That was harder to generalize about. Sacrifices to different evil gods had different effects and might grant stronger, stranger powers, but sacrifice itself was a deadly gamble. The offerings required were often extremely bizarre, and the sacrificial process was also prone to distortion, making it exceedingly dangerous.
Then there were "Outer Gods," twisted manifestations of cosmic laws or abstract concepts. These were closer to "concepts made manifest" and could grant powers resembling "rules," but the offerings they demanded were often wildly varied and extraordinarily rare.
Of course, Vanessa wanted to sacrifice to a True God, which represented order, stability, and a relatively safe haven.
Yet those books contained no methods for sacrificing to True Gods at all. They only mentioned that such sacrifices had to be performed in the churches of True Gods.
Instead, she had found two Paths for sacrificing to evil gods.
Elliot reached out and picked up two cards from the table.
[Path · Flesh Ascension · Part One]
[Path · Omniscience · Part Two]
These two cards were the [Paths] the girl had found only after searching through every book.
Of the several boxes in the attic, only one contained books. Most of the rest held various strange tools, such as a drafting kit for drawing rituals.
In other words, if he wanted to touch the supernatural today, he could only choose one of these two cards.
Elliot turned over the first one.
[Path · Flesh Ascension · Part One]
Notes:
"We invoke Shengtuo, the god of fertile soil and crawling."
"We invoke Shengtuo, the god of endless self-consuming."
"We invoke Shengtuo, the god of unceasing hunger."
Offerings: nails, hair, appendix.
Elliot's gaze grew peculiar as he looked at this card.
Vanessa had found a copy of the Song of Flesh on the bookshelf. The entire book was deeply sinister, but reading through it had yielded no clue cards.
Instead, she had obtained this card from a diary.
The diary's owner called himself "Pulu" and described how he had performed his sacrifices in a smug tone.
"Shengtuo may be the easiest evil god to satisfy."
"He indiscriminately craves all sacrifices of one's own flesh and blood, and the rewards he grants are straightforward-physical ascension, meaning improved bodily capabilities."
"This makes his sacrificial rituals practically risk-free. As long as you're sane and don't offer too much at once and die during the ritual, nothing will go wrong."
"You see, most evil gods associated with flesh and blood will distort your body, making you grow extra limbs and organs. After all, getting an evil god to understand branching flesh like arms and legs is rather difficult."
"This is what makes the gifts of the Flesh Ascender so wonderful."
"All his rewards strengthen what you already have, rather than making you grow more flesh!"
"And... he isn't picky!"
"After studying many cases, I discovered something. He accepts more than just flesh and blood-even parts that grow back, like hair and nails, can serve as offerings!"
"The moment I learned this, I sacrificed my useless appendix!"
"It was a tremendous success! Even though that was all I sacrificed, it still strengthened my body slightly. Now my recovery is better, and I even have the potential for ascension and evolution!"
"Most importantly... my hair didn't disappear permanently. It grew back, just like my nails! My appendix didn't, though. Hahahahaha!!"
"I've sacrificed seven times this year. Although the power gained each time was slight, those small gains add up to something considerable! Now ordinary knife wounds heal in no time!"
"Those idiots always want to reach the top in a single leap. They don't understand the wisdom of a steady trickle... perhaps I'm still weak now, but one day, I'll become the strongest in the world!"
"Remember, this is a deal that costs nothing!"
After reading all this, Elliot wore a complicated expression, momentarily unsure how to judge it.
This "Pulu" really was talented, in a way! Who would have thought of milking an evil god by sacrificing hair, nails, and an appendix?
Was he exploiting a bug in an evil god?
At that thought, even Elliot felt a little eager to try. The power hardly mattered; he mainly wanted to sacrifice his appendix. He wondered whether wisdom teeth counted as flesh and blood...
Unfortunately, that was all that remained of the diary. Everything afterward had been lost, so there was no telling what had become of Pulu.
Given how old this diary was, he must have sacrificed his hair for at least several decades, right?
After spending decades bald, who knew how strong he might be?
Elliot looked at the second card.
[Path · Omniscience · Part Two]
Notes:
"Let us invoke Jingyuan, the god who knows all things."
"Let us invoke Jingyuan, the god who reflects the world."
"Let us invoke Jingyuan, the god of cold submersion."
Offering: frontal lobe.
This card had an entirely different source: a medical research report with neat handwriting and rigorous logic that nevertheless sent chills down the spine.
That paper... Elliot still felt a lingering fear when he recalled it.
The report's author was a doctor who had ventured into the supernatural realm. His original aim had been to explore "a new treatment to aid concentration and treat anxiety disorders and hyperactivity."
-He had been trying to use supernatural power to help ordinary people.
The doctor had carefully engineered a setup in which a patient, entirely unaware, successfully sacrificed the two purely negative emotions of "anxiety" and "unease" to "Jingyuan."
Yes, even emotions such as "anxiety" and "unease" could be sacrificed!
After two full years of rigorous observation, the doctor was shocked to discover that this sacrifice had not only effectively eliminated the symptoms, but had produced almost no noticeable side effects!
His main specialty, after all, was treating mental illnesses. In other words, he was a psychiatrist.
The medications he usually prescribed to patients often came with considerable side effects, and some were even addictive.
The patient had even gained exceptional control over their own emotions. According to that patient's records, not only the anxiety disorder but even the preexisting moderate depression had been eradicated.
After the first sacrifice succeeded, this bold-or rather, mad-doctor made an even more radical attempt:
After sacrificing a patient's negative emotions, he found another patient who was preparing to undergo a lobotomy and spoke with her at length, persuading her to offer the excised frontal lobe tissue as a sacrifice to Jingyuan once more.
Unexpectedly, the ritual succeeded again!
This time, Jingyuan granted the patient insight and comprehension far beyond those of ordinary people-supernatural intelligence.
The patient soon saw through everything the doctor had done, but rather than becoming angry, she gladly accepted it and worked with him to compile these shocking sacrificial experiences into this Omniscience Path.
Come to think of it, this card's full name was [Path · Omniscience · Part Two]. The final "Part Two" probably referred to the second sacrifice.
Before you continue