Immortal Healer: Immortal Stonekeeper Prequel (2025) Chapter 8: Chapter 8: Cult

Read chapter 8 of Immortal Healer: Immortal Stonekeeper Prequel (2025) by Mercynarie on NovelPedia.

Duncan woke to bright lights piercing his eyelids. Too bright, in fact. So, unless the Earth had moved several thousand kilometres closer to the sun, there was no way this was sunlight in his face. He opened his eyes into slits, still feigning unconsciousness. Dozens of lamps and torches were pointing at him from every direction. Whatever wattage the lights were putting out, it was definitely way above the manufacturer’s specifications. It was hard to see in the glare, although he could spot a small figure silhouetted beside him. “Hilda, Hilda! Are you alright?” Duncan whispered from the side of his mouth, but the girl remained motionless. A flex of his wrists was all it took to determine that he was tied up to some sort of upright frame. Tight, too. Whoever kidnapped him certainly did not skimp on the quality of rope digging uncomfortably into his wrists. No matter, he had more than enough magic to get out of a simple rope binding— The witch doctor gasped, his eyes fully opening this time. Magic retreated into the depths of his being as a paralysing numbness tingled throughout his whole body instead. What the hell? Something is suppressing my magic— He craned his neck downwards, now acutely aware of something digging into his chest. His eyes widened in shock. A Kiseigumo had buried its head into his chest, its tail pulsating golden. Bloody hell, whoever did this certainly knew how to use the magic-blocking properties of Kiseigumo venom. “Duncan…? What is going on?” Hilda finally stirred awake. “I can’t move…” Something moved in the corner of his vision. Duncan strained to keep his eyes on the moving figure, but it turned out to be unnecessary. “Good morning, lady and gentleman!” an accented voice boomed as a spotlight popped on a slender figure in front of Duncan. He blinked furiously as the lights shining on him turned off at the same time. With the blinding light now out of his face, Duncan finally managed to take in his surroundings. He was in an abandoned hospital, judging from the empty overturned beds and the general disrepair of the spacious room. The ‘rack’ that he was tied to was nothing more than a hospital bed as well. The man in front of him looked about fifty years old. He had messy brown hair that barely contrasted with his dark brown skin, and he was dressed in a loose button-up purple shirt. There was a glyph tattooed on his face, not too different from the one Duncan saw on the mask of that mysterious stranger on the train. Duncan narrowed his eyes. Now that he had a closer look, this glyph was clearly made with black magic, which usually dealt with the manipulation of magic channels. That must have been why it was able to knock him out earlier. “Oh, that my words could be carved with an iron chisel and filled with lead, engraved forever in the rock.” The man’s lips curved into a terrifyingly wide smile. “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and he will stand upon the earth until the very end.” Duncan narrowed his eyes; that man’s voice and accent sounded slightly familiar. “Who are you? What do you want with us?” “Our saviour has finally arrived,” the man said. “The Angel prophesied to save us all from the horrors of war. Duncan Ward, I apologise for my followers’… uncouth manners. That was no way to treat our saviour.” Duncan creased his eyebrows in apprehension, but he quickly regained his composure. This wasn’t the first time he was mistaken for some sort of Angel or even the second coming of the Messiah. An immortal wasn’t exactly a common sight, after all. “If you believe me your saviour, get that damn parasite off my chest and let us out of these bindings,” he demanded. The strange man straightened his back with a jolt and twitched around as though he were dancing. “Ah, of course. Proof that you are still trapped in a flawed human body. I, Miguel Chukwunyelu, do humbly apologise, Messiah. But precautions must still be made.” Duncan clenched his jaw. Although the blinding torches on him were already switc