Chapter 435: The Execution Stake
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
If she really were a Demon-Hunter, Grimm and Claudia would definitely try their best to rescue her regardless of the possibility where there might be several Level-2 Acraepoids hidden in this city.
The reward for rescuing a Demon-Hunter was very lucrative!
They could always lurk into another small city to investigate the progress and information of the abyss contamination.
However, neither of them could sense any sorcerer’s breath from the Acraepoid who was tied to the stake. Their hands were tied, they could not bear the risk of being discovered.
Claudia glanced at Grimm for some insight, but Grimm just shook his head silently, gesturing for her to observe the situation first before making any decisions.
“I’m not a sorcerer! My name is Solanie, all the Acraepoids in this city know me!” shouted the naked female Acraepoid who was tied to the wooden stake. Her eyes overflowed with confidence and sanity, her voice stern and unyielding. This was the Light of Wisdom similar to a sorcerer searching for truth and arcane!
Even though she was tied to a wooden stake, even though she did not appear to be a human, even though she did not have any sorcerer’s breath on her, Grimm felt as if he was facing a sorcerer.
It was all because of the firm and respectable Light of Wisdom in her eyes.
“Not a sorcerer?” the Dark Destroyer Temple abbot sneered. With a wave of his hands, several drawings, half of a sorcerer’s staff, some remnants of a demon-hunting outfit and several magical sorcery tools were thrown out.
From the short glimpse, Grimm saw that the drawings were of the basic hexagram magic array with a large circle surrounding it, which was the basic knowledge of every sorcerer-apprentice. The magic runes were merely scribbles and had no mental strength that was channeling it.
As for the broken sorcerer’s staff, a magic ring and a magic link, they were all useless items with obvious signs of battle damage.
These items laid on the ground as if they were plagued with the most horrible curse of evil!
The onlookers screamed in horror as the items were thrown on the floor, they all stumbled backwards and no one dared to touch the items.
“Then, how do you explain these evil things found in your house, Solanie? Huh! General Darrell and his respectable wife Solanie who dedicated their lives to protect the Fort Santalum will not associate with these dirty and evil things! It must be your devilish doings! You killed Solanie, you put on her skin and marched into this city pretending to be her! You are a wicked and crooked sorcerer!” the temple abbot growled furiously, his blood-shot eyes glared at the female Arcaepoid chained to the stake like she was the greatest evil in the world.
Although the sacred glory of the temple and its worshipper had faded since they lost the support of the Dark Destroyer Energy, it would not shake the Acraepoids’ worship towards the Dark Destroyer Infernal God for the time being.
The Acraepoids had also begun to roar in the midst of the commotion.
“The honorable Mrs. Solanie will not involve herself in these devilish sorcery tools and items! She has the perfect fiery red Light of Wisdom, her purity is the purest of all, evil sorcerer, I condemn you for tarnishing Mrs. Solanie’s reputation!” a young Acraepoid shouted in rage, throwing a fistful of mud at the female Acraepoid on the stake.
Splash!
The dirty mud splatted on the female Acraepoid’s smooth naked green skin.
As fragile as she looked, she instinctively turned her head to the side, tears flowing like a river.
She opened her eyes again. Although her eyes were still full of confidence and sanity, there was a hint of sorrow and despair in her expression.
“I’m not lying! I am Solanie! After Darrell sacrificed himself for the Fort Santalum, in order to defeat those evil sorcerers, I studied what they left behind and in hopes that…”
Splash!
Another fistful of mud was thrown on her face, cutting off her words.
An obese Acraepoid woman shouted, “My son died because of you! I want the abbot to burn you to death, I want to watch you mourn in flames until the very last bit of you burns to ashes!”
The female Acraepoid on the stake stared at the woman, shedding tears.
“Your son died because of the evil sorcerers, not because of the sorcery knowledge. As long as we can crack their secrets, we can prevent more innocent deaths, and we can expel these sorcerers from this world… Argh!”
Suddenly, the female Acraepoid howled in pain, she struggled frantically but to no avail.
The temple abbot held a knife and slashed the face of the female Acraepoid, blood oozed out of the wound.
“Can you see this?” the abbot shouted as he raised the bloody knife up high.
“See? The sorcerer is able to perfectly disguise as one of our own! They have the same blood as us underneath this Solanie skin! But it doesn’t change the nature of her evil sorcery! From now on, we will destroy everything that is related to the sorcerers in Fort Santalum!”
“Yeah! Burn her!”
“Burn the evil sorcerer!”
