Iluna nodded worriedly. Seeing Shade's face twisted in pain, sweat already soaking the hair over his forehead, she was deeply concerned. But Shade really had only eaten something bad.
"Shade, you don't need to worry about the evil god. Just five minutes, we've prepared—"
Halfway through her words, Iluna froze. Then, together with Shade and the Guardians, she looked up at the high mountain peak to the west, which had been flattened in the battle.
The mushroom cloud created by the old stone statue's explosion was gradually settling. In the smoking crater where the statue had exploded, fragments of the statue lay scattered through the soil. Among them, several petal-shaped stones silently melted into the earth.
At the summit of that distant mountain, the cultists who had hidden there with the Blood Spirit School's Puppeteer's Script dug those stones out of the soil. Under the identification of the aged priests, the stone most resembling a petal was selected and carved with runes representing "autumn" and the evil god's holy emblem using a special carving knife.
Thus, three Mid-Ring Arcanists carrying a stone heart, a stone head, and a stone flower walked toward the eyeless stone statue standing upon the altar.
A circle of fire was lit around the altar, and dozens of priests in black and gray robes prayed softly.
"Freely offered soul and heart!"
The heart flew from the Ring Arcanist's hands and entered the stone statue's chest on the altar.
"Forcibly offered stone head!"
The head flew from the Ring Arcanist's hands and merged into the stone statue's head on the altar.
"Flower of accident forged by destiny!"
The flower-like stone flew from the Ring Arcanist's hands and likewise entered Stone Osenfott's final work before his death.
Everyone atop the mountain lay prostrate on the ground and prayed