Chapter 455: Help Seeker

Within the half-collapsed temple, only a few stone pillars remained

intact as they collectively supported half of the main hall.

At the very front of the main hall, there was an altar covered in

cracks. In the middle of the altar, there was a huge, pitch-black cross.

Hanging from the cross was a naked man who was hanging upside down.

Around his ankles, thighs, and torso there were obvious rusty metal

spikes protruding outward that were accompanied by bright red

bloodstains.

Derrick knew that this was the statue of the Fallen Creator, but he

couldn't help look down to size up the statue's face.

He saw the face of the statue---the nose, mouth, and ears were all

blurry, except for the eyes which were carved with abnormal clarity.

The Fallen Creator's eyes were tightly shut, as though he was suffering

from guilt and pain.

"Look away, don't study the statue of an evil god!" Demon Hunter Colin

warned in a low voice.

"Yes, Your Excellency." The few members of the exploratory team

immediately retracted their gazes.

Before today, although the City of Silver had discovered many destroyed

cities and written records pointing to evil gods during their

explorations, most of the residents had never seen the statues of

so-called evil gods.

The remaining area of the temple wasn't very wide, so the exploratory

team quickly split up into groups of two or three and completed the

investigations without finding anything abnormal.

Upon seeing this, Colin, the chief of the six-member council, said after

a few seconds of deliberation, "Let's head underground."

As he spoke, he drew one of the two swords he carried on his back and

smeared it with a grayish silver ointment.

Then, he removed a small metal bottle from a hidden compartment on his

belt, pulled out the stopper, and gulped the contents of the potion.

At this moment, Derrick felt as if the light blue eyes of the Chief had

become a little brighter.

The members of the exploratory team made their utmost careful

preparations. Under the illumination of the four animal hide lanterns,

they followed the stairs on the left side of the statue as they walked

down into the underground area.

Derrick took his turn holding the lantern, walking at the front left as

he cautiously entered the darkness.

He heard the sound of his own footsteps and those of his companions

echoing off of the stone steps. They produced a distant and empty echo.

The echoes didn't suffer from any interference, making the absolute

silence beneath them obvious. However, in the hearts of the exploratory

team members, it was like a knock on the door. The attempt to uncover a

secret that had been buried for an unknown number of years left them

feeling extremely tense.

After walking without having any sense of time, Derrick finally saw that

the road ahead had turned flat. He also saw the newly discovered mural

which the corrupted Darc Regence had mentioned.

The mural was spread across two sides of the wall. It was simply colored

and gloomy, looking ancient as if it had seen the vicissitudes of life.

Derrick took a casual glance and was immediately attracted by one of the

murals.

On the wall to the left up ahead, a pure white cross was depicted in the

middle. It was surrounded by seawater-like blackness, drowning all the

humans who were struggling as they stretched out their arms.

Hanging upside down from the cross was the Fallen Creator. The rusted

nails and blood-red stains were no different from the statues in the

outside world.

But in this mural, the Fallen Creator was suffering from a black

erosion, so much so that part of the white of the cross had become

pitch-black.

In addition, the cross supported a hazy piece of land, and countless

humans were kneeling and praying to the Fallen Creator.

Around the mural, in the deepest part of the darkness, there were six

figures akin to evil gods.

In the upper left corner was a woman wearing a black, classical dress.

Her clothes were layered but not complicated, and it was embedded with a

starry sheen. Her body was relatively ethereal, with signs of rippling

outward. Her face was blurry, as though she was wearing a mask without

any facial features.

The darkness around her surged as one strange eye after another faintly

became discernible.

Directly above was a young man wearing a pure white robe. His face was

painted with a pure gold color, and there were tentacles in the form of

light growing out of his skin.

In his hands was a putrid-green book and a radiant spear, and his chest

and back were inverted.

In the upper right corner was a trident-wielding monster with an

octopus-like head, wide eyes, and a body wrapped in lightning.

The feathers of countless birds formed his cloak, and the darkness

turned into waves that supported the bottom of his feet.

At the bottom right was a supple and beautiful woman. Her chest bulged,

propping her clothes up. In her arms was a rotting baby, and at her feet

were black ears of wheat, spring water squirming with flesh, herbs

dripping with pus, and wildly-mating animals.

Directly below was an old man wearing a hood that revealed his mouth,

wrinkles, and a white beard.

The old man held an open book, and on top of it was an eye that was the

symbol of omniscience.

At first glance, this old man looked the most normal, but the smile on

his face was indescribably evil.

At the bottom left was a giant warrior in tattered armor. He held a long

sword and was sitting on a throne with bleak dusk as its backdrop.

