(To avoid confusion between the magic power used by demigods (faith power) and the faith that gods use to condense divine power (the power of faith), the latter will now simply be called 'faith.')
After a few minutes' walk, we arrive at the town. Speaking of which, because our attention was attracted by the smoke when we first saw the town, we haven't thought about this question. But now, thinking about it, why is there a town here, out of nowhere in the dense forest? There isn't even a road that seems to connect to other towns. There are roads, yes, but they seem to be for people to walk on, but not for horses to run or for horse-drawn carriages.
This is very weird. According to the books we read in Dragon Valley, human towns are generally built close to one another or in a place where resources are available. The problem is that we don't even see a trace of a nearby river, field, or mine. So what is the reason for this town to be here?
The people in the town are also equally strange when looked at closely. It isn't that they look abnormal or anything; it's that they look too normal. Given the resources we saw on our way here, there is no way it could be enough to supply a town completely cut off from the rest of the world. Also, where are these people in black ritual robes queuing up in front of the fortified gates come from, anyway?
There is no use in pondering here anyway, so we decide to join the queue. Who knows what kind of interesting things await us? It's a pity no one says anything otherwise, we will at least learn something while we wait in front of the gate.
After a short queuing time, we are let into the town. The guards don't even ask us or anyone else anything; they just stand on the two sides of the gate, with their armors on and helmet covering their heads, like statues. If not for them occasionally glancing back and forth, we might really think they were real statues! This is why the queue is surprisingly quick. Most of the people covered in black robes don't seem to be surprised by this. It seems that, except for a few people, this isn't the first time they have seen such a scene.
After we enter the town, it looks quite like a normal town. There seems to be nothing special about it, which in itself is the biggest anomaly. How can the people in a normal town not show any panic at all and act as if everything is normal while watching a crowd of suspicious-looking people walking in the middle of the town? We go with the crowd of black-robed people further inside the town. The black-robed people who are not surprised by the guards walk straight ahead without hesitation, while those who are surprised quickly follow, looking around curiously.
Finally, we reach the black-robed people's destination, where there are many doors leading underground. After arriving, the black-robed people split up into many groups and queue to enter the doors. About a minute after the first group entered each door, the second group follows. Then, the third after a minute, and so on. We also join one of the lines.
Soon, it is our turn to enter the door. After we step down from the last step, we see a black-robed figure waiting for us. The moment that figure sees us, that figure makes a gesture that seems to indicate for us to follow. We follow the figure and are led through a very complicated tunnel with many false doors and deceptive passages to a wall. Along the way, we don't find anyone else in front of or behind us. After the black-robed figure taps the wall a few times, a part of the wall slides backward, revealing a way to a room on the left.
We are not sure whether the black-robed figure simply activated a mechanism or used magic, but we lean toward the former, as we could't see any magic power emanating from the black-robed figure just now. In fact, dragons are capable of sensing magic power with their horns, but since we are hornless, we can't do that. We can only rely on our eyes to see the magic power.
After entering the opened passage, we find ourselves in a room partially filled with black-robed figures. In the middle of the room, we find a statue of... a weird-looking, super muscular humanoid creature with an octopus-like head, holding a trident?! Everyone stands in silence, forming an incomplete circle around the statue, facing it.
A black-robed person, who is standing in front of where the statue is facing, holds a trident, which none of the other black-robed people do. He is also the only one not in the circle. Presumably, that black-robed person is the leader. Judging from the hand that holds the trident, the black-robed person should be male. However, his skin color seems a little different from the common human skin colors we remember reading about in Dragon Valley. Is it because gray skin is so rare in humans that it wasn't worth recording?
We also join them in forming a circle. Not long after, groups arrive one after another. When they arrive, they join in forming the circle without a single word. As soon as the last group joins in, the circle is completed. The black-robed person, who holds a trident, looks around the circle. He seems to notice that there are more people than there should have been, but for some reason, he quickly stops caring about that. Maybe he is confident that the extra people will not be able to cause him trouble?
Soon, the worship begins, and faintly glowing, transparent streams of multi-colored light flow from most of the black-robed people toward the statue. Only a few don't have a stream of light flowing from them, including us. We can tell at a glance that these faintly glowing, transparent streams of light are magic power.
For most of the black-robed people, the color of magic power that flows from them is red. About 12 of them emit orange light, while the leader's is yellow! No wonder he is so confident. The orange level is extraordinary among the human race. The yellow level is considered an outstanding elite, even in a powerful human empire that spans planets, let alone on this planet, which hasn't even learned about the existence of life beyond the sky.
