The time flow of Dreamscape should be very different from reality. Time passes day by day, but Li Wen has not unplugged the network cable so far. She also tried to log off, but the operation could not be executed effectively.
If she dies in Dreamscape, will she be resurrected as a player? Regarding this, she didn't want to try it easily. Since this Dreamscape can interfere with Game Panel, it might not be able to prevent the player's resurrection. If Dreamscape dies in real life, it would be a big loss.
Seven days is neither long nor short.
Li Wen lives a regular life in the monastery. In addition to participating in Sunset Ritual, he communicates with Dean Afonsina every day, trying to get more information about this city and Sunset Ritual from her.
However, Dean Afonsina seemed unwilling to talk more. Every time she talked about the key points, she was always vague and used some ambiguous words to prevaricate.
Li Wen is not in a hurry. She has plenty of time. Since the passage of time in Dreamscape is different enough from reality, she believes that as long as she is patient enough, she will one day be able to find a way to enter the spire from this city.
Finally, the seventh day of Sunset Ritual arrived.
Li Wen got up early on this day, and Dean Afonsina had been waiting outside the door for a long time. She held a brand new sacrificial robe in her hands, with sun patterns embroidered with gold threads shining brightly in the morning light.
"Triss, it's time to prepare." The old woman's voice was more solemn than before, "Today's ceremony will be particularly important."
Li Wen took the sacrificial robe, and when his fingertips touched the fabric, a strange warm feeling spread from his fingertips to his whole body. She noticed a strange light flashing in Alphonsina's eyes as he looked at her, but it was fleeting.
"Why is that?" Li Wen asked tentatively while changing clothes.
Alphonsina's hand paused slightly, and then continued to adjust her collar, "Because today is the closest moment to perfection for Crimson Crown."
The answer was vague, but Li Wen did not continue to ask. When leaving the monastery, she noticed that the atmosphere in the monastery was particularly solemn today. The clergy in the corridor were walking quickly with their heads lowered, and no one was talking.
When the two arrived in front of the temple, Li Wen found that the crowd gathered in the square was several times larger than last time. All Silver Elf were wearing the most formal attire and holding various sacrifices in their hands. Their eyes were more fanatical than before, and the golden flames in their pupils were beating more violently.
Li Wen followed Alphonsina through the crowd. Silver Elf people all moved out of the way, but they did not dare to look directly at her. Their eyes were always lowered, as if looking at her was a kind of blasphemy.
"Triss Master..."
"May Crimson Crown be with you..."
Tiny prayers sounded behind her, and Li Wen could feel countless scorching gazes following her back. This feeling of being overly worshiped made her quite uncomfortable, but she must maintain the proper attitude of "Triss".
The temple door opened silently in front of them, revealing the familiar stairs. Alphonsina stopped, folded his hands on his chest, and made an ancient gesture.
"Go, child. Today's sacrifice will decide the fate of us all."
Li Wen keenly captured the strangeness in the old woman's words. Previously, she only said that today's "Sunset Ritual" was particularly important, but now she directly pointed out that "decides fate". This was obviously not a casual statement.
After thinking for a moment, she took a deep breath, took firm steps, and walked up the long stairs. Every step she took seemed to be based on the expectations of the elves. She could feel the pressure of countless eyes behind her. What kind of heavy emotion was that? Incomprehensible. Her expression remained calm and unwavering.
Not long after, Li Wen came to the rotunda whose memory was blurred. The positions of the twelve priests did not change at all, as if they had never left their positions.
The ball of light in the center of the rotunda has almost doubled in size compared to the last time it was seen. Twelve light bands pulse like blood vessels, illuminating the entire space in red.
"Let's begin, Triss." The elderly black-robed priest said, his face as stiff and old as a dead tree showed no expression, only his slowly burning golden pupils were filled with some kind of unconcealable fanaticism.
The strange words about "Sunset Ritual" once again flooded into Li Wen's brain. This was not the memory recovery from seven days ago, but just a piece of new knowledge appearing in her mind out of thin air. Li Wen can't even judge whether this text is consistent with the content seven days ago.
All the priests were looking towards her now. Li Wen stared at the ball of light, and the words gradually took shape deep in her consciousness. They are not a language, but ritual steps imprinted directly into the soul - each step is precise to the rhythm of the breath, and each prayer corresponds to the specific pulsating frequency of the light ball.
She instinctively walked towards the light ball, raised her hands, and touched the surface of the light ball with her fingertips. The burning sensation instantly spread from her fingertips to her whole body, as if countless tiny suns were burning in her veins. She is enriched and filled with light, but is never satisfied.
Slender white fingers caressed the surface of the light ball, as if comforting, but also trying to control or tame.
The flames that could evaporate the ocean and melt the earth fell on Li Wen, but they could not hurt her at all. The twelve priests surrounding the light ball knelt down one after another, put their hands together and began to pray, but the object of their prayers was not the descendant of the sun, but the current Li Wen, or... Triss.
Along with this heavy and solemn prayer that was like a hymn, Li Wen involuntarily began to recite the syllables that appeared in his mind out of thin air.
As the first syllable was spoken, the light ball suddenly trembled violently, and the twelve red light strips twisted like irritated snakes. The black-robed priests responded in unison, and their voices formed a strange resonance in the rotunda. Li Wen could feel that some kind of huge will was awakening deep in the light ball.
The golden thread on the sacrificial robe began to glow, gradually melting into liquid metal and flowing along her arm towards the light ball. The severe pain made Li Wen's eyes black, but she could not stop chanting. When the third prayer ended, a gap suddenly opened on the surface of the light ball, as if it had turned into a huge eyeball, and dazzling golden light burst out from it.
At this moment, a dark gray object gradually appeared in front of Li Wen. It looked like a key or a lock, but a more realistic image should be a rib or a stump of a human body.
With the appearance of Vantnirgen's Bone, there was a huge vibration on the dome of the rotunda. The priests turned a deaf ear and continued to chant the sacred and profane prayer.
The golden eyeballs looked towards Li Wen. Almost without thinking, Li Wen realized that the huge sphere in front of him was the portal into the pitch-black spire. So she grabbed the rib and easily inserted it into the crack of the light ball.
As an extremely powerful light exploded, Li Wen briefly lost consciousness. When she came back to her senses, she was already in a void and darkness.