Chapter 159 – The Evil Ritual
The white expanse concealed everything beneath it—rock, soil, and vegetation alike. Standing within it, nothing else could be seen.
About a week later, Charles descended into this strange sealed domain for the second time.
But unlike before, he was not alone.
His feet slowly touched the ground as the strange buoyant force lowered him down. Behind him came a series of dull thuds, five in total, followed by the sound of something hard striking the ground.
Charles turned his head.
Several wooden barrels wrapped in thick vines came into view.
Walking over, he grabbed one of the vines.
At once, the old voice echoed inside his mind.
"Though I do not understand why you can use your peculiar magic here, I doubt that five lives and these quantities of blood will bring you any results."
"Of course," Charles replied calmly. "To be honest, I'm not sure either. But if I don't try, it will definitely never work."
The ancient voice fell silent.
Then the vine that had lowered them began to retract slowly upward until it disappeared completely from sight.
Charles turned toward the depths of the sealed domain.
The Three-Eyed Raven had not truly left. Instead, he was guiding the plants within this white space to assist him.
Under the Raven's control, creeping vines slithered in from the sides.
They wrapped around five unconscious bodies and began dragging them deeper into the sealed domain.
Great Adventure in the American TV World
Chapter 159 – The Evil Ritual (Continued)
Carrying the wooden barrels, Charles followed silently behind.
They continued moving forward until they finally reached the grove.
Looking ahead, the icy-blue "lightning" still flickered and coiled in the clearing among the trees, unchanged—seemingly eternal.
But compared to his previous visit, Charles's mindset this time was completely different.
Let everything go smoothly.
As the thought crossed his mind, another question suddenly surfaced.
Did he really need to continue walking the path of a necromancer?
At the moment, he seemed to be gaining some recognition within the Church. If he worked hard, he would likely achieve a respectable status in the future. It might not even be inferior to what he could gain through necromancy.
But after only a moment of thought, he dismissed the idea.
"One option is an unknown treasure map that might even be poisoned for me. To obtain it, I'd have to struggle and climb endlessly, and I might still never find the treasure."
"The other is a treasure chest that's already open—something I can take at any time, dangerous only to others."
"Give it up? I'd have to be an idiot."
Muttering to himself, he began walking slowly around the ground, observing the terrain.
He was figuring out how to draw the ritual magic array here.
"Necromancers have successfully summoned ascension power in secondary planes before," he thought. "But those planes usually maintain some form of connection with the main world…"
"Does this world have such a connection?"
"If it does, great. If not… perhaps the Traversal Gate counts as one?"
"But I only have a brief instant when leaving…"
After settling his plan in his mind, Charles cast a long look at the strange extraterrestrial meteorite, which seemed fused with the surrounding white space.
Yes.
He intended to use the thing before him as the stepping stone for his ascension.
The advancement of a necromancer was different from other paths.
It required neither a superior guide nor sacrificial offerings.
All it required was a stepping stone.
Something at the same level as the ascension being attempted—human, demon, ancient creature, even another undead.
A brutally straightforward rule.
Of course, if the stepping stone surpassed one's current level, that was acceptable as well.
That was why Charles felt fairly confident about what he was about to do.
No one had ever said this mysterious object couldn't serve as his stepping stone.
"Unless it surpasses the power level of the main world," he muttered, "no matter how strange it is, it will still be bound by the rules of that world."
"But… if this works and I forcibly drag this stone away… will it cause some kind of reaction here?"
That was a question worth considering.
But like a certain famous experiment from his memory, no one could know the result until it was actually tried.
"Guess we'll find out."
With that thought, Charles simply stopped walking and sat down on the ground nearby.
Lowering his head, he stared at his body and silently counted the passing time.
Around him were a barrel of "water"—actually blood—and five unconscious ritual materials, quietly accompanying him.
The Three-Eyed Raven did not appear again. Perhaps he was observing from somewhere unseen.
But it made little difference to Charles.
The white world remained unchanged, devoid of anything that might attract attention.
Finally, when the time he had calculated arrived, Charles stood up.
Using a brush he had prepared earlier, he dipped it into the liquid inside the barrel and began painting a complex magic array on the ground around the meteorite.
Circles.
Crescents.
Arcane runes.
Bone-like symbols.
One by one, he skillfully inscribed them with blood.
During the days he had spent waiting for the Traversal Gate to reopen, he had not been idle.
Almost all of his time had been devoted to practicing this advancement ritual array.
Although he had inherited all the memories of the Bandaged Man, knowing something and being able to perform it were entirely different matters.
So he had practiced relentlessly.
Fortunately, this most basic advancement array wasn't particularly difficult.
Charles, already accustomed to studying runes and rituals, had mastered it within two days.
He had even spent another two days verifying it and had returned to this place earlier to test whether the strange environment would interfere with the ritual.
Only after confirming that everything was foolproof did he decide to proceed.
"The skulls should be placed along diagonal lines… the toe bones here…"
Muttering to himself, he completed the array.
Then he walked over to the five unconscious soldiers.
He knelt down and extended his palm, which was covered in black runes, gently touching the forehead of one of them.
A green aura began to spread and swirl.
The man's body quickly withered.
Then the second.
The third.
The fourth.
After repeating the process four times, Charles's left hand was completely enveloped in a dense green glow.
He glanced at his hand briefly before pulling out a dagger.
Gripping it tightly in his right hand, he approached the last remaining soldier.
"You were the one who came up with the idea," Charles murmured coldly. "So you'll be the main offering."
Even though he felt somewhat cruel, he didn't hesitate.
Flipping the dagger in his hand, he thrust it straight into the man's chest without blinking.
Blood splattered.
Yet the violent wound did not wake the victim.
Before coming here, Melisandre had used a special powder she carried to completely drug the would-be offenders into unconsciousness.
The powder was extremely potent.
According to her, even if their limbs were severed, they wouldn't wake up.
Charles wasn't entirely convinced—but he had no other option but to trust the old witch.
He began working with the dagger.
Despite it being his first time doing something like this, his movements were surprisingly skilled.
Clothes torn open.
Skin sliced apart.
The chest cavity opened, exposing the ribcage.
Charles paused briefly, staring at the scene before him.
He hesitated for a moment.
Then he clenched his teeth.
"What's the point of hesitating? I still have to do it."
With that muttered curse, a series of sharp, grating sounds echoed through the white space as he forced the blade through bone.
The magical powder truly was effective.
Even under such circumstances, the man never woke.
That at least eased the burden on Charles's mind.
Finally, he severed the connecting blood vessels.
Then, with his left hand still wrapped in thick green energy, he grasped the blood-red, beating heart.
The metallic scent of blood filled the air.
Charles's lips twitched slightly.
He tossed the dagger aside.
Then he stood up and walked toward the prepared magic array.
After pausing briefly to check the timing of the Traversal Gate, he took a deep breath.
Finally, he raised the still-beating heart above his head with both hands.
A low, solemn, yet piercing chant began to rise from his lips.