Courses and Practice

"All right, that was the general procedure for the sacrificial ritual—Cathedral Descent."

Luther tossed aside the chalk and turned around in front of the blackboard.

By now, the blackboard had been completely covered in all manner of drawings and writing. There were numerous twisted, insane emblems of evil gods, as well as densely packed Ancient Hermes Script laden with blasphemous and defiled meanings.

Taking up most of the blackboard were several human sketches Luther had drawn—one was a figure tearing off its own skin as if undressing, attempting to put it over a straw dummy; another was a figure that had chopped off its own arms and legs, reattached them backward, and crawled across the floor on its back... as well as the final sketch Luther had left behind.

It was a simple drawing of a family of three. The figures representing the wife and child were missing the uppermost parts of their bodies, which had instead appeared on either shoulder of the central figure. Three heads gathered atop one body, their mouths opening wide in exaggerated delight, as though singing praises of a god's glory.

Though the blackboard contained only simple sketches, they instinctively made people feel uncomfortable.

"So? Was there anyone who didn't understand? Or... does anyone have any questions?"

Luther clapped his hands, wiping away the chalk dust as he casually asked.

The meeting room fell silent.

The Red Gloves sat silently in their chairs, each of them looking rather grim. As mature Beyonders who had seen their share of scenes, they would not feel nauseated or uncomfortable merely because of a few simple drawings. Yet the absurd and horrifying implications contained in that information had still been clearly conveyed to everyone's hearts.

They all looked wordlessly at Luther, their expressions seeming to say, "Please, stop talking