The Devil Does Not Need to Be Defeated

Chapter 349: The Pitch-Black Beastman Temple

Cosmos at night wasn’t suitable for going out.

Not only because of the chaos, but also because going out at this time increased the chances of encountering opportunistic criminals.

Furthermore, the Knight Order was constantly patrolling every corner of Cosmos. If they were discovered, they might be apprehended without a word and interrogated, or even arrested as suspicious individuals. Therefore, no one dared to wander around Cosmos at night.

However, under Beatrice’s guidance, Shien left the inn.

“Have you been to Cosmos before, Beatrice?”

Seeing Beatrice walking ahead as if she knew the way, Shien was truly surprised.

Even if she had been to Cosmos before, the current state of the city made it impossible for anyone to be familiar with its layout.

The positions of the buildings could change at any time, and even the passable routes were uncertain.

Therefore, logically speaking, even those most familiar with Cosmos shouldn’t be able to navigate so easily, let alone considering that Shien had also moved the buildings around earlier, changing the city’s layout completely.

Yet, Beatrice walked ahead with a clear purpose, her steps showing no hesitation, which truly puzzled Shien.

“…”

Perhaps sensing Shien’s surprise, Beatrice turned around, looked at him, said nothing, and continued walking forward, pulling Shien’s hand.

Seeing this, Shien could only suppress his doubts, carrying his Holy Sword and following Beatrice, turning left and right through the alleys.

They walked like this for nearly two hours before finally emerging from the complex network of alleys and entering an open area.

Shien felt a sudden sense of openness. The disorderly cluster of buildings disappeared behind him, and only a stretch of wilderness entered his view.

“Is this… the outskirts?”

Shien looked around, confirming their location.

Upon confirming, Shien rejected his own statement.

“This isn’t the outskirts.”

If it were the outskirts, he should be able to see the city walls of Cosmos.

As a fortress city, Cosmos was entirely surrounded by high walls. The closer one got to the outskirts, the more visible the walls would become.

But now, Shien couldn’t see any walls around, proving that this wasn’t only not the outskirts, but it might even be an area closer to the center of Cosmos.

“It’s clearly the center of the city, but there are no buildings at all?”

This was unlikely.

Unless…

“The buildings here have all been moved away.”

If that were the case, things would be interesting.

Because for an entire area to have no buildings left, all moved away, Shien couldn’t believe it was a coincidence.

Moreover, upon entering Cosmos, Shien had already noticed the abnormal magic power here with Airi.

And after entering this area, the abnormal magic power in the air became even more pronounced and intense.

With this, Shien had reason to believe one thing.

That was…

“Is this the source of the strange occurrences… ?”

Shien narrowed his eyes and looked at the wilderness before him.

Beside him, Beatrice also quietly looked at the area. After a while, she tugged at Shien’s hand again, motioning for him to move forward.

“Alright, alright, let’s go.”

Shien naturally wouldn’t refuse. Smiling wryly and nodding, he walked forward.

They walked like this for almost another half an hour.

Until, under Beatrice’s guidance, Shien arrived at a certain location.

It was a place where a temple stood.

The temple was large and tall, standing like a small hill on the flat ground, giving off a majestic feeling.

However, such a majestic temple was entirely pitch black and covered in thorns and vines.

It didn’t look like a solemn and sacred place at all, but rather like a dark castle imprisoning vampires, making one’s heart tremble.

“Where did such an eerie temple come from?”

Shien blinked, somewhat stunned.

Beatrice also stared at the temple, her eyes downcast, a hint of irritation and rejection flashing through them for a moment.

But despite the clear sense of rejection, Beatrice still tugged at Shien, pointing at the dark temple.

“Uh…” Shien seemed to understand. “You want me to go in?”

Beatrice immediately nodded.

“Alright.”

Shien felt somewhat helpless.

It couldn’t be helped.

Thanks to the [Magic Perception] skill, Shien had already discovered that the strange magic power throughout Cosmos was emanating from that temple.

The temple was like a vortex, with magic power constantly flowing around it. However, it wasn’t being sucked in, but rather emitted outwards, as if repelling everything around it, causing waves of magic power to impact the surroundings. It was a spectacular sight. ℞ἁΝǑꞖΕś

Shien even felt that the reason for the inexplicable transfer phenomenon in Cosmos was the influence of the magic power released by this temple.

The magic power, as if repelling something, pushed away the surrounding buildings and life, causing all the buildings in this area to disappear, transferred to other places. Moreover, the magic power was gradually expanding its influence, causing many transfer phenomena in the surrounding areas as well.

