Chapter 697 Soul Splitter (2)
In the silent darkness of space, the cultist ships approached Planet Euphoria with a sense of urgency and foreboding. They were on a mission to check on their missing members, who had disappeared while attempting to retrieve the sacred Medallion.
The Medallion and two other artefacts were necessary for the Cult to fulfil their goal of resurrecting the Precursors. By resurrecting, they wanted to free all the imprisoned Precursors scattered throughout the galaxy.
They already had one such artefact in their possession and had information on where the other artefact could be. But they still needed the Medallion to fulfil the condition of the ritual.
Unfortunately, it had been weeks since they had last established contact with the task force sent to Euphoria to collect the Medallion. It wasn't uncommon for such missions to fail.
But this time, the Cult had sent their best indisposable warriors on the mission, so the chances of their failure were low. Yet, the members were lost.
If those members were dead, it would deal a significant blow to the Cult's morale, which wasn't all that high after knowing their number one enemy, The Reaper, had evolved into a Precursor.
The Cult had been established a millennium ago to resurrect the Precursors, and knowing they had formed enmity with one of them caused doubt in the Cult if they were following the right path.
But the Pope knew that a mortal being couldn't have transcended into godhood and refused to believe Reaper was a Precursor.
Due to the fear of the Pope, everyone kept their thoughts to themselves. But the Pope knew it was only a matter of time before his underlings started a rebellion and surrendered themselves to Reaper's mercy.
In order to prevent such a sinful situation and restore his authority over the Cult, the Pope himself embarked on the journey to retrieve the Medallion as well as the missing cultists on Euphoria.
It was risky, but the Pope needed to do so; otherwise, there was a high chance that the Cultists would lose faith in him.
'This has to be worth it...' the Pope wondered. 'Or 'they' won't hesitate to kill me.'
"Your Holiness, we have arrived," the Pilot informed the Pope.
"Good, prepare for landing."
"As you wish."
The Pilot did as he was told, but no one was ready to witness the sight before them. Their eyes widened in shock and disbelief as they descended through the atmosphere. Once lush and teeming with life, Planet Euphoria lay in ruins.
"What is this...?" The Pope questioned as the first visuals of the planet emerged on the screen. "This... can't be Euphoria!"
"I-I'll check the coordinates for any mistakes!"
The Pilot stammered and checked the data, but the result remained unchanged no matter how many times he checked. The planet before them had to be Euphoria.
"How can this be possible!?" the Pope politely mumbled.
Unlike before, the landscape was scarred, and the remnants of destruction marred its once-pristine surface. The bustling cities now lay in ruins. It couldn't possibly be the Euphoria that they knew.
The cultists landed their ships, and as they disembarked, they couldn't help but take in the desolation surrounding them. The Pope stood at the forefront, and his face was marked with confusion and concern.
"What could have caused such carnage on this planet?" he muttered to himself, his voice filled with uncertainty. "We need to find our brethren first! They might have some knowledge of what led to this... devastation."
The cultists separated into small platoons to scan the planet and search for their brethren. But their faces were etched with worry when they combed through the desolate terrain.
However, there was no sign of the cultists who had ventured to this planet. It was as though they had vanished without a trace. Even their spaceships were nowhere to be seen.
The more they searched, the more it became apparent that the planet appeared as though it had never been populated in the first place.
The structures that once dotted the landscape were now reduced to rubble, and the atmosphere had changed drastically, shrouding the planet in an eerie silence.
Just as confusion and anxiety hung in the air, a sudden, chilling sound cut through the stillness of the planet. The radio brought by the Cultists went berserk with screams.
"What's happening?" the Pope asked.
"We... don't know," one of the radio operators replied. "I'll fetch the video feed from the soldiers now!"
As he said that, the screens before them flickered to life, and all they saw was blood spilt everywhere. There was nothing else there. No corpses, nothing... just the blood.
A moment later, another cultist platoon was wiped out in less than a second, their screams echoing briefly before falling silent. Panic surged through the remaining cultists, and the Pope's eyes widened in terror.
"What was that?" one of the Cardinals shrieked as their radios went silent.
"I'm having a bad feeling about this," the Pope muttered. "Instruct everyone to get back. We can't afford to lose more soldiers now."
The Cardinal nodded and quickly barked orders for the rest of his forces to regroup. As they retreated to their ships, their hearts pounded, and their breaths came in quick gasps.
They were on the brink of despair, their mission to find their missing members turning into a nightmare as another platoon was wiped off their radars.
Someone or something was hunting them down, but no one wanted to stay around to gather intel. Half of the Cult was wiped out in a matter of seconds, causing everyone to panic.
It was then a decision was made. The Pope was in danger, and he, for one, didn't want to die yet. As such, he instructed the ships to take off, leaving behind a brunt of their force as a distraction for whatever was hunting them down.
However, not everything was going according to the plan. The ships had barely managed to escape the planet's atmosphere when their vessels stopped.
"What's going on!?" The Pope finally lost his cool.
"Y-Your Holiness! Something is dragging us back to the planet!" The Pilot yelled.
The Cardinals darted to the upper deck to see what was going on. Although they couldn't see the thing pulling them back to the planet's surface, they noticed that they were being dragged back to the surface.
"We... We're doomed..." the Pope mumbled.
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