Free Web NovelChapter 23: The Instincts of Hunger
At that moment, all movement stopped. The entire group stood paralyzed, observing with an almost religious fascination the immense statue that dominated the center of the colossal chamber.
The figure, carved from a black stone that absorbed light, measured more than fifteen meters in height. Its form was indescribable. It had human features, yet it was twisted and heretical.
Around its feet, countless smaller statues and decorative reliefs praised its figure. The air itself felt heavy with a sacred and oppressive weight.
Gabriel felt his breath catch in his throat. It was truly captivating.
Beautiful and terrible at the same time.
Finally, after overcoming all the trials, the leader let out excited shouts that reverberated through the vast chamber. His eyes, visible through the mask until then, shone with a devotion that bordered on madness.
"Finally! The truth awaits us!" he exclaimed with a trembling voice.
When he moved, the whole group slowly advanced toward the stage that resembled the dwelling of the gods.
The side columns seemed to bear not only the ceiling, but reality itself. Even Gabriel was left speechless for a few seconds, impressed by the scale and the atmosphere charged with power.
However, he didn’t lose his composure like the others. His past experiences kept him alert, his senses sharp as blades.
They were quickly surrounded by the countless statues. Silence covered the vast hall, broken only by the group’s agitated breathing.
But then the leader made a surprising move. Slowly, he removed his mask and let it fall to the ground. The metallic sound reverberated like an omen.
Then he shed his dark robe with deliberate solemnity. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
Beneath it appeared an extremely handsome and chiseled man, around thirty-five years old, with long blond hair falling over broad shoulders and a body toned by years of discipline. His pale skin contrasted with the ancient scars that ran across his torso.
All the remaining members reacted with confusion. Murmurs of surprise and questions arose.
"What is he doing, Leader?"
"Why now?"
The leader, whom everyone now saw as a Caucasian-looking man, glanced at the floor for a moment before speaking in a low but firm voice:
"When we unite in spirit to receive the blessings of the truth... we have no need to concern ourselves with such mundane matters as masks or false names."
He then revealed a black three-tailed whip, extremely menacing, with sharp metal tips.
Gabriel was the first to react, subtly retreating several steps backward, increasing the distance.
He didn’t want to discover the hard way the reason for that whip.
What came next was visceral.
The man raised the whip and struck his own back with brutal force. The dry, fleshy sound echoed through the hall.
He held back his groans of pain, but his body contorted. Three bloody lines appeared immediately on his pale skin.
Blow after blow, the whip punished his flesh, spilling fresh blood that splattered onto the stone floor.
One of the cultist members, not understanding, tried to step forward to stop him.
"Leader, stop!"
A scream from the man stopped him cold. The blows continued, growing stronger each time.
Blood ran down his back and chest, dripping until it formed small puddles.
Gabriel watched the blood attentively. He felt a wild hunger awakening deep within him, a savage pull that made his mouth water. But his thoughts were interrupted when the entire stage began to tremble.
Remembering the ruins of his first mission, when his blood had been absorbed by the church.
In a twisted act, hidden gears in the walls began to operate with thunderous sounds. The smaller statues started to perform an ancient and macabre choreography, moving in perfect synchrony to worship the giant statue in the center.
Some figures bowed, others raised their arms in supplication. The ground vibrated.
Several members lost their balance and fell to their knees.
Gabriel’s interface exploded with red alerts:
[Error]
[Error]
[Error]
His main quest collapsed. Gabriel immediately knew he was screwed.
Seeing the surprise on the members’ faces and the scenario evolving into something completely unknown, he shouted:
"What do we do now?!"
The only response he received was a mantra repeated in a trance:
"The truth will descend... The truth will descend... The truth will descend..."
The leader had fallen into a strange state of religious mortification, continuing his blows while his back turned into a bloody mass.
Gabriel acted on instinct. He grabbed the shoulders of the nearest companion, the one with the tiger mask, but the man’s eyes had lost all light.
He was completely captivated by the giant statue. When he turned around, all the others were in the same condition.
Their gazes were empty, their bodies trembling, their faces raised toward the central figure.
Unconsciously, Gabriel also looked toward the statue’s head.
At some point, its eyes had opened. They shone with an ominous and hypnotic attraction. Gabriel received a system notification:
[Sanity decreasing severely]
[External influence detected]
He tried to look away, but his body wouldn’t respond. He had no control; his muscles refused to obey.
Countless desperate solutions flashed through his mind and he raised his daggers toward his own eyes, ready to gouge them out.
The dagger trembled inches from his cornea... but his arm stopped helplessly. It wasn’t fear — he simply couldn’t complete the action.
His consciousness was beginning to fall into a deep trance.
He had to worship it. He had to surrender. The statue was waiting for him.
The thought repeated like an infinite echo, violently devouring his rationality.
But then he heard a cold whisper, sharp as a blade meant for death:
"Gods only exist for us to trample them."
Those words shattered the trance like a hammer blow. Gabriel regained partial control of his body, gasping.
At that exact moment, the leader made a dark invocation with a voice broken by pain:
"I, Skollvard, offer myself to you so that you may descend! Great god of Truth, Justice, and Good! I offer myself in body and soul!"
His body began to mutate. His skin tore, bones cracked and reformed as his body slowly ascended toward the giant statue, levitating among threads of blood.
The state of the other members was not much different. They trembled violently, beginning to utter the same words of submission and devotion.
Gabriel didn’t hesitate. With a brutal movement, he plunged his daggers into his own eyes. The pain was blinding and indescribable.
Hot blood ran down his face. It hurt like hell incarnate, but his mind was able to partially free itself from the influence.
Even so, the statue continued to pull at him.
A long, ancient sigh then intervened, partially erasing the divine being’s influence. An elegant, cold, and sadistic voice whispered in his mind:
"You must interfere or you will die. As a creature of the night, to survive, do not hold back your instincts. Let them rise and consume what belongs to them... You may have control, but hunger will always rule over you."
Those words were the trigger.
Inside Gabriel, an ancient and primordial force awakened. His face beneath the mask and part of his clothing were already covered in his own blood.
A violent, chaotic, and devouring hunger exploded within him. His wounded eyes opened with a dark red glow.
The hunger spilled outward, guiding his steps. He extended his hands and, with an unknown strength, began to absorb the blood of the nearest cultist members.
His Leviathan Gluttony awakened and the ritual was interrupted.
Crimson threads burst from the devotees’ bodies, flying toward Gabriel in chaotic streams of blood.
The crimson storm grew around him, spinning out of control. The cultists screamed as their bodies dried up, turned into empty husks.
The divine statue competed with that supernatural suction, but it was losing strength. Its glow weakened progressively.
The chamber shook chaotically. Cracks appeared in the walls and the smaller statues began to crumble. The giant figure in the center let out a silent roar before its luminous eyes closed definitively.
Gabriel fell onto his back, exhausted. The hunger slowly receded inside him, satisfied but still latent.
With trembling hands, he ate a large quantity of his cheap health pills, swallowing them almost without chewing. They caused intense nausea, but he managed to keep them down.
The hall fell silent.
Dried bodies lay scattered. The giant statue now looked like nothing more than a huge piece of inert stone.
Gabriel remained on the floor, drained of strength.
The interface, still unstable, displayed a new message:
[Anomalous Event Completed]
[You have interfered with the Descent.]
[Result unknown]
Gabriel let out a bitter, painful sigh.
