Chapter 336: The Eerie Mountain Village

The Kingdom of Pavlan was a traditional human kingdom. To the vast majority of its citizens, gnolls and Ogres were nothing more than wilderness monsters—barbaric, cruel, bloodthirsty, and utterly impossible to reason with.

That was until the rise of the Afiaiv Kingdom overturned these deep-rooted beliefs. People were astonished to discover that with proper education, a gnoll's intellect was no inferior to that of an average human. Ogres fell slightly short of that mark, but they were far from incapable of communication.

Thus, when a dragonborn strolled down the street accompanied by gnoll and Ogre servants, the crowds did not flee in panic. Instead, they lingered on the sidelines to watch.

The Yafeiawei Ambassador Delegation pressed forward like a small boat parting a vast sea of people, the crowds naturally washing aside to clear a path.

This was not because every passerby possessed the high manners required to respect foreign dignitaries, but simply because any normal person would subconsciously move out of the way when a four-meter-tall behemoth was lumbering straight toward them.

The Ogre, standing as tall as the eaves of the houses, flashed a smile at a dumbfounded child by the road. The thick slabs of flesh on its face squeezed together to reveal a mouthful of ghastly white teeth—a fierceness that carried a faint hint of humor.

Clearly, the human child failed to appreciate the Ogre's humor. A second later, the child burst into tears and ran away.

"Mado! Don't play pranks!"

"Yes, Lord Hogger."

The Ogre rubbed his smooth, bald head with a dopey expression, but his eyes darted left and right, occasionally flashing with sharp interest. Evidently, this Ogre's mind was nowhere near as simple as he let on.

Beside Hogger, Willy observed this historic human capital. Brownish-yellow served as the primary hue of the city of Sabel; the buildings were constructed from massive stone blocks quarried from the mountains, with gigantic pillars supporting the overhanging eaves of the street-side shops.

Of course, "gigantic" was only relative to humans. By the standards of the Afiaiv Kingdom, the buildings here were merely average in size—and these were the street-side shops. As for the ordinary civilian homes...

Willy shot a glance at the Ogre behind him, imagining the scene of an Ogre locked inside a tiny box.

Led by a guide specially appointed by the king, Willy's group arrived at the largest hotel in the city of Sabel—the Golden Rose. Designed in pursuit of the utmost luxury, the Golden Rose featured an incredibly spacious layout. Its doors and rooms were several times larger than those of other establishments, making it perfect for hosting the non-human Yafeiawei Ambassador Delegation.

For the next few days, Willy had no plans to go out. After all, being gawked at like a rare animal was hardly an enjoyable experience.

Meanwhile, Prince Silver Deer launched his investigation using the collection of snakes as a lead. With this change in approach, the investigation yielded excellent results, gradually uncovering the hidden Church of the Human-Faced Green Snake.

Through covert investigations and target screening, hidden believers of the evil god were exposed one after another. Secretly tailing them and subjecting them to severe interrogation uncovered a steady stream of clues, finally revealing the tip of the iceberg of the giant serpent lurking beneath the surface of the Kingdom of Pavlan.

As the investigation steadily progressed, an increasing amount of intelligence was delivered into Willy's hands.

A week after arriving in the Kingdom of Pavlan, Willy finally found a target worth making a move on.

The target was a small village deep in the mountains. As the saying goes, those living by the mountain live off the mountain; the villagers had always sustained themselves on local mountain specialties. However, scouts dispatched by Prince Silver Deer discovered that one specific item was missing from the goods the village sold to the outside world—snakes.

Combining this with intelligence extracted from other cultists, investigators deduced that this mountain village was highly likely a stronghold for the Church of Evil Gods. To confirm this theory, the investigation team sent personnel into the mountains in successive waves.

Without exception, no one who ventured to the mountain village ever returned. It wasn't until a High Tier professional vanished that everyone realized the gravity of the situation. The news was reported up the chain of command to Prince Silver Deer, and ultimately reached Willy.

After reading the details in the letter, Willy realized this might be a big fish.

Because the small village was located in the deep mountains along the border of the Kingdom of Pavlan, the journey was long. Bringing along flightless subordinates would take several days, so Willy decided to act alone and head to the village to investigate personally.

In the pitch-black night, a Dragon silently lifted off from the magnificent courtyard of the Golden Rose, darting into the clouds and vanishing into the endless dark.

The wind streamed beneath his broad bat wings. With every beat, the Dragon flew a hundred meters.

Villages, plains, and forests flashed past below him. In a mere three hours, Willy traversed half the Kingdom of Pavlan and arrived in the mountains along the Pavlan border.

Confident in his own strength, Willy flew high above the peaks, searching for the village below. Yet, even with a Dragon's vision, searching for a hidden mountain village amid the sprawling peaks was no easy task.

