After a few light tremors, the Crimson River finally settled, and a fragile calm began to return to the forest.
Darkness still lingered due to the proximity of the purple clouds, but the screams had already faded away.
There was nothing left but the three of them, standing beneath an ominous silence.
Ulrich remained tense, his expression dark as he tightened his grip on his sword before finally sheathing it with a resigned sigh.
Rose and Finn, on the other hand, kept their eyes fixed on the north, where reddish footprints were still visible.
Silent reminders of the overwhelming display of power they had just witnessed.
As well as the single glance that had been cast their way before they were utterly ignored.
Why didn't she just execute us?
Even though their knowledge of the Dome was almost entirely theoretical, due to the obvious lack of any real means of physical access, there was one law considered absolute.
The hostility of the Fallen toward the remaining humans after the barrier's creation.
And yet, there were no records describing any form of mutual animosity between them.
"I didn't know you were religious," Finn said, snapping Rose out of her trance.
She paused briefly before answering.
"Me neither," she replied with a sheepish smile.
"My mother used to sing praises of the Celestial Half Angel to me, but I was never much of a believer. I think I've stepped into a church two or three times in my entire life. Still, it was the first thing that came to mind when I thought I was about to get… melted."
She hesitated, then added with a faint chuckle.
"Strange, considering the so-called wicked angel I'm supposed to be sanctified by was crucified centuries ago."
She fell silent again, her voice lower when she spoke next.
"Maybe she was right. We all need something to believe in at some point in our lives. Especially when we reach the end of them."
At least she doesn't seem like a deranged fanatic. With some luck, she won't try to slit my throat if she finds out I'm a blasphemer.
"I see," Finn replied simply.
"I don't think we have the luxury of discussing our beliefs," Ulrich said urgently. "We should be looking for information."
Finn felt Ulrich's expectant gaze before turning to Rose, who was staring at him the same way.
"Wait wait," he stammered. "Stop looking at me like that, waiting for some miracle solution. I don't even have the faintest idea how we're supposed to survive here let alone escape this damn Dome."
Ulrich grinned.
"Well, you're the one who claimed to be the most informed among us. So take responsibility."
Finn shook his head in discouragement but said nothing.
"He's not wrong," Rose cut in with a sly smile. "For now, I think we should try to find other survivors."
"Then we'd better hurry up and perform the ritual," Finn said.
Rose raised an eyebrow.
"What ritual?"
"The prosperity ritual, of course. I'm not going to teach you your own rituals."
She shot him a puzzled look.
"I already know that. But do you know the prerequisites?"
"A bit of blood and a good artist, I suppose," Finn replied casually.
"I honestly can't tell whether you're a genius or just trying to annoy me," she snapped, irritation creeping into her voice. "Not to mention that we preferably need a diviner and I'm not even talking about the blood cost. We'd all end up anemic in the middle of nowhere."
"I'll play the role of the diviner and tune myself to your frequency. Just draw the octagon," Finn said, standing up and heading toward the river. "And as for human blood, we have more than enough. An entire river, actually."
Ulrich's and Rose's eyes widened as they followed him. They hadn't even considered it, but the faint smell drifting from the river was identical to that of human blood even its texture, resembling blood in the midst of coagulation.
Finn crouched down before reluctantly plunging his hand into the river.
How can it remain like this outside of human circulation?
The river was calm, save for vertical waves rising at regular intervals, roughly every ten seconds.
"It makes sense that it's like this blood," Rose said, taking a cautious step closer to the grim waters.
"Not really. If I had to explain it, I'd say…" He paused, surprised by the words forming in his mind. "I think the river has a heart."
"So if we pierce its heart, we can kill the other creature," Ulrich said curiously, earning him a sharp glare from both of them.
'Who's going to dive into that thing?'
"I was just sharing a thought," Ulrich added innocently, waving his hand.
"Enough nonsense," Rose said, kneeling beside Finn and fully submerging her hand before pulling it out, completely drenched in blood.
With remarkable precision, she drew a cubic structure with elongated edges in just a few seconds, then dipped her hand back into the river several times, this time sketching a volatile, shifting shape at the center of the disc.
"What kind of beast is that?" Ulrich asked, tilting his head.
"A raven," Rose replied proudly. "There should be plenty of them nearby, judging by the number of corpses."
Wasn't that a pigeon?
"Your raven is beautiful," Finn complimented her. In any case, it was more of a mental construct, so as long as she believed it was a raven beneath their feet, then a raven it would be.
Rose stood up, brushing off her white dress, now stained with a pale crimson and mud. She placed her right foot decisively on the octagon and extended her hand toward her acolyte.
"Just make sure to follow my mind and stay focused," she said, then turned to Ulrich. "And you make sure to tell us where we're going."
The prosperity ritual strictly required an illusionist at its center and a diviner to stabilize it in space, as well as to anchor the original consciousness when it shifted toward the borrowed one.
It was possible to do without a diviner and replace their partial omniscience with raw energy drawn from any external source, but the complications increased accordingly.
"What happens if it goes wrong?" Finn asked.
"Not much," Rose replied in a far too casual tone.
"In the best case scenario, our brains explode."