Chapter 125 Blood Lake

The blood-red lake water churned, forming a massive whirlpool with thunderous roars that never ceased. The center of the blood lake had become funnel-shaped, and it was obvious that the small island and the church on it had been swallowed by the vortex. This magnificent and terrifying scene made even the fearless Lily's fur stand on end. The dog-girl instinctively whimpered in her throat, turned, and hid behind Hao Ren: "It's leaking... the bottom of the lake is leaking!"

Aofra stared dumbfounded at the scene in the lake, muttering to herself, "Is this... the goddess's anger reignited?"

Even she was like this, so the elite knights who came with her were even more shocked. The Radiant Church was the national religion of Holletta, and the soldiers in its army were mostly believers. Those who were sent to the Beinz region for missions were the most steadfast. These warriors watched as this horrific change, which only appeared in myths, occurred in the millennia-old holy land. They were immediately at a loss. If it weren't for the strict training and Aofra's presence, they would probably have been in chaos.

The sturdy old man who had been standing next to Aofra stared intently at the lake for a moment, his aura slowly changing: "A great change in the holy land, the lake swallowing the sanctuary. I fear something suppressed since ancient times will escape. Be vigilant, and prepare for a fierce battle at any moment." As he spoke, the old man's figure completely changed. His already sturdy form became even more robust, his muscles bulging, his hair and beard lengthening and hardening like wolf fur, and a pair of deep black wolf ears popped out of nowhere. Then he twisted his body and rummaged behind him, revealing a wolf tail. Aofra looked at the old man: "Couldn't you wear some low-rise pants and a wide-hemmed top that suit your race's habits?"

The old man awkwardly fiddled with the clothes near his tail: "Don't talk, it's affecting my aura."

Hao Ren: "..."

Lily finally reacted at this moment, jumping up and down in surprise: "Ah! A... a... a fellow! So you're a werewolf too!"

"It's just seeing a werewolf, is it that strange?" The old man glanced at Lily, "Although there aren't many werewolves in Holletta, they shouldn't be that rare. But you, little girl, I've been watching you for a while, and I still can't tell which branch you're from."

Lily's tail wagged vigorously, creating a whirlwind of rain in the rain curtain: "I'm a Northern Werewolf! Northern breed, the kind that pulls sleds~~~"

Aofra and the old man were both confused. Hao Ren quickly smoothed things over: "Don't mind the details, don't mind the details. She doesn't even know where she's from. She was adopted by humans since she was little. Let's hurry and meet up with those church personnel who escaped."

Led by the old werewolf, everyone raised their vigilance and prepared to encounter monsters at any time. Then they advanced along the lakeside beach towards a pillar of light: the pillar of light was the alarm beam they had seen in the town earlier. The church knights and high-ranking priests who had retreated from the lake island had already found a place by the lake to set up camp, waiting for reinforcements. But they didn't expect that the first to arrive wasn't the church knights led by Gelton, but the kingdom knights led by Aofra.

Hao Ren saw a large-scale magic barrier by the lake, and a large group of people were hiding inside the barrier from the heavy rain. Temporary rune stones and activation devices were set up on the edge of the barrier, and some black-robed clerics were maintaining the shield. Inside the barrier were hundreds of disheveled church knights and monks of various ranks. Many of these people were sitting directly on the ground without any regard for appearances. Some of the wounded were receiving treatment. Anxious-looking warriors could be seen everywhere, whispering and discussing the meaning behind this disaster. The white-robed high-ranking monks walked back and forth among this group of "refugees," comforting them and stabilizing the atmosphere.

Aofra led the knights to arrive, causing a stir among the people inside the barrier. Several high-ranking monks who looked like leaders walked out of the crowd. Aofra led Hao Ren and the others directly to these people: "I am Aofra, Marshal of the Kingdom. What's the situation here?"

"We thought Patriarch Gelton would bring people..." A tall, thin, white-robed monk was slightly stunned, but he didn't dwell on the issue of religious divisions in this situation. He pointed to the crowd behind him, "As you can see, everyone has basically evacuated, but the precious holy objects and ancient books in the sanctuary have been swallowed by the vortex."

