The Cult of Bloody Night

Yuel glanced around at the other cages for a while. 

Onur was sitting curled up in the far corner of a cage much farther from Yuel's own.

Aria seemed to have befriended a Dhune in the adjacent cage.

Through the iron bars, she was playing with some kind of large feline creature.

This place was taking a toll on everyone's sanity. Something had to be done.

And now, Shiro had vanished too. Was he dead or alive? No one knew.

Each day passed like a separate torture. Yuel had never imagined that the Wendigo race could be so brutal and savage.

During the day, Yuel fought against massive centipedes, various titans with thick white fur, and golems made of ice crystals.

At night, he would sit back in his cell and focus on cult affairs.

At last, the cult had started to generate income. Half of the earnings made by each of its 56 members were now going to the cult. In this way, they had managed to amass a considerable amount of money, and Yuel came up with a new idea. If they recruited 50 more members, they could use the money to purchase a Crystalized Mammoth. Then, if the cult ever tried to sell them off as high-quality slaves, they wouldn't need to rebel or sacrifice others.

Yes, he would carry out this plan.

From now on, he would try to recruit as many people into the cult as possible. Once they reached 100 members, they would seize everyone's salary, buy a Crystalized Mammoth, and escape from this place. But for that, they needed 10 more days… Which meant 2 days before the final matches. Even now, they were already battling 4th-stage titans, and in the finals, a 5th-stage titan might appear.

He had experienced firsthand just how powerful a 5th-stage titan could be. If he faced one again, he might not win. Moreover, with 8 contestants remaining by then, he could potentially go up against Aria or Onur. He definitely didn't want that to happen…

Hujerr was the chief of the Western Village and led one of the four clans of the Wendigo race.

He was a magnificent Wendigo, known for his cruelty, having accomplished many things in his life. He was both a shaman and the overseer of village workers. Recently, he'd heard disturbing news—a cult had emerged in one of the Crystalized Mammoths from the south. Something like this had never happened before. All Wendigos worshipped the Worm God. Of course, such a god didn't actually exist, but it was a useful excuse—what Wendigo truly felt the need to worship anything anyway? It was all just a front to hide their savagery from the other races.

What kind of Wendigo would actually form a cult and worship a god? What's more, the cult was completely secretive, only accepting "the chosen ones" as members. Nothing was known aside from that, and the cult's name: The Cult of Bloody Night. Extremely suspicious. He had to go question the founder of this cult. Were they insane or still in their right mind? Were they showing strange behaviors? Maybe, just maybe… this was all part of something much bigger?

"We'll see when I confront them…"

Hujerr left his luxurious home and set out to find the cult's founder. But… not even the name of the leader was known. It was as if they were deliberately hiding their identity. From the outside, all the members seemed to be going about their normal jobs and daily lives. But in reality, they were sending money to the cult behind the scenes, exchanging information with other members. And that information? He couldn't hear it—because if he got close enough to eavesdrop, they would notice him.

The weather was getting colder by the day. Snowstorms were already appearing on the horizon. That thing… it was coming back again.

Hujerr sneezed. The weather really had turned bitter. Couldn't they just kill that damn thing? Did they really need it…? Maybe he should ask his superiors someday, but… they probably had their reasons. Yeah, better not to ask. If he did, he might lose his job—and he liked his current position. He had sabotaged too many people to get here, and he would continue doing so. After all, it wasn't just him—everyone else, the whole system was corrupt. There was no other way. He couldn't afford to fall behind.

As Hujerr was thinking this, he heard something.

"Can I speak with Founder Lumen? I have a few questions I'd like to ask."

"Of course, child. You're new, after all. Follow me."

He heard these voices coming from a narrow alleyway. In this massive village, many small buildings were scattered across a wide plain, pushed to the edges so that after a year, even if they returned, the village wouldn't be gone.

Footsteps continued down the alley between two small houses. What should he do? Should he follow? If he did, he might be able to find the leader. He had already heard the name, and with enough searching, he could find them. But if he used the alley, there was a high chance he'd be spotted…

Still, this was a golden opportunity to destroy the cult. Doing so would likely earn him a promotion—and a better life. Why shouldn't he go?

Hujerr stepped calmly into the shadowy alley… Two more Wendigos entered behind him.

The Cult of Bloody Night was always two steps ahead. Yuel was using his mana generously to monitor the minds of nearby Wendigos and ensure the village chiefs wouldn't disrupt his plans. When someone died, no one followed after them. All Wendigos were orphans, after all. None had mothers. Wendigos would implant fear-eggs into their prey before killing them—essences that were entirely mental, without any physical form.

The more suffering the victim experienced before death, the larger and stronger the Wendigo born from the egg would be. Then it would try to survive on its own, usually staying alone until death, since they had no parents. But the endless winter that pursued them eventually forced them to come together and form a kingdom.

