Falling into the Abyss

Chapter 56: Atonement: Pales (V)

Warning: the second half of the chapter may be uncomfortable for some readers.

Summary: The group of them were captured by the horned people by a huge net provided with the technological support of the Ophiuchus Alliance. Because the net had numbing effects, Ethan fell into a coma after being captured. While unconscious, he dreamt of Tanisiel trying to convey something to him in a dreamscape. Tanisiel mentioned that he might not make it in time this time, and Ethan couldnt remember what he said when he woke up. When he woke up, they had already been brought to the prison cells of the horned people. After that, the horned people came again and ushered several of them (Wilson, Samuel, Ethan, Typhoeus, Cavin, and Little A) out to the sacrificial altar. The red carpet on the steps to the altar turned out to be human blood. Three nonhumans were subsequently pinned down and sacrificed to three worms, which ate their brains. These worms turned out to be the same type of worms from the previous chapter. Ethan and the others knew that it was soon their turn to be sacrificed.

If someone had previously asked Ethan: Would you kill someone? Ethan would not even have to think about it before replying: No. Before, he didnt even believe he had the ability to kill someone.

However, people never know what they would be forced to do when faced with a predicament in the next second.

Samuel grabbed Ethans shoulder and shook him twice. Dont daydream here. Go hide behind the tree!

Ethan was pushed to the edge of the battlefield by Samuel. Still, before he had even taken two steps, he was forced back to the midst of the battlefield by two horned people charging towards him. Ethan noticed that the horned people were skilfully herding all of the humans into the middle. He wanted to warn everyone, but his voice was drowned out by the shouts and screams and could not be heard at all.

Just after realizing that the nonhumans were being led to a certain place, a fine, thin line barely visible to the naked eye was shot down from the woods. It quickly formed a giant net in the air before it pressed down. It was a spider web made of a material imitating silk that the Ophiuchus Alliance had developed in recent years and was used to capture captives. An abnormal numbness spread rapidly from where the fine spider silk came into contact with their skin. It was apparent that the tiny drops of water that had condensed on the spider silk had an anesthetic function.

Ethan soon felt that his legs had gone soft, and he couldnt control his limbs. He didnt even feel pain when he fell to the ground. When he opened his mouth, he could only let out a whine, and finally, his consciousness began to grow dark.

The last thing he saw was the horned people gathering from all directions. Their silvery-white hair shone in the dark, and their purple eyes stared at them with a peculiar apathy.

After he fell into the deep recesses of a coma, he had a dream.

In his dream, he met Tanisiel.

There was a flat pool as shallow as a mirror filled with greenish-blue water, with some circular wine-red leaves floating on top. The pool was surrounded by many plants that Ethan had never seen before, with shrubs of different heights and translucent blue and purple leaves intertwining. The trunk of one of the largest trees would need at least ten people to encircle it, with red, heart-shaped leaves about the size of human hands growing on it. A lot of white silk hung down from the tree, fluttering with the breeze like celestial clouds during sunset.

Under this magnificent tree, Tanisiel stood barefoot in the middle of the pool, dressed in a simple white robe. A gust of wind blew Tanisiels bangs and caused ripples to emerge in the water. He looked at Ethan, who was on the shore and waved to him.

Ethan lowered his head to look at himself. To his surprise, he was actually barefoot and was wearing a robe similar to that of Tanisiel, but his was as dark as ink. When he stepped into the clear water, an indescribable pleasure spread from his feet to his whole body.

He walked faster and faster, disregarding whether his actions would disturb the pool of water. He wanted to rush over and embrace Tanisiel, but when he was two or three steps away, he saw that Tanisiels expression turned serious. Therefore, he slowed down until he stood before the priest.

Where am I?

Tanisiel remained silent for a long time. He gazed at him with his clear eyes that seemed to be able to penetrate his soul before speaking in a calm but heavy voice, I want you to remember every word I said next. When necessary, you must recall what I said. His tone suddenly seemed a little distant, mixed with a certain hypnotic allure. Then, he leaned down and whispered in Ethans ear.

Ethans eyes suddenly widened, and his entire body trembled as if he had heard the most terrifying story. He shook his head hard and whispered, NoI cant

Remember what I said! Tanisiel held his cheeks with both of his hands and looked at him with unprecedented severity. You have to remember it!

