To be honest, Danitz had no idea what would actually happen once the sacrificial ritual began—but based on everything he'd seen over the past few days, his outlook was deeply pessimistic.
"For all these years…thank you for taking care of me…"
"Please accept this as the final expression of my love before I die."
He finished the last sentence, then hesitated for a moment before adding:
"Of course, I'd much rather have a chance to say it to you in person—
Yours faithfully,
Your loyal first mate,
Danitz."
Danitz folded the parchment solemnly and tucked it into his chest.
Taking a deep breath, he whispered to himself, "Let me admire the moon one last time before I die."
He looked up—just in time to see a dark cloud smother the crimson moon.
He immediately cursed out loud, "Seriously?! I don't even get to look at the damn moon before I die? That's just cruel! I swear, if I ever—"
RUMMMMBLE—!
Suddenly, the ground began to quake.
ROAR!!!
An enraged roar echoed through the night.
Looking skyward, he saw the black clouds churning above—laced with silver lightning that burst in unison, turning the world into a blinding silver-white blaze.
These overwhelming disturbances shook all of Tiana Island awake.
Deep beneath the island, at a massive altar built from bones and corpses, the Numinous Episcopate demigod was seated in silent meditation. Now he abruptly stood, a chill creeping into his heart as he turned to face the terrifying aura emanating from outside.
"Could it be…the Sea King from the Church of Storms has arrived?!"
Two days ago, while pursuing a traitor, he'd had a brief encounter with Sea King Jahn Kottman. Of course, he'd been forced to flee in embarrassment at the time.
Though he was certain the traitor had died, he couldn't guarantee that the man hadn't leaked the Tiana Island plan beforehand. The safest route would've been to abandon the ritual, relocate, and start over.
But that would mean throwing away months of preparations—and within the Numinous Episcopate, not everyone was on the same page. The Artificial Death Faction had spent a tremendous amount of resources and favours to win the chance for this trial run.
Relocating and starting over simply wasn't feasible in time.
So he'd rushed back to Tiana Island and ordered the Sea God cultists to accelerate the ritual.
The past two days had remained eerily calm, and now everything was ready—just a few more hours, and the ritual would be complete. Artificial Death would descend, replacing the Sea God.
But now—of all times—
He turned and strode out of the underground ritual chamber, just in time to see the Sea God cult's archbishop running toward him in alarm.
"Lord Ralph, what's going on outside?"
The Numinous Episcopate demigod Ralph replied calmly, "I'm not sure yet. I'll go investigate. If it really is the military or the Church, I'll hold them off as long as I can. I need your people to start the ritual—now."
The archbishop froze.
"Start early? Wouldn't that be dangerous?"
Ralph gave a cold chuckle, "If we don't start early, we might never get the chance at all. Victory or defeat—Rorsted's future now lies in your hands."
"…Understood!"
The archbishop quickly composed himself, nodded, and turned back down the corridor, urgently gathering the Sea God cultists to initiate the ritual.
Meanwhile, Ralph traversed the spirit world and emerged on the island's surface.
The skies above Tiana were now choked with rolling thunderclouds, torrential rain hammering the earth. Blinding lightning flickered like serpents among the clouds.
ROOOAAARRR!!!
A massive phantom door had opened between raging storm clouds and the sea. Behind it, the writhing shadow of a titanic creature bellowed again and again, slamming against the illusory gate, its aura a violent, chaotic storm of wrath and destruction.
"That's…the Sea God worshipped by the cult?"
Ralph's expression twisted in shock.
Wasn't that thing just a beast that swallowed a Beyonder characteristic and luckily evolved into a Sequence 3?
Why is its presence even more terrifying than that of Sea King Jahn Kottman?!
BOOM—!
Bolts of lightning erupted from the illusory gate, forming a dense electrical net above Tiana Island. Paired with the downpour, the web of lightning came crashing toward the Sea God cultists below.
Fortunately, most of them had taken shelter underground, so this first wave of divine lightning didn't cause too many casualties.
But Sea Serpent Kalvetua soon realised this. It began trying to shift the sacrificial gate underground—only to discover it faced the same problem that had stumped Phoenix: the area down there was in complete chaos.
Unable to descend through the ritual gate, the Sea God made its choice—
It would force its way into the real world. Right here. Right now.
Ralph immediately understood its intention and raised his hand.
With a gesture, he opened a massive Gate of the Underworld, through which a flood of undead surged forth—skeletons, ghosts, and decayed monsters swarming toward Kalvetua in a suicidal frenzy.
One side was a Sequence 3.
The other, Sequence 4.
But Kalvetua was manifesting in a half-real, half-spiritual state—caught between the physical world and the spirit world. It couldn't unleash its full power.
As a result, it actually found itself slightly overwhelmed by the tide of undead.
Ralph exhaled a long breath, tension draining from his chest.
He knew very well that his strength couldn't match this sea serpent—but thankfully, his goal wasn't to defeat it.
As long as Kalvetua couldn't fully descend, its power would remain limited. And if it couldn't descend—
Then this battle…was already won.
The moment the thought surfaced, a new flash of silver lightning burst across the sea in the distance—rapidly approaching. Illuminated by the thunderous light, Ralph immediately recognised the man clad in the Church of Storm's priestly robes—
It was none other than Sea King, Jahn Kottman!
Almost at the same moment Ralph recognised him, the storm's archbishop—like a silver spear—came hurtling through the rain and lightning, appearing right in front of Ralph in the blink of an eye.
