DOTM: Chapter 474/475

Chapter 474: Give Up?

Sacrifices?

This was not a good word, especially when paired with terms like "evil god." Even without Ethan's explanation, they understood what they were about to face.

No one wanted to be treated as a sacrifice. Once this was made clear, Curt and the others immediately sided with Ethan and his companions. Even the fact that Ethan had pointed a gun at them earlier could be overlooked. After all, they had been under the influence of strange drugs at the time, and Ethan had been forced to act that way.

In that moment, the young people consciously found a reasonable explanation for Ethan's earlier aggressive actions and no longer regarded him and Logan with the same level of suspicion.

"What should we do now? Escape from here?"

"Escape?"

Ethan shook his head.

"The entire area is sealed by an energy wall created by a special device. This place is an isolated space designed for sacrifices. The only entrance and exit is the cave tunnel we came through."

He glanced at the sky outside, which had already gone completely dark.

"If nothing unexpected happened, that tunnel should have collapsed by now."

The young people's expressions turned grim. No one would be happy to hear that they were trapped.

"Then… what should we do?"

Compared to the others, Marty didn't seem much different. He had been so sluggish from smoking marijuana that it dulled the drug's effect on him. After Ethan removed the influence of the drug, he was nearly the same as before.

"I am an exorcist. I came here to eliminate those monsters…"

"Monsters? What kind of monsters?"

Curt and the others thought the 'monsters' Ethan mentioned earlier referred to the evil god, but from his tone, it seemed he was talking about something else.

"You'll see them soon."

Ethan didn't plan to explain too much. Saying more would only make them doubt him. Only by seeing with their own eyes would they truly believe.

So, let them see for themselves.

"Turn off the jamming device."

Ada shut off the device sitting nearby and put it away. Ethan casually picked up one of the cameras in front of him and saw that its wires had been pulled out.

"Couldn't they use wireless ones?"

Leaving the damaged camera, Ethan turned toward Ada, who casually pointed to a direction, signaling there was still a hidden camera there that she hadn't removed.

Ethan had no choice but to walk over and awkwardly speak to the wall. "I know you can see me, and I know what you are doing and what you want to do. Now I'm giving you a chance… release everything below. Remember, release everything! That way, you still have a chance to finish this job."

After saying it all in one breath, Ethan looked back at Ada.

"Actually, that camera is to your side…"

Ethan's face instantly darkened. He imagined the scene in the monitoring room, himself talking to the wall like an idiot… far too embarrassing.

The young people tried hard to hold back their laughter, while Ada and Logan laughed openly with less restraint. Still, they spared Ethan further embarrassment by not mocking him outright.

As for Ethan's words, they made Ada and Logan realize that monsters were about to appear, and they should prepare for battle.

"You want to clear out all those monsters?"

"Isn't that why we came here?"

Ethan's reply made Logan nod. They were here for fun, and fighting monsters could be seen as a way to vent, like playing a real-life monster-slaying game.

Curt and the others didn't understand the hidden meaning in their exchange, but they understood that Ethan intended to stay here and wait for the monsters to be released.

"We're just going to wait for the monsters to come to us like this?"

They didn't know what kind of monsters these were, but waiting inside a cabin full of cameras, being monitored by others, didn't seem like a good idea.

"Shouldn't we find a safer place?"

"In this area, there is no absolutely safe place."

The mountain looked ordinary, but cameras and hidden devices were everywhere, ready to spray strange gases at any time. These gases directly affected people's judgment and made them act irrationally.

In the original plot, after Curt and Jules were attacked, Curt, injured, returned to the cabin and correctly ordered his companions to stay together and not split up. The people in the monitoring room, seeing this, immediately sprayed gas to affect their intelligence. The group then "wisely" split up, giving the monsters a chance to kill them one by one and complete the sacrifice.

Now that Ethan was involved, such things would not happen. Even if the gas was sprayed frantically, Ethan could prevent it from taking effect.

As for Ethan, Logan, and Ada, their own resistance was strong. This kind of gas had no effect on them.