His burning gaze seemed to leave a brand in Ethans mind. However, when Ethan was awakened by the cold air, he only remembered Tanisiels compulsive gaze. His memory of what the other party whispered in his ear was tinted with a layer of frosted glass. He felt that it was just within reach, but he couldnt remember what he said.

Ethan felt that his bodys senses were slowly returning, and his numb body suddenly had a burst of uncomfortable itchiness. When he felt it carefully, it turned out to be the piercing cold. When he opened his eyes, he found that his hands and feet had been chained with heavy shackles, making a clattering sound. His body was currently crammed in with the others. He turned to see Samuel looking at him. If he looked further, he would find that Typhoeus, Cavin, and Wilson are also there. In addition, Little A and a few nonhumans who were also number 252, like Ethan and Samuel were also there, as well as the two soldiers. Everyone was crammed into a narrow space surrounded by darkness, and only a faint light came in through a thick metal fence. The walls behind them felt like rocks, so Ethan guessed that they were in a cave somewhere.

The horned peoples voices came from nearby. The horned people on this planet had many different languages, but the language used by the two people who were talking to each other at present sounded like they were chanting scriptures, without any fluctuations in their tones. After listening for a long time, people would feel drowsy.

Where are we? Ethan asked.

Samuel shook his head.

It was unknown who was sobbing in the dark, but Wilson yelled irritably, Stop fucking crying!

The person crying was startled, and he paused for a few seconds before the sobbing became muffled. However, even when that person stopped, there were still sobs and shouts traveling from somewhere else. It seemed that there were other prisoners of war here.

They were initially here to capture the horned people, but they were captured by them instead. Ethan couldnt help thinking that maybe he had brought his bad luck all the way to the Planet of Eternal Night?

They want to use us as hostages to negotiate with the Earth Union. Typheouss voice sounded a little erratic, filled with an indifference that indicated that he had lost the will to survive. But when they find out that were just nonhumans, they will probably kill us all.

Samuel frowned and glared at him, motioning for him to shut up. Sure enough, someone had heard him and began to cry even louder. Ethan had a headache and raised his hand to pinch his sore neck.

What about Chen Zeng and the chief security officer? Ethan asked Samuel in a low voice. The latter shrugged and replied, I dont know. They may have escaped or died.

My apologies.

What are you apologizing for? Im afraid were not very far from their situation. Samuel leaned back and sighed. Damn, Im so close to being able to get out..

Ethan knew that he wasnt referring to leaving this cell but leaving the Forbidden City.

Suddenly, two tall horned people appeared in their fields of vision, each with a laser gun in their hands. Their slender purple eyes swept across every human in the dark. Then, one of them took out a key and opened the door to the iron fence.

Another horned person came in and rudely shoved out Wilson, Samuel, Ethan, Typhoeus, Cavin, and Little A. The horned person outside quickly locked the door again before connecting their handcuffs and shackles. They appeared just like a string of grasshoppers. The horned person butted the muzzle of his gun against Typhoeus, who stood at the end of the line, signaling for them to follow the horned person in front.

The cave was very deep, and there were many traces of artificial excavation. After a short walk, they caught up with another team in a huge domed cave. When they looked around, they saw that the other group was walking towards a long, thin strip of white light at the end of the cave.

Under the dim light, Ethan was reminded of the ghosts who lined up on their way to the Yellow Springs in Asian supernatural legends. He tried to suppress the shudder in his heart and keep calm, but he knew that for every step he took, he was also reaching his limits.

Every part of his body began to itch, ready to take action.

After they exited the cave, they were stunned. Before them was a large area of open space surrounded by dark forests full of people. There were at least two or three thousand of them. All of them had white hair and held primitive torches in their hands, illuminating the sky that was eternally night on the dark blue planet. They raised their huge ram horns and cheered at a tall cone-shaped stone platform built into the mountain in front of the crowd. The countless steps were covered with red carpet leading up to the top of the platform, which held three X-shaped frames.

There was a strong scent of blood in the air.

The cheering horned people parted to form a path that the nonhumans had to walk along. Along the way, the horned people on both sides yelled at them like animals and threw some strange flowers at them, just like they were welcoming heroes into the city. However, the closer they got to the platform, the clearer Ethan could see that the thing on the steps was not a red carpet at all.