BOOM!
The skies above Tiana Island lit up again in a sea of blinding white.
"Where's Gehrman Sparrow?! Get out here!!"
Kottman floated in the sky, wreathed in storm and fury, his hair—thick as ropes and wriggling like tentacles—whipping wildly around him. His entire body radiated pure, unfiltered rage.
"Gehrman Sparrow?"
Ralph was stunned. He had heard the name before—but why was this Sea King coming after him for it?
He didn't even know the guy!
"Not talking?!"
The silver lightning surged behind Kottman like an incoming tsunami.
"Then I'll kill you first!"
What the hell kind of logic is that?! Do you even hear yourself?!
But before he could say anything more, the Gate of the Underworld that Ralph had maintained collapsed with a thunderous roar. With the stream of undead severed, Sea Serpent Kalvetua immediately began slamming against the Ritual Gate again.
"!!"
Kottman's eyes suddenly gleamed with delight.
"I've been searching for you for so long, and you show yourself like this? Wonderful! Excellent!!"
——
Elsewhere, Edward, cloaked in his invisibility gear, was watching from afar as the Sea King initiated a 1v2 against both the Numinous Episcopate demigod and the Sea Serpent—and held his own without even faltering.
Of course, Edward knew that while Kottman was powerful, he wouldn't be able to kill both a demigod and Kalvetua all by himself. If that were possible, the Church of Storm would've wiped out the Sea God cult years ago.
In the original timeline, Kalvetua only died so quickly because it had lost the Book of Calamity.
But Edward couldn't steal that book, nor could he be sure Kottman would manage to finish the job here.
So, if he wanted to replicate Klein's method, he'd have to pin his hopes on Numinous Episcopate's ritual.
Using his dowsing rod, Edward quickly located Danitz's position, then made his way toward it, trekking deep into the rainforest until he came upon an entrance leading underground.
He activated Concealment and followed the path, marvelling as he went:
"These cultists must've studied civil engineering. How long did it take them to dig out a network like this? It's practically a spider's web!"
"Whoa!"
Suddenly, Edward paused—something felt off.
He hadn't encountered a single person the entire way. If not for the fresh footprints on the ground, he might've suspected everyone had already evacuated.
In cat form, Lilith curled up in his arms, her blue eyes wide and gleaming.
"Edward! Are these the rat tunnels you told me about before? They're so long and deep and huge!"
"There must be soooo many mice here!"
But just as she said that, her ears twitched. Her fur bristled all over as she suddenly tensed.
"Edward…something's up ahead. Something scary."
Edward's expression shifted immediately, though he still felt nothing himself. He stopped.
"What kind of scary thing?"
"I don't know." She shook her head quickly.
"It just feels terrifying!"
Edward hesitated. Was Lilith reacting to the aura of the ritual tied to Numinous Episcopate's "Evil God," or was there another hidden powerhouse in these tunnels?
His mind turned quickly.
Phoenix whistled through the air and reappeared.
"Something wrong—oh? So you're here already?"
The bird hovered midair, peering into the tunnel ahead.
"Yep, that's the Evil God's aura. It's getting thicker. Someone's using a ritual—a sacrificial ritual—to let its power leak into reality."
"Take me there."
With Phoenix leading the way, Edward dashed after it. Within two or three minutes, he too began to feel the sinister pressure in the air, like countless tiny needles pricking at his skin.
Then—chanting began.
A strange, ancient melody echoed faintly through the tunnels. Edward instantly recognised it—it was just like the song Priscilla had chanted when she'd been kidnapped and made to perform a spirit dance for the Numinous Episcopate.
At the same time—
In a vast and empty underground space, over a thousand people were kneeling in silence. Most were Sea God cultists (members of the Resistance).
In the centre, surrounded tightly by them, a dozen or so men and women in black robes danced wildly around a massive coffin, performing their grotesque, ritualistic steps.
Around the coffin were ominous golden relics, tainted with a malevolent aura, and hundreds of feathered skulls. At the perimeter flickered a circle of pale yellow candles with dancing flames.
The ritual platform itself wasn't styled after Numinous Episcopate's usual iconography. In fact, it looked almost like an enlarged version of the one Red-Hair had used to pray to Sea Serpent Kalvetua.
Even the kneeling Sea God worshipers around the platform were chanting Kalvetua's prayers, following the beat of the ritual dance.
Danitz knelt among the others, but unlike them, he wasn't caught in a frenzy of religious ecstasy. Instead, he remained highly alert, carefully monitoring every movement around him.
Wrapped around his wrist was a bracelet made of white bone fragments—a sealed artifact handed to him by the archbishop just before the ritual began.
If any outsider interfered with the ceremony, it would be Danitz's job to use it and eliminate the threat.
On the surface, he'd thanked the archbishop for his trust.
But in truth, now that he'd advanced to Conspirer, his insight had improved drastically—and from the archbishop's expression, he could clearly read the man's true intention:
This sealed artifact? It was almost certainly the suicidal kind—a self-destruct device.
By giving it to Danitz, the archbishop wasn't trusting him to protect the ritual.
He was sending him to die.
———
[Note]: 750 Powerstones for an Extra Chapter tomorrow. Go, VOTE!
And if you are like me and want to read 40 Chapters in advance of the current story right now, you can support me on my Patreon. Thank me later~
Link - (P)atre(o)n.c(o)m/ Iseeblack [Remove the brackets]