Chapter 185: Cultists

"It’s not for us," Victoria suddenly grew wary. "It’s over there! Where we were just heading—they’re sounding a warning!"

The Pseudo Dragons scattered and fled. Six of them, however, deliberately circled twice above Ron and his party before disappearing from view.

"Six people," the Ghost Witch said, looking at Ron in confusion. "If you already sent people ahead, why do you need me to lead the way?"

"Are you kidding me? I don’t make a habit of using others as cannon fodder to scout ahead!"

"Could they be residents from around here?" The moment Sera spoke, the others immediately shot her down.

"Impossible!" Polly snapped. "Are you doubting my intelligence and my mother’s memory? No one could be alive here!"

"Maybe your so-called ’Lord’ can’t control this area, and some villagers just wandered over here, lost."

"Enough arguing!" Ron cut them off. "Delaford, just go and see what it is."

The Goblin Hunter gave a cry of assent, then quickly returned.

"Boss, they’re humans!" Delaford’s words were startling. "But they don’t look quite like you all. I’m guessing they’re some kind of subspecies!"

’What subspecies...’ Ron found the term incredibly awkward when applied to his own kind. "They’re at least humanoids, right? Can you tell who they are from their appearance?"

"Uh, four of them look like villagers," the goblin said, counting on his fingers. "The other two are dressed a bit like Buni. They might be Priests or something."

"Priests?" Victoria’s brow furrowed. "In a place like this, they’re more likely Cultists. Could you make out their emblems? What did they look like?"

Members of the clergy generally disdained hiding their identities or their faith, making them easy to identify by their dress.

"Well, they did have one..." Delaford hesitated, as if confirming his memory. "The robes of those two Priests had a six-fingered hand drawn on them—but they only have five fingers themselves."

"Worshipping something doesn’t mean you become it," Priest Heim sighed, looking grimly at Ron and the others. "Prepare for battle. We’re about to face followers of the Demon Lord Glazter."

"They’re likely skilled in Illusion Magic and temptation, so be on your guard and don’t be deceived. Those four villagers are most likely their enthralled victims!"

Just as Ron’s party finished their preparations for battle, the six individuals noticed their presence. Just as Delaford had described, four villagers were clustered around two Cultists, walking over laughing and chatting. But when they saw Ron’s group, the smiles on the villagers’ faces instantly froze.

"Ah! Demons!"

A young man cried out, reaching for the bow on his back. "Lord Priests, please help us fight this evil!"

The Priest, eager to save them, charged forward ahead of everyone. "Don’t worry, we’ll rescue you! For now, just get behind—"

CLANG!

Victoria hastily raised her shield, and an arrow embedded itself in the Kite Shield. The archer was the young man.

"They’re being controlled!" Polly was the first to react. "Don’t hold back! Let’s just take them all out!"

’How can this be...’ Victoria was still bewildered. Although the villagers’ pathetic fighting skills were not nearly enough to harm her, the Priest was so lost in thought that she was temporarily unable to fight. ’No way... Was he talking about us?’

’Calling us demons?!’

"Don’t we look the part?" Silvia bared her sharp incisors. A silver fog rose with her Mist Step, enveloping the Mage as she appeared behind a villager. "Capture them all! I want them alive!"

A villager charged at Ron with a pitchfork, but Ron simply incinerated its handle with a single Flaming Arrow. "How strange. These guys just look like ordinary people, don’t they?"

Ron was right. The four villagers were completely ordinary people. Sera didn’t even draw her sword; she knocked them all out with her bare fists. The barbarian looked up at the two trembling Cultists.

"What’s with you two? Come on and fight!"

"Demons—" It might have been fine if she hadn’t spoken, but her words were like a trigger. The two Cultists let out a strange cry as if waking from a dream and bolted into the distance without looking back.

They were running!

"They’re all talk..." Ron grumbled. "Aren’t they followers of a Demon Lord? They even called *us* demons—so why did they turn tail and run?"

"There’s only one way to find out," Yelena said, already dashing off ahead of everyone. "Catch them!"

The Cultists were clearly in better shape than the four villagers. They sprinted for their lives without looking back, even tearing their long robes to keep from tripping. Ron and his party gave chase, but for the moment, they couldn’t seem to catch them.

"There’s a village up ahead!" Delaford shouted anxiously. "Don’t let them get in there! If they manage to hide, we’ll have a hard time finding them!"

However, with Delaford’s short legs and two relatively unathletic Mages, how could their party possibly catch two Cultists running for their lives? By the time Ron and the others burst into the village, there was no trace of them.

"Uh oh, we’re done for," the Ghost Witch said, her small eyes scanning every surrounding house. "Should I perform a tracking ritual? It won’t show their real-time location, but it can at least—"

Before Polly could finish her sentence, a blood-curdling scream from one of the Cultists erupted from a nearby house.

"Help—"

"If you’re going to scream for help, maybe don’t bolt the door shut?!" Aive was the first to rush over, furiously kicking the large door. "I’ll give you three seconds! Open up!"

"I can’t!" a tearful voice cried from inside. "The door locked itself as soon as I got in! Please, have mercy, save me! There’s—"

"There’s what?" Ron pointed a finger, and the sound of a lock hitting the floor immediately came from behind the door.

Tapping Magic was far more effective in a situation like this. If they had waited for Delaford to pick the lock, the Cultist’s body would have likely gone cold.

The large door was yanked open from the inside. Two Cultists, covered in blood and filth, tumbled down the steps one after the other. They scrambled over to Aive, kneeling in the shadow of the Half-Elf’s shield and pointing with trembling fingers at the pitch-black interior of the house.

"There are... there are... There are zombies in the house!!!"