The words in my memories were mentioned again, as if they were brought back to the present world through memories.
Lorenzo looked at everyone with solemn and cold eyes.
It was as if words had magic power. As Lorenzo spoke softly, unknown power slowly grew in places where the fire could not shine.
"It took us several days to arrive at the small town. They called themselves Valley Town. Due to the inconvenient transportation and the strange shrouding fog, the locals had a strange sense of morbidity."
"The entire valley town has an extremely weird color, and according to the postman, several horrific murders have occurred here... In fact, it can no longer be described as murder, after all, it is difficult for people to do that.
"
"Those?" Kestrel asked, seemingly fascinated.
"A very cruel killing, almost like a sacrificial ritual of some weird religion."
Lorenzo said slowly.
"Human beings have certain protection measures for their own kind. When you kill a human being, you will instinctively feel a little disgusted, let alone do something more cruel, unless you are not a normal person, or have experienced
Received ruthless training.”
"Our arrival did not attract anyone's attention. It was even said that the local residents seemed to take the initiative to pretend that they could not see us. We finally arrived at the church in the valley town, and the priest there took us to the scene of the murders."
"That's where we saw the cruel scene. Human bodies were hung up, cut up and slaughtered. Moreover, this was not the kind of venting anger or venting some disgusting happiness. The perpetrators had a very purposeful purpose.
Carry out the slaughter just like in a slaughterhouse, specifically selecting the parts you need and cutting them."
Lorenzo continued.
"This is far weirder than the missions I have experienced before. If ordinary people encounter monsters, their injuries are usually biting and gnawing to death, but this time is different. This mission is as weird as a monster, but that 'monster'
But he has a clear sense of reason, not to mention that we can't feel any erosion at the crime scene."
It was clearly words without specific images, but Kestrel and the others felt the same nausea after it poured into their ears, as if something was squirming in their stomachs, and blood surged in the stale air.
"Then it can be inferred that the perpetrator is a human, right?" Robin said, without any erosion, it was obvious that this incident had nothing to do with demons.
But Lorenzo didn't answer directly;
"This is the weird thing about this mission. In fact, from the perspective of a bystander, everything is full of loopholes, but when you are really in this moment... you will be lost, even the demon hunter."
He still didn't name the mysterious truth, and the atmosphere gradually became suspenseful, with unknown stories echoing around the four of them.
"At that time, there were several doubts. We didn't know the purpose of the perpetrator, nor the connection between the deceased. Of course, the most important thing is why the priest did not report it to the church, but an almost crazy postman brought it.
Got the information.”
"After a short meeting, our team temporarily connected this incident with the cult sacrifice, and gradually investigated it according to the instructions in the cult."
"Cult priest?" Joey obviously did not expect this suspicion, "Will such a thing exist under the rule of the church?"
"Of course, no matter how hard you kill these things, you can't kill them all. Several Eastern Expeditions in history only severely damaged them... It's really strange, as if someone is supporting them."
Lorenzo explained.
"The existence of cults is not strange. To be precise, in the eyes of the church, all other sects except itself are cults."
"Rulers need faith to deceive the ignorant, so sacrifice is the best way to communicate with the illusory god. And in the sect's information, this kind of cruel killing and removal of specific parts is most likely to be
Some kind of sacrificial material."
Lorenzo changed his posture and looked at everyone.
"This is the inference that your purification agency should also have it."
Joey nodded at this. As a modern secret department, many aspects of the Purge Agency are not as mysterious as the Demon Hunting Order.
"Once we have an idea, it's easier for everyone to take action. After all, we are demon hunters, and cultists are much gentler than demons. However, we did not take it lightly at the time, because many cults are actually related to demons."
"It's like someone accidentally saw a demon and was corrupted. Then he started to demonize. But at this stage, he still maintained his rationality, so he used demonization as a 'miracle' to confuse others."
Lorenzo tells these classic cases that can be called "textbook".
"The result was a large-scale outbreak of demons. Fortunately, each time they were eradicated by the demon hunters in time."
"That is to say, there was most likely a cult or even a demon that was regarded as a 'miracle' in the valley town at that time."
"The team returned to the church after leaving the scene of the crime. Before we can figure this out, we first need to know why the priests did not report this situation."
"But when we were walking down the street, something weird happened."
Lorenzo's expression became serious.
"The whole town of Valley...has changed."
"The foggy sky turned completely gray, there was no one on the street, and there was no sound. It seemed like there were only the three of us left in the whole world.
There is no other light source except the dim light emanating from the sky."
The dark, strange, and obscure unknown lurks in the ancient town, watching everyone in the shadowed corners.
Unknowingly, the atmosphere became tense, tinged with fear.
"Isn't this a horror story you specially made up?" Kestrel asked with some doubts. After all, with the bad taste of this great detective, this is not impossible.
Lorenzo shook his head with contempt in his eyes.
"Kestrel, what do you think fear is? Or what is the definition of fear?"
"Fear?"
Kestrel was speechless. He tried to think about the definition of fear, but found that when he really wanted to describe this common word rationally, it became very difficult.
"Yeah, this is a kind of 'negligence' of people. Just like everyone enjoys the convenience of steam engines, but they don't think about the principle of steam engines. Everyone is used to the existence of fear, but they don't consider where the fear comes from.
.”
There was a strange light in those gray-blue eyes, and I have to admit that when the great detective told stories...or began to exert his thoughts on others, they could clearly feel the strange power.
"To be precise, fear is a state of psychological activity, a strong negative psychological state caused by uncontrollable, undeterminable, and unpredictable factors around the body."
