Blood Sacrifice: 6999/8888
"Is this the number of people already sacrificed?"
Looking at the blood all around him, Ryan immediately understood. The Blood Cult had likely been entrenched here for quite some time. With Bill, the mayor, covering for them, it was no surprise they had secretly gathered so many sacrifices.
Ryan couldn't help but curse.
No wonder so many missing-person cases handled by the Bureau of Governance had yielded no clues. Most of them had probably ended up here.
The problem was that he had no way to bring over another thousand people.
"Let's try it first."
Since he was already here, he had to give it a try.
'Shally' gripped the hilt and began pulling the sword.
But no matter how hard she tried, the Sword of Ares remained completely motionless.
Ryan opened his inventory and selected Karut's Blade. A prompt appeared the next moment—
Use item Karut's Blade?
There had been no prompt before. Clearly, the quest item's effect had been triggered under these circumstances.
Yes.
You consumed Karut's Blade.
Clang!
A blood-red radiance instantly burst outward, dissolving the ghosts swarming around the altar. The moment 'Shally' raised the sword, she seemed to have truly ascended the throne of victory.
You drew the Sword in the Stone. Will of the War watches over you. Next, offer sacrifices to It. Blood Sacrifice: 6999/8888
"Does this count toward mine?"
Ryan had been worried about whether the Blood Cult's ritual would count. It seemed it did. A blood sacrifice was a blood sacrifice, and the gods did not care who offered it.
His gaze fell on the blood-red greatsword.
Sword of Ares · Class Bound Quality: Tier 1 · Legendary Effect 1: Constitution +5, Mana +5 Effect 2: Attack damage increased by 10%. Trait: Upgradeable Granted Skill: Blood Sacrifice—Sacrifice a certain amount of vitality to activate abilities. First Stage of Sacrifice: Blood Slash, consumes 10% vitality to cast Second Stage of Sacrifice: Blood Return, consumes 20% vitality to cast Third Stage of Sacrifice: Bloodsteel Armor... Fourth Stage of Sacrifice: Blood Evil Shield... Fifth Stage of Sacrifice: Blood Clone... Sixth Stage of Sacrifice: Blood Rune Break... Seventh Stage of Sacrifice: Blood Devour... Eighth Stage of Sacrifice: Blood Unrivaled... Nine Stages of Sacrifice: Blood Dragon Slash, consumes 90% vitality to cast Equipment Requirement: Blood Knight class Description: The honor bestowed by the Blood God upon the strongest warrior. Sealed for a hundred years, it now awaits its next master.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck!"
Seeing the Sword of Ares' attributes, Ryan couldn't help blurting out a curse.
He remembered this sword's stats. The effects were all normal, but the game had never included that Blood Sacrifice skill!
"It's different from the game. Is this some trait of the Chosen of the Gods?"
No matter what, Ryan's blood was boiling. He had to get the Blood Knight class!
"Maybe I can borrow someone else's flowers to offer to the Buddha."
After thinking for a moment, Ryan had 'Shally' stick the sword back in place.
From the outside, nothing appeared to have changed.
Since he could not get sacrifices himself, he would let the Blood Cult continue gathering them. It was somewhat improper for a Security Officer to allow such things, but 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 himself in internal conflict was not Ryan's style. What he could do was gain as much authority and power as possible while ensuring his own safety.
Only with power did one have the right to talk about saving others.
Take Jonathan, for example. He understood his own situation even better. To save others, one had to save oneself first. Do what matched one's capabilities; otherwise, everything was empty talk.
"I'll come back later."
After putting the sword back, 'Shally' did not continue exploring and instead returned the way she had come.
To Ryan, nothing else mattered right now. His first priority was ensuring his class advancement succeeded, so it did not matter if this place held anything else.
The next day, 'Lin Qi' continued keeping watch in the slums.
There had been no news from the Blood Cult, but she had gained quite a few levels. She should be able to push for level 20 tonight. However, Ryan had a headache now, because Supernatural Being advancement required a higher-concentration Mana Potion.
Tier 2 Magic Potions were not common goods. After farming for so long, 'Lin Qi' had only gotten one Tier 1 bottle two days ago by killing an elite monster.
After considering it, Ryan decided to try asking Lia.
She was the High Priestess, so she surely had plenty of good things on her.
Besides, if he was going to help 'Lin Qi' compete for Saintess, he could not just talk about it.
After inviting Lia to meet, 'Lin Qi' returned to the Church before the agreed time. Lia arrived not long after.
"Lin Qi, did you need something?"
