The pale white mist in the basement dissipated unknowingly, and the fire lit by the ritual candles that was emitting a strong aroma only swayed for a moment before stabilizing again.
The line of sight that Christina felt just now seemed to have never appeared before.
The space filled with worshipers, their faces covered by hoods and kneeling on the ground, fell into an eerie silence for a moment.
This... was the ceremony just now considered a success or a failure? Nothing happened to Dorothy and I, nor were we "sacrificially sacrificed" to strange places... But what about that vague line of sight? Is there really a certain God who responded to that ceremony and even glanced at my sacrifice? But I have never heard of this God, and how could I feel the gaze from afar... Tina's eyes glanced randomly, first landing on Dorothy who looked curious and even forgot to take out Arodes's Mirror, and then looked at the middle-aged man holding a dagger and holding a small metal bottle with dark red blood dripping from the bottle mouth.
The latter looked dull at this time, the lingering sound of "The Great Uncertain Mist" was lingering, but the ceremony seemed to be over. The blood containing the power of Spirituality bought at a high price and the book recording Great Existence The Honorific Name and Sacrifice Ritual processes described in the book were consistent, and had been swallowed up by the fog that had just appeared. They were sacrificed to God, which the ritual pointed to, but the subsequent development was beyond his expectations.
Wasn't that Great Existence supposed to accept the sacrifice from the altar and give me strength at the same time... He doubted for a moment whether there was something wrong with the ceremony he presided over, but the fog just now denied this.
"Uncertain Mist" must have noticed my prayer, but He doesn't like these two sacrifices. But it doesn't matter, I have a backup plan... The man clenched the dagger in his hand, glanced at the other believers who were kneeling around and did not dare to raise their heads, and a sense of mission that came from nowhere filled his chest.
Pour out the precious Spirituality blood again and let it fall inside the circular pattern on the ground. He chanted in Ancient Hermes:
"The desires in the heart of all living beings, Father of Devils, Lord of Misfits, Eternal Screamer, Heartless God.
"Great Mother Tree of Desire, I pray for your response, I pray for you to accept the sacrifices offered to you, and to send blessings..."
This is also Great Existence recorded in that ancient book. He controls the desires of all living beings and is the master father of all Devil. He was once Great Existence worshiped by the Southern Continent, a belief that is not mainstream. Believers have been suppressed by Orthodox Church for a long time, and recently they have disappeared.
Now, he wants to use the two sacrifices in front of him to pray for the blessing of Great Existence!
Suddenly, the light of the three ritual candles dimmed, and a dark mist seemed to be shrouded all around. From the subtle corners of the wall, and from the shadows cast by the believers, a flood of shadows poured out, almost filling the entire basement.
Another Great Existence responded to him.
But the strange thing is that the shadows pouring out from everywhere did not immediately enter the altar and take away the sacrifices. Instead, they carefully bypassed the two girls wrapped in the circular pattern, and instead flowed past each kneeling believer in turn.
Immediately, it receded like a tide, back into the shadows, back to the corner of the basement.
The ceremonial candles became bright again, illuminating the stunned expression of the celebrant.
He clearly felt that the great Mother Tree of Desire had cast his gaze and gave a certain response, but why did he leave so quietly without accepting the sacrifice or granting him any power?
And unlike the "Uncertain Mist" just now, this God doesn't seem to come from the vast starry sky, but from the darkness, from the ground?
It was different from what was said in the book, and it had failed twice... He calmed down and noticed that several believers who had gathered and had contributed money or efforts raised their heads and looked over. They quickly put on expressions of confidence, while they kept thinking about how to end it.
By the way, there are several Honorific Name from Great Existence... He hesitated for a moment and made a decision.
Seeing the man in front of him whose expression became more and more awkward and whose movements gradually changed from smooth to hesitant at first, Tina became more and more confused.
She could feel that the other party really wanted to sacrifice herself and Dorothy as "sacrifice" to someone, or some God, but the repeated failures made the ceremony become more and more like a joke.
Because he has gradually prayed from "Uncertain Mist" and "Mother Tree of Desire" of Oldest One to "Circle of Inevitability" and "High-Dimensional Overseer" " on the body, and every God seemed to have given a certain response, but they rejected the two girls as sacrifices with disgust, either quickly looking away from the hazy eyes, or ignoring them after picking and choosing.
There was even a Great Existence called "Supernova Dominator" who didn't react at all. It was unknown whether he was asleep or dead.
No, God should be called "fall"... She swore, looking at the man holding a dagger and a metal vial in front of her and read out Honorific Name from Great Existence again:
"You are the symbol of the mortality of all things, the end of the river of time, the master of decay and decay, the irreversible entropy...
"Great Monarch of Decay! I pray for your attention and your arrival..."
Compared with the impassioned prayer at the beginning, the prayer at this time is weak, as if even the prayer himself does not expect to get a real response, but is just perfunctory and trying all possibilities one by one.
Of course, Tina still doesn't understand Ancient Hermes, which is used to pray to God. These contents all come from the translation of "Genie" in his mind.