"And this is not just a psychological effect, it also affects our physiology."
Lorenzo suddenly realized something and connected the two things together. He spoke faster and faster.
"From your consciousness to your body."
Lorenzo looked at them with a slight smile, "You must also feel this deeply, right?"
“When fear begins, the human body enters a state of emergency, a large amount of adrenaline is released, breathing becomes heavier and faster, the heart rate increases, blood circulation accelerates, and the blood supply to the muscles increases to provide more power and speed.
Pupils dilate to receive more light; the brain releases dopamine substances and the mind is highly concentrated to speed up reaction ability and judgment..."
He paused suddenly and said in a deep voice.
"But this... is very similar to the demon's erosion of us. It spreads from consciousness to the body."
There seemed to be a big bell humming in the calmness, hammering the minds of ordinary people. Perhaps they themselves were not aware that their breathing was accelerating and their pupils were slightly dilated.
After being silent for a long time, Joey slowly said.
"Lorenzo... Actually, you may be more suitable to be a cult leader than a detective demon hunter."
"This is natural. After all, before becoming a demon hunter, you have to become a priest. Although it is just a formality, I feel that my talent as a priest is outstanding."
He was beaming with joy and didn't care about Joey's words.
"But, don't worry about these, just treat them as one person's random thoughts. After all, I am an overthinking person..."
Although he said this, there were complex and strange emotions in his gray-blue eyes.
"So back to the Uncanny Valley mission, when we stood on the deserted street, we all invariably felt that weird feeling, that feeling of fear, like erosion, it captured us."
"This alerted us and we returned to the church as planned."
The memory gradually became clearer. In that gray world, the church was like a black silhouette in a gray world, and the towering spire was like a spear.
"We thought we would encounter some weird things on the way, but there was nothing... In fact, this kind of silence is disturbing. If hundreds of monsters appeared on their way back, it might be more peaceful than calm.
Comfortable."
"After all, when the demon appears, the emotion of fear has a physical body, and as long as there is a physical thing, it can be killed with a nailed sword."
Lorenzo said fiercely.
"But it's obvious that the monster lurking under the gray mist is more complicated than we thought. It doesn't face us directly, but scares us from various side angles."
At the gray end, the heavy door of the church was pushed open, and the surging blood rushed in. The holy priest fell into a pool of blood with a pious look on his face.
The trembling mist enveloped the young demon hunters. They were at a loss. They clutched the nailed sword tightly and possessed the power of broken steel. However, when the enemy became nothing, they seemed powerless.
"The priest died, but it was not a homicide, but a suicide."
Lorenzo recalled the terrible scene and said calmly.
"He sacrificed himself."
Like an obscure spell, a strong wind surged outside the window.
"Sacrifice...yourself?"
The robin's voice seemed a bit heavy, Lorenzo nodded and continued.
"To the unknown you, I offer everything I have, and please protect this lonely island in the darkness."
Those words were carved on the church bench, stained with blood, and seemed to be the priest's last words.
"We should have thought of this a long time ago. The reason why the church did not report it was because they had become part of that mysterious cult."
The atmosphere has never been more solid.
"The holy priests have long since fallen."
There was also a hint of fear in his voice. Lorenzo had no idea how long he had been depraved and when the weirdness in Valley Town started.
"We have stepped into a trap, and everyone in the entire valley town is the enemy."
The surging mist swallowed everything, and blood slowly flowed on the floor, finally covering Lorenzo's feet.
The blood that had not yet dried carved out strange and complicated figures, and the priest fell among them, with a pious face, a piety that turned his back on the gods and was devoted to the darkness.
The entire castle was shattered, and the four people sat firmly in the chaotic wind. Then the white stone bricks rose from the ground, and they were piled up one after another. Finally, they were lit by warm candles, moving like waves.
The wind sways.
Memory and reality overlap.
Be immersive.
It seemed like four people were sitting on the bench. The holy statue rose from the fire in the fireplace, with blood flowing from its eyes. It seemed to be staring at the people who would look back on all this in the future, waiting.
With their prayers.
The detective slowly stood up and gently stroked the pale golden statue, but then blood flowed down from it and stained his hand.
A long time ago, in the church deep in the memory, the leader of the demon hunter slowly turned his head and looked at the other two people, his young cheeks full of vigilance and unbearable panic.
"This...is a trap."
042 said.
Then a noisy sound came from outside the church, and there was a shuddering strange feeling in the gray mist. Dark silhouettes stood up in it, and the sick residents held up torches and randomly combined pieces of iron wire and broken wood to form a church.
of cross.
It was the fear deep in the memory, strange symbols were smeared with blood on the pale face, and the severed limbs of the corpse were held high.
It was also at that moment that Lorenzo suddenly understood why the dead showed no signs of resistance during their lifetime... These were sacrifices, one after another, towards the unknown existence.
The entire valley town is a huge altar, and the escaped postman may have been one of the sacrifices.
Their faces were twisted and ferocious, and they cheered and screamed.
"No no no..."
042 looked at all this with some disbelief, and then he roared angrily.
"Come back! 016!"
Hearing 042's roar, 016, who was standing at the door, calmed down. She quickly leaned over. The three demon hunters drew their nail swords and looked at the frantic crowd outside the church with vigilance. Then there was a burning
Throwing objects were thrown into the church, one after another.
In the blink of an eye, everything was on fire.
It wasn't until they got closer that the demon hunters could see their faces clearly. They were masks, abominable masks carved from human skin and bones. They arrived with joy, like a surging wave.