Blood Sacrifice

Priest Green rose from his chair. He first found a ladder, climbed up, and removed part of the roof so the full moonlight could shine inside.

Then he pried up several floorboards.

Beneath the wooden floorboards lay a square Marble Slab roughly two meters long and wide. It was Patrick Marble, a pure white stone symbolic of holiness—hard, free of impurities, and commonly used to carve statues of saints and angels.

A magic circle was carved into the slab. Its main body consisted of three concentric circles filled with strange symbols. The innermost circle was divided by an arc into a larger and smaller section, the smaller one resembling a crescent moon.

As Priest Green stared at the magic circle, a flicker of struggle passed through his eyes, but it was swiftly suppressed.

"My fate is mine to decide!" he muttered.

As he spoke, he dragged the unconscious Raymond to the center of the Marble Slab and placed him on his side, aligning his body with the crescent pattern.

After finishing, Priest Green looked up at the full moon in the sky and waited.

When the moonlight was nearing its peak, he immediately sat before Raymond, pressed one hand against the magic circle, and began chanting an obscure incantation.

As the mysterious chant echoed through the room, Gagnor clearly sensed an indescribable evil force descending upon the place. An increasingly thick smell of blood filled the air, making his scalp tingle.

Since he had been thrown into a corner facing the wall, he could not see most of Priest Green's actions. But when that evil presence and bloody stench came over him, he could more or less guess what Priest Green was doing.

A Blood Sacrifice Ritual.

Whether in this life or his previous one, Gagnor had heard rumors of mysterious rituals performed on full-moon nights. Combined with Priest Green's immediate loss of interest after discovering that he was "dead," the conclusion was obvious.

Priest Green intended to sacrifice Raymond in exchange for power.

Gagnor's expression immediately darkened and brightened by turns.

Though he and Raymond did not have much in common, they had grown up together in the church. Raymond had also helped him many times. Gagnor could not simply stand by and watch him die.

Besides, if he did nothing, how would Priest Green deal with him once the ritual was complete?

The best outcome Gagnor could imagine was being buried alive.

After a brief moment of thought, he realized this was likely his only chance to resist. He had to do something.

He first shifted slightly, then listened carefully.

The chanting did not stop.

Gagnor moved a few more times and found that Priest Green's chanting still maintained its original rhythm, utterly unaffected.

Clearly, Priest Green had focused nearly all his attention on the sacrifice and had no time to watch Gagnor in the corner.

Once he confirmed that, Gagnor turned his head and looked over.

His pupils immediately contracted.

Raymond, lying at the center of the magic circle, had already become a gaunt, blood-soaked figure. Blood seeped continuously from his skin, flowing into the carved lines of the Marble Slab's magic circle.

The magic circle, once formed from pure white grooves, had now been entirely dyed red. Under the full moon's light, it gleamed with an abnormally vivid crimson, casting Priest Green's spellcasting face in bloody hues.

Gagnor did not know whether Raymond was still alive, but one thing was certain: if he did not act now, it would be too late.

He made his decision at once, gripped an arrow in his hand, and charged fiercely at Priest Green.

Seeing him spring up from the ground, Priest Green was clearly stunned for an instant, then hesitated for another.

In those two instants, life and death had already been decided.

By the time Priest Green finally resolved to stop the ritual, Gagnor had already driven the arrowhead viciously into his chest!

"Ah!" Priest Green screamed, trying to shove Gagnor away.

Using the force of the push, Gagnor pulled the arrow free and stabbed it down again, plunging it back into Priest Green's chest.

Priest Green flailed with all four limbs and finally kicked Gagnor aside. He hurriedly pressed a hand to his chest, holy light blazing from his palm as it rapidly healed his wounds.

How could Gagnor give him that chance? He hurriedly climbed up from the ground, ready to strike with the arrow again.

Priest Green reacted quickly as well. Seeing Gagnor rise, he immediately halted his healing spell and flung out a burst of holy light.

A sharp pain tore through Gagnor's chest, and his legs gave out beneath him as he collapsed again.

But this instant spell clearly lacked lethal power. Enduring the burning pain in his chest, he looked around and noticed Raymond's warhammer and shield nearby.

Gagnor's eyes lit up. He swiftly picked up the warhammer and shield, then climbed to his feet again behind the shield.

Priest Green's face turned somewhat pale as he looked at the shield in Gagnor's hand.

Trembling, he formed the gesture for Mind Blast and aimed it at Gagnor.

The shield obviously could not block Mind Blast. Gagnor immediately groaned and was knocked to the ground again, unable to get back up for the moment.

But Priest Green had exhausted all his mana as well, and the wound in his chest remained severe. Blood had soaked the upper half of his priest's robe, leaving him equally unable to rise.

Thus, the two lay sprawled on the floor for a while, until Gagnor finally climbed up again.

Priest Green was already pale as death, his voice weak and breathless. "You... why did you recover so quickly?"

Gagnor panted lightly. "I don't look like someone with a weak soul, do I?"

Priest Green gave a bitter laugh. "I understand. Feign Death... Where did you learn Feign Death? As far as I know, no one in all of Driftwood Town knows it."

"An injured man you refused to treat," Gagnor said simply.

Priest Green looked blank.

Clearly, he had long forgotten Ryan. Back then, he could never have imagined that such a trivial matter would bring him to ruin.

Carrying the warhammer, Gagnor walked up to Priest Green and said coldly, "Any last words?"

Priest Green's face twitched slightly. "Don't tell the church about this... It would not only preserve my reputation, it would benefit you too..."

Gagnor admitted that he had a point.

A priest practicing human-sacrifice Black Magic—such a major case would inevitably alarm the Archbishop of Nordanren. It might even reach the Pope's ears. Even if Gagnor were ultimately proven completely innocent, the ensuing investigation would be extremely troublesome, and everyone involved would be scrutinized from top to bottom.

If, during that process, the church decided to revive its glorious old tradition of presumed guilt even slightly, Gagnor, as Priest Green's apprentice, would likely be doomed as well.

"Then how should I explain all this?" He pointed around the room.

Grimm's gaze shifted toward the Fire Wolf. "This is the season when fires are most likely to occur. The Fire Wolf's corpse could easily cause an accident sufficient to cover everything up..."

"Indeed." Gagnor asked again, "Any other last words?"

A trace of pleading appeared on Priest Green's face. "If you can spare me—"

"Bang!" Gagnor raised the warhammer with both hands and smashed it brutally onto his head, cutting off the final sentence of his life.

"No."