Just as he thought this, thick white smoke suddenly filled the cabin. Ethan only rolled his eyes. Clearly, those people hadn't taken his words seriously and wanted to "adjust" his intelligence to the level they wanted.

This way, they wouldn't need to do anything extra and could continue their ritual.

Ethan waved his hand. A light breeze formed by magic swept through the room, gathering all the white smoke into his palm. It merged with the ball of smoke he had collected earlier, and after being compressed, it nearly solidified into a grayish-white sphere.

Ada had only recently activated the jamming device, so the people in the monitoring room had no idea what Ethan could do. This was the first time they had seen him in action.

"What just happened?"

Sitterson and Hadley stared at the screen, unable to make sense of it. "Isn't there a clearer angle?"

Most of the cameras had already been removed by Ada. The remaining ones were well hidden, blended with the cabin structure, and had poor angles. They hadn't clearly seen what Ethan did. Or rather, they had seen it, but assumed he was using some kind of device.

They wanted to know what caused the phenomenon and where the tool was hidden.

"In that case, the chemical agents might not be useful. What should we do?"

Hadley looked at the screen. As the person in charge, he had to make a quick decision. Regardless of the outcome, he had to give an order.

"Send out the Buckner family."

According to the original plot, this was the Buckner family's cabin. When the young people didn't choose their own "death," the best option was to send out the Buckners, who fit the setting.

But Hadley felt the Buckners might not be enough. Based on what they had seen before the cameras were removed and jammed, those unexpected intruders were armed.

"Send out some more."

He believed this would be enough. No one, even with weapons, could withstand the siege of multiple monsters. The real issue was how to control the order in which the monsters killed the young people.

To avoid interference from the intruders, he planned to release several groups of monsters to get rid of them first.

"It's best to force them to split up!"

But just then, Ethan appeared on the screen, saying to the young people, "Whatever you do, do not split up. You'd better stay close to us, because something nasty could pop out from anywhere at any time."

By now, the young people had calmed down somewhat and were skeptical about the so-called monsters. Just releasing monsters might not be enough to scare them.

"Besides the monsters, the organization that lured you here also has armed forces. You guys… I'm afraid you are no match for those soldiers."

Calling them opponents was generous. Facing trained soldiers, what choice did these college students have besides raising their hands and surrendering?

Monsters might not scare them, but a group of armed men certainly would.

These words were heard by Sitterson and Hadley in the monitoring room. They exchanged glances, realizing this job had turned into a serious problem.

"Where did these guys come from?"

It seemed their information had been leaked. These people were clearly here for them.

Since the intruders knew what they were doing, why interfere?

What benefit was there in ruining the sacrifice? Were they lunatics who wanted to destroy the world? Fanatical cultists serving some evil god?

"Send out more groups!" Hadley immediately gave a new order, increasing the number of monsters. "Also, have the security department on standby, ready to deploy at any time!"

The so-called security department referred to the armed personnel. Normally, they maintained the base's security, but they could also be dispatched for combat missions.

"Also, notify those outside to begin contingency measures immediately!"

The so-called contingency measures meant finding another group of sacrifices.

Sitterson turned and asked Hadley, "Are you prepared to give up this time?"

"I am prepared to give up."

Hadley believed that if things got out of control, he would eliminate everyone quickly and prepare for another ritual.

"Whether or not we give up will depend on the Buckner family's performance."

(To be continued.)

Chapter 475: Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Hadley placed his hopes on the Buckner family and several other terrifying monsters.

If Ethan knew what this guy was thinking, he would probably scoff with a look of disdain. "Naive idea!" Then, in front of Hadley and Sitterson, he would shatter their last hope.

Even if he did not know now, Ethan shattering their hope was only a matter of time.

While Hadley and Sitterson were doing their best to handle the sudden situation, Ethan was discussing the next steps with Curt, who had returned to normal.

Dana and Holden were not very satisfied with Ethan's arrangements.

