Chapter 77: The Summoning Ritual

Chapter 77: The Summoning Ritual

After the Mass, Klein followed Nim, who had just taken office as a priest of The Fool, into the Black Tower.

Nim no longer held anything back. He gave Klein a detailed introduction of how many demigods Moon City possessed, and how many Grade 1 sealed artifacts it had.

Three demigods… five Grade 1 sealed artifacts… Moon City isn’t weak at all… As expected of a force that could directly receive divine oracles and guard the boundary… And at the very beginning, they had all twenty-two Beyonder pathways relatively complete, able to cooperate effectively with one another, allowing some rituals to be completed without outside help and without being limited by the environment… Mm. The fact that they managed to maintain themselves until now despite surroundings harsher than the City of Silver’s and without the support of a Grade 0 sealed artifact proves that they truly have extraordinary strengths… If not for the inability to find suitable food, they could have held on in the darkness for at least several hundred or even a thousand more years… Klein listened with a surge of emotion.

At that moment, Nim said respectfully, “Lord Divine Envoy, we are willing to sacrifice all sealed artifacts and Beyonder characteristics to the Lord. Which of them would best please Him?”

This High Priest had just explained that apart from himself, a Nightwatcher, Moon City had two other demigods: an Iron-blooded Knight and a Law Mage, who respectively served as the Lightning Priest and the Night Priest.

As for the five Grade 1 sealed artifacts, one belonged to the Monster pathway and seemed to be formed from part of a Misfortune Mage’s Beyonder characteristic mixed with a little Chaoswalker characteristic. One was a “puppet” from the Mutant pathway. One originated from the Red Angel Medici’s bestowment back then and could gather the strength of all people together. One seemed to have evolved from a Bizarro Sorcerer characteristic. The final one’s corresponding pathway was unknown. It possessed an extremely strong insight ability, but had suffered unknown pollution and was quite dangerous.

Hearing Nim’s words, Klein’s eyelids twitched slightly. He smiled and said, “Serve the Lord with your heart, not with offerings.

“The Lord encompasses the entire world and will not concern Himself with such things.”

At that point, he paused and added, “Of course, if you do not mind, you may take me to see them, so that I may broaden my knowledge.”

“No problem!” Nim answered without the slightest hesitation.

He had originally thought that Gehrman Sparrow would take one Grade 1 sealed artifact during the visit. Who knew that this Lord Divine Envoy truly only wished to understand the specific situation? He showed no intention of demanding benefits. He picked up each sealed artifact and examined it, yet in the end, he returned them all.

After the visit ended, Klein said to the three demigod priests, “The opportunity to leave this cursed land has not yet arrived. You must hold on for a while longer.

“As for me, I will continue my journey, search for other survivors, and spread the Lord’s radiance.”

“Yes, Lord Divine Envoy,” Nim and the other priests replied without making things difficult.

With those mushrooms, Moon City would not face a crisis of destruction for at least the next three generations.

After arranging Moon City’s affairs, Klein wore his trench coat, put on his top hat, carried his lantern, and walked into the heavy darkness outside.

What he needed to do next was very clear:

Find the Dark Demonic Wolf Kotar and hunt this “God of Wishes”!

My wish is to obtain the Miracle Invoker Beyonder characteristic and that piece of “curtain.” I wonder whether He can help me fulfill it… As he walked, Klein made that joke inwardly.

Seeing that he had already left Moon City residents’ line of sight, he dragged another version of himself out of the fog of history.

His true body entered the gaps afterward, transferring his consciousness to the projection.

This projection then summoned the historical image of the Staff of the Stars and, with the help of its Beyonder power, directly descended at the place outlined in his mind:

The northern ancient city of Nois, already completely destroyed!

After smoothly arriving at the destination, the projection swiftly disappeared, and Klein’s true body returned to the wilderness outside Moon City.

Immediately afterward, he also summoned the projection of the Staff of the Stars and repeated the earlier process, instantly returning to the Nois ruins.

The main purpose of that historical image just now had been to scout the path, ensuring that the scene appearing in his mind matched reality without any differences, so that the Staff of the Stars would not produce a random effect.

This was the caution of an Ancient Scholar.

…

The City of Silver, at the center of the quiet, dark training ground.

Colin Iliad, with two straight swords on his back, stood to the side and watched Derrick Berg arrange the ritual. Derrick prayed to Mr. Fool, asking Him to send a Holy Spirit to descend and provide assistance.

This differed from a normal summoning ritual. The corresponding incantation was much more complicated:

“The great Fool;

“You are the ruler above the gray fog;

“You are the King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck.

“I pray for Your favor;

“I pray for Your gaze;

“I pray for the power of concealment and change.

“I!

“In the name of the great Fool, I summon:

“The Holy Spirit who sees through all, the blessed of the King of Yellow and Black, the traveler of dreams and minds.”

Sentence after sentence of Jotun echoed within the altar. The flames at the tips of the candles abruptly expanded, intertwining into an illusory gate covered with mysterious patterns.

The illusory gate slowly opened, and a woman wearing a pure-white long dress and a silver mask walked out. Stepping upon empty air, she descended step by step to the ground.

Her hair was wine-red, and her eyes were golden. They were both clear and deep, as though they could see through every person’s heart.

This was Justice Audrey. She had used Lie to alter her height and the main features that the mask could not conceal.

She had arrived in the City of Silver in spirit form, arriving in the Forsaken Land of the Gods.

In truth, the essence of this summoning ritual was not complicated. Klein had pulled Audrey’s spirit above the gray fog in advance. Once the “Gate of Summoning” was established, he helped her open it, allowing her to pass through, and the entire matter was complete.

