SCP Corporation: Contain Bonfire

"Ouch..."

When the effect ended, Colin felt a tearing pain all over his body as if he had been dismembered, but the most uncomfortable part was his lower back.

"Hiss... there are really many backstabbers in this world, whether it's a beheading from behind or a stab in the back. From now on, I'll have to wear a bulletproof vest when going out..."

Colin secretly reached to rub his lower back.

Shaking his head slightly, he quickly extracted useful information from the premonition, "Choosing 'Holy Artifact' shouldn't be too problematic... Following the process above, as long as I avoid the sneak attack from the backstabbers, I can lock down the mastermind and then accomplish a counterkill."

The misunderstanding was resolved—the task given by 'Dice of Probability' was indeed feasible, not too difficult.

However, this premonition's content was thought-provoking.

For example, did the last premonition take this one into account?

Last time, it was mentioned that he would be defeated and perish after returning to the church, battling the monster outside the door, yet this premonition resulted in death by a stab in the back...

Therein lay a contradiction.

If going by the last premonition, he wouldn't die today.

No...

"It seems that the last time didn't even mention this extra task. Or is it that unexpectedly drawing a Golden Card has altered fate? Or perhaps, the longer the time span, the poorer its effect becomes, missing out on many things..."

Colin reflected thoughtfully.

"The Book of Fate: Fragment" does indeed seem to have one issue, that is, its predictions become more general and lacking in detail as time goes on, resulting in poorer outcomes.

It seems I'll have to go back and discuss this with my colleagues.

Colin gathered his thoughts and then, seeing that the others had more or less made their choices, he casually picked up a beautifully decorated longbow inlaid with gems.

As he touched the longbow, Colin's eyes slightly narrowed. He discovered that there were no gems on the bow at all, but rather it was covered with a large amount of squirming flesh and blood.

The aura around him also dispersed at the moment of contact.

In that moment, Colin felt that the world in front of him suddenly became real.

He truly arrived in this world.

The wooden longbow, covered in blood and flesh, vaguely had some unsettling aura trying to surge into his body through his palm, but Colin did not resist...

Because as soon as these auras entered his body, they were immediately devoured by the Tyrant of the Beast Transformation Syndrome... What class could dare reside with it?

After everyone had chosen their equipment,

Colin faintly felt that the gazes behind him at that instant were like substance, filled with greed, making one feel uneasy.

However, just like the "Book of Fate: Fragment" said, there were no signs of them making a move.

Without making a move, Colin could not trace the hints in advance, and if he were to act first, given the caution shown by the opposition, there was a high likelihood that the clues would be directly cutoff—

Damn it! This mastermind behind the scenes clearly has the numerical advantage yet is overly cautious.

Just then, he heard a rapid sequence of footsteps approaching from the corridor outside...

"Archbishop! Something terrible has happened, a wave of monsters is assaulting from the south side of the town..." a sentinel-dressed person rushed into the church.

He was covered in blood, appearing to have more breaths coming in than going out.

Upon hearing this, the Red-Robed Bishop showed a shocked expression, and anxiously said, "How is Sister Elisa now?"

"She... she... Sister Elisa is surrounded by demons..." With that, he closed his eyes and it was unclear whether he was dead or alive.

"What did you say?! The nun is surrounded by monsters!"

Liu Dun rushed forward with a long sword caked with blood and flesh, and the others also looked anxious, obviously having a fondness for the nun.

"Yes, the situation is urgent. I implore you to join me in fighting against the wave of demons..." The Red-Robed Bishop said, and then suddenly coughed a few times, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

"What's this?" someone asked, bewildered.

"I was injured while fighting the wave of demons earlier, cough cough cough..." As he spoke, he coughed violently again, even coughing up some congealed blood clots that looked like pieces of internal organs.

"Don't worry, Sister Talisa's rescue will be our responsibility, lead the way quickly..."

The blond "hero" interrupted the bishop and was the first to stand up.

No sooner had he spoken than the others expressed their eagerness to go. They had just received the "Holy Artifact" and were feeling the powerful force it conveyed and couldn't wait to have a grand battle.

You guys are really good at coordinating this act... Colin looked at the blond man with a complex expression, suspecting the other might be a shill.

Then, without delay, they set out swiftly southbound toward the town, led by several soldiers.

The town wasn't big and could be seen at a glance.

After just a few minutes of rushing, they could see dust rising high into the sky to the south of the town and faintly hear screams and the roars of monsters.

On the road, many people were fleeing in panic from that direction, towards the opposite way.

"This summoning of 'heroes' must have happened before; it feels like it's been practiced many times before, very smoothly..."

Colin, holding a bloodstained longbow, glanced at the soldiers leading the way and the panicked residents.

Upon closer inspection, he could see holes in some residents' shoes, knees with effusion seeping out, and he could vaguely hear the sound of bones rubbing. A normal person would have been in a wheelchair by now, clearly not something that happened from running once or twice.

They were all dedicated old tool people and well-experienced actors.

He couldn't help but wonder again what purpose the mastermind behind all this, playing house with these actions, was trying to achieve.

Thinking of his former colleague, who had been made into a ritual artifact and worshipped, and among the dense corpses in that church, there was also a body of a clergy member dressed in red robes... somewhat similar to the Red-Robed Bishop today.

Could it be that the mastermind also wanted to turn them into ritual artifacts?

Speaking of which, had his former colleague accepted this task before?

It was just he didn't know what specific steps the guy went through before being turned into a priestly tool...

Without time to ponder further, Colin collected his thoughts, stopped, and looked towards the south of the town, where amid the billowing dust, vast numbers of disgusting monsters with twisted limbs and bodies like mounds of meat surged forward like a tide.

A foul stench rushed towards them with the wind...

However, a layer of invisible air waves was stimulated from the "Holy Artifact," blocking out that foul stench.

"There!" someone pointed, and Colin and the others looked in that direction, seeing Sister Elisa and a group of soldiers cornered on the town walls by a multitude of abnormally mutated monsters.

At that moment, she radiated a dawn-like white glow, bestowing a blessing upon the soldiers and fighting against the hundreds of besieging monsters.

"Dare to harm my woman, I will make you regret being born into this world!"

One of the heroes saw some bloodstains from the wounds on Talisa and immediately was enraged, bellowing as he charged forward with his battle axe.

A monster with a twisted and ferocious appearance attacked from the side, but it was cleaved in two by his axe, as easily as chopping vegetables.