You Have At Least Three Grammatical Errors in That Blessing

Drizzle tapped against the iron bars of the prison cell, a soft patter.

Ansu's eyes fluttered open hazily.

He lowered his head, staring at the reflection of a young boy's face in a puddle, and froze.

That wasn't his face.

The boy's features were delicate, appearing no older than fourteen. His pale blue eyes reflected a cold light, and his skin was so fair it was almost translucent.

He wore lavish noble attire, his long robe trailing on the ground with his ash-white hair, wrapping around his bare feet.

The sickly noble boy was a stark contrast to the dark, damp surroundings.

"Hiss."

Ansu's head throbbed with intense pain.

The vast memories from his past life surged like a tide.

He had been the world's most famous speedrunner, attempting a speedrun challenge in a Western fantasy game called Naraku.

This was his seventeenth playthrough. He was aiming to break the world record for the fastest clear, which, incidentally, was his own record from his sixteenth playthrough.

He had been pulling an all-nighter when suddenly, his vision went black, and the world changed.

He had reincarnated into the world of Naraku.

As the memories continued to merge, Ansu's expression grew increasingly grim.

It seems I'm going to die right from the start.

He appeared to have reincarnated into a character who was about to be sacrificed.

Literally sacrificed by esoteric cultists.

His name was Ansu. Morningstar, heir to the Morningstar Family, one of the wealthiest families. Despite his family's immense wealth, Ansu wasn't destined to be the protagonist.

Firstly, his affinity for darkness was rare, a once-in-a-century occurrence, while his affinity for light was so meager it was heartbreaking. From birth, he was hailed as the 'Child of Curse.' If not for his father's open-mindedness, he might have been killed in infancy.

Secondly, he was born into a noble family, but his personality was rather reclusive and eccentric. He was solitary and strange from a young age, his greatest skill being running away from home.

These two traits were the primary reasons Ansu was kidnapped by the esoteric cultists.

A Child of Curse with high darkness affinity was one of the best sacrifices for an Evil God.

The Mother Goddess of Life particularly favored these two types: children with high darkness affinity and children with high Holy Light affinity. One tasted salty, the other bland, both rich without being greasy.

And children who frequently ran away from home were the easiest for cultists to abduct.

According to Ansu's memories from his previous life, this was currently the opening cutscene phase of Naraku.

This time, the esoteric cultists had kidnapped two children.

One was him, and the other was one of the game's heroines, the future Holy See Saintess, the proud prodigy who hated evil – Luojia. Faste.

As everyone knew, game openings always served to set the stage for the protagonist's entrance, and Ansu was unfortunately the stepping stone for the protagonist's grand debut.

According to the original plot, the esoteric cultists would sacrifice both of them. Ansu would die on the spot and be taken away by an Evil God.

Ansu's death would then provoke the heroine, Luojia, causing her to awaken her Saintess potential out of misfortune and kill the cultists.

Looking at it this way, if he could first win over the little Saintess, cling to the protagonist's coattails, and use his past life's walkthrough experience to help activate Luojia's Saintess constitution, he might be able to save his life.

Clinging to the protagonist's coattails.

This is the conventional and correct solution.

In this situation, any normal person would know what to do.

There were no flaws.

Ansu pondered, finding his thoughts unusually clear and surprisingly calm.

He stood up and walked to the adjacent cell, looking at the girl inside.

She was only a year older than Ansu.

Luojia kept her eyes lowered, her silvery-white irises covered by a layer of frost. Beneath the frost, her bright golden eyes reflected a cold light.

She wore a faded nun's habit, her plain white hands clasped around her knees as she sat in the corner of the cell.

The dim torchlight flickered across her cheeks, her shoulders trembling slightly, like a restless kitten.

Sensing Ansu watching her, she raised her head, paused, then lowered it again, turning her face away.

"The Lord will protect us," Luojia suddenly said.

It was unclear if she was trying to comfort Ansu or herself.

"My name is Ansu, and yours?" Ansu asked politely.

"Luojia."

"Luojia, listen," Ansu said, calling her name solemnly. "I have a way to save our lives, and you are the most crucial and important part of the plan."

The most crucial, most important thing?

Luojia looked up, her gaze meeting Ansu's.

For some reason, she felt an inexplicable sense of trust towards the noble young man before her.

Perhaps it was his sunny smile.

After all, he was handsome.

Luojia asked, "What do I need to do?"

Ansu stared into her eyes and slowly said, "That is, swear to the Goddess of Contracts that you won't report me after we get out."

