For their own the Lord and for survival itself, not wanting their souls to be taken and burned as lanterns, they spared no effort in shouting matches and outright violence. Some even considered killing competitors on the spot. But fearing the space might collapse if the fighting continued, they reluctantly stopped.
"Stop arguing. In the end, we do not really care about any so-called agreements anyway." "In that case, let us just share a single foundation. When the time comes, everyone relies on their own ability. Whoever kills whom takes that person's portion of the ritual sacrifices."
"How about that? It avoids drawing too much attention from the vulgar masses, and it prevents all of us from ending up with nothing. At least this way, someone is guaranteed to succeed."
In a hoarse voice, a proposal was put forward, briefly silencing the many eerie figures under black robes. The plan itself was simple. All Church of Holy Light would jointly prepare a shared large-scale ritual and complete the preliminary steps in advance.
On the night of the true sacrifice, everyone except their own Church of Holy Light would slaughter each other and seize the ritual components. This foundation was extremely hard to destroy, and its underlying logic was almost impossible to modify. Changing it would be like rewriting the most basic rules of arithmetic.
Using the same rules ensured that at least some godly consciousnesses could descend, rather than everyone dragging each other down and ending with nothing. It also prevented outside Church of Holy Light from secretly stabbing them in the back. It turned an uncertain struggle into something like a survival match.
After a period of silence, once the first supporter appeared, nearly everyone agreed. It was far more reliable than acting alone while guarding against everyone else. They knew exactly what kind of creatures their own Companion were, and when survival was at stake, no one lacked the resolve to drag everyone down.
"Then let us begin preparations, everyone." "Prepare to welcome our the Lord!"
There was only one day left before taking up the post at Holy City. Most of the packing was already done, though there was not much to pack in the first place. At most, it meant choosing a few familiar clothes to take along, and beyond that there was almost nothing.
Oh right, there was also that cursed book. Everything else that could not be shown to the light of day was stored in the Spatial Ring, things like grappling hooks, darts, sleeping drugs, and special outfits for using the Assassin's Codex. All of it felt disturbingly normal.
There was also the hammer that fit the hand so well. Compared to its original job of striking bells, it was far more often used to smash the heads of ShardAbyss Cultists, especially after adding Holy Light, which made most hits a clean finish.
At this moment, Alba stayed in her room and slowly opened that book. Before doing so, she skillfully activated the Simulator to prevent any big trouble from happening later. Only then did she settle herself.
"All right, let me see what today's spell is…"
The book Alba opened was the Black Book. She stared at a specific section, the strange function attached to the book that could release spells. Before this, had it not been said that she did not have Magic at all?
That required going back a bit, because things were different now. After completing the task of gaining one hundred thousand recognitions, a rather pleasing sound rang out in Alba's head.
"Achievement complete!" "Side quest completed!" "Quest reward: Unlock exclusive Magic mana bar, automatic recovery!"
At the time, Alba was thrilled. She finally had Magic. That meant she was no longer a helpless weakling who could only rely on equipment to survive.
She did not expect to be as strong as Elvin, who could split stone barehanded with Rend, or kick out numbers on the level of Levi. Still, she should at least be able to trade a few moves with ordinary Shocker soldiers.
With that thought, Alba was quickly doused with cold water by the Simulator. The mana bar was calculated independently. In other words, it was independent to the point that it did not even truly belong to Alba.
So while there was a mana bar, it was really just a mana bar. It did not directly grant Alba the ability to use Magic. To use this mana, she needed an actual skill, and as for where that skill would come from, the answer was obvious.
The book itself had two functions. One was spells, and the other was summoning. She did not dare touch the latter at all, since it seemed to require certain conditions, and the name Belial really did not sound like anything good.
As for the former, she was still cautious, but since it was inside the simulation, even if something happened, it would not become irreversible. At least, that was what she hoped.
At first, Alba found an empty patch of land to experiment. The spell described here was random, meaning she would not know what came out. The first time she used it on a barren area, nothing instantly horrifying appeared, but what happened was far stranger.
The weeds on the ground turned into golden strips, like freshly fried fries, and flower petals became chunks of fried chicken. Tree trunks were coated in breadcrumbs, and through a Rift she could see colorful chicken meat marked as White Tier. Branches hung with pizza slices stretching melted cheese, while nearby puddles became dark, fizzy soda.
Even hard stones turned into soft, cold ice cream dusted with sugar, dripping bright red strawberry syrup. A few butterflies flapped wings made of potato chips as they flew past a stunned Alba. It was painfully hard to resist rejecting all of this.
Her mana bar was almost drained to empty that time, and it only recovered the next day after the simulation ended. When she used it a second time, Alba even felt a bit of expectation.
The result was that her eagerly awaited late-night snack turned straight into ribbons, unopened fireworks, and even a bonus clown wig. It really was random.
She verified that fireworks in the simulation could be used normally. After they exploded, nothing else happened until that simulation ended again.
For the third test, she still activated the simulation to prevent further trouble. Even though nothing had gone wrong the first two times, there were no guarantees. After all, this involved a Evil God, and there was always the risk that her perception had been twisted, or that the true nature had not yet been revealed.
She decided to try a few more times, and to stop once the Golden Arches spell appeared. Opening the spell function again required no preparation. The mana bar simply dropped by a large chunk, and the book began to glow.
The repeatedly altered wasteland in the simulation suddenly sprouted blockbuster green grass. Flowers, vines, and even ancient trees burst from the soil in a very short time. The land that once barely had weeds was instantly filled, and the rapidly growing plants were not only huge, but also bore ripe fruit almost immediately.
Then, just as quickly, they withered. The small patch of land could not support such growth, and though fruits formed, Alba did not recognize them and did not dare eat them.
"These spells don't really match in style," Alba muttered. "Do the creations from these spells have no real effect, just surface appearances?" "If this is real, then this Evil God is really strange."
Golden Arches, fireworks, ribbons, and now plant growth. She could not see what connected them.
With the day's spell testing done, Alba continued to think. Ever since realizing she had fallen into a den of thieves, she had carefully tested things. Using the simulation, she cautiously questioned Elvin and the others, but from observation they seemed normal.
Even for a Evil God, pretending at first to lure someone in made sense. But continuing to act after she had already fallen in seemed excessive. After joining, the two had indeed dropped the act, but aside from worshiping that unsettling image of the God of Light, everything else looked normal.
They performed Prayer properly, reciting the rites and scriptures of the God of Light. Their behavior and demeanor were ordinary, and to outsiders they had always seemed that way. If she had not truly experienced that damned sacrifice scene in the simulation, she might have believed it.
Something filled with endless resentful souls and such a terrifying presence could not possibly be a proper god. There was always the chance that her group's understanding had already been twisted. That was something she could not ignore.
She closed the book, ending today's tests. Alba waited for the simulation to end, since every time the progress reached the day of going to Holy City, it would automatically cut off.
After waiting for a while, however, the Simulator showed no sign of interruption. It still seemed to be running. Alba frowned, feeling that something was wrong.
"What's going on? An earthquake? This never happened before!"
A trembling came from deep underground. Alba turned sharply and saw black smoke rising over the city. Multiple blood-red pillars of light shot into the sky, forming a massive Magic Array that covered most of the heavens.