It was human blood!

Damn it! They are going to sacrifice us! Wilsons voice that was always so strong, had finally started to tremble.

Next to the frames, there were two horned people whose horns were much bigger than the ordinary horned people, a male and female that were dancing. The mans naked upper body was full of taut muscles, and he did not appear to be afraid of the cold. A gorgeous waist cloth covered his lower body, and on his face was a black and gold mask. The woman was wearing a thin gauze skirt. Her actions were dynamic and spirited as she spun around, appearing just like a viper in the forest. She had a red mask on her face.

The closer they got, the thicker the scent of blood grew. It seemed that they were not the first to be brought here, but there were no bodies at the scene.

Ethan noticed that no one was standing near the tall platform, and there were several pits on the ground, each with a radius of about two meters.

A sharp cry suddenly pulled Ethans line of sight back to the front. The three nonhumans in the team in front of them had been forcibly dragged onto the platform. All three of them had screamed and struggled the entire way, but they couldnt do anything under the strong might of the horned people. Their hands and feet were quickly locked onto the X-shaped frames, just like da Vincis Vitruvius.

The priestess twisted her flexible waist and approached the first nonhuman on the right. A purple light rose in her hand before suddenly piercing the nonhumans forehead.

The nonhuman let out a shrill scream.

However, the priestess did not stop moving. The amethyst knife in her hand was extremely sharp, and her slender hand was extremely accurate. She gracefully moved it in a semi-circle shape and drew a red line on the nonhumans head with the knife.

The hot blood gushed out like a spring and immediately covered the nonhumans face that was distorted by pain and fear.

Then, the male priest walked solemnly behind the nonhuman before carefully reaching out and lifting their skull.

Many of the other nonhumans were so scared that they covered their eyes, and the entire empty space echoed with the nonhumans miserable cries.

Yes, at that time, that nonhuman was still alive.

Ethan couldnt imagine what it was like to still be alive while your brain was exposed to the air. He thought of a very cruel and expensive foodmonkey brain. It had once existed on Earth a long time ago. They would hide a live monkey under the table, exposing only the top of the head, before lifting its skull, sprinkling seasoning on the brain, and then letting the diners eat it with a spoon. At that time, the monkey was still alive.

Was this some kind of retribution?

One by one, the other three nonhumans had their brains exposed to the air. Amid the almost indecipherable moans of pain and panicking hissing the three nonhumans let out, the male and female priests sang loud and clear during the sacrificial ceremony. At the same time, they raised the bells in their hands and shook them rhythmically.

All of a sudden, a low roar came from the ground underneath their feet, just like thunder booming in the sky. It was an ancient, ignorant, and crazy roar. There was a strong tremor similar to an earthquake before a sudden breath of evil came from the caves surrounding the conical altar.

Then, three worms appeared from within the three cavesthat were tens of meters tall. They were just like the worms they saw in the woods, but they were so large that they looked like massive pillars. The three giant fleshy gray worms bent over in mid-air, and the small mouths buried within their wrinkles quickly widened, revealing a circle of meat grinder-like teeth facing the sky.

The three mouths held each of the three humans in their mouths.

The screams of the three men were muffled in the mouths of the giant worms. Instead of retracting immediately, they sucked and squirmed in place for a while. Ethan felt that he could hear the sounds of their bones and flesh crunching.

The male and female priests on the altar knelt in front of the three giant worms with their palms open, with expressions of ecstasy.

When the three worms finally raised their heads again and prepared to retract into the cave, they also spit out the three wooden frames that were firmly fixed to the ground. However, there was no one on the frames, only a pool of crimson spread all over the ground and the blood and flesh that were still trapped on the frame.

That was why they didnt see any human corpses.

It turned out that when they had first landed on Pales, the reason that the soldiers were in low spirits and their eyes revealed fear was because they witnessed the sacrificial ceremony and saw something more terrifying than death.

The horned people let out cheers so loud that the heavens trembled, and the nonhumans, soldiers, and prisoners all screamed. Ethan wanted to scream like the other frightened people, but he couldnt.

The author has something to say:

Uhmthis time, the content is quite heavydont hit me

T/N: Im not very good at summarizing stuff so Im open to suggestions if anyone can add/provide a better summary