Priestess Zemur had been stabbed in the back, her life in limbo. The assassin Mansur was surrounded by Stone Demons and had no chance of escape. The two warriors were ambushed by their teammate Johnny and fell heavily, wounded.
The strongest member of the team, Captain Johnny, was unconscious!
In just a short time, the adventuring party had been completely annihilated, leaving only Sivis standing among the Stone Demons, coldly observing the scene. He then spoke, giving orders: "First, restrain these people."
"I'll handle them shortly."
Following Sivis's instructions, the Stone Demons surrounded the adventurers, and the Goblins stepped forward, producing ropes they had prepared earlier to tie and restrain the adventurers one by one.
The civilians watching from the distant woods were stunned as they witnessed the scene.
It was then that they suddenly realized: "Wait, the mage is actually working with the Goblins! No wonder he tried to ambush us earlier."
"Right! Even such a powerful mage is on good terms with the Goblins. They can't be monsters. They must be the wrath of the gods on those nobles."
The civilians couldn't help but begin to murmur. Not long ago, they had been cursing Sivis, thinking he was just another part of the chaos. Now, their eyes softened as they regarded him.
"If he's working with the Goblins, then he must be a good person!"
…
Sivis glanced briefly at the group of civilians from a distance.
He had already noticed the people hiding there, but Sivis had no intention of exposing them.
After all, he had already decided to absorb all the nearby civilians into his territory.
It didn't matter if his true identity was revealed now.
At this moment, he looked at the adventurers lying on the ground in misery, a strange light flickering in his eyes.
Sivis had captured them alive instead of killing them because he intended to use them for sacrifice, to refine them and gain more soul points, perhaps even additional resources.
His territory was finally going to rise!
He just needed to return to his family and bring back all the accumulated resources!
And…
Sivis thought back to the time he had spent with these adventurers, to all the dirty deeds he had witnessed, and he felt a fire burning within him.
"You've finally fallen into my hands."
To be honest, before his journey here, Sivis had been an ordinary person. The idea of killing and taking soul points had weighed heavily on him psychologically.
But now…
Looking at the adventurers, not only did he feel no pressure, but he couldn't help but—laugh!
Sivis first ordered the Goblins and Stone Demons to clear the battlefield. Meanwhile, he bit his fingertip and began drawing a magical formation. Soon, a complex array with intricate patterns and an image of an Evil God appeared.
At this moment, the adventurers, who had been given herbal treatments by the Goblins to keep them alive, began to stir.
"I'm still alive? I didn't die? Wait, where are we?"
The adventurers were initially confused. Then, as they tried to move, they realized something was wrong.
They were tightly bound.
"What's going on? Wait, I remember being poisoned by the monsters and surrounded... Does that mean...?"
Soon, the adventurers fully regained their senses. Struggling even harder, they realized they had been captured by the monsters.
The adventurers, all except Johnny, were filled with fear.
They had heard terrifying tales about the savagery of monsters, and once you fell into their hands, there was no hope for survival.
Looking at the Goblins and Stone Demons glaring at them.
They could only scream in terror. "Don't come near me!"
"Don't eat me!"
"Mom! Mom! I don't want to be an adventurer anymore!"
...
It was pure, unrelenting fear!
Unimaginable panic!
Only Johnny's expression showed a glimmer of hope for survival.
He was the most experienced among them, and he knew that monsters usually didn't take people alive. They would either kill or eat their prey on the spot.
Since they had spared his life, it must mean...
He was still useful!
Earlier, Johnny had suspected that there was an intelligent being behind this monster lair directing everything. It seemed that he might not have to die after all!
...
But just as the adventurers were sinking into despair, they suddenly noticed something very strange.
"Sivis, why isn't he tied up? And why is he standing in the middle of the monsters, completely unharmed?"
"Wait, not just unharmed—those monsters are looking at him with deep respect!"
The adventurers' expressions changed instantly.
The monsters were staring at Sivis as if he were a deity, even bowing to him in the common tongue: "Great Lord, this time you've successfully led us to victory!"
"Your wisdom flows like the endless river, and your methods are beyond our awe."
What the hell??
A lord?
Him?
Sivis??
The adventurers realized the truth.
No wonder the monster lair had seemed weak during their reconnaissance, yet it had erupted with terrifying power. No wonder they had mysteriously been poisoned earlier. No wonder the priest had been stabbed in the back—everything had been manipulated by Sivis.
He was the lord of this monster lair.
The adventurers were horrified, and the thought crossed their minds: has a new breed of monster appeared that can perfectly mimic humans?
At that moment, they still hadn't realized that Sivis, as a human, could become a monster lord and stand on the side of monsters.
Realizing that their current, miserable fate was all because of Sivis, the adventurers' faces twisted with hatred.
Then, they began shouting loudly: "Sivis, for the sake of our shared adventures, spare us!"
"I've been good to you these past few days!"
"Spare us! Spare us! You must have a use for us, just tell us what to do!"
"I'm willing to join the monster lair, just spare me!" In the face of overwhelming fear and despair, the adventurers begged desperately, only hoping to save their lives.
Even though they knew that Sivis had orchestrated everything, in this dire situation, begging for mercy was their only option.
The civilians watching from a distance underwent a series of expression changes—from disbelief to gradual acceptance, and finally to ecstatic joy.
"The mage is actually the lord of the monster lair!"
"These Goblins and Stone Demons, they're the mage's 'knights'! He must be a divine envoy sent to punish the fallen nobles!"
"Exactly, that must be it!"
The civilians cried out excitedly, having chosen to follow the monsters under the pressure of survival. Their belief in the gods, however, had already been deeply ingrained in them.
Now that they had an explanation they could accept, fervor ignited in their eyes!
Yet, amidst their excitement, a hint of worry also crept in.
Seeing that the monsters and their lord had not directly killed the adventurers, they grew uneasy: "The lord mustn't go soft! If he lets these adventurers go, it will be us who suffer!"
"Yes! Once they go back, they'll definitely bring back stronger forces to attack the territory!" The civilians kept a sharp eye on Sivis, afraid of missing any of his movements.
At this moment, the mysterious lord approached the adventurers, a cold smile on his face.
The adventurers, watching him approach, put on forced, ingratiating smiles. On the other side, the three attendants were also bound by the Goblins. When they saw Sivis' gaze fall upon them, they hurriedly begged for mercy, "Please, spare us! We... we were just..." These three attendants, now gripped by intense fear, were at a loss for words. They didn't even know how to beg for mercy, only crying helplessly.
Sivis, however, smiled as he addressed the adventurers, "The reason I didn't kill you earlier is because I still have use for you."
"You see…"
He gestured toward the sacrificial formation he had drawn earlier, the magic array already absorbing some of the external magical energy, emitting an eerie green glow. The strange aura it radiated sent a chill down the adventurers' spines.
Zemur, the priestess, who had regained a bit of her composure, widened her eyes in horror. "This is a sacrificial rune! You... you plan to sacrifice us all?"
She screamed in terror.
You see, if they were simply killed, their souls might return to the holy order and receive divine protection.
But if they were sacrificed, they would fall straight into hell, unable to be reborn—no reincarnation, no second chance, nothing but eternal torment. It was far worse than death itself.
The adventurers, including Johnny, panicked. "Wait, Sivis, you can't do this! What will you gain from sacrificing us?" "Our family can give you anything!"
"Don't do something stupid. Sacrifice is a power only the remnants of Evil Gods can wield. If you sacrifice us, the Church will pursue you forever!"
"Don't... don't do this, just end it quickly!"
In that instant, the adventurers were gripped by sheer terror!!
Their hearts were shattered!
Their souls were scattered!