Depraved Noble: Forced To Live The Debaucherous Life Of An Evil Noble!-Chapter 482: Let’s Take Down This Cult!

The Covenant of the Bleeding Moon—that was the name of the cult they were now hunting.

A name whispered in the darkest corners of the mage world—tied to hundreds of disappearances, forbidden sacrifices, and spells that reeked of the old world.

A high-ranking organization with several powerful magi among its ranks—some rumored to be former royal court sorcerers who had defected, and hundreds of lesser acolytes devoted to their madness.

Their goal: to resurrect an ancient being from the primordial era—a ancestor or progenitor of a certain race that was still a mystery that was said to be so overwhelmingly powerful that it could level entire kingdoms on its own. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

The ritual to bring it back was said to demand thousands of lives, blood drained, hearts burned in sacrificial fire, children stolen from their homes.

And now, that ritual was nearing its completion.

That was why the team was here.

The information obtained from their informant at the cost of her life, had pointed them to the Vergada Mountain Range—particularly a mountain buried deep in the thick forests.

Somewhere underneath the mountain lay the altar where the Covenant would summon the ancestor under the coming Blood Moon.

And that was exactly where Cassius and the others were now.

Two days had passed since leaving Nala’s village.

Two long, sleepless days spent scouting, tracking, and watching.

Their small camp sat hidden beneath a rocky ridge a few hundred meters from the main mountain entrance, cloaked by layers of foliage and silence.

Aisha sat cross-legged near the edge, her headset snug over her ears, eyes half-closed in concentration.

Through her lenses, Cassius’s magic drones transmitted a bird’s-eye view of the cult’s stronghold, a dark mountain.

Julie, meanwhile, had her eyes fixed on the same direction through a pair of telescopic binoculars, her gloved fingers adjusting the focus with precision.

"Any change?" Julie asked quietly, shifting her binoculars slightly. "Do you see any movement near the entrance? More guards, less?"

"No, Captain." Aisha shifted the drone in the air. "Not a soul in sight. They’ve pulled their watchmen in completely."

Julie frowned, lowering the binoculars.

"So it’s empty again. Nothing for thirteen hours straight...no guards outside, no one patrolling. It’s like they’ve sealed themselves in."

"Exactly." Aisha said, removing the headset and rubbing her temples. "And no new entries either. No one’s gone in or out since dawn."

And just then, a rustling sound came from behind them, and a blur of movement announced Skadi’s return.

"I checked the perimeter!" She reported breathlessly, crouching down. "Every path, every ridge, every scent. It’s all clear. No one’s around us. The only living things within a mile are us and a few birds way out east."

"Then it’s settled." Aisha nodded, satisfied but uneasy. "The last wave of arrivals must’ve entered already. Judging by the timing, the ritual will start soon, maybe tonight. The sun’s already going down."

Julie’s expression darkened.

"That fits the reports. The more cultists present, the higher the success rate of their ritual. That’s why we let the stragglers through instead of intercepting them, they all needed to gather in one place before we strike." She paused, tapping a finger on the binoculars. "Still...something doesn’t add up."

"What do you mean, Captain?" Aisha turned to her.

Julie gestured toward the distant mountain.

"Look there. No guards, no sentries. They’ve abandoned the surface entirely...Why? Even a mad cult doesn’t drop its defenses like that. There were at least six intermediate-rank mages guarding that entrance yesterday. Where the hell did they all go?"

Aisha exhaled slowly.

"I’ve been asking myself the same thing. They wouldn’t just leave it undefended. There’s no way they’d rely purely on faith. So either they’ve set up a magical barrier we can’t see yet...or they think it doesn’t matter. Maybe they believe no one can get in."

Julie frowned, the last light of sunset glinting off her armor.

"And what makes them so confident? What could they possibly have that lets them throw away every guard like that?"

Aisha gave a wry, humorless smile.

"No clue, Captain. But we’ll find out soon enough. The sun’s almost gone."

She tilted her head toward the glowing horizon, where the last sliver of gold was slipping behind the black ridges.

A faint, crimson tint began to creep across the sky, the first whisper of the Blood Moon rising and for a moment Aisha found herself staring at it—at that monstrous, beautiful moon, thinking how something so haunting could look so serene.

But then something struck her, a quiet realization, and she turned abruptly to Julie.

"Captain." She said hesitantly. "Before we move down there, we need to get Cassius first."

Julie froze, blinking as though she’d genuinely forgotten. "

"Ah...right." She laughed awkwardly. "I totally forgot about that for a second." She then glanced around, clearing her throat. "So, who’s going to do that?...Skadi, how about you? Go call your master."

At once, Skadi’s tail bristled, her expression panicked.

"No, no, no, no way!" She stammered, shaking her head furiously. "I’m not going alone! You two are coming with me!"

She reached out and grabbed both their hands in protest, squeezing tightly as if they were about to send her into a dragon’s den.

Aisha groaned, while Julie sighed.

"You’re seriously scared of him?"