Under such circumstances, Shien felt that if he got close, he would immediately be transferred somewhere else.

“If it weren’t for this, the First Knight Order and the Severed Blade Knights wouldn’t have missed this place, right?”

That’s what Shien thought.

However…

“It seems there are also people unaffected by this magic power…”

Shien suddenly turned his gaze to the surroundings of the dark temple.

There, several figures were moving around.

“Beastmen… ?”

Yes.

The figures moving around the dark temple were beastmen.

They were all dressed in animal hide clothing, but their attire was different from ordinary beastmen. They not only had mysterious tattoos on their bodies, but also wore crowns made of animal fur on their heads, giving off the impression of tribal priests.

The beastmen priests seemed to be guarding the dark temple, their expressions filled with vigilance, the security as tight as a military base.

Using the [Appraisal] skill, Shien discerned the levels of these beastmen priests.

“They’re all above level sixty?”

This strength was already far greater than that of ordinary knight orders, almost approaching the level of the kingdom’s Royal Knights.

Why would such a group of powerful beastmen appear here and guard the temple with such vigilance?

“I think I heard Vivian mention that beastmen, although they have faith like humans, only worship the Goddess of Life among the Three Goddesses.”

Shien couldn’t help but recall information about beastmen.

Demi-humans with partial animal characteristics, those were beastmen.

If elves were known as a magical race, then beastmen were known as a warrior race. Although generally lacking in magical talent, they were born with sharp senses and outstanding physical abilities. Their close-combat abilities were considered the best among the human races, unmatched by anyone.

And depending on the breed, the beastmen’s racial advantages were also vastly different.

For example, cat-people among beastmen had sharp hearing and excellent agility, making them good at quickly eliminating enemies with swift attacks. Dog-people had a keen sense of smell and outstanding limb strength, often serving as guerrillas and scouts.

There were also boar-people with exceptional resilience, wolf-people with both agility and dexterity, and rabbit-people with amazing jumping ability. Beastmen possessed a variety of different breed talents, and even their personalities were greatly influenced by their breed.

The pride of wolf-people, the excessive vigilance of cat-people, and the unwavering loyalty of dog-people once they pledged allegiance were all characteristics of beastmen.

Beastmen also had a strong reproductive capacity, on par with humans, both being among the more populous human races. However, beastmen hadn’t established their own countries and instead existed in the form of tribes, with their habitats scattered throughout the various human nations.

Due to their understanding of the law of the jungle and the fragility of life, beastmen regarded the Goddess of Life among the Three Goddesses as their highest faith and only accepted her blessings.

The way beastmen received blessings was also different from humans.

After human children were born, their parents would take them to the nearest temple, and through the guidance of priests, they would receive blessings from the goddesses among the Divine Race.

Beastmen were different.

It was said that beastmen’s blessings were bestowed by the saintess of their tribe.

The saintess was the most devout follower of the Goddess of Life, dedicating everything to her. When a child was born in the tribe, she would pray to the Goddess of Life, asking her to grant the power to bestow blessings and bless the children of the tribe.

Of course, this blessing wasn’t bestowed by the Goddess of Life herself.

Because the Goddess of Life was the mother of all things, the mother of all life, she could use her power to bless all life in the world.

This kind of blessing was basically considered a weaker version of the Goddess of Life’s blessing, and the blessings themselves also varied in strength. Some were comparable to the blessings of Superior Gods, while others were only equivalent to the blessings of Inferior Gods. However, none could compare to the blessings bestowed by the Goddess of Life herself.

The saintess of the beastmen tribe could, by offering everything to the Goddess of Life and praying to her, ask the Goddess to temporarily grant her various powers to perform miracles within the tribe.

For this reason, the saintess of the beastmen tribe held a very high status. Before she was even born, she would be considered someone who must be protected. The tribe would train a group of priests from a young age specifically to protect the saintess, escort her, and even advise her.

And the saintess of the beastmen tribe was usually a fox-person, who possessed magical talent that other beastmen lacked. This fox-person would also be protected by the tribe immediately after birth and wouldn’t easily appear in the world or be known to others.

Now, however, a temple guarded by beastmen appeared here, and these beastmen were dressed like priests.

Could it be…

“Are they the priest group of the beastmen saintess?”

If so, whose temple were they guarding?

“The Goddess of Life?”

Shien couldn’t help but ponder.

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