Because the plan was too simple, it sounded completely lacking in technique and even a bit passive. It only required everyone to stay here, close to him, and he did not even plan to reinforce the cabin, like boarding up the doors and windows.

"What is the point of boarding it up? This entire area is a large facility carefully prepared by the other side. I do not even know if there are any hidden doors in this cabin."

"But just waiting like this..."

Curt still wanted to try harder, at least seal up the windows, right? Even if they relied on the cabin for defense, they should avoid the predicament of being surrounded on all sides. Sealing off the other directions would make defense easier on one side.

This proved once again that Curt was a very smart person. Although he was strong and had excellent athletic ability, he was ultimately a high-IQ academic. His bizarre behavior in the film was entirely due to the influence of drugs. He was the one who was slandered the most miserably.

"I understand your concerns, but at this point, no matter how much I say, you will not believe it, so I have decided not to explain any further."

This was simply an unsolvable problem. Unless Ethan directly demonstrated his magical abilities in front of them, was there any need? Anyway, these young people did not dare to resist him, and once the monsters appeared, they would naturally understand why Ethan was doing this.

Fortunately, the monsters did not delay for too long, and the Buckner family soon arrived outside the house.

Ethan could already sense the approach of undead creatures. The Buckner family was a type of undead similar to those under a curse, with extremely strong immortality. Even if only a hand remained, it could still move.

Compared to zombies, the Buckner family was more troublesome, but that was all.

With their slow movements and reliance on various tools and weapons for attacks, besides being difficult to kill, they were probably no harder to deal with than a fully armed soldier. Marty was able to hack a member of the Buckner family into a bloody mess with just a kitchen knife, leaving only a hand crawling around at the end.

"It seems there are other things as well."

As Logan gradually became more and more like a true druid, not even counting as an apprentice, his perception of undead creatures that disrupted the balance of nature became quite negative. Fortunately, this feeling did not cause a larger impact. At most, he was disgusted and unwilling to get close, rather than being single-mindedly determined to eliminate these beings.

"They must have released other monsters as well."

Below the cabin was practically a collection of horror monsters, encompassing almost every type of monster that appears in horror films, both Eastern and Western.

Not all of them were like the Buckner family, which leaned toward the mystical. There were also purely mutated creatures, such as that giant python.

Curt and the others seemed very nervous and had already stood up, preparing to go to the window to check the situation outside, but as soon as he stood up, he was stopped by Logan.

"At a time like this, do not casually approach windows or doors, and thin wooden boards are not trustworthy either."

After hearing Logan's words, Curt immediately nodded and expressed his gratitude. "You are right, these places are all dangerous. Thank you for the reminder."

He was not only thanking him for himself. He was also thanking on behalf of his companions. They did not have rich exorcism experience and could only think based on situations in movies. If they had to figure it out themselves, it might take some cost or waste more time before realizing what was safe to do.

With Logan's reminder, the young people all knew how they should protect themselves.

"How should we deal with these monsters?"

Logan calmly accepted Curt's thanks and turned to ask Ethan, who was beside him.

When it came to undead creatures, Ethan had the most say here. Although the Holy Light he had developed was not as powerfully restraining against the undead as the Holy Light of Azeroth, it was indeed a natural enemy of the undead.

"Hack them into meat paste or burn them to ashes. The undead creatures that came this time are a bit troublesome because they are not easy to kill, but that is about it."

Compared to the Buckner family, Ethan also sensed enemies appearing in the sky. Perhaps they were those giant bats?

What interested him more were the several undead spirits that had silently infiltrated the cabin.

"Everyone, stand behind me."

Although Curt was not sure why, it was better to obey at this moment. They had no other choice now.

Just as the young people moved behind Ethan, Ethan, who was standing in the center of the living room, suddenly snapped his fingers, and a flash of white light immediately filled the room.

Everyone's vision was momentarily dazzled, but that was not the most terrifying part. The terrifying thing was that the moment the white light flashed, everyone heard a shriek that struck deep into their souls.