But according to Prince Silver Deer's intelligence, the village was situated in a low-lying valley, surrounded by mountains on three sides. With this distinct feature, Willy searched for half an hour and finally found his target.

Under the cover of night, Willy silently glided down toward the small mountain village.

It was the darkest hour before dawn, and the villagers were fast asleep. Willy could hear the sound of snoring carried on the wind.

Drawing closer, Willy stopped soundlessly upon a jutting rock, looking down at the small mountain village in the valley below.

Just as Prince Silver Deer's intelligence described, the village was surrounded by mountains on three sides. The sole exit was a wooden stockade gate at the village entrance, built to prevent mountain beasts from running in and hurting people.

At the center of the valley protected by the gate was a small pond. The villagers' thatched cottages were distributed in a terraced layout around it, linked together by primitive dirt paths and stone stairs. There were roughly twenty to thirty households.

Since he couldn't yet be certain that the villagers were enemies, Willy did not launch a surprise attack, instead carefully observing the village interior.

Soon, Willy noticed something amiss. In this tranquil mountain village, there wasn't a single cat or dog.

There were many rats in the mountains, and dogs could serve as an early-warning system. Therefore, every village would keep at least a few cats and dogs.

A cool night breeze swept past. Willy stretched his head into the wind and took a sniff, his sharp sense of smell breaking down the information it carried: the heavy scent of vegetation, mixed with the stench of excrement, the sweat of human bodies, and a faint smell of blood.

"The smell of blood... but not human blood."

Following the direction of the wind, Willy found a small cave behind the houses deepest in the village. A low, guttural string of dragon language rumbled from his throat.

Dragon language magic—Arcane Eye!

A pale blue eyeball materialized before Willy and drifted toward the cave, the information transmitted by the Arcane Eye appearing in his mind.

The distance grew closer and closer!

Just as the Arcane Eye was about to fly into the cave, it suddenly touched some kind of Magic Barrier and was instantly annihilated. However, the image transmitted back before its disappearance was enough for Willy to make his move.

Inside the cave sat an eerie, bizarrely shaped Altar bordered by stone carvings of green serpents. Placed on the Altar were several snakes of various colors with their bellies sliced open, their bright red blood already congealed.

Roar!

A resounding draconic roar shattered the night sky. The sleeping people jolted awake, only for an overwhelming wave of dragon might to crash down, pinning them right back onto their beds.

Flapping his wings, Willy descended slowly into the mountain village. A fresh wave of stench drifted over, causing him to smack his lips in disgust.

"Tsk. If I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have used my dragon might."

The dragon might vanished.

"Get out here, all of you! Do not attempt to flee or resist!"

Trembling uncontrollably, the villagers braced themselves against their doorframes and stumbled outside one by one. The blood drained from their faces the moment they laid eyes on the massive White Dragon in the village. Regardless of where one went, Chromatic Dragons were synonymous with disaster.

"Snake God, save us."

Hearing the whispered prayers of certain villagers, Willy knew he hadn't come to the wrong place.

"Your god cannot save you!"

The massive White Dragon swept his gaze over the pale-faced crowd. Turning around, he tore the thatched roof off the house behind him, pinched the person attempting to hide under the bed to slip by, and roughly tossed him onto the ground.

The unlucky bastard shrieked as he tumbled a few times across the ground, slamming hard against another house's stone steps with a pig-like squeal. The gathered villagers fell deathly silent, shivering in the night wind.

After Willy ripped the roofs off a few more houses, the entire village finally gathered obediently in the clearing.

The early spring night was a bit cold. Having been roused from their sleep by Willy, the villagers' clothes were rather thin; some were even completely naked, shivering in the freezing wind.

Glancing over the crowd, Willy felt a bit confused.

Among these people, only one burly man was a Low Tier professional. The rest were all ordinary people.

Willy locked his gaze onto the sole professional in the crowd.

"From now on, I ask! You answer!"

As he spoke, Willy cast a lie-detecting spell on himself.

"Which deity do you worship?"

As a professional, the man possessed a modicum of courage. Although his face was equally pale, his legs weren't shaking.

"R-Respected Dragon Lord... it is... it is the Snake God—Monafido."

"What is the deal with that Altar in the cave behind your village?"

"That is the Altar used to offer sacrifices to His Majesty the Snake God."

"Where did the Altar come from?"

Willy brought his massive dragon head right up to the man. Two jets of white steam blasted from his thick nostrils, his freezing breath leaving a thin layer of frost across the man's face.

"Don't even think about lying. With your skill level, you could never build such an exquisite Altar."

The burly man could not help but shudder and swallowed hard.

