Chapter 231

“He refused right away.”

“Hmm.”

Well, that made sense. As the High Priest had said, if they already had enough people, they could simply turn him down.

“So I followed them on one of their volunteer rounds.”

Very discreetly, of course.

At first, Ersi didn’t notice anything unusual. They went about their work like any other priests, handing out food and daily necessities while preaching to the people.

“But then I overheard a strange conversation at one of the houses.”

“What kind of conversation?”

A woman in her mid-twenties lived alone in a shabby house. As soon as she saw High Priest Byron, she dropped to her knees and asked in a trembling voice.

“P-Priest... What about my Armi...?”

“She has been chosen by Him.”

“Ah...!”

“Chosen?”

“Yes.”

The woman’s face lit up with joy. Even Ersi, who was watching from a distance, could feel how delighted she was.

“And then he said this.”

“You’ll be the next one chosen.”

“Ah... Ah...”

“I’ll see you in twenty days.”

The woman even shed tears of joy at the thought of being the next one chosen.

“Chosen...”

Isn’t that a little too suspicious?

“He said twenty days?”

“Yes.”

It seemed likely that twenty days was when they would enter that strange space.

“Twenty days...”

“Hmm?”

“Isn’t that when the red moon rises again?”

“Ah!”

Ersi’s eyes widened slightly at Ceres’s words.

That was the same day he had witnessed that strange scene. A red moon had risen that night. He could still vividly remember how eerie the sky had looked.

“Maybe...”

Could their movements have something to do with the red moon?

The realization made Ersi’s expression harden.

“There’s an old saying.”

The day the red moon rises...

“...is the day evil spirits stir.”

Both Ersi and Ceres fell silent, their expressions turning grim.

***

“It’s been a while, Lord Veilks.”

High Priest Byron bowed respectfully to Veilks. A gentle smile crossed Veilks’s face as he looked at him.

“It finally starts.”

“Yes. I’m sorry it took so long.”

“Not at all. You’ve done well.”

At Veilks’s praise, High Priest Byron bowed even deeper.

The Holy Spring had finally been tainted, and the Tamer Relics had lost their powers. They had spent years working toward this result.

I only needed to taint one place.

There were five Holy Springs across the continent. But they only needed to taint the one in the Imperial Temple.

It was the central point of the five springs. Once that one was tainted, the others would lose all their power as well.

But tainting it wasn’t so simple. The ritual could only be performed on a specific day.

The day the Red Moon rises.

The ritual had no effect on any other day. That was why it had taken years to finally achieve this.

But all that effort had been worth it. The result was more satisfying than he could’ve imagined. It wasn’t officially announced yet, but the three dukes had lost all their power.

Even Grand Duke Persia.

That was truly unexpected. He had never imagined that the Grand Duke would be affected as well.

“As I told you before, the Holy Spring will keep trying to restore its original power.”

“Yes, I know.”

High Priest Byron nodded before adding reassuringly,

“I’ve finished all the preparations for this month as well.”

“Yes, Lord Byron. I’m counting on you.”

Veilks smiled and nodded with satisfaction.

“Just a little longer. Soon, everything will be over.”

“Yes.”

As Byron bowed deeply once more, Veilks looked around.

The white flowers that had been blooming in abundance until recently had all withered and died. Yet Veilks still wore a smile as he looked at them.

***

“There shouldn’t be any problems today, right?”

“Yes. Everything is ready.”

“Good.”

High Priest Byron slowly looked around. A small spring stood in the center of the space.

It was smaller than the Holy Spring, but water continued to bubble up from it. Like the Holy Spring, its water had also turned blood-red.

Strange patterns had been drawn around the spring, with various objects placed here and there on top of them.

“Remove those.”

“Yes.”

At High Priest Byron’s command, the priests beside him began clearing away the things scattered around the spring. They were human corpses, shriveled and grotesque. It was as though every last drop of moisture had been drained from them, leaving only their skin behind.

Whoom-

Just as the priests finished moving the corpses to an inconspicuous corner, a door appeared in one of the walls. A group of people stepped inside.

“Lord Byron.”

Seven people entered behind a priest: five children and two women.

“Welcome.”

High Priest Byron greeted them warmly. With a gentle smile, he approached the women and children, taking their hands one by one and reassuring them.

“The time has finally come.”

His voice rose as he continued.

“In this age of ruin, you alone have been chosen for salvation.”

“Ah...”

At his words, everyone fell to their knees and bowed their heads before him. The children did the same.

“Chosen by Lord Herchaos, you will never again have to suffer the pain of this world.”

Byron then approached the spring, now stained blood-red, and scooped some of its water into a black bowl. He dipped his finger into it and drew a mark across the foreheads of those kneeling before him.

“Now, go to your assigned places.”

At his command, the priests waiting nearby stepped forward and led the women and children to the strange patterns drawn around the spring.

“This way.”

“You can sit here.”

The priests assigned each of them a spot, leaving some distance between them, then returned to Lord Byron.

Once they were in position, they knelt and began to pray. Even the children seemed accustomed to this. They closed their eyes and prayed without the slightest hesitation.

Then Lord Byron, who had been standing off to the side, stepped forward again.

He sprinkled the red water from the black bowl around those who were praying, muttering incomprehensible words under his breath.

Whoosh!

A brilliant light suddenly poured from the patterns drawn on the floor.

Feeling its presence, the people bowed their heads even lower and continued praying.

Soon...

A faint smile crossed Lord Byron’s face as he watched them. It seemed the ritual would go smoothly today as well.

Fwoosh.

“—!”

But his smile quickly disappeared. The brilliant light suddenly vanished, as if a blazing fire had been snuffed out.

“Why did it suddenly...?”

Lord Byron stared in disbelief. This had never happened before.

The people who had been praying also raised their heads and looked around in confusion.

“Tsk. I knew kneeling wasn’t my thing.”

“.....?”

Someone caught Lord Byron’s attention.

“Lady Hera?”

It was Hera, one of the two women.

She was also the mother of Armi, the child who had been offered as a sacrifice before. Byron had met her during the volunteer work he had joined to find a new sacrifice.

“What did you just say...?”

“Hey.”

“...Hey?”

Lord Byron could hardly believe his ears. Did she really just call him hey?

“Was that you?”