In other words, descriptions such as “the Holy Spirit who sees through all” were not important. Even if they had been changed to “the sleeping princess, owner of the golden apple, former master of the glass slippers,” Justice Audrey could still descend. That depended entirely on whom Klein wished to let pass through the Gate of Summoning. After all, the key point of the ritual was summoning in The Fool’s name and using Sefirah Castle’s power to communicate with the Forsaken Land of the Gods.

Wearing the silver-white mask, Audrey quietly looked around. Without leaving a trace, she studied the sky crossed by lightning, the darkness hiding danger, and Colin Iliad, Chief of the City of Silver, standing not far away.

Then she withdrew her gaze and nodded to Little Sun.

“You may begin.”

As she spoke, she could not help marveling inwardly at the other party’s height.

Although this had been visible during Tarot Gatherings, truly meeting him in reality still left Audrey feeling dazed.

She remembered very clearly that The Sun was several years younger than herself. By Loen standards, he was definitely still underage. Yet who would have thought he would already be over two meters tall? Even though Audrey had deliberately used the mask of Lie to make herself slightly taller, she still had to look up.

Derrick no longer hesitated. He relaxed his mind and cast his gaze toward the golden potion placed upon the altar.

Gradually, he became somewhat dazed. Scene after scene flashed uncontrollably through his mind:

His parents, still alive, lying in coffins;

Silver straight swords stabbing down again and again, blood spraying onto his face and covering his eyes;

Warm scenes his family had once shared;

The City of Silver swaying in the darkness;

Teammates supporting one another, becoming one another’s shields;

Elders standing before everyone, blocking wind and rain;

Curse after curse, and the hope of seeing lightning in the darkness;

More than two thousand years of daily expectation, generation after generation’s longing for light.

The strongest emotion Derrick was most unwilling to abandon was very complex. It included anger toward reality, nostalgia for the past, pain caused by his circumstances, oppression accumulated by history, and the desire to save the City of Silver.

Justice Audrey separated these emotions little by little, as though she herself had experienced the City of Silver’s despair and sorrow, their unity and sacrifice.

Her golden eyes sometimes turned solemn and sometimes flickered, as if she had grasped something, felt something, yet still remained confused.

After some time, she saw an angel of light with twelve pure-white wings on its back. This was another response from Mr. Fool to The Sun Derrick.

Audrey seized the opportunity and attached those intense emotions to the angelic projection, allowing them not to disappear for the moment, not to flow back, and not to fully separate from Derrick’s body.

“It is done.” She did not open her mouth. Instead, she allowed her voice to echo directly inside Derrick’s heart.

At that moment, Derrick’s eyes had turned abnormally cold, as though he no longer knew what joy was, what grief was, what pain was, or what oppression was.

He immediately picked up the golden potion before him and poured it into his mouth.

This was the demigod potion obtained by shattering the Unshadowed Crucifix.

The sealed artifact originating from the ancient Sun God ceased to exist from this point onward. Of course, to Klein, as long as he had once possessed it, he could have it forever.

The scorching, violent liquid slid down Derrick’s throat and instantly filled his entire body, occupying his soul.

One bright beam of sunlight after another burst from inside him, washing away the residual pollution in his flesh and the emotions deposited inside his spirit.

Derrick’s body became increasingly pure, increasingly translucent, as though he were a Holy Spirit made entirely from pure radiance.

His self-awareness, his emotions, and his thoughts were all being purified and rejected. It would not be long before only the instinct to “Praise the Sun” remained.

At that moment, Audrey stopped letting the stripped-away intense emotions attach to the angelic projection and guided them back toward Little Sun.

Scene after scene reappeared in Derrick’s mind, causing incomparably complicated emotions to surge within him.

He once again experienced the pain of personally killing his parents. He experienced the despair brought by the City of Silver’s circumstances. He experienced the delight of receiving Mr. Fool’s favor.

These were carved into his bones. They were the foundation stones of his mental world—solid, firm, and reliable—helping him resist the potion’s final waves of purifying power.

At last, Derrick opened his eyes. They were pure white.

He saw a trace of light lingering ahead and instinctively extended his right hand, trying to grasp it.

But that light quickly dimmed and quieted.

Derrick froze for a moment, then clenched his right hand.

One ray after another rose in response, enveloping the entire City of Silver.

The noon of myth and legend descended briefly at that very moment.

Every resident of the City of Silver, including Chief Colin Iliad, stared blankly. This shocked them more deeply than any previous demigod advancement.

Sunlight.

This was sunlight illuminating the entire city.

…

After the summoning ended, Audrey returned above the gray fog.

At this moment, Mr. Fool was no longer present. Inside the ancient palace, only The World Gehrman Sparrow, who had been there earlier and had intended to watch the ritual, remained.

“You do not seem to be in good condition?” Klein took the initiative to ask.

Audrey sat down, smiled faintly, and said, “I am only a little hesitant, wavering, and confused.”

“That is very normal. Before truly making a decision, everyone is like that. Those who retreat and regret are countless,” Klein said gently.

Audrey did not respond directly to that topic. Instead, she smiled lightly and said, “Ever since I became an Audience, I have always displayed before others the side of myself they can most easily accept, taking care of their most delicate emotions. This is not a bad thing, but because of it, I can no longer know what the truest version of myself looks like in others’ eyes. I cannot lift away the magnificent clothing and see the rotting flesh hidden underneath. I cannot understand where the problem lies.

“Recently, I have tried revealing my true state in some details, to see what attitude the people around me will have under the current situation, and to see whether they still believe I am that kind, gentle, noble young lady.”

At this point, she suddenly fell silent. Only after several seconds did she sigh softly and say, “Chasm…”