Their steps were slow, blending in with the silent movements of the villagers. Under the hoods of their black cloaks, Rio and Dany moved like shadows, their eyes constantly scanning, searching.
Rio narrowed his eyes. "I don't see any sign of Lisa…" he whispered, his voice barely audible.
"Easy. We haven't reached the altar yet," Dany replied softly. "But this place… the longer we're here, the more rotten it smells. It's like—"
"—a grave that hasn't been buried yet," Rio cut in, his eyes sweeping over the grim faces around them. The people looked alive, but they were empty. There was no conversation, only soft whispers and gazes fixed straight ahead, as if they all already knew what was about to happen… and had accepted their fate.
They arrived in front of the building—a colossal structure looming silently at the end of the village. It resembled an old church, but its architecture… was wrong. The stone pillars rose asymmetrically, some of them bent as if they had grown, not been built. The outer walls were covered in reliefs of flowers, but upon closer inspection, their petals enveloped human skulls. The stained glass of the high windows reflected the moonlight in a deep red, like frozen blood preserved behind glass.
At the gaping main entrance, two old wooden doors stood carved with the faces of humans screaming in silence, their mouths forming eternal circles of suffering. The doors creaked open, pulled by two large, bald men with emotionless faces, their eyes as vacant as a doll's.
They entered with the crowd.
A musty smell immediately assaulted them, mixed with the stench of rancid incense and… something fouler. Rio held his breath as his eyes moved quickly, scanning the vast hall filled with worn carpets, strange paintings of horned humanoid figures, and a three-meter-tall statue in the center. The statue resembled a human, but its proportions were all wrong—its neck was too long, it had three eyes, and its body seemed to be twisted in an unnatural direction. It stood before a large stage whose curtains were drawn shut, red as an open wound.
Dany murmured under his breath, "If she was really captured… she's most likely behind there."
Rio nodded slowly, swallowing the lump of tension in his throat. The crowd continued to move forward, leaving behind the echo of footsteps and unnatural whispers. From where they stood, the light of torches clarified the stage's details: its arch was decorated with carvings of dying human faces, as if screaming silently from within the wood. The blood-red curtain was motionless, but from a small gap beneath it, a faint reflection could be seen—the glint of metal, or perhaps a chain.
On the stage, right in front of the curtain, a figure appeared, his steps nearly soundless. A man in a pristine white robe, a stark contrast to the grim background. He stood calmly, his face serene yet hollow.
"He's about to start," Dany whispered, his body tensing.
Then, the voice was heard. Calm. Deep. Haunting.
"Welcome, my faithful children…"
his voice was soft yet it echoed throughout the hall, possessing a hypnotic quality that sent a shiver down the spine. "Tonight, like all the nights before for hundreds of years as passed down by our ancestors, we will once again offer our devotion. May this sacred offering please the God, that He may hear our prayers and bestow His blessings upon us."
As the robed man spoke, Rio frowned. The faint foul odor from before now stabbed at his nostrils, so thick he felt the urge to vomit. He reflexively covered part of his nose with his hand.
"Dany," Rio whispered, his voice strained. "What is this rotten smell? It's overpowering."
Dany, who was standing slightly in front of him, glanced back, his face calm but his eyes vigilant. "Ah, right. I forgot to tell you that little detail. One of the 'bonuses' of mastering the basics of Shunpo is a drastically heightened sense of smell. You can distinguish the scent of every living creature from a certain distance, even their killing intent if you're well-trained enough."
"I know that part," Rio retorted, still trying to fight off the nausea. "But this… this isn't the scent of an ordinary human. It's like… a carcass left to rot for days."
Dany brought his lips close to Rio's ear, his voice nearly inaudible amidst the crowd's murmurs. "That… is the signature scent of an Eater."
Rio's eyes widened instantly. "Eaters? Where? We have to—"
"Shh!" Dany quickly covered Rio's mouth with his hand, his eyes signaling for him to remain calm. "Don't be reckless. Don't speak so loudly. Use that nose of yours. Concentrate. Find out where the strongest source of that scent is coming from."
Rio nodded slowly behind Dany's hand. He took a deep breath, trying to ignore the nausea, focusing all his senses on that foul smell. His head turned slowly, scanning every corner of the room.
The villagers… their scent is strange, a mix of human and something else, but not the main source. The statue… no. The decorations… no.
Then his eyes stopped on one point.
The stage.
The man in the white robe.
The man stood calmly, like a priest about to deliver a sermon. His voice flowed slowly but with conviction, seeping into the ears of everyone in the crowd like a dark, threatening prayer.
Slowly, almost unconsciously, Rio turned toward Dany. His eyes were sharp, and through a nearly imperceptible movement of his lips, he conveyed a single sentence: "This smell… it's coming from him!"
Dany gave a small nod, confirming it. "Exactly. He's no ordinary priest. But we can't act now, not until we see Lisa. For now, watch him. And stay alert."
The man in the white robe, as if unaware of the silent conversation in the crowd, walked slowly toward a large rope dangling at the side of the stage. With a theatrical gesture, he pulled it.
The blood-red curtain parted slowly, creaking as if reluctant to reveal the horror hidden behind it.
And when the curtain was fully open—
Rio and Dany froze.
What they saw made their blood turn to stone. On the stage, tied to a large wooden post that looked weathered and was covered in strange, carved symbols, was Lisa.