".?" Luojia was stunned, tilting her head, her silver hair falling onto her shoulder. "What?"

"And," the young man added, "you can't hit me anymore."

Many years later, Luojia, who had become the Holy See Saintess, would often recall this dark and damp autumn afternoon while looking at her Pope. She would remember the innocent smile of the young man as he forced her to swear to the Goddess of Contracts—and feel profound regret.

Time slowly passed, and the drizzling autumn rain outside the window also stopped.

Ansu never revealed his plan to Luojia. He simply leaned against the wall, waiting quietly.

The Esoteric Cultists' ritual preparations were complete.

A priest wearing a brilliant golden sun mask opened the cage, first removing the flail from Ansu's hands, then pushing him out.

A brilliant golden mask.

It was the characteristic of the Mother God of Life's Esoteric Cultists, just like in the game.

Naraku was a game with a high degree of freedom, and the Mother God of Life Cult was one of the eight major esoteric cults players could choose to join. They worshipped the primordial mother goddess—the Mother Goddess of Life.

They most enjoyed sacrificing lives, earning the Mother Goddess's favor by sacrificing dark lifeforms or followers of righteous gods, ultimately receiving blessings.

As a veteran player, Ansu was very familiar with the various sacrifice rituals of the Mother God of Life Cult.

After all, in his sixteenth playthrough, he had chosen the path of the Mother God Cult's Pope and performed countless sacrifice rituals.

Stepping out of the cage, they arrived at the altar.

Runes for summoning had already been drawn with mercury and fresh blood.

The area around the altar was filled with twisted arms, rampant flesh growths, and piles of withered bones.

Ansu recognized every material here: [Twisted Flesh Lump], [Dead Man's Bed], [Bone Cradle]. Each material was impossible to obtain through legitimate channels; money couldn't buy them.

It seemed the Esoteric Cultists attached great importance to this sacrifice, Ansu thought.

After all, one was the Child of Curse, and the other was a prospective Saintess.

Twenty figures wearing golden masks were prostrate around the altar; they were the believers who would receive the Mother Goddess's blessings this time.

Truly talented individuals.

According to the procedure, children with dark talents or nuns from the Holy See would be brought to the altar one by one. The bishop would recite the incantation, establish an anchor, and invoke the Mother Goddess's name.

The more detailed and clear the incantation, the more the Mother Goddess could hear the call.

The Mother Goddess would take the offerings, and finally, blessings would be bestowed upon the believers.

During the sacrifice ritual, the more pleased the Mother Goddess was, the grander the blessings would be.

The first to be sacrificed was Ansu.

Luojia stood below the altar, her face pale from the surrounding bones, her lips trembling slightly. Despite this, she did not yield, her eyes coldly fixed on the Esoteric Cultists, biting her teeth gently.

She then looked towards Ansu on the altar, with a hint of anticipation, though she knew it was just a fantasy.

The half-grown boy on the altar stood barefoot in the blood, his pale blue eyes dim and lifeless, like a timid fawn.

How could a simple child possibly defeat the evil Esoteric Cultists?

More than herself, she wanted to save Ansu.

Something in her heart seemed to tremble.

Ansu also looked at Luojia. He knew that this Saintess was just one step away from awakening.

The conventional solution was to cling to the protagonist's thigh.

But he was a Heretical Player.

Ansu believed in only one principle: it's better to rely on oneself than on others!

The priest beside him had already begun reciting the incantation, his voice low and hoarse, like a pained roar.

"Mother Goddess of Desire," "Great Mother Goddess of Fertility," "Your followers call to you, offering this dark child on the altar to you."

As expected.

As a veteran player, Ansu could find at least three grammatical errors in this incantation.

After all, this was the opening plot of the game, and by the time Ansu reached his seventeenth playthrough, the game had been updated to version 3.0, and the settings for the Mother God of Life Cult had received many patches, so the incantation had naturally been upgraded.

For example, the Life Matriarch should be changed to the Mother Goddess of Fertility.

This prayer, although it could summon an Evil God, was only barely audible.

It required repeated chanting and consumed a large amount of time.

Furthermore, each summoning could only sacrifice one victim.

To sacrifice the next one, a new summoning was needed.

Wasting time on meaningless cutscenes that couldn't be skipped was the players' biggest complaint, leading to the developers being flooded with feedback.

The 3.0 prayer unlocked later added more accurate anchor phrases, allowing an Evil God to be summoned with a single click and multiple victims to be sacrificed at once.

As the priest finished one prayer and prepared to recite it again.

Ansu spoke.

