Chapter 452: Chapter 240: Incompatible Strength! (Four-in-one)_3 Why on Earth would these guys choose to conduct a ritual in this perilous Smoky Intoxicated Forest? What are they trying to achieve? Chen Mo became even more intrigued. From the traces left behind, it seemed these cultists were likely performing a summoning ritual of Dark Magic, possibly intended to bring forth a devil or some other malicious entity. They had placed numerous offerings around the altar, including animal and human corpses, implying that they required sacrifices to enhance the power of the ritual. In addition, the peculiar item at the center of the altar could possibly serve as a medium for the summoning. This inevitably brings to mind the summoning mediums in ancient magic. No matter what they were trying to summon, it was doubtlessly a very dangerous and evil entity. They wouldn’t be summoning a Demon God, would they? This is just a first-transition instance. However, upon further thought, this was a hidden mission, a type of side mission. The difficulty of hidden missions was occasionally not directly tied to the primary mission. For example, one might encounter a monster far exceeding the current instance’s strength when venturing into the Treasure Secret Realm. Though he remained cautious, being equipped with impressive survival skills, Chen Mo wasn’t exactly frightened. Moreover, he himself hadn’t flown over yet; it was the Skeleton Monster carrying out the actions. Even if they did summon a powerful Demon God, it couldn’t harm him. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮 As the Skeleton Monster continued its rapid advance, more traces became evident. Before long, Chen Mo himself arrived. With his arrival, his perception range instantly expanded, dwarfing that of the Skeleton Monster. Soon, he discovered an extraordinarily frantic scene. In a gloomy clearing ahead, a group of cultists cloaked in black robes, their faces painted with strange symbols, were gathered around a large stone altar. They were whispering an incomprehensible language in bizarre tones, their chanting sounding as if it was coming from the depths of hell, making one shudder upon hearing it. After chanting for a while, their behavior grew even more bizarre and frenzied. Some were spinning in place, seemingly performing an evil dance, while others were tearing out their own hair and smearing their blood on the altar. The hair, slowly burning on the altar, emitted a foul smell. Other cultists grabbed handfuls of soil from the ground and forcefully stuffed it into their mouths, seemingly savoring an odd delicacy. On either side of the altar, two villagers were tied to pillars. Their bodies were tightly bound with heavy ropes, their faces as pale as paper, and their eyes filled with fear. They watched the erratic and manic cultists before them as though they were witnessing devils in hell. They were trembling incessantly, their lips twitching. They wanted to scream for help, but terror prevented them from making any sound. They had lived all their lives in this tranquil forest, remote from the world, and had never witnessed such a bizarre situation. Fortunately, it was still daytime, and the cultists hadn’t started the sacrificial summoning yet; they were merely making preliminary preparations. This meant the villagers were still relatively safe. However, the cultists’ perverse behavior was causing them considerable psychological terror. After each strange ritual, the cultists would bite each other, drink each other’s blood, then erupt in maniacal laughter as though they were experiencing immense pleasure. No humanity could be seen in their eyes, only madness and evil. A black energy was slowly swirling around their bodies, an aura filled with death and a rotten stench. Chen Mo sensed the cultists’ attributes; they weren’t particularly high. An average first-transition level 40 professional could easily deal with them. This baffled Chen Mo. After all, these cultists seemed far too weak. This is the hidden mission of an SSS-level difficulty instance. It’s completely inconsistent with that difficulty! Could this hidden mission truly be completed so easily? Though it seemed implausible, Chen Mo still ordered his Skeleton Monsters to attack. In an instant, a hail of arrows and Energy Bullets rained down on the cultists. Given the Skeleton Monsters’ current impressive attack power, their attacks should have one-shotted these trash cultists. However, when the Skeleton Monsters’ attacks landed on the cultists, although their Health was instantly depleted, they mysteriously remained alive! At the same time, they all turned in unison to look in Chen Mo’s direction. But Chen Mo was currently in an invisible state. Logically, these trash cultists shouldn’t have been able to see him. This turn of events made Chen Mo feel the scene was even more bizarre. It also confirmed his suspicion: hidden missions were indeed not so easy to complete! At the cultists’ feet, Chen Mo noticed some mysterious runes. Upon closer inspection, he realized that these runes were interwoven in a regular pattern, forming a peculiar magic array. Chen Mo’s intuition told him this magic array was likely the reason for the cultists’ immortality. Thinking this, Chen Mo glanced at the central area enclosed by the runes. If this is a magic array, then that central area enclosed by the runes must be its Array Eye. Destroying the Array Eye should be equivalent to destroying the entire magic array!