Who Designed This Underworld Dungeon?-Chapter 1108 - 721: Mad Fire Church, Explosive Birth! (Part 2)
The door was gently pushed open, and sunlight poured into the dark room, revealing the creatures hiding inside...
It was a boy and a girl.
They looked to be in their early teens, dressed in tattered clothes but relatively clean, with their fingernails scrubbed spotless.
Although they were so skinny that they looked a little distorted, you could tell that if they weren't lacking food, they would be quite attractive. The two looked slightly similar, possibly siblings.
The two exchanged a glance, quietly stepping out of their shabby little room, but heading not towards Todd's small house, but in the opposite direction.
They split up, running to houses with closed doors, knocking on them, and finally converging to push out two elders in wheelchairs.
Other doors opened as well, revealing weak faces, each wearing ragged but clean clothes.
Some were sickly, some were missing an arm, some were so frail they needed crutches to walk, gathering about a dozen people.
It was a perfect embodiment of the term "the old, the weak, the sick, and the disabled."
Everyone seemed to be in poor spirits, and even when gathered, no one spoke up, as they silently made their way towards Todd's house, the atmosphere exceedingly bizarre.
This short journey was arduously extended to over ten minutes by the weak people, with some even needing to stop and catch their breath.
When they finally reached Todd's house, everyone looked to the two children who counted down for a moment, then went up and knocked on the door.
Soon enough, the door opened.
Todd, wearing a pink apron temporarily picked up, came out carrying a large pot of stewed rabbit, the aroma making everyone present swallow in unison.
"Praise Mad Fire! Mad Fire is the best!"
The people chanted the slogan in unison.
Even though they were weak enough to need to catch their breath just walking, everyone gave it their all when chanting. Not because everyone was a fanatic, but because...
"Hmm, good, this time the slogan was quite loud."
Todd nodded in satisfaction, inspecting everyone's cleanliness, splashing a ball of Water Magic at anyone with dirty hands or faces until their hygiene was satisfactory. Then he tapped the pot with a ladle and said:
"Alright, meal time. Line up for your food." 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮
This was the moment everyone had been waiting for.
Various containers were handed over, receiving rabbit stew from Todd, while he kept chattering:
"Here's an extra piece of meat. Make sure those two elders get fed first."
"You have a contagious disease. Go eat by yourself."
"Is your arm still hurting? Oh, just asking. I can't heal it anyway."
In the end, when the two children came to receive their stew, Todd gave them all the leftovers, treating them more kindly:
"Eat more, grow up faster."
The children nodded heavily, eyes full of gratitude, saying:
"Praise Mad Fire! Mad Fire is the best!"
Sharing three rabbits among a dozen people, even without Todd serving himself meat, wasn't nearly enough food, but there was no other food to be found.
Although there wasn't enough, everyone who got food still prayed gratefully, reciting every prayer they knew, which were taught by Todd, claiming that as long as you praise that particular God, He will provide the power to survive.
The name of that God was the "Mad Fire God."
"Ah, I can't believe I'm stuck in this situation. I really want to head to the capital and seek refuge with my cousin..."
Watching the people feast, Todd sighed wistfully, sipping the well-seasoned but substance-less soup.
He was a magician of middling ability, able to replenish his energy with magic power. Although not to the extent of not eating at all, one meal every two days was doable.
Of course, it's not that he didn't like eating. In fact, he loved good food, but the elderly, the frail, and the afflicted needed food more urgently.
"I can't believe my very first attempt in establishing a sect has believers such as these..."
He hesitated, then sighed vividly, reluctantly mumbling to himself: "Such a hopeful future indeed."
Though not sure why Todd sighed, the people automatically chanted: "Praise Mad Fire, Mad Fire is the best!"
Then continued to chow down on their food.
"Yes, yes, yes..."
Todd forced a smile, thinking to himself:
I can't believe I came up with such a meaningless phrase, I can't believe these people accepted it so readily...
The people fleeing from Hepa Town took all the food with them, leaving the old, the weak, the sick, and the disabled to die.
From a moral standpoint, one should perhaps criticize such selfish actions, but Todd owed a little gratitude towards Hepa Town for still having people left behind.
Because these people indirectly saved his life, in a way.
It all went back to half a month, or maybe a month ago.
That was when he illegally crossed into the Warrior Country, and ended up being kidnapped by a weird old man named Dorian after proclaiming his faith in Mad Fire.
Dorian's mental state was quite unstable and only showed some coherence when discussing Mad Fire. Declaring one's faith in Mad Fire and saying more relating to it could earn Dorian's trust and even reverse the influence of his actions through words.