“My son…”
One after another, the Acraepoids, who had lived under the threat of sorcerers fearfully, shouted in shrill voices under the influence of the temple abbot, their scream echoing across the square.
It was a crazy sight, it seemed that all the Acraepoids had lost their minds.
“Mom, I’m scared!”
The body of a scrawny Acraepoid girl had been severely eroded by the abyss breath, some red spots had scattered around her green skin, and she looked extremely pale and weak.
The little Acraepoid hugged her mother tightly, refusing to watch what was unfolding.
The Acraepoid mother looked at her daughter who was infected by the abyss breath and said in a gentle voice, “Don’t be afraid, after the abbot burns the evil sorcerer, the Sorcerer’s Shadow in your body will be expelled by the almighty Dark Destroyer Infernal God. She is the evilest and filthiest thing in this world, she is the enemy of the great Infernal God. As long as we keep our faith firm and strong, the world will become a better place one day.”
“Okay.” The little Acraepoid nodded and timidly lifted her gaze at the stake again.
The Acraepoid mother managed to display a tender smile and slowly lifted her head. Gradually, her motherly smile turned into hatred. She became one of the tens of thousands of Acraepoids who were shouting “burn her”, picking up mud from the ground and launching mercilessly at the stake.
Splat! Splat! Splat! Splat! Splat!
The beautiful and well-balanced body was plastered with dirty mud. The female Acraepoid looked sadly at the angry crowd around her.
The Acraepoids who once loved and adored her so much had turned into demons today, extending their claws at her, wanting to burn her.
She shifted her sorrowful gaze at the venerable temple abbot who she once loved and was willing to risk her life for, he too had turned into a monster, sneering at her, staring at her like she was a filthy pig.
Hate?
No, Solanie did not feel hatred. Instead, she was heartbroken by the ignorance of these Acraepoids, but she had failed to make them see the truth, she had failed to change their minds.
Solanie stared directly at the temple abbot and mumbled weakly, “You’re wrong! The Infernal God is wrong! The Acraepoids didn’t die in the hands of the sorcerers, but of our own ignorance! If only we…”
Slap!
Ruthlessly, the temple abbot slapped Solanie’s face, almost exhausting all his strength.
Solanie managed a low moan, a pool of blood splattered from her mouth and she became silent.
“You! How dare you defile the great Infernal God! You worthless garbage!”
Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap!
Again and again, mercilessly, the temple abbot lashed at Solanie until he was exhausted and heavily panting. He leveled his breathing, regained his composure and smoothened his attire.
Glaring at the battered Solanie, the abbot snarled, “Speak, you evil sorcerer! What are your plans for sneaking into Fort Santalum?”
Solanie lifted her head. She could not utter a word, her mouth was full of blood.
But Grimm could see from her eyes that there were reluctance and disappointment added on to her indomitable and wise expression.
“Huh! You don’t want to spill your secret, do you? How dare you deceive us with your Acraepoid skin?”
Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap!
Regardless of their hatred towards the sorcerers, the Acraepoids started to feel the pain and cruelty in the abbot’s beatings. Their bodies began to recoil and tremble unconsciously, their hands stretching out to cover the eyes of the young Acraepoids from the brutal sight.
One lash after another, the abbot was using all his strength to whip Solanie until she became a bloody mess. The mud dripped off her body along with the blood, it was such a barbaric sight to witness.
Eventually, Solanie had no strength to even lift her head or open her eyes, she merely managed to gasp for air, the black flame above her head was almost invisible now.
“Huh! This is the end of the evil sorcerer! The glory of the almighty Infernal God will always shine on the Infernal Spirit Continent!”
Shouting in a frenzy, the abbot tossed the torch to the firewood under the stake. In the blink of an eye, the blazing flames engulfed Solanie like a large fiery mouth.
“Argh…”
Solanie struggled and screamed, her painful screams muffled by the loud cracks of the scorching fire. None of the Acraepoids interfered, as they watched the horrific scene silently.
Slowly and gradually, the cries subsided.
The fire was still burning. The temple abbot gestured for the crowd to disperse. The only thing left was the ashes of flames that were gradually extinguished in the center of the square.
Grimm and Claudia watched the unfortunate incident unfold silently. A bundle of messy and unspeakable feelings crumpled in their hearts.
“I didn’t expect that the pursuit of truth and arcane in this world would be treated this way…” Grimm said as he heaved a regrettable sigh.
Claudia concealed the solemn look on her face and sneered in a sneaky grin, “Let them burn, let them be crazy, let them kill all the elites who are against the Sorcerer’s Will.”