"So, this is the place of the Crow Hunters?"
Jack, observing from the air through his crow’s eyes, flew thoughtfully between the trees.
The Crow Hunters’ base was an old church. Though it appeared decayed and neglected, this was actually camouflage.
Underground, there was a large base with over 200 bandits, led by a small, elderly man named Rufus, a former priest.
The Crow Hunters were a low-income organization. Despite not being a lucrative business, they specialized in hunting crows and made it into a trade.
Some crows were used in correspondence, potions, or in sacrificial rituals that required a living offering.
Sacrificial magic granted the desires of the one performing it, proportional to the value of the sacrifice, which could include humans among other beings.
For example, someone who sacrificed 100 crows might wish for water to turn into a small healing potion, and this would happen.
But someone who sacrificed 100 humans could create a high-level potion powerful enough to heal even a limb.
Of course, sacrificial magic is banned in many places, including Wargan, primarily because it involves offering directly to Evil Gods.
This is considered a sin and an evil act in many religions that follow gods of light and goodness, including the faith of the Goddess of Light.
The Evil Gods are described in holy texts as formless, thoughtless beings of pure evil, but Jack, as a player, knew this wasn’t entirely true.
The Evil Gods were typically those who had sacrificed their divinity for more power, becoming lords of the 72 layers of Hell. Forsaking the divinity that made them gods turned them into vile beings, the physical embodiment of Hell.
Although Jack didn’t know many of the Evil Gods in the Otome game, there were a few known ones in the game.
For example, the Evil God to whom the Crow Hunters offered sacrifices was Andras. Before becoming an Evil God, he was a minor War God.
But because of his arrogance and combative nature, he was exiled to Hell by the Council of Gods. During this process, Andras’ hatred grew so immense that he was transformed into an Evil God by the will of Hell.
Andras was the weakest of the 72 Evil Gods, and according to Jack’s memories, Andras’ Avatar should have been slain by the Rose Priestess.
But an Avatar dying in the mortal plane wouldn’t harm a god much, though arrogant gods might curse a person’s family for three generations because of it.
"Anyway, I need to level up more..."
Jack’s crow eyes widened with excitement as he suddenly sped up and entered the church.
Two surprised bandits inside the church chuckled at the sight of Jack. Suddenly, Jack lunged forward, manipulating the shadows, which grabbed the men by their feet.
"Damn it!"
Before the man could scream, the shadows had already flung him out of the window, while the other man only managed to let out a scream before the shadow wrapped around his leg and slammed him into the wall.
"Agh!" As the man fell with pain, a pile of wooden crates fell on him, crushing his head.
Jack showed a brief expression of surprise. "Man, that was a nasty way to go..."
Believing he wouldn’t be able to stand looking any longer, Jack quickly passed through the hidden passage. As he flew down the dirty and dusty passage, he cawed, "I’m coming for you! My crow friends!"
Finally, Jack reached an iron door. After punching the door with a shadowy fist and struggling with it for two attempts, he broke through.
As soon as Jack entered, dozens of arrows came flying at him.
"Do you really think you can defeat me at this level?" Jack boasted as he activated his barrier ability. The arrows didn’t even scratch the barrier.
An angry, short-haired man stepped forward, pointing his rusty sword at the crow. "A crow that can cast spells?! What the hell is this thing!?"
In contrast to the short-haired man, a woman with closely cropped hair looked greedy. "Steve, that crow could be worth a lot."
The man named Steve narrowed his eyes at Jack. A wicked smile appeared on his lips. "You’re right, this crow would fetch a good price."
The other bandits in the back chuckled as they caught the scent of money.
Jack smiled. These guys were talking in front of their enemy like third-rate villains. "These guys seem like idiots."
Jack suddenly allowed the shadowy snakes he had secretly sent from the ground to bite the man’s genitals.
"What!?" Steve screamed in surprise, the Woman realized what was happening and while trying to hit the Shadow Snake with her sword, thorns made of Shadows suddenly passed through her head and entered her eyes.
"My eyes!"
While the Woman was crawling on the ground, the other Bandits realized that Crow was now It doesn’t visible, while everyone did not understand what was happening, a shadow cloud suddenly covered the entire room.
"Everyone calm down! Stop whining like a baby!" Steve’s angry voice caused the other Bandits to snap out of their confusion.