Hao Ren also noticed that most of the people hiding in this barrier were empty-handed, and only a small amount of supplies were piled up in the open space in the center. It seemed that the vortex had appeared quite suddenly, and no one had reacted before the church and the island were swallowed.

"Patriarch Gelton is leading people to come, but my knights are good at rapid marching and are faster than them," Aofra nodded. "How did the vortex appear? Were there any signs beforehand? What changed later?"

"It appeared suddenly, without any signs," the tall, thin monk still had lingering fears when he recalled the scene. "Just a few minutes before the vortex appeared, we heard a gurgling sound coming from underwater, like the sound of a giant beast swallowing water. Then there was a very strong earthquake, and the entire lake island began to tilt. Then the vortex suddenly appeared. Fortunately, the sanctuary guards were the elite of the elite, and their devout faith brought us divine protection, allowing us to run across the lake water."

There were no celestial phenomena, no monsters appeared, and no miracles were displayed—not even ominous ones. This left the steadfast believers on the scene greatly puzzled. However, Hao Ren's heart suddenly stirred, and a thought he couldn't suppress popped out: Could this be his fault?

He remembered how much commotion he and those little green men had caused at the bottom of the lake!

"Commander Hao Ren, have you discovered something?" Aofra noticed the change in Hao Ren's aura and turned her head to ask in confusion. She knew that this "mercenary group" was strange in every way, and thought that some of the clues they had discovered last night were related to today's anomaly.

Hao Ren shook his head vigorously: "It's nothing, it's nothing, just my usual absentmindedness. What do you think, Your Excellency?"

"We must go to the vortex to confirm it with our own eyes," Aofra said without hesitation. "It might be very dangerous, you can wait on the shore."

Hao Ren wanted to find a quiet place to watch, but when he thought about his own actions at the bottom of the lake, he knew that he had to see this matter with his own eyes. But when he looked at the churning lake water in the distance, he couldn't help but hesitate: "How are we going to get there? The whole island has been sucked down."

The vortex was at least a kilometer wide, huge in scale, and frighteningly powerful. The depression in the center of the vortex was as terrifying as an endless abyss that devoured everything. Hao Ren felt dizzy just looking at it. He couldn't think of any way to safely go over and investigate. Among his group, only Vivian could fly. Yizaks was powerful in combat, but his swimming skills were average. Lily's greatest skill was dog-paddling, and Becky was even less reliable. You couldn't conjure up an aircraft carrier or anything like that here—and looking at the scale of the vortex, an aircraft carrier would probably be useless.

"If May was here, that would be great." He couldn't help but mutter. Aofra was a little curious: "Is that the girl who went to the mountains? What's so special about her?"

"A water-type grand mage," Hao Ren pointed to the lake, "Even if she can't take people into the vortex, she at least won't drown."

"A water-type mage, I have some here," Aofra wasn't worried about that. She pointed to the warriors behind her, some of whom were wearing mage robes. "They should be able to safely bring a few people near the vortex. But we'd better wait for Patriarch Gelton, this is the Holy Lake after all."

The group temporarily rested at this lakeside shelter. Aofra's elites had specialized barrier mages who enlarged the magic barrier of the lakeside shelter enough to accommodate everyone. With this barrier blocking the wind and rain, Hao Ren felt an unspeakable sense of security: the stormy weather outside was really annoying.

Lily started running around the camp looking for friends, excitedly asking anyone who was tall: "Hey, are you a werewolf? Are you a werewolf? Sister, are you a werewolf? Young man, are you a werewolf..."

Her usual hyperactive personality had flared up again. Every time she saw her own kind in this world, she would get so excited for a while. Thanks to this husky who was always clueless, the gloomy shelter finally had some life.

Vivian took advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention and dragged Hao Ren to a quiet place: "Landlord, do you think that vortex..."

Hao Ren looked miserable: "Don't mention it. The data terminal just scanned it. There's a big hole under the vortex, and the lake water is pouring directly into it—right where we were working before!"