So, when a Wendigo died, there was no one to mourn or pray for them. The dead were simply forgotten. It was better that way—one enemy down, another would take their place. Hujerr would be forgotten in just a few days, and another Wendigo would take over his position. No one would question the vacancy.

The group of four left Hujerr's corpse in the alley and returned to the cult headquarters—a half-built, seemingly abandoned small house. Just like the arena, every home was made of enchanted wood, and this one was no different. But its roof and some walls were missing. The cult had bought it while still under construction, and from the outside, no one would suspect it was in use.

That's why the entire cult used it as their base. It was also cheap.

The cult's symbol was two intersecting eyes, one descending from top to bottom, the other from right to left. They were even considering changing the name later, since Yuel had no intention of abandoning the cult after Bloody Night ended.

Inside the half-ruined house, over 50 Wendigos were gathered, praying in front of the blood-red double-eye symbol. Yuel had thoroughly brainwashed and manipulated them all. The cult's apparent leader, Lumen, was actually the most mentally susceptible to Yuel's powers—and that was exactly why Yuel had chosen him.

The cult had already submitted requests to purchase certain individuals from within the arena, but since there had never been a cult among the Wendigos before, their request was denied out of pure racism—on the grounds that they were worshipping a god other than the Worm God. Wendigos were never fair. When had they ever been?

Still, Yuel didn't give up. If they could buy the Crystalized Mammoth, there was hope. They could escape after winning the arena. Technically, he could already take control of a guard's mind and escape—but the village around them housed at least 10,000 Wendigos, maybe more. There was no way he could outrun all of them.

But with a Crystalized Mammoth, they could ride their way out.

That's why he was taking a large portion of everyone's salaries and growing the cult day by day.

Each day, he remained locked in his cell, surrounded by titans and Dhunes...

As Yuel was thinking all this, he realized there were 10 days left. If that was the case, then it was time to talk to the rest of the team again. At the start, he had told everyone that he would be focused on cult work and wouldn't be able to maintain Whisper communication. He had dedicated all his mana to manipulating Wendigo minds and growing the cult. So, they hadn't spoken in 10 days. But now, it was time. From here on, the chances of running into each other increased. They needed to talk and clear things up.

Yuel took a deep breath and gathered everyone through whispers into a dark mental space. Thanks to his Fracture bloodline, he could now tear off fragments from the minds of three individuals and merge them, allowing them to meet in the same mental realm. It consumed a lot of mana—but it was worth it. Both Aria and Onur were sleeping at the moment, probably expecting to talk tomorrow morning. But no—this talk would happen in their dreams.

Suddenly, everyone appeared in a pitch-black space. Yuel was the first to speak.

"I came to talk about what happens after these 10 days… also, what happened to Shiro? Did we lose him, or was he sold?"

Onur was sitting on the ground… Upon hearing Yuel's voice, he stood up and replied.

"I have no idea. A few days ago, he suddenly vanished and didn't come back. I thought I'd see his face on the totem in the arena's center if he died, but I checked the totem thoroughly and he wasn't there."

Aria was oddly quiet. Then, in a rare angry tone, she finally spoke. They had never seen her this furious before.

"We're fighting for our lives here. We need to focus on ourselves. Whatever happened to Shiro, he no longer shares our fate. Can we worry about ourselves for once? Unlike you, I don't even have a usable bloodline. You have no idea how many times I've nearly died. We need to escape quickly, because I don't think I'll make it to the finals…"

"Honestly, I agree with her. Ever since 4th-stage titans started showing up, it's been tough. I'm not sure what to do… I've only had one near-death experience so far, but I'm sure more will follow. I'm not confident I'll make it to the end."

Somehow, they needed to reach the finals—but they had no clear path forward. They just hoped things would go well. But both Onur and Aria had lost their confidence. This place had affected them deeply. Aria had always been more cheerful, and Onur had always cared about how he appeared to others.

Now, Aria was irritable and aggressive, and Onur looked disheveled and pessimistic. Seeing them like this was affecting Yuel too.

If they had nothing else to add, it was time for Yuel to explain what he had been doing.

"The Cult of Bloody Night has reached 65 members. If we win and board the ship, I'm sure we can seize control of it. And becoming the winner isn't the only path now. If we survive until the last two days, we'll have enough money to buy a Crystalized Mammoth. When that time comes, we can escape and seek refuge in the cult—then flee with the mammoth. What do you say?"

What Yuel said lifted the spirits of both Onur and Aria. They had hope again.

Hope that they might survive.

Of course, no one truly knew what the future held. This wasn't a fairy tale, and the gods were cruel. In a world like this, it wasn't the gods who suffered—it was their creations.