Chapter 155: Appearance

Chapter 155: Appearance



The primary reason for daring to venture into the unknown temple was based on Rain's rapidly growing personal strength.

Rain glanced at his status panel:

Name: Rain Kalan

Occupation: Apprentice Mage (Extraordinary) lv4 (132/1000) / Knight (Extraordinary) lv4 (57/1000) / Beastmaster (Extraordinary) lv3 (12/500) / Blacksmith lv4 (329/1000)



Constitution: 18

Strength: 16

Agility: 16

Spirit: 20

Remaining Attribute Points: 3

Remaining Skill Points: 4

Looking at the last 3 and 4 in the attribute column, Rain couldn't help but think of a saying, 'A well-stocked pantry keeps the heart at ease.'

Additionally, as Rain's Mental Power broke through the twenty-point threshold, the activity of his spiritual power and the sensitivity of his perception had greatly improved.

So, although Rain could sense that there was some danger lurking within the dilapidated temple, he also faintly felt that this danger didn't seem powerful enough to pose a significant threat.

"Elder Rudolf, I suggest that the Night Watch and the City Guards remain outside," Rain said, his eyes widening at the thought of the potential danger within.

"Let them handle the external vigilance," Rain suggested.

Elder Rudolf smiled slightly and nodded in agreement.

Hearing this, many of the Night Watch members breathed a sigh of relief.

After witnessing the combat prowess of the Malevolent Knights, they knew that these monsters were a challenge even for Temple Knights.

Ordinary people like them would struggle to make any significant impact.

"Rain, I want to go too. I still haven't found my brother's other battleaxe," Ragle said, approaching Rain with a pair of beautiful eyes filled with anticipation.

"It might be dangerous in there. I'll keep an eye out for your brother's weapon, but my advice is for you to stay outside," Rain replied, understanding Ragle's eagerness but hesitant due to the potential dangers within the temple.

"I'm not afraid of danger! And I'll protect myself," Ragle assured him, holding up the blood-etched steel shield in her hand.

"Alright, but stay close to me. If anything seems off, we'll retreat immediately," Rain agreed, knowing he couldn't convince Ragle otherwise. He nodded reluctantly, allowing Ragle to enter alongside him.

In the end, after discussing with Elder Rudolf, they decided to leave the severely injured Temple Knight and all the Night Watch members and City Guards outside the temple.

Elder Rudolf, Rain, Ragle, and three Temple Knights, a total of six people, entered the temple to explore.

After a brief rest and preparation, the group of six slowly entered the ruined temple's garden.

This should have been a beautiful garden, but after an unknown amount of time exposed to the elements and neglect, the once-white granite walls were now mostly collapsed.

The walls were covered with various climbing plants like ivy, roses, and vines, creating a lush and dense atmosphere as if they had endured the passage of time.

The garden was no longer filled with carefully cultivated plants but instead with wild grasses, shrubs, and the occasional tall tree, thriving with lush foliage.

From the outside, if not for the collapsed granite walls, this place would no longer resemble an artificial garden.

"Rain, look," Ragle said, pointing to the ground.

As she had been keeping an eye out for any weapons belonging to her brother or squad members that might have been left on the ground or in corners, Ragle was the first to notice the dragging marks on the ground.

As soon as Ragle spoke, everyone's gaze followed her finger to the ground.

"These are marks from dragging a heavy object," a Temple Knight said, squatting down to examine the ground.

"It's not just a heavy object; there are also scattered bloodstains on the soil. These are likely traces of dragging a corpse," Rain added, his keen perception allowing him to notice the subtle details.

Rain had initially thought that the Malevolent Knights only attacked and killed intruders within this area.

Apparently, they also collected and dragged the corpses of their slain enemies into the temple.

This was intriguing.

Were they collecting flesh and blood?

It seemed eerily similar to the blood sacrifice rituals of the Black Flame Church.

"There are more over here," Rain said, pointing to another set of newly discovered dragging marks.