He appeared as a fourteen-year-old boy, his pupils trembling uncontrollably, his voice quivering as if he were about to cry, fearfully and childishly asking:

"Uncle, c-can I leave a final word?"

His azure eyes reflected a faint glimmer of tears.

According to the settings, allowing a sacrifice to leave a final word would please the Matriarch more.

This was also part of the ritual.

The more tragic and desperate the final words, the more joyous the Matriarch would be.

Therefore, they could not refuse.

The priest nodded dismissively.

What could a pampered noble child possibly do?

At most, he would cry and fuss a bit.

Below the altar.

Seeing the boy's frightened expression, Luojia's heart sank to the bottom.

Ansu stood in the center of the altar. Perhaps due to fear, he couldn't stand steady and prostrated himself on the ground, facing the twenty cultists who were also prostrating themselves.

"Mother Goddess of Desire and the Moon, Great Mother Goddess of Fertility."

"Eternal Motherhood beyond the spirit realm,"

The high priest noticed something was wrong. The boy's tone was becoming increasingly strange, as if he were straining his voice, and his final words were even stranger.

Your final words, you're clearly reciting my lines.

No, they're even more bizarre than the priest's prayer.

"Heh."

The boy let out a strange laugh. He raised his eyes, and there was no trace of fear on his face, only a look of complete calmness. This was not at all the demeanor of a fourteen-year-old child.

"This is the Hymn of the Utmost Sincerity, this is the Feast of Spirit and Soul,"

Ansu said, his smile clean and bright. "This is the Delicacy of Blood and Flesh!"

"Your devout follower, Ansu. Morningstar, presents a gift."

"I offer the twenty-one dark heretics on the altar to you—"

"And invite you to dine with me!"

As soon as he said this, the entire place erupted in an uproar.

Luojia's eyes widened until they were almost popping out.

It was only now that she finally understood what "don't report" truly meant.

What the hell?

The priest's eyes also widened.

What kind of maneuver was this?

It was a complete reversal of order.

In his thirty-plus years of presiding over sacrifices, this was the first time he had been sacrificed by his own offering, and on the altar he had meticulously prepared?

It was like being a chef for thirty years, only to have the food cook you instead of the other way around, using their cutting board!

He was so angry he almost burst out laughing.

This brat, did he think he could summon the Matriarch by reciting the words once?

It took at least four hours of chanting, and he even got the anchor phrases wrong.

Besides, who could sacrifice twenty-one people at once?

Mispronouncing the anchor phrases when summoning an Evil God would anger the Evil God and incur Divine Punishment.

But in the next second, he couldn't laugh anymore.

A great terror descended.

He saw the bodies of the kneeling believers begin to twist and convulse. Their greasy fat started to expand like water, and when it reached its limit, it exploded. Blood and dismembered limbs splattered, some of it even landing on Ansu's smiling face.

Why is this guy more extreme than me when it comes to sacrificing?

The priest's body also began to mutate, emitting screams.

For the first time, he began to doubt his faith.

I'm here dancing and playing music, and the Goddess only replies with an 'Oh' after I call her over a dozen or twenty times. This rich kid just shouts once, and the Goddess comes running?

I've been screwed over!

In Ansu's past life, this situation would have been professionally termed "being the clown."

"You can't do this," he wailed in agony, "You can't—"

"You are a heretic of the Esoteric Cult. The more a heretic opposes me," Ansu watched him, his expression serious and solemn, "the more it proves I am doing the right thing."

Who exactly is the cultist here? This was the high priest's final thought. You're not even a minor yet!

He was swallowed by flesh and blood, his skin bursting, his internal organs and bones splashing in the air like ripples.

According to the Mother God of Life Cult's rules, blessed believers and live sacrifices had to stand on the altar simultaneously. So, in theory, whoever completed the ritual first would be the first to be sacrificed!

The Mother Goddess of Life was an Evil God. Evil Gods didn't care who summoned whom; even if it was one of Her own followers being sacrificed, She would still devour them.

As long as it was a life form with dark or holy elements, She would accept it and bestow a reward.

So, who had more dark elements within them than a cultist?

No one.

"So this bug really exists."

Ansu nodded, a smile of harvest-like joy on his face. He looked at Luojia, who was stunned into silence beside him, and thought to himself, "Sacrificing twenty-one cultists at once is an incredible profit."

Hanging onto the protagonist's coattails?

Risking the chance of being killed, becoming a stepping stone for the protagonists, fawning over them like crazy, and ending up with nothing?

No.

--Heretical Players have plenty of ways to speedrun.