A splitting headache—that was the only sensation John felt as he woke up.
Instinctively, he reached to touch his forehead but found his hands seemed to be bound.
This realization made him snap his eyes open instantly, only to confirm he was indeed in a very dim, small, dark room.
His limbs were shackled with iron chains, and to make matters worse, his body felt weak, completely devoid of strength.
Instinctively, he summoned the Bloodthirsty Blade.
Fortunately, it responded to his call, which slightly eased his anxiety.
However, he quickly discovered another critical problem: his storage ring wasn't working!
At first, he thought it was an illusion, but after careful consideration, he realized it truly wouldn't open.
Gritting his teeth, he surveyed his surroundings.
This place certainly didn't seem ordinary.
All he could remember was the black smoke from the statue enveloping them, and then everything went dark.
Where had they been taken? What exactly was happening? What was this situation?
John was filled with myriad questions, but ultimately, he had to suppress them.
He remembered that Leopold, Isabella, and Amelia had entered with him.
He still didn't know their current state, so he knew he must remain calm.
John heard noisy voices from outside, probably people talking.
They spoke quickly and with accents, making it difficult for him to discern exactly what was being said.
He could only faintly make out words like "sacrifice" and "torch."
Sacrifice?
John slightly lowered his gaze, his mind racing.
This place couldn't possibly be in the Imperial Capital, as it would be nearly impossible to remove them so discreetly in front of many people and bring them to a place of sacrifice.
The only plausible explanation was that they had entered a secret realm!
Moreover, it was uncertain what this secret realm entailed—it could possibly be a realm of the dark god...
If that were the case, then the others might be in an even worse situation than he was!
No, this couldn't continue; he had to find them quickly!
John summoned the Bloodthirsty Blade, attempting to cut through the iron chains binding him, only to discover that the chains, made of an unknown material, resisted his blade!
Though he remained outwardly calm, inwardly he was shocked.
The Bloodthirsty Blade, now partially restored, should have cut through metal as easily as through tofu.
Yet, these ordinary-looking chains remained unscathed under its strike!
The Bloodthirsty Blade trembled continuously, as if sensing something unusual.
John sensed the sound of footsteps drawing nearer from outside.
He quickly retracted the Bloodthirsty Blade and pretended to still be asleep.
Soon, the door was opened from the outside, and by the sound of it, about five or six people entered.
The accents of these people were very thick; he could only understand a few words here and there.
However, John roughly understood that he might be one of the so-called sacrifices this time.
He was now even more certain that this supposed ritual was intended for the dark god.
But where exactly was this place? Had they truly entered a secret realm ruled by the dark god?
A wave of different emotions surged in John's heart, bringing with them an increasing concern.
[Activate map scanning feature.]
John activated the map scanning feature, and in that moment, a transparent panel appeared in his mind.
This panel detailed a map of the surrounding area within about 50 meters.
The system's map creation had its limitations—it could only produce a complete map of areas he had personally traversed.
Otherwise, it could only map out the area about 50 meters around the user.
Presumably because they had entered together, the system automatically marked Leopold and the others as teammates, and he could now clearly see the small blue dots representing his teammates on the map.
Meanwhile, the rest were red dots, densely packed and quite alarming.
Amidst the tide-like spread of red dots, these small blue circles appeared particularly friendly and reassuring.
While John was distracted by the map in his mind, someone in reality had grabbed his chin to examine him closely before forcefully throwing him to the ground.
"...awake...sacrifice...prey...delight..."
The people spoke with heavy accents, in what seemed to be a local dialect spoken quickly and urgently.
John could only understand bits and pieces, but he could sense the thick malice in their tone.
[Name: Outer God Cultist]
[Level: Lv40]
[HP: 450000]
[Skills: Assassination, Summon, Trap, Sacrifice]
[Name: Faith Herald]
[Level: LV46]
[HP: 550000]
[Skills: Assassination, Summon, Trap, Sacrifice]
John felt slightly relieved seeing their levels; thankfully, they weren't particularly high.
But he quickly realized a troubling fact.
Although the enemy's levels weren't very high, he himself was under a weakening buff!
He had carefully checked his status: all attributes decreased by 60%!
Additionally, the use of his storage ring and backpack was prohibited.
A 60% reduction in attributes?!
If it weren't for the many people around, John would have already taken the time to thoroughly investigate what exactly was going on.
What's happening here?
Even if this was a secret realm, it shouldn't have such a clear suppression effect on him!
The people nearby continued babbling in the incomprehensible dialect.
Occasionally, a few women's voices mingled in, although their voices were very faint.
When these women spoke, the men next to them scolded a few words, and then the women's tones carried a hint of fear.
John couldn't open his eyes, so he was forced to rely solely on the voices around him to speculate about their status.
The highest-ranking seemed to be the so-called emissary displayed by the system.
The other cultists likely held ordinary statuses.
John felt a pair of hands lightly pinch his body; they were ice-cold, like the slimy touch of a snake, which made him extremely uncomfortable.
After a slight pinch, the person seemed very pleased, his tone carrying a hint of laughter as he spoke some incomprehensible words to someone nearby.
Then, the others nodded in satisfaction and carefully left, locking the door behind them with great caution.
John kept his eyes shut, continuing to feign unconsciousness on the ground.
He soon felt the breathing at the door gradually fade away, and only then did he allow himself a slight sigh of relief.
Had it not been for the system's prompt indicating that there were still a few people waiting at the door, he might have opened his eyes too soon.
These people were overly cautious; even though he had played his part flawlessly, they were still nervous.
So, to completely convince them, he knew he had to wait a little longer.
Once certain that no one else was around, John carefully examined the iron chains binding him.
These chains, made of an unknown material, were engraved with complex patterns that were dizzying to behold.
These patterns seemed familiar, possibly seen before in the Rose Bar.
They appeared to be consistent.
He thought back to how Isabella had broken similar seals...
The patterns on the wooden box then hadn't been as intricate, and a simple tracing with a wooden stick while channeling MP had sufficed.
John looked around; there was nothing usable nearby, so he positioned the tip of the Bloodthirsty Blade against the chain.
Slowly, he began channeling his MP into the blade, meticulously following the engravings on the chains.
Such a task would have been trivial in the past.
But at this moment, John was sweating profusely! His attributes had been reduced by 60%, which meant that effectively, his current level was only LV15.