Sacrificial Fire Ritual

Li Wen opened her eyes and found herself back in the game.

[Sacrificial Fire Ritual]

[Knowledge - Ritual - Advancement (Stage One)]

[Requires: None]

[Moths are obsessed with fire, and the lost are obsessed with radiance. In times of confusion, the black sheep often offers insight—to sacrifice oneself to the flame is the only outcome.]

[A ritual to be performed under the witness of Radiance. Sincere supplication before the fire grants a blessing.]

[Step 1: Prepare an empty church that serves a sect devoted to Radiance. Otherwise, remove all tokens and symbols of Outer Gods. Then, set up a Cruciform Pyre at the center of the church, lighting an indefinite number of candles upon it until the entire church remains brightly illuminated.]

[Step 2: Clear all people within a [6x6] area around the church center. During the ritual, ensure only the ritual performer remains within this range.]

[Step 3: Refine Saint's Fat using Antimony Glow Ore, lime, sun pollen, and Animal Fat in a ratio of 1:2:1:6. Then, use the Saint's Fat to draw the Ritual Array [Abra's Blessing Part One] embedded with [Brilliant Gold Star].]

[Step 4: Light candles on the outer circle of the Ritual Array, seven in number, symbolizing the Seven Gifts of Radiance. Set up a bonfire at the center of the Ritual Array, offering a Living Sacrifice within the flames. Mistletoe growing on Oak Branches may be used as a substitute.]

[Step 5: Pray and chant "Grace of Radiance—Chapter Seven: The Sacred Path of Reciprocity" three times. The ritual is then complete.]

The Sacrificial Fire Ritual was the advancement ritual required for supplicants on the Path of Light Chasing.

From Li Wen's understanding, this was indeed a very simple and basic ritual, with almost no points where errors could occur. Following the steps would directly complete it.

After all, this was a Stage One advancement ritual, so naturally it wouldn't be too difficult.

"Step 1 can be ignored outright; the church has plenty of Saint's Fat, no need to refine extra; for the offering, I have the 'Necessary Sacrifice' trait, so I can use blood as a substitute without preparation; the blueprint for the Ritual Array required can be viewed directly on the Game Panel..."

"Grace of Radiance" was one of the scriptures of the Radiance Cult, very common in the Kingdom of Arthur. Li Wen had a copy in her room.

"In other words, as long as I find some excuse to send the people in the church away, I can proceed with the ritual directly."

Before Pastor Mog returned, Li Wen acted immediately.

She pushed open the door and left, running straight into a Little Nun in a Nun's Habit who was also about to go out. The clergy robes of the Candle Sun Church were black with red trim, symbolizing the candlelight that sacrifices and illuminates the world in darkness, while the Nun's Habit was uniformly white with gold trim, representing the purity and sanctity of these maidens serving Radiance.

"Hey, wait!"

Li Wen quickly called out to her.

The other stopped, turned around, and upon seeing Li Wen's unfamiliar face, looked nervous. Only after sizing up her height and confirming she was a bit shorter did she relax.

"Little sister, this is the nuns' dormitory—you can't just barge in. Or are you a new nun recruited by Pastor Mog?"

Little sister?

Li Wen's expression stiffened. She said flatly, "That's none of your business. Let me ask you—do you have anything important to do next?"

"Huh?" The nun was taken aback, and under Li Wen's forceful tone, she instinctively replied, "No, nothing!"

"Good. Go to the main cathedral now and send—escort—all the outsiders away. Then prepare some Saint's Fat and candles and bring them there."

Saint's Fat and candles were necessities for church ceremonies like worship. Though the nun was puzzled that today wasn't a day requiring worship, under Li Wen's stern gaze, she nodded in agreement and immediately set to work.

Meanwhile, Li Wen used this time to memorize the entire seventh chapter of "Grace of Radiance." The scriptures of various faiths were always obscure and hard to grasp. Fortunately, Li Wen's memory was reliable enough; after reading it a few times, she barely managed to commit it to memory.

Confirming she could recite it fluently, Li Wen dropped the book and headed toward the church.

Entering the church, it was indeed empty. The reliable nun had somehow managed to persuade the congregation to leave. She was now standing before the altar, holding a pile of candles and an oil jar of Saint's Fat, waiting expectantly.

"Put those down. You can go attend to your business," Li Wen said.

The bewildered Little Nun obeyed, then looked around for a moment: "Um... where's Pastor Mog?"

"Why are you worrying about that? Just go." Li Wen's tone grew impatient. If she didn't start the ritual soon, she feared she'd forget the words. "Oh, and after you leave, don't let anyone near the main hall of the church, understand?"

"Understood." The Little Nun, knowing nothing, nodded. "Um, I still don't know your name!"

Li Wen was silent for a moment, a bit flushed.

"Mephisto."

"Okay!"

This time, the Little Nun finally left satisfied.

Li Wen didn't dare delay. She summoned her Spellbook, opened it to the page with the array, letting it float beside her. Then she opened the oil jar of Saint's Fat and began preparing to draw.

Drawing a Ritual Array was an extremely difficult task. After all, reality wasn't a drawing program where you could move a mouse to create perfect geometric shapes. What's more, Li Wen had lost sight in one eye, causing slight visual discrepancies that might affect the drawing.

Fortunately, [Abra's Blessing Part One] and [Brilliant Gold Star] were only small, simple arrays with a relatively large margin for error, so drawing them wasn't hard.

With her past life's experience, Li Wen wasn't prone to mistakes when drawing such arrays. Before long, a nearly perfect array of [Abra's Blessing Part One] embedded with [Brilliant Gold Star] appeared at the center of the church's main hall.

Next, Li Wen lit candles around the outer edge of the array, keeping the spacing between each candle as even as possible. The remaining candles she used to form a bonfire, piling them together and lighting them all at once.

Finally came the offering.

The Sacrificial Fire Ritual was a basic ritual originating from sects serving Radiance, and the finest offering was a lamb. Li Wen's blood could substitute for flesh-and-blood offerings, and a living sacrifice was a form of Blood Sacrifice.

Li Wen picked up the Ritual Dagger enshrined before the altar, walked to the bonfire, and slashed her palm with the blade.

Amid the sting, blood dripped down, landing precisely on the fire. The blood acted like oil, making the flames surge with unprecedented vigor and clamor.

Li Wen held the dagger in a prayer-like gesture, reciting the seventh chapter of "Radiance's Grace" three times. After that, everything fell silent.

The candle flame stopped flickering. The light vanished.

Li Wen ceased her prayer and opened her eyes, but she saw nothing—only deep, empty darkness surrounding her on all sides.

In the midst of this absolute darkness, a single light pierced through everything.

It seems more people read updates in the morning, so I'll continue posting in the mornings from now on.