Dungeon King: A Lady Knight Offered by My Goblins

Chapter 331 329-Serpent Eye Cult

Their distinctiveness was mainly due to their overemphasized traits.

Each member was a fusion of various races, creating an appearance that was inherently evil and bizarre.

King pursed his lips and sighed slightly:

"That's the Serpent Eye Cult. Running into them is real trouble!"

Serpent Eye Cult?

Ethan's gaze shifted back to the flag, the eye on it indeed bearing a slight resemblance to a serpent's eye.

"What are they about?"

King looked at them, his eyes reflecting a mix of complex emotions, finally speaking after a moment of contemplation:

"The origins of the Serpent Eye Cult are extensive, tracing back over a hundred thousand years. That was when the Deity Keepers began to gather, each seeking to procreate in the Deityforsaken Land, hoping their offspring might break through to the so-called deity realm."

"At first, everyone was quite restrained in terms of reproduction. This restraint wasn't about controlling their own sexual desires but rather about the intermingling of races. Generally, it was rare for them to reproduce with other races."

"But later, as there were fewer individuals of the same race entering the Deityforsaken Land, their choices for procreation were either inbreeding or mixing with other races."

"Either way, the children born from these unions had a high probability of being monstrosities."

"Monstrosities?" Ethan interrupted King.

"Yes, deformed fetuses. It's a harsh term, so the influential figures coined this term for them," King explained the meaning of the word, then added, "Later, we started using 'monstrosity' to refer to Deity Keepers who were a mix of different races."

"I see, continue."

"The birth of these monstrosities, well, in that era, everyone was pursuing power, so there wasn't much aversion to these monstrosities."

"But as their numbers grew, and a deity emerged among them, everything changed."

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"Hold on a second," Ethan interrupted King again, "A deity? Are you talking about the 11th-rank powerhouse who broke through the void and left twelve thousand years ago?"

King looked earnestly at Ethan, nodding emphatically: "You remember well, Master. The deity who left through the shattered void twelve thousand years ago was indeed a monstrosity. According to the plays performed in the theaters, he was supposed to be a hybrid of serpent and human."

Ethan inhaled sharply, his gaze returning to the eerie flag.

That serpent's eye, devoid of emotion, stared ahead, filled with a deathly stillness.

Yet the dense runes and complex symbols around it lent a hint of madness to the serpent's eye.

"Continue," Ethan urged calmly.

"Although at the time, everyone refrained from openly discussing it, there was always an odd gaze towards monstrosities. When a deity emerged among the monstrosities, he naturally gained everyone's support. The monstrosities, feeling vindicated, followed an 11th-rank powerhouse—Kanpo, who founded the Serpent Eye Cult."

"They believed the serpent's eye to be a magical eye, capable of seeing things others couldn't, and that monstrosities, like the serpent's eye, could obtain powers beyond the reach of ordinary people."

"The emergence of this doctrine stirred up storms across the Deityforsaken Land, as monstrosities everywhere began to worship the Serpent Eye Cult."

Ethan watched the group of Serpent Eye Cultists dancing wildly beneath the flag, chanting in a ritualistic manner as if reciting scriptures.

They appeared fanatical and crazed, like madmen.

"Then why haven't I seen the Serpent Eye Cult in City 32?" Ethan asked, voicing his confusion.

"Because they were punished," King replied, with a hint of schadenfreude in his eyes.

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Ethan, slightly startled by this turn of events, murmured, "Is that so?"

"Absolutely. To drive them to destruction, first let them go mad. The Serpent Eye Cult went too far, forcing other races to mate with monstrosities and even inciting wars everywhere. The 11th-rank Council of Elders of Zero City, facing the strange occurrences in Deityforsaken Land, couldn't intervene initially. Once each city gained control over their own oddities, they began to pursue and restrict the Serpent Eye Cult's activities."

"Later, perhaps due to a lack of a conducive environment, the Serpent Eye Cult faded from the scene. I didn't expect to encounter them here today."

King appeared somewhat troubled, his facial muscles twitching.

There were only about twenty members of the Serpent Eye Cult under Santos Tower.

It seemed the Serpent Eye Cult had indeed fallen into decline.

"What would happen if we approach them?" Ethan asked in a low voice.

King scratched his head: "They won't harm Deity Keepers; they mostly capture Inva… Outsiders."

He caught himself mid-sentence and corrected it.

"Capture Outsiders?" Ethan's eyes widened, "What do they intend to do?"

