Ritual: Shadow of Avalon

When Iver, dressed in his bishop's red robe, opened the doors of the St. Genevieve Chapel and stepped inside... he had a fleeting illusion.

At this moment, he felt as if he were overlapping with Bishop Mathers, who had once brought Iver here to learn Sacred Art.

Shaking his head slightly to dispel the strange feeling, Iver opened the door and let the people outside in.

Then, Iver closed the chapel door, put on his papal cap, and carefully straightened it. He then turned on the lights in the chapel.

The St. Genevieve Chapel was instantly illuminated.

Behind the thirty-seven white statues on each side, which were stored in the niches, a light suddenly shone.

"... Huh?"

Seeing this, Grape made a somewhat puzzled sound.

... The candlestick is Pillar God who controls light. Why does the Candle Holder Cathedral use electric lights?

Sherlock immediately tugged at his brother's arm and glared fiercely at Grape, who was playing Mycroft.

"It's alright, Mr. Hermes."

Iver smiled and shook his head... but he didn't know which "Mr. Hermes" he was referring to. "It's normal to be surprised... after all, St. Genevieve Chapel is usually open and lit with candles during the Candle Holder Festival."

I even tried to help her find a way to make amends; I'm so kind.

Iver was somewhat moved.

But what he said was not a lie.

"Although it may seem strange to install electric lights in such a rustic building, it is actually necessary."

Iver explained, "Because within the Candle Holder Cathedral, the act of 'lighting a candle' has a certain divine significance, or at least a special meaning, as does lighting an oil lamp. Therefore, outside of festivals, holidays, and daily worship, candles are not allowed to be lit arbitrarily within the cathedral grounds, and electric lights are used for lighting on ordinary days."

"Before the invention of electric lights, lanterns were used here. The light source had to be brought in from the outside, or the interior was simply kept brightly lit. The work of the deacons here used to include constantly changing the candles in the temple and taking care of them so that they wouldn't go out."

He looked at Mycroft with a kind expression and explained on his behalf, "This is something that only priests would normally know, so it's normal that His Excellency the Minister of Royal Affairs doesn't know."

As Iver spoke, all the statues in the chapel were activated.

Seeing them all looking towards the doorway, Iver bowed slightly, raised his hand and gently touched the three candles on his crown, lighting them one by one. "Seventy-three Pioneers... may the candle keeper watch over your candlelight."

Although Queen Sophia has died, she has not yet been buried here. Therefore, only seventy-three people have received a state funeral.

Iver glanced around and found that Sofia's shrine was ready, but it still did not contain any holy images.

... It seems that Queen Sophia, having entered her Twilight Path, no longer thinks about what will happen after her death as she did before.

After Iver uttered the secret command, the icons calmed down and turned back.

This is a special system within the St. Genevieve Chapel. It ensures that even if someone obtains the key through theft or robbery and has someone with the power of light and fire open the door, the intruder's guard mechanism will be triggered if the intruder is not immediately paid homage to the icons of the forefathers.

Iver led everyone to the innermost part, where the huge coffin was placed at the very center.

It sits atop high steps, looking like a throne.

A pure white statue of a Saintess lies atop the coffin, sitting beside it with her chin resting on her arm, as if taking a nap. Her face is pure, dignified, and sacred, with long, flowing hair. Her arm and hair weigh down the intricately patterned coffin, making it impossible to lift.

In a daze, Iver felt as if he saw Isabel.

She resembled Isabel somewhat, but lacked Isabel's elfin air. She appeared to be around thirty years old, perhaps even Isabel's sister or mother.

"... Bring forth the Queen's Blood."

Iver took a deep breath and said in a low voice.

This was the first time he had gone so deep into the subject, and the first time he had seen Guinevere and Lancelot I.

He stepped forward, removed his papal crown, and placed it on the coffin.

Iver reached out and gently touched the candlelight on the papal crown, and the pure white flame seemed to be drawn to him, burning quietly on his fingertips.

He used the flames as paint to write on the coffin.

"Why not let me become a god?"

Then, Iver reached out and lit a second candle, and wrote again:

Why not let me become a mortal?

Finally, Iver lit the third candle and then wrote the final secret message at the bottom:

"The Fool will be forgotten three times, and then return from the world."

After the three secret messages were written, the pure white Guinevere statue opened its eyes.

She looked up, her beautiful, grape-yellow eyes fixed on Iver.

She then held the diadem, whose candle had already gone out, in her arms, reached out and slid the coffin halfway to the side, stood up and stepped aside.

The coffin, cut in half, revealed only the upper half of Lancelot I. Scattered within were numerous withered petals, each stained with a drop of long-dried blood.

So Iver stepped aside and watched as Olive stepped forward.

He first performed a complex consecration ceremony, taking a lily from his bosom and then pouring the Queen's Blood onto it. He then inserted it into the heart of a lion, declaring it to be the Queen's heart.

The lion's heart is dried because it can be used as a common ritual ingredient. Naturally, it contains no blood... which is why the Queen's Blood is allowed to flow into it and then drip through the heart again.

Normally, the Shadow of Avalon Ritual requires the heart of a direct descendant of the royal family, but they cannot obtain it. Therefore, they have to use the powerful Ritual Mage's "substitution" method to replace it with something else.

The next moment, he plucked a blood-stained lily and threw it into the coffin.

In an instant, the inside of the coffin began to boil—

The shadows throbbed and boiled like living things, bubbling and overflowing. Heavy black smoke, like the vapor rising from dry ice, spread to the ground, wrapping around everyone's ankles, rendering them all immobile.

Olive solemnly picked up the Arondight dagger that Iver had retrieved and plunged it into the lion's heart.

Blood dripped down, and the blooming lilies withered and died at a visible speed.

"I pierced it as if I were piercing the Queen's heart."

Olive held aloft the dripping lily, reaching out slowly and forcefully to squeeze out the little blood remaining from its heart.

He spoke slowly and clearly, making sure he didn't mispronounce a single word. "Twenty-one Founders bowed their heads and wept, twenty-one Round Table Knights had their swords broken, and twenty-one Du Lac bled to death."

"The Fool is gone, the heavens turn in countless ways, and the warriors of yesteryear return victorious from a hundred battles."

"You will no longer be a king, no longer a knight, no longer an apostle—"

"The time for revenge has come!"

As he spoke, he pulled the blood-stained dagger from the lion's heart.

It pierced deeply into the heart of Lancelot I inside the coffin!