Now that we think about it, they are not standing in the circle at all but in a regular dodecagon. We believe they appeared to be in a circle because of the angle we were observing them from. Those 12 who emit orange light are standing at 12 corners of the dodecagon. The side we are on holds 15 people, including us. Another side holds 14 people, and the remaining 10 sides each hold 13 people.
The mortal realm is divided into six levels according to the colors of magic power. The first level is red, then orange, yellow, green, blue, and finally indigo. The higher the level, the higher magic power energy density.
"Prepare for the metamorphosis ceremony!" The leader commands in a weird, resonating, gurgling voice as he takes off his black robe. Beneath it, we see a shirtless... human? Or whatever this humanoid creature that looks like a hybrid between a human and a fish is.
The leader's skin is gray with occasional fish scale-like scales on it. His eyes are bulging, dead fish-like black eyes. He has a wide mouth and thick lips. He also has a fin on each of his forearms and on his back, along his spine. Shiro thinks he should also have a fin on each of his legs too, but he is wearing long pants, so we can't see them. On both sides of his neck, there are fish gill-like gills that open and close with his breathing.
Other black-robed people who have magic power flowing from their bodies also throw away their robes. They are people ranging in age from teenagers to the elderly, and of all genders. Most of them have more or less fish-like features, with the most common being a pair of bulging, dead fish-like black eyes. The extent of their fish-like features seems to correlate with their magic power level, with orange-level cultists having more fish-like features than red-level ones.
Of the 172 people present, only fifteen still wear their black robes including us; all of whom did not emit magic power. The statue absorbs the streams of magic power flowing toward it with ease. Soon, the magic power is completely absorbed.
"Praise the Lord of the Sea, the Ruler of the Ocean Abyss, My Eternal Lord!" The leader starts chanting. After hearing the leader's voice, twelve of the remaining black-robed people step into the dodecagon without hesitation, leaving only the two of us and one other black-robed figure standing still. Although they are covered in black ritual robes, Shiro can tell by the way they move that they are very excited.
Those black-robed people who stepped into the dodecagon stood on 12 different sides of the dodecagon. The side we are on holds 14 people, including us. The side where the other black-robed figure stands holds 13, and the remaining 10 sides each hold 12. Could the other black-robed figure also be an interloper like us?
"Praise the Lord of the Sea, the Ruler of the Ocean Abyss, My Eternal Lord!" The cultists chant in unison. The cultists see the two of us and the black-robed figure who have not stepped into the dodecagon, but don't intend to do anything other than give us different kinds of looks.
For two of us, most of the cultists on the dodecagon give us pitiful looks, while the people inside the dodecagon look at us with respect and gratitude. On the other hand, the looks directed at the black-robed figure are full of disdain and disapproval.
Shiro thinks she has figured out how we managed to blend in now. These people must think that we are the descendants of some high-level members in their cult, and that we are here to learn more about the so-called 'metamorphosis ceremony.'
It's understandable that they would think this way; after all, what kind of children could appear in their secret base, hidden in the forest far from civilization, other than the descendants of their cult's high-level members. Maybe the leader also thinks so. Perhaps this is also the reason the leader has not taken any action against us, in addition to his confidence in his strength.
As for their pitiful looks toward us, they may feel it is pitiful for us to miss the opportunity to undergo the so-called 'metamorphosis ceremony.' As for the looks of those inside the dodecagon, they may see us not stepping into the dodecagon as a sign that we don't intend to steal their opportunities to undergo the ceremony.
The disdainful and disapproval directed at the black-robed figure are also understandable. They may see refusal to step into the dodecagon as a sign of cowardice—of not daring to undergo the ceremony—and think that that person isn't worthy of their god's grace.
Not long after the cultists' voices die out, the statue suddenly shoots out 12 purple light rays toward the 12 black-robed figures in the dodecagon. The moment they are hit by the light rays, they throw off their robes, revealing their human bodies that are slowly being transformed by the light rays and are gradually gaining fish-like features.
Because Shiro is curious about what's going on, she activates [The Eyes of Deconstruction] to examine one of the cultists in the dodecagon (1 unit) and the statue of a weird-looking, super muscular humanoid creature with an octopus-like head, holding a trident (4 units). Now, we only have a total of 10 units of divine power left.
Shiro slowly analyzes the information gathered by [The Eyes of Deconstruction] as she and Kuro watch the transformation process. When the transformation is at its critical point and everyone's attention is focused on the transforming cultists, the only remaining black-cloaked figure suddenly pulls out a... a musket?! Wait! These things exist?!