"Ahem," King's face colored slightly with embarrassment, "Over the years, it has become difficult for monstrosities to produce offspring with each other. So, they turned their attention to Outsiders entering Deityforsaken Land."

Lana Mokos's face turned cold, a layer of frost forming in her ice-blue eyes.

Daphne, innocent and oblivious, stood beside Ethan with a look of confusion.

Ethan exhaled slowly, his breath condensing into a cloud in front of him.

"It seems we can't avoid bloodshed today."

King, looking at the twenty or so members of the Serpent Eye Cult, quickly suggested:

"Master, just wait a moment. If I step forward and they check my body, I can vouch for us. It shouldn't be a problem."

"They are numerous and powerful, and each monstrosity possesses extraordinary strength. If it comes to a fight, the four of us won't have much of an advantage!"

Ethan pondered for a moment, mentally preparing for a potential battle.

Still, he decided, "Let's try it. If it doesn't work, then we'll have no other choice."

The four approached the congregation of the Serpent Eye Cult. 

The cultists, who had been conducting some sort of ritual, quickly pointed at them and spoke in an unfamiliar language:

"Jigu Zhili----"

"What are they saying?" Ethan asked King through soul transmission.

King replied, "That's the monstrosity language, what they claim to be the sacred language of the Serpent Eye Cult. The cult members use it to communicate."

"What did he say?"

"He's alerting their leader, the high priest, saying 'someone is coming'."

King also spoke in the monstrosity language: "Guazhi Jigu--"

Clearly, the group of Serpent Eye Cult members was startled for a moment, and then a monstrosity stepped forward.

This creature was quite exaggerated, its face covered in octopus-like suckers, provoking a feeling of disgust and nausea in the onlookers.

Tentacles protruded from its neck, and its body was covered in golden fur. Its hands resembled those of a gorilla, while its feet looked like a lion's.

It seemed to be a fusion of monstrosity upon monstrosity, transforming into something indescribable.

Yet, the intense vigor and blood power that radiated from its body was profound and heavy, demanding respect and caution.

"Deity Keeper?" The figure, likely the high priest, addressed them in a language Ethan could understand.

"Yes," King replied with a smile on his face, "We wish to enter Santos Tower to try our luck and would greatly appreciate it if the esteemed high priest of the Serpent Eye Cult would allow us passage."

The high priest picked up on King's humbleness and respect in his tone.

He suddenly became smug, his fish-like eyes darting around:

"Hmm, at least you know your place."

However, the next moment, his gaze shifted to Lana Mokos and Daphne standing beside Ethan.

The high priest's eyes glazed over, and the octopus tentacles beneath his neck flailed and danced wildly, clearly displaying his excitement.

Such beautiful women were rare in the Deityforsaken Land.

King, sensing the change in the high priest's demeanor, said with a hint of bitterness:

"Great high priest, these are my friends. They are all Deity Keepers. You remember the covenant between the Serpent Eye Cult and the Council of Elders, right?"

At the mention of the Council of Elders, the high priest flew into a rage, his dead fish-like eyes bulging out, and his tentacles slapped against his muscular body:

"Are you threatening me?"

"How could I? I'm merely suggesting that the high priest consider it more thoroughly, given the Serpent Eye Cult's current difficulties."

The Serpent Eye Cult members, who had been drooling over Lana Mokos and Daphne, now seemed unsure of what to do.

They resumed communicating in the Serpent Eye Cult's sacred language, chattering away, leaving Ethan feeling like his head was about to explode.

Kanpo, who established the Serpent Eye Cult, was certainly no saint. To establish a cult, did he really need to invent a whole new language?

Kanpo must have had other motives when he founded the Serpent Eye Cult.

Breaking away from the Deity Keeper community was certainly a possibility.

After a discussion among the members of the Serpent Eye Cult, the high priest calmed his emotions and stepped aside:

"Go ahead, I hope you'll share today's encounter with the people in the city."

"We of the Serpent Eye Cult are not a heretical cult; we only target Invaders now. Our vision aligns with that of the Council of Elders in this respect."

King listened patiently to the high priest, responding perfunctorily:

"Of course, I certainly will."

The high priest nodded in satisfaction, and the cult members parted in the middle, their intent clear.

King gave Ethan a look, to which Ethan imperceptibly nodded.

Leading the way, King walked towards the center with Ethan.

As the four advanced, King maintained a stiff smile, nodding politely to the members on either side.

Ethan looked straight ahead, resolute.

Finally, as they were about to pass through the group of Serpent Eye Cult members, the high priest's voice rang out again:

"Wait a minute, why is a Deity Keeper mingling with an Invader?"