"Ze’ka Narath tu’khal, Ashrath Narath vek’rea. Va’shar tenu, va’mara tenu, va’korath tenu. Duskra ke’la Norath, ter’ash al’thu Andras!"
(Translation: "Lord of War, we offer the souls to you. Take their bodies, take their lives, take their powers. Let this blood be yours, exalt your name Andras!")
"Ze’ka Narath tu’khal, Ashrath Narath vek’rea. Va’shar tenu, va’mara tenu, va’korath tenu. Duskra ke’la Norath, ter’ash al’thu Andras!"
The crowd continued the ritual monotonously and devoutly without pause, and Jack’s eyes gleamed with a plan.
Looking at the withered ceiling, Jack recalled the Dark magic used by Morrigan. Confident, he remembered what Morrigan had done and Thomas’s words.
His eyes shone with confidence. "If Morrigan can do this, then I should be able to too!"
Using his Mana to its fullest, Jack opened his mouth, and as the air around him gathered Mana, the robed people did not notice.
"Go! Go! Go!!!"
Feeling his Mana drop below 100, Jack felt exhaustion, but despite his sweating body, he continued to resist.
In a short time, Jack targeted the ceiling with the Mana he had gathered in his beak. Jack focused all his energy and shouted with his last strength. "Leth!!"
The Mana collected in Jack’s beak turned into a great red light, and then a red beam shot from his beak and hit the ceiling.
"The ceiling! The ceiling is collapsing!"
A young Thief, noticing the rapidly aging and cracking ceiling, shouted. Some robed people wanted to flee in fear, but Rufus’s angry voice stopped them.
"Where do you think you’re going! The ritual isn’t over yet!"
"To hell with the ritual!" said one of the robed people anxiously. "My life is more important!"
As Rufus tried to punish the one who said this, the ceiling couldn’t withstand any longer and collapsed.
As many people were crushed under the rubble, Rufus cursed and preferred to continue the ritual alone.
"Grant me power and glory to punish these traitors, my Lord!" As Rufus prayed, he was suddenly incapacitated by a Shadow spike piercing his head.
As Rufus’s lifeless body fell to the ground, Jack, in his crow form, wanted to take the women with the little Mana he had left.
"Gakk!" Straining himself, Jack felt one of the girls looking at him. He went to the yellow-haired girl anxiously and gently stroked her head with his beak.
The girl was surprised, and her vacant eyes improved slightly. "Are you a god?"
Jack was surprised but immediately shook his head. The girl was relieved. "I wish I had known your name earlier; I would have worshipped you..."
Seeing the girl cry, Jack sighed, his eyes filled with sadness. Ignoring the robed people who were dying and screaming in the background.
As he looked at the girl, Jack’s eyes narrowed with anger and sadness, feeling guilty. If he had come earlier, none of this would have happened...
"God, can I ask you for something?" The girl breathed as if she were about to die. Jack quickly nodded in agreement.
The yellow-haired girl continued. "Our village was destroyed by these men..."
Her eyes shone with sorrow. "I sacrificed myself to allow my brother Urien to escape while they took me..."
Jack was moved by the girl’s love for her brother. The girl continued. "Please, can you find him and help him?"
"Please, I offer my soul to you, my Lord..."
Jack heard the yellow-haired girl’s plea, tried to bow in front of her, but Jack didn’t allow it.
The girl continued. "Please... Help him..."
As the girl cried, Jack could no longer endure. He nodded in acceptance. The girl was relieved when she saw this. Jack, noticing a falling piece of debris near him, became anxious and wanted to lift the girls with his shadow, but the girl’s voice interrupted him.
"Leave us... We won’t be able to be okay after this. Still, thank you for thinking of us..."
Jack looked at the girl with concern, the ceiling would collapse completely in less than a second. Torn between decisions, Jack realized he had to do this when he saw the vacant heads of the other girls.
With a heavy sense of guilt, Jack quickly fled from the place and breathed easily when he exited the church.
But suddenly, a voice from behind made him alert immediately.
"I don’t know why you came here, but you made a big mistake..."
Jack, seeing Rufus, was stunned, recognizing from the changed color of Rufus’s eyes that he was facing someone else.
Rufus’s body had been possessed by Andras, one of the 72 Evil Gods.