Chapter 73 Intelligence on the assembly ground

Chapter 73 – Intelligence from the Assembly Grounds

To be fair, these cultists were actually quite cautious.

They did not believe the words of this strange “compatriot” just because Duncan took out the sun amulet, nor did they easily believe these claims just because Duncan told them about what happened in the sewer ritual field, they were observing Duncan’s words and behavior along the way, and even had to carry out an additional verification to confirm the identity of this stranger after arriving at the assembly ground. stranger’s identity – the best they could do for a group of cultists hiding out in XZ East.

But all of their screening measures were done by treating Duncan as a “normal human being”.

These tactics meant nothing to the captain of the Lost Country.

The tall, skinny leader retrieved the unassuming strip of cloth from Duncan’s hand, seemingly oblivious to the change in the power of this transcendent object, and after welcoming his new compatriot, he raised his hand and pointed to a corner of the assembly hall: “Fellow compatriot, take a rest here, you are not the only one with a strange face here.”

Duncan nodded and walked towards that unassuming corner, all the while keeping an eye on every face that appeared on this rally field.

Unlike what he had seen earlier in the sewer sacrificial grounds, he was surprised to find that none of these Sun Believers were wearing those trademark black robes, but rather were dressed as normal citizens, and they were not wearing hoods that hid their faces, but rather exposed their faces openly.

Curiously, he inquired of the believers beside him, “Doesn’t everyone need to cover their faces when assembling here?”

The believer he inquired about looked surprised, “…… Your local believers in the city-state of Prand had to cover their faces when they assembled before?”

Duncan immediately frowned slightly, “You are not from Prand ……”

“We’re from Lunsar,” another believer beside him said matter-of-factly, the Sun followers here apparently letting their guard down after confirming that the strangers in front of them were really fellow church members, “We all just landed last week, but before we could establish contact with our local compatriots, there was that attack ……”

“Everyone here is from Lensa?” Duncan was a little surprised, he finally realized why there were still so many Sun followers in this city after the destruction of the ritual grounds in the sewers.

“Well, all that have gathered here are fellow citizens from Lunsar, but there are also groups from other city-states, all scattered within different strongholds,” another believer next to him joined in on the conversation, “Alas, we have all more or less heard about the situation in the city-state of Prender, and in the past four years, that damned consul and the hyenas of the church have been striking at our cause …… It hasn’t been easy for you either, well it’s all over.”

Duncan nodded noncommittally, and then immediately heard the congregation member he had questioned at the beginning speak up again, “This dove on your shoulder is still …… chic.”

The corner of Duncan’s eye twitched.

He knew that there was more than one person on the scene who was paying attention to this dove on his shoulder.

A pigeon was nothing strange if you had to say so, but coming to the rally with a pigeon on his own was strange.

He could only casually gloss over it, “It’s my pet, it can help me with a lot of things.”

While he was perfunctory on this side, the thoughts in his mind were already surging rapidly – a large number of Sun followers were pouring into the city-state of Plainland, which was confirming one of his previous guesses:
The consistently low-profile Church of the Sun had suddenly engaged in a high-profile big job in the sewers, and these cultists were really up to something big!
He was able to find the right direction when he muddled his way in this time!

At the same time, he also understood why the cultists attending the gathering here didn’t cover their faces, but were dressed like ordinary citizens.

Previously in the sewers, the Sun Believers’ identity-concealing costumes and the system of single-line contact between the lower-level believers were all designed to fight against the Church’s rounds of purges, and at the same time to avoid the emergence of traitors or key members of the Church’s internal arrests and leaks of information, which was the last resort of the local Church in dire straits, and in front of him, these rabble who had just gathered from various city-states in Pland obviously did not have the experience in this regard – they were, after all, just the same as those who had just gathered from various city-states in Pland. experience in this regard – they were, after all, just cultists, not disciplined special forces.

On the other hand, there was no need for them to disguise themselves as such: since they were all “old-timers” from the same city-state, they knew each other well, and it was pointless to disguise their identities at the gathering.

Instead, this kind of common citizen’s dress made it easier for them to escape when their strongholds were exposed, and to disperse into the civilian population of the lower city, which lacked a strict management system. With this thought in his mind, Duncan’s gaze was also sweeping through the assembly grounds, when suddenly, he felt a line of sight falling on him.