The group hurried over to inspect them.

The marks here were even more distinct.

"Could the Malevolent Knights be collecting human remains for some evil ritual?" the lightly injured Temple Knight suggested after some thought.

"Not necessarily just human remains," Rain disagreed.

"The width of this mark is significantly wider, suggesting it was made by dragging a large animal's corpse. Look, there's hair in the soil, and this thick, long hair is unlikely to be human."

Rain picked up a hair-like object covered in soil, as rigid as a steel needle.

Rain's perception had improved alongside his mental power, allowing him to notice details he might have overlooked before, which brought him joy.

"Rain is right," Elder Rudolf agreed. "If I'm not mistaken, this hair is from the mane of a feralized wild boar."

Elder Rudolf also acknowledged Rain's keen observational skills, recognizing that a sharp and sensitive eye was a manifestation of strength.

"Collecting flesh or gathering corpses, there must be an altar inside, but I'm not sure if the sacrificial ritual has been successfully conducted."

"Also, everyone, stay alert," Rudolf said solemnly, reminding them.

Everyone nodded, tightened their grip on their weapons, and continued forward.

Beyond the overgrown garden, filled with vines and creepers, stood a grand structure resembling the Parthenon of ancient Greece from Rain's past life.

However, this temple seemed to have crumbled significantly due to its ancient age, resembling the garden's walls, now enveloped by various creeping plants, its entire exterior resembling a verdant hill.

Most of the dozen or so Doric-style columns outside the temple still stood tall and majestic, silently narrating their past glory and grandeur.

"I feel like I've seen this style of temple somewhere before," Rudolf muttered, his face showing a contemplative expression.

Rain looked around and noticed that the drag marks on the ground had become more concentrated.

These marks, converging from all directions, seemed to lead to the dilapidated temple hall.

Especially at the entrance to the temple hall, the drag marks were layered, forming a distinct, slightly sunken trace, like a small stream merging into a river.

Rain thought for a moment and walked over to a section of the temple's outer wall, partially hidden by vines, to observe carefully.

Typically, temple walls would have some patterns or carvings depicting the revered deity, significant events, or grand battles, as these served as a form of propaganda to promote faith and worship.

Rain pulled away a large clump of vines, revealing numerous linear patterns on the wall.

"Hiss!"

After tearing away the vines, a unique pattern emerged before Rain's eyes.

The pattern, composed of simple lines, featured a towering tree, with tiny human figures at its base, appearing minuscule in comparison.

This clearly represented an immense tree, emphasizing its grandeur and height.

Additionally, hundreds of tiny humans were depicted worshipping and praying beneath the tree.

Hearing the rustling of vines, the others approached Rain.

"Is that a tree?" a young Temple Knight exclaimed in surprise.

"Yes!" Rudolf's voice confirmed from behind.

"I think I've figured out the origin of this temple. It's the iconic symbol of the Mother Tree Cult!"

"The Mother Tree Cult was active long ago, mentioned in ancient texts dating back thousands of years. It's said to have existed since the ancient, primitive era."

"However, around two thousand years ago, during the early days of the Empire, it was labeled as a heretical cult and eradicated. Although there were rumors of scattered followers, it had essentially disappeared for many years." Rudolf provided a brief introduction to the Mother Tree Cult.

"Furthermore, their primary doctrine advocated that life originated from a peculiar Mother Tree in the void, which brought vitality to the world. Therefore, everyone must revere and worship the Mother Tree."

"From what you're saying, the Mother Tree Cult doesn't seem to have done anything wrong, right?" Rain asked, stroking his chin.

"The specific reason for their eradication escapes my memory, but I believe it was due to their bloody sacrificial rituals and their pursuit of absolute autonomy. These factors likely led to their annihilation by the Empire," Rudolf replied after some thought.

"I see," Rain nodded.

In his opinion, the bloody sacrificial rituals should have been the reason for their demise.

