Tears of God Ritual

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

The ritual is based on theological accounts from the Divine Word, particularly the legend of God's tears, the suffering of the Beasts under endless radiance, and the lake said to conceal the Second Son's ugliness. Adam connects these ideas to the Church of God's Tears, whose doctrine concerns the salvation of different kinds and whose emblem is a lake 13.

Adam had previously undergone the ritual himself to conceal his werewolf anomaly. He later uses its promise to subdue Adel Rien and recruit Roa's frightened Variants, presenting himself as a powerful deserter-priest who can grant them safety from Church detection 13.

At the first gathering, Adam turns the ritual into the foundation of a hierarchy: Adel is selected as the first subject, while the other Variants are ordered to obtain materials. Adel's successful completion of the first stage convinces the witnesses of the ritual's value and strengthens Adam's control over them 16 17.

Adam subsequently offers the ritual to additional Variants in exchange for service. He performs it for Will, then teaches Will the first-stage procedure so the organization can expand without Adam personally overseeing every recipient 27 29. By the later gathering, Will is charging applicants and using the ritual to recruit more members 49.

Ritual Structure

First Stage: Repentance

The first stage invokes the Sun God. Staring directly at the sun represents repentance, while the tears shed by the subject serve as “tears of repentance” 16.

• Purpose — Burns away agitation in the subject's bloodline, leaving them temporarily closer to a pure-blooded Variant in condition 37.
• Subject requirement — The subject collects tears shed while staring at the sun at noon 16.
• Ordeal — The subject drinks half of a mixture of holy water and their tears, pours the remainder over themselves, and enters a fire 17.
• Result — Once covered in ritual soil and dressed in ordinary human clothing, the subject's Variant aura disappears 17.

Second and Third Stages

The ritual has three stages, with each one providing an additional layer of concealment. Adam claims that all three together can conceal a Variant even under a high priest's scrutiny 13.

The divine incarnations and procedures of the latter two stages are not described in the available account. Adam later gives Jin the complete ritual, including the three corresponding divine incarnations, material symbolism, and methods 37.

Materials and Procedure

Effects and Limitations

• Conceals Variant abnormalities — The ritual is more effective than demon medicine at hiding a Variant's true nature 13.
• Requires no exceptional practitioner — It has little to no threshold beyond the proper materials, procedure, sound judgment, and theological knowledge 17.
• Does not grant true salvation — It imitates the legend of the true Tears of God but cannot provide the salvation attributed to those tears 13.
• Concealment is incomplete after only the first stage — It cannot withstand specialized inspections, making first-stage recipients unsafe against thorough scrutiny 49.
• Creates a dangerous radiance signature at full completion — Jin observes “light dancing” over Adam's body; instead of seeming like a Variant, Adam resembles a person with holy-knight-like talent 37.
• May attract Church attention — The radiance-like absorption of natural force can cause priests to regard a recipient as an unusually gifted potential clergyman, making them easier to identify and record 37.
• Tempts recipients toward lethal divine arts — A Variant who uses the ritual's connection to seek divine arts risks having that power erupt internally and burn them to death 17.

Known Recipients and Practitioners

• Adam — Previously underwent the complete ritual to conceal his own werewolf nature; later weaponizes its secrecy to build influence among Roa's Variants 13 37.
• Adel Rien — First documented subject of the first stage; survives the ordeal and becomes one of Adam's key subordinates 16 17.
• Will — Receives the ritual at House No. 17 and is taught the first-stage procedure so he can administer it to others 27 29.
• Jin — Does not receive the ritual in the documented events, but analyzes its complete structure for Adam and identifies its bloodline-related side effects 37.