Grand Sacrifice

The Church generally had two kinds of baptism, major and minor.

The minor baptism was called a pilgrimage, and it could help someone at the peak of the Black Stone Breed advance more steadily into the Steel Breed.

The major baptism, meanwhile, was known as the Grand Sacrifice.

Its effects were even more powerful. It could help a peak Steel Breed advance into the Golden Breed, though more often, it was used to increase a Golden Breed's stats.

This Grand Sacrifice had previously been the Church's means of keeping the various nobles in check.

If the nobles wanted to preserve their families' Golden Breed legacy, Golden Medicine was indispensable.

And in that process, the Grand Sacrifice was precisely the most common form of Golden Medicine.

The Golden Medicine produced by this baptism possessed attributes related to holiness and faith directed toward the gods.

Generally, each Sky Whale held one every thirty to fifty years.

The Church of Precepts had run into problems around a century ago, so by that reckoning, the Church of Precepts should have held two or three Grand Sacrifices on the Azure Sky Whale.

Yet over the past century, the Church of Precepts had completely suspended its Grand Sacrifices, devoting everything to preparing for the war against the Abyss.

A few years ago, even the minor baptisms had been halted.

And now, the Grand Sacrifice that the Azure Sky Whale had gone without for a century was appearing in Naimus's hands.

"Only Naimus shall be worshipped. May Naimus's tides sweep away all things!" Pur knelt before Naimus, reciting the prayer as he stared directly at him, his eyes both calm and fervent.

"This is the Bestowal granted to the devout," Naimus said softly, touching Pur's brow with a finger.

Arrays lit up across the ground as vast