Astrology Ritual

Their torsos grew and clung together, broken, pale bones piercing through gray, decaying flesh and twisting outwards. Countless distorted figures stood on the undulating, writhing dark red ground, contorting and swaying in place against the pervasive Gray Mist, forming a terrifying and chilling scene under the boundless night.

Under the same night sky, the gaze traverses the vast snowstorm, landing on the highest point of all the mountains in the entire Northern Territory.

This is the highest peak closest to the Northern Territory, towering above all wind, snow, and clouds. With no clouds obscuring its view, it is the best place in the entire Northern Territory to observe star trails, where the brilliant sea of stars in the night sky has already clearly emerged.

Inside a magnificent and imposing palace built of massive stones on the side of the mountaintop, exuding a primitive and ancient charm, a solemn and mysterious ceremony is being prepared.

The entire hall's spacious stone surface is densely covered with intricate and profound array patterns, each pattern's trajectory precisely corresponding to the star trails in the sky.

In the very center of the main hall, embedded in the floor, is a mysterious device with a smooth, polished center and surrounded by layers of interlocking metal star trails.

Dozens of members of the Astrology Society, dressed in dark astrological robes, stood quietly in their respective positions, each with their eyes lowered and their expressions solemn and dignified, exuding a tranquil and profound aura.

Beside the main altar in front of the main hall, the Astrologer Grand Knight Commander was standing there with Eli, who was observing and learning from Eli up close.

Eli had already changed into a special astrological outfit, a Deep Blue robe woven with intricate geometric patterns. The Silver Threads on the robe subtly shimmered with a cool starlight under the night sky, and with each breath, the intricate patterns resonated faintly with the starlight falling from above.

Eli was clutching a thick, brand-new astrological book, "Starry Skies and the Call of the Stars," which was a new book he had received after joining the Astrology Society and one that the Astrologer Grand Knight Commander had urged him to read immediately.

The star trails in the sky moved slowly, and the Astrology Society officially began their seventh astrological ceremony. Through this ceremony, they would communicate with the distant stars, praying for the stars to descend and provide insights and guidance for the future.

Before the ceremony began, the Astrologer Grand Knight Commander turned to Eli beside him and solemnly whispered his instructions:

"Eli, watch carefully from the side. Once the ceremony begins, be sure to calm your mind and communicate with the stars in the sky."

Eli nodded, clutching the thick book "Starry Night and the Call of the Stars," but a sense of helplessness and confusion welled up within him. He thought to himself:

"I've been waiting here for so long, but even now, I still don't know how to have that heartfelt connection with the stars. The stars in the sky are so far away, can they really communicate with people?"

Despite his doubts, Eli strictly followed the plan of the Astrologer Grand Knight Commander, suppressing his distracting thoughts and quietly gazing at the core ritual Formation Disk in front of him, which was not particularly large.

The stars in the sky above began to slowly revolve along some mysterious rhythm, and the last wisp of dark clouds on the outer edge of the mountain peak completely dispersed.

The array patterns on the floor of the main hall then lit up with a faint light, and the numerous ancient star patterns engraved on the stone slabs began to gradually overlap and align with the arrangement of the stars in the sky.

The instant the light from the falling stars perfectly aligned with the star patterns on the ground, an indescribable brilliance suddenly erupted from the star patterns on the hall's floor.

It was a radiance interwoven with patches of light blue and various vibrant colors, possessing a magnificent and epic brilliance reminiscent of the vast Sea of Knowledge, soaring directly into the sky and instantly breaking through the remaining clouds surrounding the mountain peak.

The ancient stone pillars surrounding the main hall, the towering archways, and all the runes on the stone walls were simultaneously illuminated, and the summit of the highest peak in the Northern Territory was completely enveloped in this vast starlight.

At the center of the sky, where countless stars were falling, the aged body of the Astrologer Grand Knight Commander began to twist violently.

His usually stern and amiable old body was silently torn apart inch by inch under the starlight, and countless brilliant and cold starlight points emerged from the cracks in his body. At this moment, he completely became a messenger communicating with the stars.

Thick, heavy starlight poured down from above, and the Astrologer Grand Knight Commander completely shed his human form.

Numerous distorted and rotating deep-sky star charts and profound nebula-like objects directly replaced the position where the Astrologer Grand Knight Commander originally stood, with countless wisps of light, the color of a starry sea, silently drifting in the void.

Not only the Astrologer Grand Knight Commander, but also the dozens of members of the Astrology Society around the hall, were twisting and disintegrating in the starlight, gradually revealing mysterious postures that were closer to their Pathway. Clusters of flowing silver nebulae and star trails floated and rotated quietly above the stone hall.

Eli, standing to the side, was completely stunned by what he saw. If he hadn't witnessed it with his own eyes, he would never have imagined that the Astrology Pathway taken by the Astrologer Grand Knight Commander and his companions would reveal such an unimaginable form.

Just as Eli was deeply shaken, the stars in the sky actually crossed the endless void and initiated communication with him.

Eli subconsciously looked up at the night sky and saw that the dark star in the depths of the sky, which represented disaster and was composed of crimson and black, was now rapidly rotating at a speed visible to the naked eye, accelerating forward along its original predetermined path.

The doomsday star was moving faster and faster, meaning that a devastating catastrophe was approaching everyone at a speed far exceeding expectations.

Seeing the Dark Star accelerate its rotation, Eli froze instantly. At that moment, he finally believed that the stars in the sky would truly respond to them.

At the very moment Eli's body stiffened, countless glowing lines were forcibly drawn deep within the pupils of his eyes by some invisible force, and terrifying images from the future suddenly crashed into his mind—the stars were communicating directly with him.

In the image Eli saw, above the vast Northern Territory sky, death and plague transformed into a dark, all-encompassing haze that decayed everything. Wherever the haze passed, whether it was a majestic city, a continuous snow-capped Snow Mountain, a dense forest, or a running animal, all were instantly reduced to decaying, lifeless Dead Object.

The earth was littered with corpses—no, those could no longer be called mere skeletons; they were countless half-dead people, wandering precariously across the snowy Wasteland of the Northern Territory.