"So, this must be a site of the Mother Tree Cult, and the tree-like crown on the helmets of these Malevolent Knights is probably a tribute to the Mother Tree," Rain continued.

"Yes!" Rudolf agreed.

People tend to fear the unknown.

Upon learning that this was a site of the Mother Tree Cult from thousands of years ago, everyone seemed to relax, no longer as tense as before.

Soon, they followed the drag marks, heading towards the temple hall.

"Hey! That's my brother Harald's battleaxe!" Ragle exclaimed, hurrying to the half-collapsed temple entrance.

Rain followed Ragle's gaze and indeed spotted another Moonblade Battleaxe lying there.

Judging by the marks on the ground and the position of the axe head, it was likely that Harald hadn't died when he was dragged here, still clutching his battleaxe.

Ragle, holding her brother Harald's battleaxe, looked at the temple hall with a glimmer of hope and expectation in her eyes.

"Be careful, I sense an increasingly dense evil aura ahead, within the temple hall," Rudolf warned, his face stern as he stared at the hall.

"Yes, Father!"

Three Temple Knights led the way with swords and shields, while Rudolf, Rain, and Ragle followed behind, the six of them slowly entering the dimly lit hall.

As they stepped into the hall, everyone's pupils constricted in shock, primarily due to the gruesome and shocking scene before them.

A dense forest of flesh and blood greeted their eyes, with remains of humans, ogres, and werebeasts, as well as other large, ferocious beasts, all intertwined.

At this moment, these once formidable beings were skewered like kebabs on thick, sharp branches.

At first glance, these corpses seemed like ordinary corpses, but as the group approached, goosebumps immediately rose on their skin.

It turned out that the heads or upper bodies of these intelligent creatures and beasts were still largely intact, but their lower bodies had already merged eerily with the tree trunks, forming a spiral structure similar to the 'Tianjin Doughnut' that Rain had seen in his previous life.

The 'Flesh Doughnut' before their eyes was half gray bark and half fresh red flesh, intertwined and fused together like a doughnut.

This scene, in the dimly lit hall, with mottled light and shadow, gave off an indescribable feeling of disgust, terror, and strangeness.

"This is my brother's remains!" Ragle's eyes were bloodshot as she pointed at a large tree trunk where a huge humanoid corpse was twisted and entangled with the tree.

"It seems this was a crude altar, and some kind of sacrificial ritual was about to take place," a Temple Knight said solemnly.

"It's probably not that simple," Rain thought, looking at the scene before him, feeling that it wasn't just a simple sacrificial ritual.

Additionally, he now had a clear understanding of the 'bloody sacrificial ritual' of the Mother Tree Cult that Rudolf had mentioned.

Just as Ragle and several Temple Knights were about to step forward for a closer look, a rustling sound came from behind the group. It sounded like a swarm of snakes slithering and rubbing against the ground.

At the same time, as the sound echoed, the already dimly lit temple hall became even darker.

Everyone turned around and saw that the half-collapsed door they had just entered was now covered with dense, writhing thick vines, like living snakes.

"Clang!"

A Temple Knight quickly drew his longsword, intending to cut through the vines, but suddenly, everyone turned back to look at the blood-soaked forest in the center of the temple hall.

Everyone felt a heart-pounding sensation, as if a massive and obscure aura was rapidly awakening! The next second, the dense flesh-covered forest trembled, and the entangled flesh on the branches shook. At this moment, Rain's core skill, 'Danger Sense Level 3', began to go crazy, warning him! Rain narrowed his eyes and immediately pulled Ragle, who was in front of him, back.

Before he could say anything, a loud "Boom" sounded, and the ground suddenly burst open, and a gigantic monster leaped out from underground!

"Boom!!!"

Ragle's beautiful eyes widened in shock, and her mouth hung open as she gasped.

What kind of monster was this?

Only then did everyone realize that the flesh-covered forest they had seen earlier was not a forest at all, but the roots of this giant monster.

Yes, they were roots! The monster seemed to be growing upside down.