*What this mural means is that when the Cataclysm struck, the evil gods

climbed out of the Abyss. In order to save the people of the world, the

Fallen Creator had suffered the vast majority of the sins and pain, and

as a result, showed signs of being corrupted and having his image

change... But, I think "He" is the worst evil god...* Carrying

an animal hide lantern in his hand, Derrick looked at the mural on the

wall as he walked. He realized that the description was identical to

Darc Regence's description with the core theme being that the place

where they were had not been abandoned by the gods. Instead, it was

blessed by the Creator and had maintained civilization through the

apocalypse.

Of course, Darc Regence had only briefly mentioned it, and the details

were far what the murals depicted.

Throughout the entire process, Derrick didn't let his guard down. He

prepared himself in case any accidents were to happen so that he could

respond immediately.

Under the dim yellow light of the candle, the exploratory team went

through many corridors, halls, and rooms one by one, delving deep into

the temple's basement.

Suddenly, a semi-open gray stone door appeared in front of them.

Outside the door, a cluster of beautiful mushroom-shaped objects grew.

They were palm-sized, with white stems and bright red heads, sparkling

with dark-golden specks.

Upon seeing these "mushrooms," the members of the exploratory team had

their appetites whet. All they wanted to do was to rush over, pull out a

stalk, and stuff it into their mouths.

Gulp. Quite a few people swallowed their saliva.

However, most of the people who were able to enter the exploratory team

had rich experience and were of a relatively high Sequence. Having

received a warning beforehand, someone immediately stood up and said in

a low voice, "Those are rotten flesh and hairy scalps."

Derrick knew this teammate and that his name was Joshua. He had

successfully traded for a mystical item from a particular exploratory

expedition.

Joshua stretched out his left, scarlet-gloved hand at the door.

With a flash of light, a burning fireball quickly took shape and shot

out, landing directly on those extremely tempting "mushrooms."

Boom! The ground trembled slightly, and an inferno spread out

to cover the space of two meters.

By the time the fire subsided, all of the mushrooms had already

disappeared, leaving only bits and pieces of flesh and blood. It left

all of the Beyonders, who nearly failed to resist the temptation,

disgusted.

Demon Hunter Colin didn't interfere with the actions of the team. He

quietly watched from the side, nodding from time to time.

"Why would there be mushrooms made from flesh and hair? Where did the

flesh and hair come from?" Joshua withdrew his left palm and muttered to

himself in confusion.

Another member of the team made a bold guess.

"The original inhabitants of this city?"

*It's possible... Perhaps their deaths were a result of turning into

pure flesh and hair...* Derrick agreed inwardly.

After a brief discussion, the exploratory team split into several groups

and cleaned up the hall outside the gray stone door.

After doing all this, they regrouped and slowly passed through the door,

ready to engage in combat at any moment.

Behind the door was a place that looked like an altar. The surrounding

light could hardly dispel the darkness of the region which seemed to

hide something unknown.

Above the altar, a similar pitch-black cross and an upside-down Fallen

Creator was erected there.

Carrying an animal hide lantern, Derrick stood the closest as he

instinctively swept a glance.

His gaze suddenly froze because he discovered that the Fallen Creator

statue here was different from the one outside.

Its eyes were open!

He had blood-red eyes and black pupils, staring straight at any

intruders like it possessed life.

Tat. Tat. Tat. Derrick heard the chattering of teeth.

He originally imagined that it came from a team member, but he soon

realized that he was the one trembling!

Although he didn't understand much about the evil god's dangers, his

teeth were instinctively chattering at that instant.

Tat. Tat. Tat.

His teammates reacted similarly.

At that moment, a speck of powder floated into the air. Demon Hunter

Colin clenched his fist.

Boom!

As the sound of thunder reverberated through the air, Derrick and the

others suddenly snapped to their senses, escaping their "nightmare"

state from earlier.

Before they could investigate the area, the sound of weeping could be

heard from behind the altar.

"Sob, sob, sob...

"Sob, sob, sob..."

In the chilling silence, Demon Hunter Colin calmly ordered, "Derrick,

Joshua, go around and take a look."

As a chill went through his body, Derrick held the animal hide lantern

and the Axe of Hurricane in his hand. Together with Joshua, he slowly

walked around to the back of the altar.

As the darkness was gradually dispersed by the light, they saw a black

figure curled up behind the altar.

After taking two steps forward, the shadow revealed its original form.

It was a seven- or eight-year-old child, with soft yellow hair.

He closed his eyes, as though he wasn't used to the light as he shouted

in excitement, "Save me, save me..."

Derrick's pupils shrank, and when he thought of the cry for help he had

heard in the pure darkness earlier, he subconsciously lifted his Axe of

Hurricane.

At this moment, Demon Hunter Colin took a step forward and solemnly

asked, "Who are you?"

The child stopped pleading for help and said reminiscently, "My name...

My name is Jack..."

After dinner, Klein put on his coat and hat in preparation to head out.

He was going to find Miss Sharron, resolve the problem of the baronet

digging up a tunnel, and ask for clues about mermaids. He wanted to

complete these matters before Detective Sherlock Moriarty headed south

for a "vacation."