And she noticed that Genie did not pass the content translated as Loenese to Dorothy at the same time. After Oldest One was shocked and panicked, the latter had quietly taken out Arodes's Mirror, but had not yet found the opportunity to use this Sealed Artifact when surrounded by hooded believers.
Tina secretly leaned forward and covered her sister with her body, giving her the opportunity to take advantage of Arrodes. Moreover, if the ceremony was really successful, she could also block Dorothy and prevent the other party from being hurt immediately.
Fortunately, this "Monarch of Decay" only cast a casual glance. After seeing clearly that the sacrifices were just two worthless girls, he did not respond to the believers' prayers.
Looking at the metal vial in the host's hand that could no longer pour out a drop of blood, Tina quietly breathed a sigh of relief, but then became nervous again, worried that the other party would use the dagger in his hand to draw blood from his body, and continued to pray to other God.
Her premonition came true immediately. The expression of the man holding the murder weapon changed. As if he had convinced himself mentally, he walked towards the circular pattern drawn on the ground and stepped into the altar.
Why hasn't anyone come to save us yet? Haven't I already made a wish... Could it be that the way "Magic Wishing Lamp" fulfills his wish is to make the ceremony fail... Tina cursed and took two steps back, protecting Dorothy behind him.
At this moment, the man with a ferocious face stopped.
In his somewhat dim eyes illuminated by candlelight, tiny blood vessels stood out, and some even exploded, shedding blood and tears. In the depths of his pupils, there was a reflection of a pair of gray-white eyes with light yellow eyes, as if some being was looking at reality through his bleeding eyes.
The next second, the man's entire body swelled up, and his shirt and trouser legs were pushed up from the inside, forming a round arc like an inflated rubber ball. His exposed face and the back of his hands instantly turned blue-black. The skin first felt moist and translucent, and then quickly became rotten and pus leaked, exuding an indescribable stench.
His expression was still a mixture of excitement and hesitation, but his eyes had lost their sparkle, and the reflection of the pale yellow eyeballs, which itself symbolized decline and death, also quietly disappeared.
Bang... The man who seemed to be several times heavier than when he was alive, so much so that he turned into a giant, jumped forward and fell in front of Tina. The dagger and the empty metal bottle slid far away and hit the knees of the kneeling hooded believers on the other side, allowing them to discover the abnormality of Sacrifice Ritual.
"Yes... it's Divine Punishment!"
"Quick, whoever is going to continue the ceremony, the sacrifice cannot be interrupted."
"I, I was just forced, don't punish me..."
"Run!"
These believers who were not devout, or did not understand what they were doing, immediately fell into chaos. Some tried to pick up daggers and continue to sacrifice, some covered their heads and were at a loss, and some ran around in a panic until everyone reached a unanimous opinion and ran towards the only exit of the basement, which was previously lit with oil lamps but was now completely dark.
They dived into the darkness one by one, as if being swallowed by some monster, and no longer made any sound.
Tina and Dorothy looked at the "robber" who was preparing to hurt themselves one second and fell down suddenly the next second, feeling shocked and uncertain.
"Genie, what's going on?"
Tina asked in his mind, but received no response.
This guy started pretending to be dead again. He was like this in the church before... Tina muttered and looked towards the quiet exit. He was about to pull Dorothy away from here before making any plans, but he noticed a figure slowly walking out of the darkness.
This is a black-haired lady whose age is indistinguishable and whose facial features are extremely ordinary. She wears a linen robe with patch marks and a rough bark belt around her waist. Her feet covered in dust and scars are as naked as Anne Tina who just said goodbye, stepping on the wet floor, but there is no sound of any footsteps.
Seeing this lady walking out of the passage and coming in front of her, the panic and wariness in Tina's heart suddenly disappeared and she became peaceful and peaceful.
Only then did she confirm that the person who could help her escape the "kidnapping" she had made before finally appeared.
There is no doubt that those followers of the evil god who fled into the darkness without a trace were also solved by this lady with smooth black hair and naked feet, who gave people an inexplicable sense of security.
"Hello," she used honorifics, "My sister and I were kidnapped by those people just now. Are you here to rescue us?"
The black-haired lady slowly shook her head, with a smile on her lips.
"No." She replied in a soft tone, "You don't need to be rescued. In fact, this ritual of offering sacrifices to the evil god has failed. The person who presided over it has died, and all the other believers have fled. You have already rescued yourselves."
As she said that, she glanced at the body lying on the floor with complex patterns, one hand stretched forward and two legs spread apart as if pointing into the distance. The appearance was bruised and swollen.
Without any movement from her, the body disappeared as if it had been erased by an eraser.
Tina took a sharp breath and slowly took a few steps back. He calmed down after realizing that only the corpse had disappeared, not including himself and Dorothy.
It seems that those believers who escaped also disappeared in this way... Are they dead? Tina was thinking, feeling excited about the deaths of those who kidnapped and even planned to sacrifice themselves, but also a little sad because more than ten lives suddenly disappeared.
As if noticing the change in her mood, the black-haired woman took two steps forward again, stepped on the inside of the circular pattern that served as the altar with her bare feet, and continued to speak in an emotionless but very soft tone:
"Those people did not die, they were just 'hidden'. After being examined, they will be dealt with according to the crimes they committed."