The main body of the flesh-covered forest was hidden underground, and the roots grew upward, intertwining with the various flesh-covered corpses dragged by the Malevolent Knight, forming a bizarre fusion.

This giant monster seemed to have used these energy-rich Extraordinary (Frenzied) corpses as nourishment.

But Rain had a feeling that the corpses were not just the monster's nourishment; it was as if they had been fused into the monster's body.

The overly dark environment was certainly not conducive to the team's combat, as most of them did not possess Rain's 'Dark Vision' ability.

So, as Rudolf waved his right hand, a divine spell similar to an illumination flare lit up in front of the monster.

Instantly, everyone could clearly see the monster's main body.

The monster's body was a huge wooden stake, two to three meters in diameter and seven to eight meters long, surrounded by densely intertwined roots of various thicknesses, fused with flesh.

These winding, entwined roots stretched for over ten meters, making the monster nearly twenty meters long.

This was the first time Rain had seen such a gigantic monster!

Additionally, he noticed that even on the roots that were not wrapped around the corpses, there were not only the original gray bark but also exposed, pulsating red muscle tissue and sinews.

It seemed like these roots had just finished digesting the corpses. The red flesh and sinews still seemed active, constantly expanding and contracting like a heart, while slowly oozing red liquid.

This plant-like, animal-like monster made everyone's skin crawl.

As the air stirred, Rain immediately smelled a pungent, rotten odor. He wasn't sure if the stench came from the red flesh or the roots themselves.

"Flesh Tree Spirit!" Rudolf suddenly exclaimed, as if remembering something.

Having known from the murals that this was a temple ruin related to the Mother Tree Cult, Rudolf immediately made the connection when he saw the monster. Soon, he recalled the origin of this creature!

"This is the Flesh Tree Spirit mentioned in the books, a guardian of the Supreme Mother Tree used by the Mother Tree Cult!" Rudolf explained.

"It's said that they usually remain dormant and can only be awakened by the sacrifice of a large number of Extraordinary beings. I never expected there to be a Flesh Tree Spirit guarding this place!" Rudolf added quickly.

"If there's a Flesh Tree Spirit here, does that mean there's something related to the Mother Tree?"

"Boom!"

A sudden attack interrupted Rudolf's explanation.

Dozens of massive, intertwined roots slammed into the group, and everyone quickly dodged and rolled away.

Including Rain, no one in the team dared to test the monster's strength head-on.

The monster's size was simply too massive, and its weight alone was estimated to be several dozen tons, far beyond the human scale.

(End of Chapter)This was akin to a human strongman not daring to challenge an elephant to a test of strength.

And the Flesh Tree Spirit before them was even larger, its size ten times that of an elephant.

Moreover, judging from its previous attack, despite its massive size, it was incredibly agile, moving as swiftly as a monkey.

Facing this giant creature, several dozen meters long and with a girth that required several people to encircle, its body covered in countless flesh and blood tendrils, Rain, who held the power of Unyielding Force, momentarily froze, unsure of how to approach this formidable opponent.

After a moment's thought, Rain swiftly switched his weapon, replacing the Boar Head Hammer with the Radiant Greatsword!

It was clear that against such a tendril-covered monster, if you didn't trim its hair and beard first, you wouldn't even be able to reach its main body.

At this moment, the Flesh Tree Spirit, having missed its previous attack, began to transform.

Two of the thickest tendrils, resembling arms, lifted its massive upper body into an upright position, while the hundreds of tendrils at its tail entwined together, forming a tail-like giant snake.

At the top of the tree stump, a blood gaping mouth suddenly tore open, several meters long, resembling a giant split-mouthed monster.

In the next second, like a crocodile, it swiftly charged and performed a death roll towards a Temple Knight who had suffered a minor injury and was slightly slower in his movements!

"Boom!!"

The Temple Knight, unable to dodge in time, was swallowed whole by the suddenly opened blood gaping mouth of the Flesh Tree Spirit.

