Night deepened. Through the heavy fog, a full moon could be seen edging toward the zenith.
An array far larger than the one used for the earlier Ascension Ritual appeared on a broad stretch of level ground inside the Ranch.
The enormous array was over a hundred meters across. Naturally, it could not have been drawn with materials used in the Invisible Arts. Even if Douglas and Natalia sold everything they owned, they could not scrape together enough.
Instead, it had been traced across the earth with clean sand that had spent a long time baking in the sun.
Even that sand had nearly drained both their savings.
Douglas had also spent the past two days clearing the ground for it.
He had removed the weeds, dug over the entire area, mixed in special Medicinal Powder, then tamped it all down until it was firm and level. If he had not been an accomplished practitioner of the Invisible Arts himself, two days would never have been enough.
The Intercalation Ritual was the largest of all rituals. Ordinarily, merely keeping it running required at least several dozen practitioners of the Invisible Arts working together. With all the materials and sacrifices involved, even a cult a thousand strong often needed years to prepare.
Only a handful of organizations in all London could perform such a ritual.
Under normal circumstances, people like Douglas and Natalia could spend their entire lives saving and still lack the resources for a single Intercalation Ritual.
For one thing, a fifteenth-tier Lantern Influence was something one could only encounter through luck, not seek out at will. Without the strength to pass through the fourth gate of the Mansus, the Peacock Gate, an influence of that level was almost impossible to obtain.
Even those strong enough to do so