20. Like the Descent of a Demon God
Demonification, the village chief’s daughter.
She had to seize this rare opportunity. She might even find the first human besides herself.
As a competent maid, she needed to have excellent time management skills, and now was the time to put them to the test.
Reina’s schedule clearly stated “wake up at seven,” so now, after accounting for travel time, she had about 40 minutes to assess the situation.
The village wasn’t large. The church was 800 meters from the market.
Wood Village’s church was no different from the churches Reina had seen in movies and TV shows.
Its towering exterior and solemn patterns served as decorations, and several human-shaped statues stood on the walls. Severely weathered from years of neglect, they now appeared somewhat comical.
Entering the church, countless worshippers sat in neat rows… if they could still be called “human.”
Like the villagers on the streets, their eyes were vacant, like robots with clockwork and puppet strings, their movements strange. Overall, they were clearly more bewitched than the normal villagers.
And seeing their uniform black attire, Reina confirmed her earlier deduction.
“These humans stink!” Fire covered her nose, her expression disgusted.
The two Dragon Knights guarding the gate quickly saluted Fire Dragon and Lady Reina, not daring to show any disrespect. This was the only relatively normal scene she had encountered.
On either side were dim stained-glass windows. If it weren’t for the chandelier overhead, seeing them on a full moon night, Reina would have been absolutely certain that a zombie crisis had broken out.
Fortunately, these “humans” weren’t noisy, just sitting quietly in their chairs. The skin of some of them had already begun to ulcerate, growing strange tissues… like scales, or overgrown bones, things that shouldn’t exist on a human body. Just looking at them was horrifying.
These guys couldn’t be underestimated.
Reina recalled the old woman who had attacked her. She was around level 20, which was undoubtedly a nightmare for the protagonist in the novice village.
Even ordinary human soldiers in the previous difficulty level were only between levels 20 and 30.
If this group swarmed her, their destructive power would be astonishing, comparable to a well-trained human squad.
—But because of my identity, they no longer seemed hostile towards me.
Reina’s gaze quickly shifted to the priest on the church podium.
Like the other worshippers, he wore a black robe, with a prominent silver cross as decoration on his chest… It was an inverted cross.
The priest’s face was wreathed in a blissful smile, his kindness as thick as his white beard. If that beard were unkempt, it could even rival that of an orc from the snowy mountains.
And Reina was certain that this person was definitely a demon… his eyes were pure black, and she could clearly see his deformed body beneath his robe with her naked eye.
Seeing the two of them, the priest’s voice trembled with excitement:
“Good morning, Fire Dragon. May I ask who this beautiful lady is?” He hurriedly stepped forward, not recognizing the woman beside Fire Dragon.
“The current Knight Commander, Lady Reina~” Fire Dragon quickly introduced, looking quite proud.
The priest’s pitch-black pupils widened abruptly:
“Oh—! It’s you, Lady Reina! You are like a goddess, pulling out the light from within me!”
“Please, spare me the pleasantries, Father. What should I call you?”
“Grindle, I am Grindle, beautiful Lady Reina.” The priest bowed: “I’ve heard that the Dragon King graced our village with her presence for an important matter. So it was for you, a descended evil god!”
Grindle, so it was him.
The priest of the novice village, an NPC character. He played the role of a stern figure in the village, maintaining a strict attitude towards everyone, including the nuns under his command.
Reina’s impression of him was rather bland.
She just didn’t expect him to become more cheerful after demonification. It was truly lamentable.
“Mr. Grindle, when was the last fire in Wood Village?” She suddenly asked a seemingly out-of-the-blue question.
“Twenty-one years ago. Is something the matter, beautiful Lady Reina?” The priest bowed.
Reina smiled but didn’t answer.
So, he still retained memories from his time as a human.
Just then, Fire leaned close to Reina’s ear and whispered:
“Father Grindle used to be a human, but he actually broke through and became a mid-ranking demon. That’s how he regained his consciousness. He’s the strongest demonified human in Wood Village, so naturally, he became the leader.”