Lia wore a white gown patterned with lace stripes and a wide-brimmed hat. Tall and smiling as she walked over, she looked more like a noblewoman.
Her official game age was twenty-eight, a little on the older side, but she was actually very popular too.
Maybe it was not just her age that was big.
She had hidden her identity in Berman City. Only a few people from the Gate of Janus, including 'Lin Qi', knew who she was. Even Caslathdi had never truly met Lia face-to-face.
"High Priestess." 'Lin Qi' bowed slightly. "There's something I'd 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'd like to ask the High Priestess to help me find a Tier 2 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 Supernatural Being. Yet not long afterward, she had become one and displayed powerful class traits.
Even then, Lia had felt that 'Lin Qi' was qualified to compete for the position of Saintess.
"I can feel it. It should happen very soon."
With the Experience Bar clearly visible, Ryan naturally had the confidence to say so.
"Whew~ If that's the case, then I'll help you with everything I have." Lia said excitedly. "I have Magic Potions on me, but the danger of the advancement ritual is no less than becoming a Supernatural Being, so you must prepare thoroughly."
Why were there so few high-level Supernatural Beings?
Even among those who theoretically possessed mana talent, few truly reached the corresponding heights.
The fundamental reason was the great danger of supernatural advancement. Taking a higher-concentration Magic Potion meant binding one's soul more closely 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 continue afterward.
A worse outcome was mental instability and becoming insane.
More severe still was being corrupted by power and turning into a ghost.
Or one could simply die.
Therefore, when Supernatural Beings advanced, there would generally be a 'senior' watching over them. It was not very useful, but it was better than nothing at a critical moment... probably.
But 'Lin Qi' declined Lia's offer. Her advancement was judged as that of a Game Character, so she did not follow this world's Supernatural Being process at all. The supernatural ritual had already made that clear.
"Do you really not need my help? All right, then. Be careful."
Lia did not insist.
She actually believed that 'Lin Qi' was very likely one of the Chosen of the Gods.
The chosen were different from ordinary people. Perhaps 'Lin Qi' had already received divine guidance, and Lia only needed to focus on being support.
"May Janus's radiance shine upon you."
You obtained Tier 2 Mana Potion.
"I didn't expect it to go so smoothly. As expected of someone who can join the main cast—her head is clear."
In front of the game interface, Ryan rubbed his chin. Lia, once we rise to greatness, I won't forget you.
With the advancement item in hand, all that remained was to grind to level 20.
"Captain, this is tomorrow's Church security layout. Please take a look."
A Security Officer entered the office and handed the layout plan to Ryan.
Tomorrow was Mass Day. To protect Caslathdi, the Bureau of Governance had to deploy security early tomorrow morning, so Ryan naturally assigned the work directly to his subordinates.
Then, at a glance, he spotted the problem.
This time, Ryan had specifically used the excuse of strengthening security to transfer some people from the East District branch. There were ten of them in total, led by Jonathan, yet all of them had been thrown into some corner.
This kind of thing was merely going through the motions. After all, it was in the city and at Janus Church. Under normal circumstances, how could an accident possibly happen? There was no need to fight for credit. If things went badly, they might even get scolded. Usually, the tough work would be handed to the branch office people, while the headquarters staff had it easy.
So the person in charge of the layout had a problem.
Ryan wanted to use this opportunity to see how many people at headquarters were connected to Adler. After all, Adler had even recruited him back then. There was no way headquarters had only recruited one Norman.
Sure enough, hadn't one appeared right now?
"Vice Captain Gerson. Who would've thought this thick-browed, big-eyed guy was a mole too."
After so many days at headquarters, Ryan had already figured out the situation. Gerson was the Vice Captain. Ryan usually delegated tasks to him, and he had always been quite obedient.
Gerson definitely did not know Ryan's identity. Otherwise, he would probably have come to exchange passwords the moment Ryan took office.
"Mm, go with this. Tell the people in charge to set out early tomorrow," Ryan said.
The Security Officer acknowledged and left.
Ryan got up and closed the door, then called Jonathan and told him the overall layout.
He had no intention of changing the plan. It was not actually important. As long as Caslathdi knew in advance, she could simply move in the opposite direction of the layout when the time came.
Adler probably had not expected Gerson to accomplish anything either. He was just taking a chance.
"...I understand, Ryan. Be careful tomorrow. I'll have Jack follow you," Jonathan said.
"No, forget it. I'm afraid Jack might get scared." Ryan firmly 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 it really comes to blows, I'll at most deal with the ordinary people. It'll be fine."
"All right. Then I'll go see the Princess first."
Before you continue