He immediately followed the feeling and saw the owner of that line of sight.

A girl with short black hair and a petite figure was standing a dozen meters away.

The girl was wearing a black dress adorned with white lace, her appearance was clear and quiet, and she looked to be about the same age as Nina, and the most striking thing was that she was wearing a dark red neck ring, which was adorned with a delicate silver-colored bell, which made her look a little bit cute, but also seemed particularly odd.

When Duncan turned his eyes away, the girl also happened to naturally turn her gaze elsewhere – she shifted without moving, but Duncan dared to conclude that the sight just now definitely came from this young girl!
Why was there such a young child in this gang of cultists?

Duncan heart can not help but flooded with questions, at the same time he took another look at the girl’s dress …… somehow, he always felt that this girl and the environment here out of place.

Just so pondering, a sound of a door shaft turning suddenly came from not far away, the tall and thin cult leader ordered to close the door of the basement, and then, he walked towards the middle of the assembly hall.

All eyes on the scene were immediately focused on the leader, and Duncan gathered his thoughts and focused on the changing situation, as he saw the tall, thin man standing with a confident and calm demeanor, a hint of a smile on his slightly shadowy face, before he took something out of his pocket and held it aloft amongst the crowd.

That was clearly a light golden sun mask – exactly the same as the mask worn on the face of the cult cleric who had presided over the sacrifice ceremony in the underground assembly ground earlier.

“Offer homage to the glory of the Lord, and meditate on the Word of Truth in His gaze,” the tall, thin man said aloud, with a tone of devotion that was unmistakable, “Bow your head to this blessed mask, and may the shelter of the Sons of the Sun rest upon it, and aid me in guiding my brothers and sisters who are gathered here.”

The surrounding worshippers immediately chanted the name of the true Sun God in unison, and then with their hands clenched in fists and placed on their brows, they bowed their heads in a gesture of reverence – they were actually not paying homage to the tall, thin man in the center of the assembly, but to the golden mask, as if that mask was the essence of some higher power, and the man with his hands raised in the air was only The man holding the mask was only a carrier.

Duncan also pretended to mix in a group of cultists to do the action, but he did not know what the so-called true word is, so he casually mumbled a couple of multiplication tables and then began to carefully observe the actions of this group of worshippers, and at the same time from their ceremonial actions to deduce the significance of the meaning behind each link.

The tall, thin man solemnly placed the mask on his face.

In the next second, Duncan immediately perceived that …… some kind of change seemed to have taken place in the man.

He couldn’t tell what this feeling was about, it was as if the other man had changed his temperament the moment he put on the mask, and as if there was an extra shadow in his figure, Duncan looked at the golden mask that mimicked the shape of the sun, and saw that the lines on the mask seemed to be slowly swimming all over it – it was as if the mask had come to life at this moment, the It was as if a distant yet powerful consciousness had projected its minuscule power onto the mask, giving the otherwise mundane object transcendent qualities.

The ordinary person wearing the mask, with this one “wearing” action, with this short ceremony, completed the “sanctification”, became a symbol of some kind of divine power.

The surrounding religious sighed in unison: “May the glory of our Lord endure forever! May the way of our Lord come to earth!”

Duncan memorized the multiplication table to the sixth column, while his mind raced with memories.

He had seen the cleric wearing the golden mask in the assembly hall in the sewers, but at that time, the cleric had already finished the process of “wearing” it, plus Duncan still didn’t understand the situation around him at that time, and the temporary body he used was not in a good condition, so he didn’t realize what was so special about this seemingly ordinary golden mask, and didn’t think about why he wore it. He didn’t realize what was so special about this seemingly ordinary golden mask, nor did he think about why a magus wearing a mask would be called a “messenger” by ordinary worshippers.

Now it seems …… that this so-called sun mask is exactly the “communication device” used by those “children of the sun” hiding outside of civilized society to remotely control their followers and observe the world? Or more accurately, some kind of mental projection device?
After suddenly realizing that it was a very interesting item, Duncan’s eyes towards the golden mask suddenly changed a little.

This thing …… might be related to him.

(End of chapter)