“Can they evolve infinitely?” Reina asked.
“I don’t know, but the stronger the human, the stronger they become after demonification.”
Fire seemed angry, veins bulging on her face:
“So, why give humans the chance to be demonified? Wouldn’t it be better to just kill them all?”
Reina smiled and shook her head.
—It seemed she really hated humans.
She looked up and saw a cross covered in thorns behind the podium.
“That cross over there is the execution platform for demonified humans. They are tied there and then consumed by the [Purifying Flame],” Fire explained.
Following the thorns upwards, she saw a statue of the Goddess of Light hanging upside down in the church, also covered in black thorns. Bloody tears streamed from the statue’s eyes, as if they could drip at any moment, symbolizing misfortune and ill omens.
—But clearly, this was just a prank.
The priest bowed slightly:
“My ladies, before the ceremony begins, please allow me to offer a prayer for both of you, as a token of loyalty to the Dragon King.”
On the way here, Fire had told her that anyone participating in the ceremony had to pray to one of the Four Kings of the Realms. Not participating would be disrespectful to Calysia.
Outside, Reina still had to pretend to be devoted to Calysia.
At home, it might be a different story.
“Wasn’t the Goddess of Light swallowed by darkness?” Reina said half-jokingly.
“It doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter!” The priest waved his hand. “We were never followers of the light. Why should we worship the God of Light? As long as our hearts are filled with gratitude towards the Four Kings of the Realms, we can still pray!”
“Legend has it that those who pray can see the truth, see their true selves, and discover opportunities within. Such an excellent demon as yourself will surely achieve amazing feats!”
Reina had no interest in praying in the game, but this was a practical way to increase “luck.”
If her luck was high enough, it could improve the quality of dropped equipment in dungeons and reduce damage variation, a valuable but somewhat flashy attribute.
However, this was the first time she had prayed to a hanging statue of the Goddess of Light. Perhaps her luck would decrease instead.
“I’ll go first,” Fire said.
She walked to the podium, glanced at the statue above her, clasped her hands together, lowered her head, and performed the prayer gesture Reina remembered.
“…”
Nothing happened.
After Fire finished praying, it was Reina’s turn.
She imitated Fire’s actions, intending to just go through the motions.
As for having faith in the Four Kings of the Realms, Reina couldn’t do it.
Because one of the damned Four Kings of the Realms was waiting for her at home to cook, or she would starve to death soon!
That image couldn’t possibly inspire any faith in her!
The prayer began.
She began to recall Calysia’s gentle smile in her mind.
Suddenly, a gust of eerie wind extinguished the light from the chandelier overhead; a noisy and terrifying buzzing sound filled everyone’s ears, making them want to cover their ears, yet they couldn’t help but listen to every note in detail.
Beneath their feet, dark magic seeped from the wooden floorboards, like countless tiny slimes slowly emerging from the cracks, floating into the air and turning into wisps of demonic energy; around them, vaguely wriggling black shadows appeared on the walls, like figures of dark gods from the Primordial Era, performing a demonic dance in the mortal realm.
“Whoosh—!”
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew through, shattering the church windows.
Immediately following was a ground-shaking tremor, as if the prayer had just awakened an ancient, ferocious beast.
At the center of the storm, Reina stood unmoved. Everyone knew that all of this was caused by her.
Fire’s eyes widened. She hadn’t expected Reina’s prayer to stir up such a dark storm. Excitedly, she exclaimed, “As expected of Lady Reina!”
“Oooooh!!” The priest raised his hands, his fleshy face contorted, and let out a creepy laugh: “Such darkness, such cruelty, such madness—like the descent of a demon god!”
But Reina didn’t react. She just stood there quietly.
In her eyes, the world had fallen into a completely opposite state.
The church, the demonified humans, Fire Dragon, the cross, the statue, all disappeared, leaving only her thin figure standing in the boundless, silent darkness.
“Where is this?”
Reina murmured to herself.
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