Secret... is this a Beyonder Ability? Tina was searching her mind for the occult knowledge she just learned today, but she couldn't remember Pathway where this power lies. However, Dorothy beside her had some reaction and asked hesitantly:
"So, you are a believer of Evernight Goddess? Are you 'Nighthawks'?"
By the way, the Goddess that "Church of the Eternal Darkness" believes in has the title "Mother of Concealment" in his Honorific Name... So Evernight Goddess is the pinnacle of Beyonder Pathway where the lady in front of you is? Tina reacted quickly.
Sure enough, the black-haired lady nodded slightly and said:
"Yes, but I am not a member of 'Nighthawks', just a Ascetic. You can call me Arianna."
For those of you who haven't heard of it, seeing how she made more than a dozen people disappear so easily, maybe it was a Saint, which is Beyonder of High Sequence... not at all. Tina, who had met several Beyonder, guessed, while Dorothy held the silver mirror that had not yet been activated and looked just gray, bowed, and thanked him again:
"Thank you for your help, Arianna."
"I said that I did not provide any help in this matter," Arianna's smile widened, "And you are the innocent people involved in the evil god's sacrifice incident. It is the obligation of all churches to help you."
Sure enough, those weird names are all evil beings... Tina sighed inwardly, and when he was about to ask in detail, Arianna further explained:
"The man who died just now was a down-and-out local businessman. In order to make a comeback and gain strength and wealth, he gathered a group of people with the same thoughts and established an underground gathering. They used this simple, Error Sacrifice Ritual to sacrifice some property or livestock, but of course it had no effect, so today they decided to use living people for sacrifice.
"They chose to kidnap innocent people as sacrifices on the streets to avoid being traced to their public identities. It's a pity that this is the first time Sacrifice Ritual has done this, and this is the result."
What a coincidence. As soon as we arrived at the Southern Continent, we were randomly selected as sacrifices and kidnapped... Tina opened his mouth, not knowing how to evaluate it.
To ease the embarrassment, she asked instead:
"Do those God, those evil gods they sacrificed, really exist?"
Names such as "Uncertain Mist", "Goddess of fate", and the strings of Honorific Name symbolizing different powers were still lingering in her mind.
Arianna glanced at Dorothy, then returned his gaze to Tina, nodded and said:
"Reality exists, but not on this planet we are on, but in other corners of the universe. Even twenty years ago, pronouncing their names and forming corresponding concepts in their minds would have attracted the attention of evil gods, resulting in great danger.
"But now, our world is protected by more than one great being, and even these evil gods don't dare to cast their sights at will or harm anyone.
"Especially some special individuals."
Special individual? It must not be referring to us... No wonder I felt watched more than once just now, but they disappeared quickly. It turns out that our world has always been protected by God, and those evil gods didn't even dare to take a look... Why did the man who presided over the sacrifice just now die? Could it be that a certain evil god couldn't bear to be disturbed, or maybe he felt that his sacrifice like this was a bit like "fishing", so he killed him? Tina Thoughts popped up in his mind and disappeared like bubbles.
"Is Evernight Goddess this Great Existence?"
She couldn't help but ask.
"Goddess, of course," Arianna pointed out the stars on his chest with his slender fingers, and replied, "and not only him, Mr. Fool, Goddess of Calamity, and several other Great Existence are protecting our world."
That's it...Tina thought of the churches "Church of the Fool" and "The End Church" that he had entered today, and felt a little happy for some reason.
Seeing her smile, Arianna also smiled back and immediately asked:
"Are you planning to go to a nearby church to rest for a while, or do you have somewhere else to go? I can give you a ride."
Tina was tempted by the choice of "going to church to rest" for a moment, and almost nodded and agreed, but then remembered that he still had to help "Genie" realize his wish, and he had just advanced a wish to help himself and Dorothy successfully escape. He sighed regretfully and said:
"We want to go to nearby Cookawa City. It would be better if you could send us on the steam train."
It would be best if the ticket could be reimbursed - she added in her mind.
Arianna, who had ordinary facial features but combined them with a sense of tranquility, nodded, stretched out his right hand, and spread his fingers to brush in front of Tina as if caressing him through the air.
The next second, the bodies of Tina and Dorothy were erased inch by inch like a sketch encountering an eraser, and disappeared in place.
The basement barely illuminated by candles in front of them suddenly became blurry, as if separated by a layer of dark fog. Then the blurry scene rapidly changed colors and outlines, sometimes it was stacked houses, and sometimes it was an empty suburb.
Before they could react further, the surrounding scenery became bright and clear again.
They were standing on a street composed of independent or row houses with the Southern Continent characteristics.
No need for Arrodes divination or "Genie" explanation, Tina understood that they had arrived at Kukova.
In the dim basement, watching two girls with familiar but immature faces being "hidden", Arianna raised his head and looked at the ceiling, as if looking at a certain existence from a distance, and nodded slowly, as if greeting someone.
Then, His figure disappeared as if it had been erased.