When everyone's vision recovered, they saw several translucent grayish-white phantoms floating not far in front of Ethan. These phantoms looked like a mass of smoke but had a very distinct form, a skull-faced figure wearing a tattered robe floating in mid-air.

"Ghosts?"

If they felt they could resist monsters like werewolves or zombies, when facing ghosts, beings between reality and illusion, they could not think of any method other than running away.

The moment they saw the ghosts, the young people seemed frozen in place, standing stiffly and staring blankly at the undead spirits floating in mid-air, shrieking at everyone with terrifying, ferocious faces.

"So noisy."

This creature, forced into visibility by one of Ethan's small spells, had failed to approach the group silently and achieve victory. It was now extremely angry and wanted to rush forward and kill these people.

But its intuition told it that the human in front of it was very terrifying, and rushing forward recklessly would be very dangerous.

However, even if it did not rush forward, Ethan would not let this undead spirit continue to exist.

Using a spell to force it to reveal itself was to make Curt and the others understand their situation and to prove that he was not lying.

Now that the existence of the monster was confirmed, this thing was no longer useful.

Ethan's strength had been steadily improving, and his mastery of energy attributes had been increasing. Not to mention the Holy Light energy he had studied for a long time. Now, even without the aid of a cross, Ethan could partially convert his own magic power into Holy Light.

Using a large amount of Holy Light still required the aid of a cross, but to deal with such weak undead spirits, Ethan did not need that much Holy Light. He only needed to release a little light, and the room became as bright as noon. This weak undead spirit turned into light smoke under the illumination of the Holy Light.

The death shriek seemed to be a form of attack, perhaps carrying a bit of curse power. Unfortunately, such a weak curse could not even get close to Ethan's body and dissipated under the illumination of the Holy Light filling the room.

The undead spirit disappeared, but Curt and the others still seemed very nervous. The Holy Light filling the living room had a calming and focusing effect, allowing them to recover from their state of confusion more quickly.

"That ghost... was destroyed?"

"It has been purified by Holy Light," Ada, who had been standing nearby, replied. "You do not need to worry about that undead spirit appearing again. Compared to that one, it would be better for you to dodge now."

"What?"

Before Curt could react, Logan yanked him so hard he felt like he was flying. While he was still in mid-air, before he landed, he saw the floor where he had just been standing suddenly explode, and a hand that looked abnormal reached out from the floorboards. If he had not been pulled away, he would likely have been grabbed directly by that hand.

At this moment, he did not even have the presence of mind to marvel at Logan's astonishing strength. Deep down, he was extremely grateful to the other person for saving him once again.

Logan reacted quickly, and Ada's movements were also swift. As Logan yanked Curt away, she took out a shotgun from her storage space and unleashed a barrage of fire at the floor where the strange hand had emerged.

Ada's experience was very rich. From the way the hand emerged, she could determine the location of the person below. So, besides the first two shots used to break the floorboards, the remaining bullets were all blasted into the guy below.

The key was that these were not ordinary bullets. When Ada fired, a golden-yellow light flashed.

Bullets infused with Holy Light energy were very effective against undead creatures. After Ada emptied her clip in one go, she calmly reloaded the bullets one by one.

Dana and the others had no idea where Ada had taken out such a large weapon, nor did they know how she had produced the bullets she casually pulled out, as if they had just appeared in her hand.

With Ethan's ability, creating a high-capacity weapon was not difficult, but firearms had an awkward limitation. You could not keep shooting forever even with infinite bullets. The biggest restriction was the barrel overheating after prolonged firing.

Therefore, people like Logan and Ada, who liked to use firearms, would prepare several guns in their space storage for easy replacement and would also stockpile a large amount of ammunition with special effects.

Ada, having reloaded, lowered her head and glanced into the hole in the floor. Because there was ample light, everyone could clearly see that the undead creature had been blasted into a pulp.

With the Holy Light energy perfectly suppressing its immortality, the half-destroyed corpse below was now truly just a corpse and would not move again.

(To be continued.)