn't the time for debate. It sounds like someone is under attack!" Redwyn pointed outside.
"If the situation is critical, let's go investigate. Loitering here won't help," Mithra said flatly.
Redwyn immediately agreed and nodded: "You're right!"
He then launched himself directly out the window, landing soundlessly on the roof. After quickly rubbing his hands together for a few seconds, a Self totem materialized, and he channeled Vitality into his limbs.
Furthermore, he utilized Object Manipulation to control his clothing, adjusting his mid-air trajectory. Redwyn successfully executed a series of roof-hopping maneuvers and quickly sped forward.
The surrounding scenery blurred behind him. Redwyn swiftly located a group of people.
They were townspeople, and there were several corpses littering the street. The source of this carnage was clearly a spider monster covered with numerous scattered eyes!
Redwyn recalled Mithra's earlier comment: Cursed Beings possessing eyes were highly likely to have been generated after merging with those cultist Believers.
As Redwyn landed on the street, his arrival was far from concealed. Several eyes on the spider monster's body rapidly shifted and locked onto him.
Before Redwyn could even fully summon his Ki, he suddenly felt his sensory perception completely disappear! He couldn't feel anything, let alone mobilize Ki!
A blast of foul air rushed towards him. In his haste, Redwyn did not panic and reacted instantly. Fortunately, the Vitality he had applied earlier hadn't entirely faded, allowing him to swiftly sidestep and evade the lunging spider monster.
The spider monster missed its target but showed absolutely no reduction in speed. Its numerous limbs lashed out continuously toward Redwyn.
Redwyn struggled to defend himself, taking several direct slaps. His face was scratched open, and his clothes were instantly shredded beyond repair.
After holding out momentarily, he could finally sense Ki again!
Bodyguard was quickly cast, pushing the frenzied spider monster back. Then he raised both hands—one fist emitting white light, the other condensing a red fluctuation.
The punch was thrown immediately as the Bodyguard effect vanished.
Dong!
Vitality Transformation Technique, Shockwave Punch!
The monster's carapace shuddered, its ferocious assault paused, and the spreading white shockwave propelled it backward a measurable distance. Concurrently, the Ki totem on Redwyn's hand was successfully etched, and he immediately followed up by thrusting a palm strike onto the spider monster's body.
Ki-Siphon Hand!
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—
A large volume of Ki flowed from the spider monster along the arm toward Redwyn's body. The spider monster attempted to resist, but the Ki-Siphon Hand, enhanced by the totem, possessed an equivalent, shocking absorption rate. Since it was already a Cursed Being transformed post-mortem, its Ki reserves were relatively limited, and it quickly became depleted.
The Ki was entirely absorbed; its movement within the body ceased. The spider monster's bulging eyes withered, and finally, it collapsed lifelessly before Redwyn.
Redwyn breathed heavily; it had been an extremely close encounter. However, at this very moment, he felt his own Ki blood surging, having assimilated a large amount of external Ki.
Although the portion he could genuinely convert into his own strength was small, and he had to allow the remainder to dissipate for the time being, his Ki level was undeniably potent right now!
Just then.
A profound sense of being watched struck him again.
Redwyn immediately lost his senses once more!
Moreover, this time, because he had just unleashed the Shockwave Punch, the Vitality buff coating his body had not recharged in time and was almost completely gone.
Bang!
A massive force slammed into him from behind, sending him flying outward. He tumbled across the ground, blood spilling from a split on his lip.
Another spider monster, now bearing large, grotesque eyes, erupted from the darkness behind him and lunged, its limbs lashing out.
The surrounding townspeople didn't even have a moment to feel relief; their fear was instantly reignited.
Whoosh!
A flash of crimson light sliced through the air, and a dense, straight sword cut severed several of the spider monster's limbs, instantly halting its movements.
Mithra swiftly closed the distance, her left hand snatching back the straight sword. Her right hand summoned another straight sword from within her own body. Wielding both blades, she rapidly slashed, severing every limb the spider monster possessed for locomotion!
This spider monster immediately became a grotesque, twitching mass of flesh, only its severed appendages still dangling loosely.
All of its eyes focused intently on Mithra. Mithra, in turn, immediately lost her perception of various external stimuli; she was temporarily unable to activate any miracles.
But… she didn't require them at all!
She repeatedly swung the two swords in her hands with full force, driving them into the largest, most glaring eyes of the spider monster. After violently twisting the blades, she pinned the writhing creature to the ground to prevent any further struggle. As the spider monster let out a final shriek, she thrust her hands forward, simultaneously drawing the two throwing knives embedded in her own arms.
Her two hands became countless blurs in an instant, stabbing into every eye on the spider monster's body!
Swish, swish, swish, hiss—
Whoosh!
