To be fair, these cultists were quite cautious. They didn’t just believe this unfamiliar "brother" because Duncan showed them the sun amulet, nor did they easily trust his words about what happened at the sewer altar. They had been observing Duncan’s actions and behavior all along, and even after arriving at the gathering place, they needed to verify his identity one more time. For a group of cultists hiding and running, they were doing their best.
But all their methods treated Duncan as a "normal human." These tactics meant nothing to the captain of the Lost Homeland.
The tall and thin little leader took the unremarkable strip of cloth from Duncan’s hand. He seemed completely unaware of any change in the power of this extraordinary item. After welcoming the new brother, he pointed to a corner of the gathering place and said, "Brother, rest here for now. You’re not the only unfamiliar face here."
Duncan nodded and walked toward the inconspicuous corner, paying attention to every face that appeared in the gathering place.
Unlike what he had seen at the sewer altar, he was surprised to find that these sun followers weren’t wearing those signature black robes. Instead, they dressed like ordinary citizens, and they didn’t have hoods covering their faces, but openly showed their features.
Curiously, he asked a nearby follower, "Is it okay for everyone to show their faces here at the gathering?"
The follower looked surprised. "…Did the local followers in the Prand City State cover their faces during gatherings before?"
Duncan frowned slightly. "You’re not from Prand…"
"We come from Lunsa," another follower said calmly. Once they confirmed that this stranger was indeed a brother from the church, the sun followers here clearly relaxed their guard. "We just arrived last week, but before we could connect with the local brothers, that attack happened…"
"Everyone here is from Lunsa?" Duncan was a bit surprised. Now he understood why there were so many sun followers left in the city after the sewer altar was destroyed.
"Yes, everyone gathered here is from Lunsa, but there are also groups from other city-states scattered in different strongholds," another follower joined the conversation. "Sigh, everyone has heard a bit about the situation in Prand City State. For the past four years, that damned governor and the church's hounds have been attacking our cause… It hasn’t been easy for you either, but thankfully, it’s all in the past."
Duncan nodded noncommittally, then he heard the first follower he asked about the masks speak up again: "That pigeon on your shoulder is quite… unique."
Duncan's eyes twitched. He knew that he wasn’t the only one paying attention to the pigeon on his shoulder. If he had to say, a pigeon wasn’t that strange, but bringing one to a gathering was odd.
He could only casually respond, "This is my pet. It helps me with many things."
While he was brushing it off, thoughts raced through his mind—many sun followers were pouring into Prand City State, confirming a guess he had made earlier: the usually low-key Sun Church had suddenly made a big move in the sewer. These cultists were definitely up to something big!
He had managed to sneak in at just the right time!
At the same time, he understood why the cultists attending the gathering weren’t hiding their faces, but dressed like ordinary citizens. Previously, in the sewer, the sun followers had completely concealed their identities and had a strict communication system among lower-level followers to resist the church’s repeated purges and avoid traitors or key members being captured and leaking information. This was a desperate choice made by the local church under dire circumstances. However, the crowd that had just gathered from various city-states clearly lacked that experience—they were just cultists, not a disciplined special force.
On the other hand, they didn’t need such disguises: since everyone gathered here was from the same city-state, they were already familiar with each other, making it pointless to hide their identities during the gathering.
Now, this ordinary citizen look made it easier for them to escape quickly if their stronghold was exposed, blending into the poorly managed lower city among the common people.
As he pondered this, Duncan scanned the gathering place and suddenly felt a gaze on him.
He followed the feeling and saw the owner of that gaze. A girl with short black hair and a petite figure stood about ten meters away.
She wore a black dress adorned with white lace, her appearance was delicate and quiet, and she looked to be about the same age as Nina. The most striking feature was a dark red collar around her neck, which had a small silver bell attached. It looked somewhat cute, yet also quite strange.
As Duncan turned his gaze toward her, she naturally shifted her attention elsewhere. Although she did it discreetly, Duncan was sure that gaze had come from this young girl!
Why was there such a small child among these cultists?
Duncan couldn't help but wonder, and he glanced at her outfit… for some reason, he felt she didn’t quite fit in with the surroundings.
While he was thinking, a sound of a door creaking suddenly came from nearby. The tall, thin cult leader ordered the basement door to be closed, then walked toward the center of the gathering place.
All eyes immediately focused on this leader. Duncan also gathered his thoughts and paid attention to the changes in the scene. He saw the tall man standing confidently in front of everyone, a slight smile on his somewhat sinister face. Then he took out an item from his pocket and raised it high among the crowd.
It was a light golden sun mask—exactly like the one worn by the cult priest who had hosted the sacrificial ceremony in the underground gathering place.
"Offer your respect to the Lord's glory, and whisper the true words under the Lord's gaze," the tall man said loudly, his tone full of devotion. "Bow to this blessed mask, may the protection of the Sun's offspring reside within it, guiding the brothers and sisters gathered here."
The surrounding cultists immediately began chanting the name of the true sun god in unison, then they placed their fists on their foreheads and bowed in a gesture of respect—not to the tall man in the center of the gathering, but to the golden mask, as if the mask itself was the embodiment of a higher power, while the man holding it was merely a vessel.
Duncan also pretended to blend in with the cultists, mimicking their actions, but he didn’t know what the so-called true words were, so he just mumbled a couple of lines from the multiplication table and began to carefully observe the cultists’ movements, trying to deduce the meaning behind each part of their ritual.
The tall, thin man solemnly placed the mask on his face.
In the next moment, Duncan immediately sensed that something seemed to change about this man.
He couldn’t quite describe the feeling, but it was as if the man had transformed the moment he put on the mask, as if an additional shadow had appeared alongside him. Duncan looked at the golden mask shaped like the sun and noticed the patterns on it seemed to be slowly shifting—it was as if the mask had come to life, as if a distant and powerful consciousness was projecting its subtle power onto it, giving this otherwise ordinary object extraordinary qualities.
With this single act of "wearing" the mask, the ordinary person became "sacred," symbolizing some divine power.
The surrounding cultists began to chant in unison, "May our Lord's glory last forever! May our Lord's path descend into the world!"
Duncan recalled the multiplication table up to the sixth column while his mind raced.
He had seen a priest wearing a golden mask at the gathering in the sewer, but at that time, the priest had already completed the "wearing" process. Plus, Duncan had been confused about the surroundings and in a poor state himself, so he hadn’t realized that this seemingly ordinary golden mask had any special significance, nor had he thought about why the masked priest was called the "messenger" by ordinary cultists.
Now it seemed… this so-called sun mask was perhaps a "communication device" used by those hiding outside civilized society, the "offspring of the sun," to remotely control followers and observe the world? Or more accurately, it was some kind of mental projection device?
Suddenly realizing it was a fascinating item, Duncan's gaze toward the golden mask changed.
This thing… might just be related to him.
(End of Chapter)