[Blood Sacrifice: 6999/8888]
"Was this the number of people already blood-sacrificed?"
Seeing the blood all around, Ryan immediately understood. The Blood Cult had likely been entrenched here for quite some time. With Bill, the mayor, covering for them, it was hardly strange that they had secretly produced so many sacrifices.
Ryan couldn't help but curse.
No wonder so many missing-person cases handled by the Bureau of Investigation had turned up without a single clue. Most of them had probably ended up here.
The problem was, he had no way of bringing over another thousand people.
"Let's try it first."
Since he was already here, he had to give it a try.
'Shari' gripped the hilt and began pulling the sword.
But no matter how hard she pulled, the Sword of Ares remained completely unmoved.
Ryan opened his Backpack and selected Karut's Blade inside. A prompt appeared the next moment—
[Do you wish to use the item 'Karut's Blade'?]
There had been no prompt before. Clearly, the current circumstances had triggered the quest item's effect.
[Yes.] [You consumed Karut's Blade.]
Clang!
A blood-red radiance instantly burst outward, dissolving the evil spirits swarming around the altar. The moment 'Shari' raised the sword, she looked as though she had truly ascended the throne of victory.
[You have drawn the Sword in the Stone.] [The Will of War watches over you. Next, offer sacrifices to It.] [Blood Sacrifice: 6999/8888]
"So it counted toward mine?"
Ryan had previously worried whether the Blood Cult's ritual would count. Now, it seemed everything was counted together. A blood sacrifice was a blood sacrifice, and the god did not care who offered it.
His gaze fell on the blood-red greatsword.
[Sword of Ares · Class Bound] [Quality: First Tier · Legendary] [Effect 1: Constitution +5, Magic Power +5] [Effect 2: Attack damage increased by 10%.] [Trait: Upgradable] [Attached Skill: Blood Sacrifice—Sacrifice a certain amount of life force to activate abilities. First Tier Sacrifice: Blood Sky Slash, consumes 10% of life force to cast Second Tier Sacrifice: Blood Return, consumes 20% of life force to cast Third Tier Sacrifice: Blood Steel Armor... Fourth Tier Sacrifice: Blood Evil Shield... Fifth Tier Sacrifice: Blood Clone... Sixth-Tier Sacrifice: Blood Pattern Break... Seventh Tier Sacrifice: Blood Devour... Eighth Tier Sacrifice: Blood Unrivaled... Ninth Tier Sacrifice: Blood Dragon Slash, consumes 90% of life force to cast] [Equipment Requirement: Blood Knight class] [Description: The honor bestowed by the Blood God upon the strongest warrior. Sealed away for a hundred years, it now awaits its next rightful master.]
"Fuck, fuck, fuck!"
After seeing the Sword of Ares's attributes, Ryan could not stop himself from swearing.
He remembered this sword's stats. Its effects were all perfectly normal, but the game had never included that Blood Sacrifice skill!
"It's different from the game. Is this a trait of God's Chosen?"
No matter what, Ryan's heart was burning now. He absolutely had to get the Blood Knight class!
"Maybe I can borrow flowers to offer to Buddha."
After thinking for a moment, Ryan had 'Shari' stick the sword back in.
From the outside, nothing appeared to have changed.
Since he could not obtain sacrifices himself, he would let the Blood Cult continue gathering them. Though it was somewhat inappropriate for a security officer to turn a blind eye to such acts, even if he wanted to intervene now, he could not.
Besides, who knew how many people died every day in places he could not see?
Wasting energy on inner conflict was not Ryan's style. What he could do was gain as much authority and strength as possible while ensuring his own safety.
Only with strength did one have the right to talk about saving others.
Take Jonathan, for example. He understood his own situation even better. To save people, one first had to save oneself. Do as much as your position allowed—otherwise, everything was empty talk.
"I'll come back later."
After putting the sword back, 'Shari' did not continue exploring. Instead, she returned the way she had come.
To Ryan, nothing else mattered right now. His first priority was ensuring he successfully changed classes, so even if there were other things in this place, they did not matter.
The next day, 'Lin Qi' continued keeping watch in the slums.
There was still no news of the Blood Cult, though she had gained quite a few levels. She should be able to push for level 20 tonight. However, Ryan had a headache now, because Transcendent advancement required a higher-concentration Mana Potion.
A Second Tier Magic Potion was no common commodity. After farming for so long, 'Lin Qi' had only gotten a First Tier one two days ago after killing an elite monster.
After considering it back and forth, Ryan decided to try asking Lia.
She was the High Priest, so she surely had plenty of good things on her.
Besides, if he was going to help 'Lin Qi' compete for the Saintess Position, he could not merely talk about it.
After inviting Lia to meet, 'Lin Qi' returned to the church before the appointed time. Lia arrived not long afterward.
"Lin Qi, did you need something?"
Lia wore a long white dress with lace patterns and a wide-brimmed hat. Tall and graceful, she looked more like a Noble as she approached with a smile.
The Game Official listed her age as twenty-eight, which was a little on the older side, but she was actually very popular.