After all the eyes were pierced, Mithra yanked the two throwing knives out forcefully.
Blood and viscous fluid mixed together, scattering everywhere. As the blades were withdrawn, the monster's fluids traced two elegant arcs around them, glistening under the moonlight.
Mithra wiped the throwing knives clean on her attire and casually stored them back inside her body.
That was the end of it. The spider monster's brief ability to obscure external awareness via its eyes had also dissipated.
Mithra lightly tapped her glabella with her left hand, instantly replenishing her Calmness.
Ding~.
"That final attempt was effective, but remember to maintain your vigilance next time," Mithra said, her back to the moonlight, addressing Redwyn, who had just regained his senses, offering him praise.
Redwyn swallowed hard: "Thanks…"
Mithra reached out and pulled Redwyn to his feet.
Then she turned and retrieved both dense straight swords embedded in the spider monster's corpse. After a quick wipe, she stored them back inside her body.
Redwyn watched, his mouth twitching, and whispered beside Mithra: "There are still observers nearby…"
"Let them watch. As far as I can tell, I'm just an ordinary person possessing a few unique abilities," Mithra stated casually, her own body already slick with the spider monster's bodily fluids.
Seeing Redwyn struggling not to gag, she casually helped him wipe off some of the ghastly residue.
Turning back to observe the trembling townsfolk, she sighed.
Alas, she once again had to expend effort calming the populace.
These townspeople, having recently witnessed the Nightborne Church's large-scale assemblies, had their established control over the settlement slightly eroded. It was precisely this opportune moment when they planned to clandestinely flee Gross Town.
Originally, if they had chosen to escape, it would have been effortless for an informant among them to report their movements, leading to their immediate capture by the Nightborne Church.
But now, many of the townsfolk who had previously collaborated with the tyrannical regime had suffered the loss of their eyes. The Church clearly held no genuine regard for the townsfolk whatsoever; this presented a viable window of opportunity.
Unfortunately, their timing couldn't keep pace with unfolding events. On the very night they finally amassed sufficient manpower and identified the optimal moment to slip away, those grotesque entities—creatures originally confined to the tunnels—manifested directly within the town.
Although Redwyn arrived relatively quickly, regrettably, casualties had already been sustained. Several corpses with horribly distorted features lay scattered around them, and the possessions they had intended to salvage were strewn across the ground.
The disoriented townsfolk were soothed by the seemingly overwrought Redwyn, who then guided them toward an empty residence nearby to regroup briefly.
After Mithra went out to hunt several times, she managed to drive away the Cursed Beings attracted by the commotion and then returned.
"It genuinely feels like I'm farming materials for NPC loot," Mithra commented, watching Redwyn successfully manage the volatile situation with the townsfolk again.
Redwyn wiped the perspiration from his brow: "Didn't you just tell me not to treat this like a game?"
"I never said that. What you all choose to do is your own affair. Besides, I might actually prefer to treat it like a game. Although, I suppose I should be categorized as the 'experience grinder' type," Mithra remarked, tilting her head slightly.
You son of a gun are the AFK farming machine!
Redwyn kept this thought confined to his mind.
That notwithstanding, Mithra's execution felt more stylish than his own. At least Mithra maintained a consistent demeanor toward everyone.
When Redwyn first arrived in the Dream Nexus, he had never encountered genuinely perilous scenarios, leading him to always act quite recklessly.
He couldn't bring himself to take pleasure in killing others, but retaliating against those who attacked him first felt necessary.
Even though the sight of the corpses initially unsettled him, the Dream Nexus environment was undeniably unforgiving. If he displayed a bit more aggression, it would serve him better, but Redwyn was inherently a straightforward youth, making him appear easily victimized.
His ostentatious clothing and earrings were merely an attempt to appear less like a pushover, yet the effect proved limited. The Dream Nexus paid no attention to superficial appearances.
Previously, the Dream Nexus intern mentor who guided them had deftly resolved various issues for them and then offered gentle counsel:
"It's fine. If you stir up trouble frequently, you'll simply grow accustomed to it. The relationship dynamic between the Dream Nexus and Earth is like this. If you avoid provoking them, they generally won't bother you. It's permissible for everyone to be a bit more unrestrained here."
It wasn't the most responsible advice, but it accurately reflected the prevailing Earth attitude toward the Dream Nexus at that time.
Redwyn didn't possess anything so fragile that a hammer strike could shatter it, but at least now he approached matters within the Dream Nexus with greater caution and respect.
"There are significantly more Cursed Beings outside now; we should forego sleeping tonight," Mithra stated, summarizing the external threat level.
"Now that you mention it, I do feel a sense of unease," Redwyn concurred.