The entire process was so swift that the young Temple Knight didn't even have time to scream before vanishing from this world.

This caused Rudolf to instantly feel a mix of surprise and anger.

Without hesitation, he pulled out the High-Level Divine Art Scroll from his chest and tore it open!

"Divine Art: Sword of Judgment!" Rudolf shouted.

A five-meter-long, pale blue longsword with intense energy fluctuations appeared in front of Rudolf, its tip pointing forward.

The energy longsword appeared out of thin air, and in the blink of an eye, this pale blue greatsword swiftly struck towards the Flesh Tree Spirit like a bolt of lightning.

The Flesh Tree Spirit, having just devoured a Temple Knight, seemed to still be savoring the 'delicacy'. Its massive body didn't have time to react, let alone dodge.

"Pfft!"

The Flesh Tree Spirit's tree stump body was instantly pierced by the pale blue energy longsword, leaving a face basin-sized hole through its body.

Seeing the power of the divine art cast by Rudolf, the other two Temple Knights, who were still immersed in the shock and grief of losing their companion, were pleasantly surprised.

The next second, a loud, intense roar echoed throughout the temple hall.

"Roar!!!"

The Flesh Tree Spirit, having just devoured a Temple Knight, was now howling in pain, its massive body rolling around in agony.

Rain, on the other hand, was quite surprised by what he saw. The attack speed of the pale blue greatsword was incredibly fast, and its power was formidable.

Even he wasn't sure if he could dodge such an attack.

If he couldn't dodge it...

The current state of the Flesh Tree Spirit would be the best explanation for the power of the divine art.

However, Rain's keen perception noticed that although the Flesh Tree Spirit couldn't withstand the attack of the Sword of Judgment, it was severely injured but not killed!

No, not only was it not killed, but its wounds were also gradually healing!

Many of the small tendrils around its body withered and broke off, falling to the ground and quickly turning into dry wood. The flesh that had been entwined around the tendrils also instantly turned into rotting meat.

But during this process, a strange energy was rapidly repairing the Flesh Tree Spirit's main body wounds.

Although the wounds retained a lot of the pale blue longsword's energy, as more and more tendrils withered and fell, a large amount of mysterious energy was born, quickly counteracting the pale blue energy on the wounds.

The Flesh Tree Spirit's body, the wound that had just been pierced through, was shrinking at a visible rate.

With the aid of Dark Vision, Rain could clearly see that inside the pierced wound of the Flesh Tree Spirit, countless tendrils as thick as fingers were growing.

But this scene went unnoticed by the others due to the dimming of a light spell.

Especially the two Temple Knights closest to the Flesh Tree Spirit, seeing the tendrils falling to the ground and turning into dry wood, thought that the powerful divine art should have already killed the Flesh Tree Spirit.

The rest, just wait for the Flesh Tree Spirit to slowly die in its howls!

Rain immediately shouted a reminder: "Be careful! The Flesh Tree Spirit is not dead yet!"

"It's recovering quickly, and it's not just recovering. It's also getting stronger!"

"Huh?" The two Temple Knights turned to look at Rain in confusion.

Obviously the opponent was still howling miserably, and a lot of tendrils have already broken and fallen, isn't it dead yet?

One minute ago.

When Rudolf tore open the High-Level Divine Art Scroll 'Sword of Judgment'.

"Huh! Such a strong energy fluctuation!" At the same time, in the Night Song Forest, a black-haired elf who was on the way also stopped.

She looked up at the direction of the broken temple where Rain and his team were.

"This energy fluctuation, huh! There's also another energy, this seems to be..." The black-haired elf thought for a while, her beautiful eyes widened, and she looked surprised.

After a little thought, she immediately adjusted her direction and quickly advanced towards the direction of the broken temple.

Seemed to feel that it's not fast enough.

The next second, her tall figure suddenly disappeared in place, and turned into an eagle, quickly flying into the sky.

　March is more than half over, seeking readers to vote for the old man.

End of Chapter

Chapter end