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At this moment, the young team captain, with her cheeks flushed, reported to him:

"We've found an entrance leading underground!"

"Oh? That's good, thank you for your work," Matins began, then turned his head and teased Georgette, "It seems, the Demon Hunters of the alliance are a bit more skilled in this area than your Battle Nuns."

Georgette didn't mind: "The more straightforward, the better."

Matins turned his gaze back, he saw that Miliya Derong seemed to have more to report.

He frowned, "If there's more information, please report it in detail."

"Yes!" Derong jolted.

She was known to be fearless, but facing the Death Angel of The Emperor, and looking up at his towering figure, barely reaching up to his stomach, she had to strain her neck to see Commander Matins's imposing face, she still felt a profound sense of oppression from the depths of her heart, which made her speak with a bit of caution.

She cautiously said, "It's not that the report isn't detailed, it's just that this situation... we're not too sure about it ourselves..."

Then, she provided a detailed explanation of the Demon Hunters' discoveries to the commander.

After hearing her out, Matins also furrowed his brows tightly.

According to the Demon Hunters, when they found the underground entrance to the Cult's headquarters, other than their specialized searching and scouting skills, another important factor was that one of them had the special ability to 'perceive souls'.

This individual, upon activating his power, discovered that the slain rebels, particularly those in grey and even blue robes, symbolizing the cultist spellcasters, had white specks signifying their souls which were vaguely drifting through a certain pathway into a location.

His claim seemed strange to the other Demon Hunters, but taking it as a potential lead, they decided to let some people follow these so-called 'soul specks' to investigate.

And indeed, they found something.

At a ventilation duct, they discovered a very concealed passage. Following the duct to the position of a thick support column inside the building, they found that the column was fake, actually hollow, and that it was a downward pathway.

They didn't act rashly but sent people to guard the spot. When necessary, they could blow up the column to widen the passage and then launch a surprise attack downward from there.

But before that, the Demon Hunters were quite concerned about their comrade's findings regarding the passive movement of souls back to the Cult's headquarters.

"...We believe this is a very bad omen," Derong said, now less tense, her expression naturally carrying a serious look, "Those cultists are clearly up to something, which could well be their desperate struggle in the face of despair. But... with so little information currently in hand, we can't be sure exactly what they are doing."

Matins obviously took this clue seriously.

His numerous past experiences in battling various Heretical Cultists had taught him to never underestimate these human traitors who had sold their souls to some unknown existences. They could always cause a major incident somewhere, leading to terrible losses.

Matins turned his head to consult his adviser, "What do you think?"

Georgette responded with furrowed brows, "I'm... not certain, but it might be related to some information we've collected before..."

Then, Georgette shared the information she knew.

She spoke rapidly and urgently, insisting that Matins order the troops to assemble and prepare for the attack.

According to her, if the conditions observed by the Demon Hunters right now were indeed related to the information previously investigated by the Battle Nuns, then they needed to act as quickly as possible.

Matins was amenable; while ordering his troops to assemble and prepare for demolition, he also listened intently to Georgette's account.

The Primordial Wrath Owl Sect, this native cult organization, had the same core goal as many other cults seen in the stars: to summon their venerated Evil God into this world.

And when it came to them, this possibility was not a vain fantasy, but a very real one that could come true.

For the Evil God they worshipped, the Primal Fury Owl, was an entity with a form, faith, and the convergence of Spiritual Energy. This was evident from the incarnation of Rage Owl that had been summoned during the major event they had carried out in Revival City.

As this was a deity born from indigenous beliefs with an actual form, its power could truly project into the real world.

This monster should currently be in the Spirit Realm Abyss, yet it is intricately connected with Rage Owl Star. The Primordial Wrath Owl Sect believed that if they did certain things right, the Evil God would be called into this world.

One aspect of that is the sacrifice of a great many souls.

"Great many" here might refer to a number in the millions, or even tens of millions.

This was why they targeted Revival City a year and a half ago: At that time, Rage Owl Star was only there, in a small area congregating enough population.

If they had to do something similar in the North Territory, the scattered population would pose a big problem. Even in Polar Industrial City, the largest city in the Northern Province, there were only half a million people.
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But after the failure of their operation in Revival City, they also faced immense pressure from the Battle Nuns allied with the garrison of the Central-North Province, making the normal advancement of their plan to bring the Evil God into the world extremely difficult.

The Battle Nuns had once captured a high-ranking figure within the Cult who revealed that within the sect, the radical faction, or rather, the faction of despair, proposed a plan to forcibly initiate the revival of the Evil God.

Sacrifice as many people as possible, even if it meant sacrificing all the cult's spellcasters as seeds; they would spare no expense.

This proposed action led to a huge divide within their sect. The opposition believed that such an action was purely an unwarranted sacrifice since it was not guaranteed to awaken their god completely. At most, it would only summon a powerful avatar.

But if it merely came to that, sacrificing the entire sect as the price to pay was certainly not worth it.

"...But according to our current intelligence, such a crazy idea should still be an absolute minority within them. However..."

Matins continued her words, "If they reach a critical moment of life and death, they might have no choice but to make a desperate bid."

"So we need to act quickly." Georgette said, "The only good news is that they can now only sacrifice those who died today within the scope of Polar Industrial City, and the number won't be very large. Their main force will still be those Heretical Cultists themselves. We must destroy their plan as quickly as possible, otherwise, even if they only summon an avatar, our troubles will be immense."

"I understand."

In the midst of their conversation, the demolitionist was ready. The interstellar warriors, Battle Nuns, and Demon Hunters were also standing by.

Without wasting time, Matins gave the order, and the structure that had been disguised as a support pillar but was actually a passageway to the underground was blown open.

The explosion was conducted by a veteran interstellar warrior who was quite skilled; the amount of the explosive and its placement were just perfect.

An irregular round passageway of about 6×6 revealed itself in front of them, complete with a ladder leading downward.

After the passageway was blown open, the Cultists hiding below clearly reacted, and voices could be heard from inside.

But at that moment, there was no need for excessive concern.

"Down, down, down!" Matins called out as he, clad in Terminator Power Armor, was the first to leap down.

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4k word chapter.

It was scheduled for 11 a.m., but I accidentally released it... so let it be.

Sleeping, goodnight.