Our Family Has Fallen

Lance now felt like laughing, but he had to hold it back, instead showing a regretful expression as he shook his head.

"So easily corrupted, what a pity..."

However, Lance wouldn’t waste too much time on a dead man and instead called on everyone to pass through the first and second areas.

The scenes along the way placed Reynard and the newcomers under a certain pressure, making it hard to imagine how the Lord carved a path through such a place.

Lance led them directly to the portal on the third level.

"Now that Alviss is corrupted, the task of activating the beacon falls to the scholar."

Having come here, Alhazred had no intention of refusing, as he had been cornered by Lance’s words about Alviss.

For humanity...

On the other side, Lance finished speaking and called upon the others to carry out the plan to cut through the flesh, weakening the Evil God’s power as much as possible.

With no monster disturbances and no paths to explore, Lance’s actions were swift and unhindered.

They even cut open the vein-like or intestinal-like passages and began the sacrifice.

The Spiritual Essence gathered on Lance as if it were free, and he blessed it upon everyone, making them greedily devour the behemoth’s flesh like parasites.

Accumulating bit by bit, the Honor Guards of master rank broke through one by one, becoming the Lord’s champions, and a few went to replace those responsible for the Blood Altar.

It’s not that Lance wouldn’t advance them to Legendary but due to talent limitations.

These Honor Guards were not chosen for their Extraordinary Talent or strong inspiration.

The first criterion for their selection was loyalty; it is the foundation of everything, ensuring his control over the Honor Guard.

The second was fearless bravery; the power of will is very strong in this world, and only then can they fight against supernatural monsters.

The third was ability, like being a Sharpshooter, Weapon Master, Bomb Specialist... any exceptional skill or performance.

But honestly, there was not much Extraordinary Talent, only sparingly among people like Margaret and Barin.

Then it was Lance blessing them, forcibly elevating their state, accomplishing in less than a year what others couldn’t in a lifetime.

Just as he could only stop at Legendary, each stage can bear different amounts of Spiritual Essence.

The human body has limits.

Forcing them to Legendary might risk problems as their souls do not have the same kind of Sanctuary.

Lance needed a strong but controllable Honor Guard; what meaning is there in blindly pursuing strength that’s out of control?

So the bodies of these Honor Guards could only withstand being champions, leaving the rest to their potential future breakthroughs.

Yet fifty champions are an incredibly terrifying existence; this is the foundation Lance accumulated for Hamlet.

Lance didn’t know how long he’d been busy, as the Honor Guards around him advanced one by one and left.

And the flesh of the third level was riddled with holes by Lance, recently healed tissue once again torn apart, even more drastically.

To find more flesh, they cleaved the flesh walls and jumped into those pulsating organisms.

Because advancing from master to champion consumes several times more Spiritual Essence than the former, and this reflected in the flesh even more so.

Fortunately, the life force condensed from a million humans was more than enough to sustain them, and Lance was even more generous to Dismas and the others, constantly blessing them, guiding them towards Legendary without reservation.

Their resolve, tempered by trials, was strong enough to wield this power.

Reynard advanced to champion, while Dismas and Balistan to masters, consuming even more Spiritual Essence.

To this end, Lance went deeper with them, wildly rampaging inside the behemoth’s body, its lament and tremors almost unceasing.

But who cared? Lance and the others only wished to further weaken the Evil God’s power, invading even more fiercely.

No one knew how long it lasted, until finally finding no surrounding good flesh, and the laments and tremors ceased, even the blood had run dry, leaving only twitching scattered flesh.

They, completely stained in blood, without rest, had become human blood figures by the end of a round.

Yet these guys were each in peak condition, their eyes under the blood layer sharp like blades, ready to pierce the Evil God.

And Lance, having depleted Spiritual Essence stored within himself, recognized no better time than now.

Lance seemed prepared, releasing barrels of water from the display room to cleanse their terrifyingly bloody state, the blood dripping from their armor still dauntingly gruesome.

But at last, their faces were revealed.

Lance led the group back to the portal where the [Stomach of the Behemoth] lay, and even without Alviss’s help, Alhazred constructed what the Lord needed.

Neither spoke, just exchanging a glance, and Lance nodded at the scholar, blessing him to refresh his state.

"Here is entrusted to the scholar, let’s go."

Needing few words, Lance aimed for the strange portal, followed by Reynard and the others.

Yet, Alhazred couldn’t help but speak up.

"Without Alviss’s help, I can’t completely assure what’s behind the portal, the danger of stepping inside..."

"It’s today!"

Lance interrupted the scholar mid-sentence, not even looking back.

Seeing this, the scholar realized the Lord’s determination, immediately launching the ritual to activate the core beacon, the flesh covering the portal withdrawing rapidly as if scalded.

Lance dashed into the portal, his squad vanishing amid intense spiritual fluctuations, leaving only a bizarre, radiant void.

Observing this, Alhazred was speechless for a long time; if the previous elimination of Alviss raised suspicion, now there were no words left.

The Lord could have avoided this risk, destroyed the beacon, obliterated this place, and returned as the mighty Lordly noble.

But he went in; whether it’s for the world or humanity, it no longer matters.

As for him, he is to keep their retreat open.

To be involved in matters influencing the world, perhaps dying here might be a fortune.

Alhazred wasted no words, seating himself within the ritual, clutching the extinguished Skull Candleholder, sinking into meditation...

They did not know that their acts of bleeding and cutting had truly struck the Evil God’s power.

Or maybe activating the beacon linked this world to an indescribable entity, opening a portal to reality for some terrifying existence.

When Lance stepped into that portal, the Extreme Darkness that enveloped Hamlet’s skies receded... no, relinquished.

For an even more terrifying scene began to unfold, a massive blood-red moon hanging over Hamlet with an unprecedented presence.

The Blood Moon descended.

𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Once again, the stars aligned, with the manor sitting at the most turbulent cosmic center.

A dreadful, uncanny aura rapidly spread; this "thing" remained unnamed, or rather, could not be described with words.

Nonetheless, those who submit under its unnamable presence shall receive some sort of "reward," if one can call it that.

This grand blessing renders them as powerful as their revolting appearances suggest.

The cultists still lurking in Hamlet gathered under their distorted idol, launching once more an unprecedented bloody sacrifice upon the real world.

Elsewhere, beneath the endless Abyss, a great life form awaited in darkness, pulsating with a wild untamed rhythm like a heart...