"That feeling is likely the intuition that you could be afflicted by a curse at any moment. Safin mentioned that Believers are quite attuned to such things. But the curse affecting Gross Town—as long as you don't perish directly or suffer eye removal—the repercussions won't be overly severe."
Redwyn looked sheepish: "That may be true, but I still don't feel secure."
"Why would you require security in a place like this?" Mithra countered, leaving Redwyn momentarily speechless.
At this point, the tallest man among the townspeople, who appeared stable enough to stand, tentatively spoke: "Pardon me, what is your purpose here in the town? If there is anything we can assist with, we will certainly try our utmost."
Mithra and Redwyn looked over, slightly surprised.
"What compensation do you seek?" Mithra asked bluntly.
"...We wish to escape," the man replied, glancing towards the townsfolk gathered in the room.
Within this group, women and young children formed the majority. There was also an elderly man huddled in a corner. Most of them appeared emaciated and frail.
Their condition led Redwyn to suspect that any one of them might collapse en route down the mountain, unable to continue.
"In your current state, several people would likely perish on the journey down the mountain. It's a miracle you weren't frightened to death by me earlier; you are fortunate to be alive," Mithra stated without reservation.
Did she not realize that, to ordinary people, she was, in fact, quite terrifying?
Redwyn suppressed the urge to utter a curse, then hurriedly steered the conversation toward the townspeople: "We are searching for a... silver pendant. It might be in the possession of those cultists. My apologies, although the description is quite vague, we would be extremely grateful for any information anyone has!"
Frankly, he held very little hope. It circled back to the same difficulty: attempting to locate a specific pendant within a town this size was proving excessively challenging.
"The silver pendant held by those cultists, you say..." Suddenly, the elderly man huddled in the corner spoke weakly.
Both Redwyn and Mithra immediately turned to look.
"Old sir, you know something about it?!" Redwyn was noticeably excited. If there was even a single lead, it would be a tremendous surprise.
"I have seen that pendant, but it should be... no longer in the cultists' hands. The cultist who held the silver pendant gave it to Erik," the old man spoke intermittently, his voice growing fainter the more he talked. It was difficult to clearly discern his words without moving closer.
"Who is Erik?" Redwyn pressed.
"He is the town's foreman, originally the individual specifically tasked with establishing Gross Town for the Hawthorne family," a woman holding her child interjected softly.
The townsman continued, revealing all the details he knew: "After those cultists arrived, he was the first to initiate close contact with them, exposing information about the Hawthorne family and consequently bringing disaster upon us. In a manner of speaking, Erik single-handedly delivered the town into the hands of those cultists."
Angry murmurs erupted among the townsfolk, clearly indicating their profound distaste for this individual.
"He was never trustworthy from the start. He skimmed our wages while lining his own pockets, and acted like a tyrant down in the tunnels..."
"I wouldn't even share a drink with him..."
The crowd instantly found an outlet for their built-up emotions, and the volume of their voices increased significantly.
Mithra casually picked up her hammer and overturned a nearby cabinet with ease to silence them, then walked up to the old man huddled in the corner: "Are you certain? A cultist holding a silver pendant gave that specific item to that Erik?"
"Erik was very persuasive and maintained a good rapport with some of the cultists, so he often managed to secure some kind of compensation..." the old man elaborated.
"Where is this Erik located?" Mithra continued pressing for information.
The old man's gaze became distant, and he slightly raised his head, straining to recall: "He is currently residing in the mansion left behind by the Hawthorne family... Poor Hawthorne family. If their eldest son, who went abroad for his studies, were to return, he would surely find the town's current state difficult to comprehend."
Mithra paid no heed to the rest of the details. She stood up, turned to the assembled townsfolk, and commanded: "Let's proceed to that mansion to investigate first. If we successfully locate the item, we will return to assist you in leaving the mountain settlement. Until then, do not wander around haphazardly, and avoid causing any needless disturbance. We are not responsible if you perish."
The townspeople quickly nodded in understanding.
With that pronouncement, Mithra and Redwyn reinforced the possible entrances to the building before exiting the room.
Upon stepping outside, Redwyn surveyed the scene and realized Mithra's assessment might have been overly optimistic.
The ground outside was strewn with the corpses of Cursed Beings. The town streets resembled a makeshift morgue for these entities.
Some Cursed Beings had died from dismemberment, but the majority had been brutally smashed into unrecognizable paste.
"It seems the cultists truly hit a critical juncture, or perhaps they have already achieved their goal? The curse emanating from the mine must have spread," Redwyn stated with worry. "With things developing this way, I'm slightly concerned about Mr. Safin."
Mithra offered no reply, instead focusing on moving forward swiftly.
Redwyn sighed, still left with no choice but to follow her lead.