"Dragon Lord, the Altar was given to us by the lords of the Snake God's Church."

"Where are these church lords you speak of?"

Willy felt his tone was a bit too harsh.

"Don't be afraid. I am a friend of the Snake God's Church. I came here specifically to visit them."

Looking at the "amiable" dragon face up close, the man's complexion worsened, looking as if he were about to burst into tears.

"Dragon Lord, I really don't know."

"Hmm?!"

The Dragon abruptly raised his voice, and the man collapsed onto his backside in terror.

"My Lord, I truly don't know!"

The lie-detecting magic remained unresponsive. Willy naturally knew the man wasn't lying, which only deepened his confusion. Judging purely by the sincerity of their faith, half of the people before him were shallow believers, and the other half were ordinary followers. No matter how he looked at it, this didn't seem like an important node for the Church of Evil Gods.

Moreover, there was no way these people could have ever taken down a High Tier professional.

"Have any strangers visited your village recently?"

"No."

Seeing the Dragon's confused look, the man hurriedly added.

"Our village is isolated. The mountain paths are difficult to travel, and we don't have any specialties. The goods we gather from the mountain are delivered to the town by ourselves. We're so destitute that even the Viscount's tax collectors can't be bothered to hike up here, let alone outsiders. However, a few people from our village did leave; they went with the church."

That made no sense. Was the intelligence flawed?

Willy could not help but suspect he had received false information. Still, the loss of a High Tier professional was no small matter; Prince Silver Deer wouldn't fabricate news of that magnitude.

All the professionals who set out to investigate the mountain village had vanished, yet none of them had ever reached the village. Did they encounter an accident on the way?

Willy felt he had hit the nail on the head.

"Which direction did the church's people go?"

The man pointed out of the mountains.

"They followed the church out of the mountains."

"The god you worship is a false god. In a few days, true clerics will arrive here, and they will guide you onto the right path."

Leaving those words behind, Willy flapped his wings and ascended into the sky under the shocked and bewildered gazes of the crowd.

...

Deep within a winding subterranean cave, a black-robed figure knelt before an idol of a half-human, half-snake deity. Suddenly, the black-robed figure opened his eyes and stood up.

The barrier had been touched!

"Guards!"

The guard stationed outside hurriedly pushed the door open and walked in.

"What are your orders, Lord Priest?"

"Summon the ones guarding the mountain pass."

"Yes!"

Before long, a man and a woman arrived before the priest.

"You two are responsible for monitoring the mountain road. Did you see anyone suspicious tonight?"

"Lord Priest! Let alone a person, we haven't even seen a single animal tonight."

Of this man and woman, the man possessed vertical, amber snake pupils, while the woman had a long, forked snake tongue. One possessed the keen sense of smell of a serpent, while the other boasted abnormal perceptual abilities. Even a stealth operative would expose themselves before this duo. It was precisely because of this that the evil god's priest had assigned them to monitor the mountain road.

"Could they have flown over?"

The evil god priest's expression turned grim.

The mountain path was steep. There was only one road leading into the small village, and the Church of Evil Gods' cave had been excavated not far from the side of the road.

The previous agents who headed to the mountain village to investigate had no idea the target wasn't in the village itself, but along the midway mountain road several kilometers away. Thus, their vigilance had been low, and they had fallen victim to ambushes.

"Dammit, since when was the Kingdom of Pavlan's reaction speed this fast? We just killed a High Tier professional this morning."

The priest's expression fluctuated.

"Notify everyone to head to the sacrificial chamber and prepare the teleportation magic. We cannot stay at this base any longer."

"Yes!"

About thirty people gradually gathered in the sacrificial chamber deep underground. In the center of the chamber was a massive, exquisite Altar. Upon arriving, the crowd was somewhat confused, as there was absolutely nothing here but the Altar, and the space was not large—hardly an ideal location for teleportation.

"Everyone, this Altar is a divine gift, and we absolutely cannot abandon it. Shortly, I will perform a god-summoning ritual and draw upon the Snake God's power to teleport the Altar away with us. This ritual requires your prayers to assist me."

Realization dawned on the crowd.

"No problem, Lord High Tier Priest."

A man with fanatical eyes revealed the snake scales on his body.

"The Snake God bestowed us with power. Let alone prayers, we are willing to offer up everything for the Snake God."

"Yes! Yes! Yes!"

"..."

The man's words received unanimous agreement from the crowd.

At the High Tier Priest's signal, the crowd quieted down. They surrounded the Altar, bowed their heads, and prayed softly.

Meanwhile, the High Tier Priest himself stood on the Altar, emitting prayers that no one understood.

Half a minute passed. The High Tier Priest concluded his incantation and bowed.

"Thank you all for your cooperation."