"You don’t get it!" She said nervously. "Master’s been...weird these past few days. I don’t want to wake him up if he’s still in that mood. So you’re both coming with me, and that’s final!"

Julie sighed, exchanging a glance with Aisha. Both of them had the same thought, ’she’s not wrong.’

Ever since they left Nala’s village, Cassius hadn’t been himself. He’d been quiet, distant, his usual teasing, playful demeanor completely gone.

His eyes had been shadowed by something unreadable, something dark.

Even when they tried to cheer him up, he’d only give them half-hearted smiles. He didn’t talk much. He didn’t joke.

He barely even looked at them sometimes, as if his mind was trapped somewhere else entirely.

And last night...they’d all witnessed just how dark that mood had become.

They had been ambushed by a band of twenty or so bandits in the woods.

Normally, Cassius would’ve dealt with them swiftly, efficiently, with a bit of flair and sarcasm.

But this time...it was different.

He didn’t just kill them. He tormented them.

It was as though every ounce of emotion he’d bottled up since Nala’s disappearance had exploded.

One bandit he dismantled piece by piece, plucking bones out of his ribs without killing him, pulling them from his limbs as the man screamed and begged.

Another, he burned, slowly, starting from his toes, then his legs, then his arms, his chest, until only the man’s broken cries remained.

And the worst one...

The worst one was when he cut a man open, while keeping him alive.

Cassius had rearranged his organs with surgical precision, switching his kidneys and liver, moving his insides as though experimenting on a living subject.

By the time Cassius was done, the bandit’s eyes had rolled back, his mouth still open in a silent plea for death.

Aisha, Julie, and Skadi, hardened warriors who had seen horrors on countless battlefields, had turned away. Even they couldn’t watch anymore.

And Cassius had simply stood there afterward, silent, splattered with blood, before saying calmly.

"Let’s make camp."

Since then, none of them had dared disturb him.

He’d gone to sleep early that night, and they’d decided not to wake him unless absolutely necessary.

But now...they had no choice.

So, the three of them approached the clearing together.

Cassius was there, lying in a makeshift hammock strung between two trees, a thin blanket wrapped loosely around him. The bloodstained remnants of last night’s battle still lay scattered nearby.

The air around him was calm...unnervingly calm.

Julie nudged Aisha. "You do it."

"Why me?" Aisha hissed. "You’re the captain!"

Skadi whispered. "Maybe we can just...wait for him to wake up naturally?"

Julie pinched the bridge of her nose.

"We don’t have time for that." She then sighed, crouched down slightly, and called out gently. "Cassius, it’s time to wake up. We need to move...The cult’s ritual is about to start."

Aisha crossed her arms and added, "Yeah, come on, sleepyhead. We don’t have all day."

And Skadi, nervously wringing her hands, piped in softly. "Master...wake up, please."

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then, Cassius stirred. His fingers twitched. His eyes opened slowly.

All three of them instinctively tensed.

He rose with measured grace, stretching his arms before sitting up. The red moonlight fell across his face, and to their surprise, it wasn’t the face of a haunted man anymore.

Cassius smiled.

"Hmm?" He said casually, blinking at them. "What’s with those looks? Don’t tell me I’ve got something on my face. Did one of you draw on me while I was asleep?"

Julie blinked before saying, "N-No, it’s just...you weren’t yourself these past few days. You were quiet, distant. We figured you’d still be...well, brooding."

Aisha nodded reluctantly. "Yeah. You’ve been off ever since we left Nala’s village."

Hearing this, Cassius chuckled while looking at them awkwardly like he was embarrassed by his behaviour.

"Ah...that." His voice softened. "Sorry about that. Guess something just didn’t sit right with what happened with Nala."

He looked down for a moment, then smiled again.

"But after some sleep, I’m fine now. Really. I just needed time to clear my head."

He then stood up, dusting off his coat.

"Now I just want to finish this mission, wrap things up fast, and go back to Nala. Pick her up, bring her home. You don’t have to worry about me anymore."

He looked between them, his expression warm again.

"And I apologize if I scared you all earlier. That wasn’t my intention."

But Aisha only scoffed, smirking. "Hmph! As if I could ever be scared of you. Even if you jumped out of the shadows, there’s no way you’d scare me."

"Aisha’s right!" Skadi nodded earnestly, her tail wagging. "Master could never be scary in my eyes! You’ll always be the same Master to me."

Then, blushing slightly, she added, "Especially since you have such a handsome face, Master...it’s really hard to be scared of that face."

Cassius laughed softly, the first genuine sound of ease they’d heard from him in days. He stepped forward, resting his hand lightly on Skadi’s head, then on Aisha’s shoulder.

"Come along then." He said, his familiar grin returning.

He looked toward the glowing red mountain in the distance.

"It’s about time we take down this bloody cult."

"Glad to have you back, Cassius." Julie grinned faintly, her tension finally easing.

And with that, the four of them moved out, toward the dark heart of the cult brewing up a diabolical plan underneath the mountain.