Maybe it was not only her age that was big.
She concealed her identity in Berman City. Only a few people from the Gate of Janus, including 'Lin Qi', knew who she was. Even Cassidy had never truly met Lia face-to-face.
"High Priest." 'Lin Qi' gave a slight bow. "There is something I would like to ask of you."
"Go ahead."
Lia greatly liked 'Lin Qi', this promising junior. Whether in temperament or talent, she believed 'Lin Qi' was the best candidate for the next Saintess.
Perhaps the fact that she had encountered 'Lin Qi' here, at this time, was Janus's guidance.
"I would like to ask the High Priest to help me find a Second Tier Magic Potion."
"You're advancing?" Lia asked in surprise. "So soon?"
When she had first met 'Lin Qi', the latter had not even been a proper Transcendent. Yet not long after, she had become one and displayed powerful class traits.
Even then, Lia had felt that 'Lin Qi' was qualified to compete for the Saintess Position.
"I can feel it. It should happen very soon."
Ryan could see the experience bar clearly, so of course he had the confidence to say that.
"Whew... If that's the case, then I can help you with everything I have." Lia said excitedly. "I have the Magic Potion on me, but the advancement ritual is no less dangerous than becoming a Transcendent. You must make thorough preparations."
Why were there so few High-tier Transcendents?
Even among those who theoretically possessed Magic Talent, very few truly reached the corresponding heights.
The fundamental reason was the danger of Transcendent advancement. Consuming higher-concentration Magic Potions meant binding one's soul more tightly to one's Faith Path, an extremely dangerous act for mortals.
If one failed, the best outcome was simply failing once and being able to try again later.
A worse outcome was mental breakdown and becoming a madman.
More severe still was being corrupted by power and turning into an evil spirit.
Or they simply died.
Therefore, Transcendents generally had a "senior" standing guard during advancement. Though it was not particularly useful, it could still help at a crucial moment... probably.
But 'Lin Qi' declined Lia's kindness. Her advancement was judged according to the Game Character system and did not follow this world's Transcendent process at all. The Transcendent ritual had already proven that.
"You really don't need my help? All right, then. Be careful."
Lia did not insist.
In truth, she believed 'Lin Qi' was very likely one of God's Chosen.
God's Chosen were different from ordinary people. Perhaps 'Lin Qi' had already received an Oracle, and all Lia needed to do was focus on supporting her.
"May Janus's radiance shine upon you."
[You obtained Mana Potion · Second Tier.]
"That went unexpectedly smoothly. As expected of someone who can join the Protagonist Group—her head is clear."
Before the Game Interface, Ryan stroked his chin. Lia, when I rise to greatness later, I won't forget you.
With the advancement item secured, all that remained was grinding his level to 20.
"Captain, this is tomorrow's church security layout. Please take a look."
A security officer entered the office and handed Ryan the layout diagram.
Tomorrow was Mass Day. To protect Cassidy, the Bureau of Investigation had to set up defenses early tomorrow morning. Ryan had naturally delegated the work directly.
Then, with one look, he spotted the problem.
This time, Ryan had specifically transferred some people from the East District Branch under the pretext of strengthening security—ten in total, led by Jonathan. Yet they had all been tossed into a corner.
This sort of thing was normally just a formality. They were in the city, and at Janus Church—under normal circumstances, how could any accident happen? There was no point fighting for credit. If they did not perform well, they might even be reprimanded. Usually, the hard labor was handed to the branch offices anyway, while the General Bureau had an easier time slacking off.
So there was clearly a problem with whoever had arranged this layout.
Ryan wanted to use this opportunity to see how many people in the General Bureau were connected to Adler. After all, Adler had even recruited Ryan back then. It was impossible for the General Bureau to have only developed Norman.
Sure enough, hadn't one appeared already?
"Vice Captain Gerson. I never expected this thick-browed, big-eyed fellow to be a mole too."
After so many days at the General Bureau, Ryan had already figured out the situation. Gerson was the Vice Captain. Ryan usually assigned any tasks to him, and Gerson had been quite obedient toward him.
Gerson definitely did not know Ryan's identity. Otherwise, he would probably have come to exchange code phrases the moment Ryan took office.
"Mm, follow this plan. Tell those responsible to leave earlier tomorrow," Ryan said.
The security officer acknowledged the order and left.
Ryan stood and closed the door, then called Jonathan and told him the overall layout.
He had no intention of changing the diagram. It was not particularly important anyway. As long as Cassidy knew beforehand, she could simply move in the opposite direction of the layout when the time came.
Adler probably had not expected Gerson to succeed either. It was merely a gamble.
"...I understand, Ryan. Be careful tomorrow. I'll have Jack follow you," Jonathan said.
"No, forget it. I'm afraid Jack will get scared." Ryan decisively refused. "Don't let Jack go tomorrow. I can handle it alone. It's not like I'll be fighting on the front lines. If a fight really breaks out, at most I'll deal with those ordinary people. It'll be fine."
"All right. Then I'll go find the Princess first."
Before you continue