On the outskirts of Tivian, in an extremely hidden corner, a secret prison was concealed. Within this prison, priests who were supposed to have traveled far were held. After suffering a shameful sneak attack, they were imprisoned here. After several days of strict custody, they gradually abandoned hope of escape.
In the narrow, dark cell, Pearson, a priest of the Tivian Church, was still trapped here. Sturdy chains bound his body, and thick rock walls isolated him from freedom.
Within this cage, Pearson had attempted to save himself countless times. He tried to unlock his restraints and break out of the cage, release the companions who were captured with him, escape together, and return to the Church District to report. However, the sturdiness of the restraints, the solidity of the walls, and the strictness of the guards in this prison far exceeded Pearson's expectations. After struggling for a long time, his escape plan made no progress, and countless attempts ended in failure.
At this moment, Pearson was slumped within the dim, cramped prison cell, leaning against the corner with empty eyes staring at the cold ceiling. His pupils showed a hollow look. At this point, Pearson had given up on attempting to escape; he was silently waiting for his own end to arrive.
'According to what those guys said... once they've arranged the soul-capturing methods, they should just get rid of us. It seems... this is an irreversible outcome. It's a pity that in the end, I couldn't inform them about the crisis Sister Vanya and the others are about to face.' Pearson thought despairingly in his heart at this moment. As a clergyman, at a time like this, there was nothing else for him to do except pray.
'Lord, merciful Holy Mother, if Sister Vanya is truly the one You have chosen, then please bless her with safety. Please rescue us from this prison, and we will expose the conspiracy against Your favored ones...'
Closing his eyes, Pearson prayed thus in his heart. He had made countless prayers with similar content recently, but none had had any effect. Originally, Pearson didn't expect this prayer to have any effect either, but a sudden loud noise from outside the cell door made him change his mind.
"Boom!!"
"What's happening... Ah!!"
"Enemy attack! Quick, get someone!"
Outside Pearson's cell door, a sudden clamor arose all around. The howling of strong winds, human screams, shouts, and gunshots were incessant, rising and falling. Hearing this, Pearson couldn't help but freeze in place, the daze and emptiness in his eyes instantly disappearing.
'What is this... what's happening? Outside... there's fighting?! Could it be that other prisoners have escaped? Or...'
Pearson thought with astonishment in his heart. Then he sat up straight in his cell, pricking up his ears to listen more carefully to the situation outside. He heard that the sounds of wind howling and weapons clashing that had just erupted gradually subsided after a climax. In less than a minute, the sounds completely disappeared, and Silence returned outside the cell door.
Listening to this change, Pearson wondered if the fight outside had ended. And just as he was still guessing who the combatants were and what the final outcome was, the previously tightly shut cell door in front of him suddenly burst open.
"Hmm..."
Along with the sudden opening of the heavy iron door, a burst of Light accompanied by a strong wind rushed into the small cell. Sitting inside, Pearson felt a sudden chill. In the long-awaited Light, he couldn't help but shield his eyes with his hand.
'This wind is...'
Just as Pearson felt extremely astonished in his heart, a figure appeared in front of the opened cell door. Pearson saw that a mysterious person wearing a hood and a blood-stained cloak was slowly walking to the doorway, looking down at him sitting on the ground.
"You, who are you!?"
Looking at the mysterious person before him, Pearson spoke in astonishment. From beneath the mysterious person's hood, a woman's voice emerged.
"I am a guardian of Prit, one who purges the spider's venom from this country."
"Purging the spider's venom... you mean... you are an enemy of the Eight Point Nest? Was that you fighting those guards just now?" Pearson continued speaking in astonishment, and the mysterious person spoke again.
"More accurately, it is us. The fangs of the Eight-Pointed Nest have bitten into the nerves of this country, and we are here to heal it. For this purpose, we have come here to rescue you and your companions.
Captain, you are now free, Mr. Priest. Return to Saint Chant Church and inform the Archbishop there of everything you have experienced. An evil ritual is brewing, and your young saint is facing a crisis. Only the scorching fire of purification has a chance to reverse all of this."
The mysterious woman in the cloak said this. Then she threw a key in front of Pearson. Without waiting for him to react further, she floated up from the spot and drifted towards the side outside the door, leaving Pearson sitting there dumbfounded, looking at the key that had fallen in front of him.
"A Wind Art User... a Prit patriot?"
While picking up the key in front of him, Pearson muttered to himself. Then, after firming his expression, he used the key to unlock the restraints on his body.
...
Southwest of Prit Main Island, Glamorgan.
Glamorgan at night was cloudless, with stars filling the sky. A perfectly round, large full moon hung high in the night sky, scattering silvery moonlight between the stars onto the dark earth, guiding all those who sought in the night.
The stars highlighted the moon's disc reflected on the vast surface of Dazzle Star Lake at night. The calm lake surface was momentarily adorned with sparkling star-like gems, and the reflection of the full moon, as the largest and most radiant of these gems, was placed in the very center of the lake. There, the lakeside Church still stood.
Inside the lakeside Church in Dazzle Star Lake at this moment, the scene was brightly lit. The guards of the Holy Relic Pilgrimage Group were as always vigilant in every corner of the Church. And inside the Church, within the spacious grand chapel beneath the dome, many figures were gathered. Looking closely, they were clearly more than ten Sisters wearing ordinary Sister habits.
In front of the large goddess statue holding a bright mirror, the unified Sisters were gathered in groups of two or three, discussing something among themselves. Their expressions all carried a hint of obvious joy, as if they had all encountered something worth being happy about. And in a corner of the chapel, two Sisters with slightly different attire were standing there, observing the condition of the other Sisters present. They were Vanya and the "Gray Sister" played by Gothsmore.
"I didn't expect the effect of this training to be quite good. It only took about a day, and everyone is practicing properly. I originally thought it would take a long time."
Standing on the clean floor, Vanya said this while looking at the Sisters before her. And by her side, Gothsmore spoke with a smile.
"Didn't I tell you? The Consecration Ritual itself isn't difficult. As long as you memorize the incantations and remember the rhythm of the hymns, everything is easy. Just follow the procedure all the way through."
After being persuaded to decide to participate in the Consecration Ritual and serve as the chief priest, Vanya began to follow the words of the "Gray Sister" and started to accept her so-called special training, striving to master the method of holding the Consecration Ritual in a short period of time.
Gothsmore, playing the Gray Sister, not only explained the specific process of the ritual, the position of the chief priest, and the method of prayer to Vanya, but also provided a long page of phonetic articles, which were said to be important incantations used in the Consecration Ritual. Because the incantations contained Spirit Sight, they could not be understood and memorized directly. Instead, they had to be converted into the uncommon ancient prite language, and then, without understanding the specific meaning of the incantations, all the pronunciations had to be memorized and recited during the ritual.
Vanya was born in the Historical Scripture Department and was no stranger to document memorization work, so memorizing this incantation was not difficult. She only spent most of the day and almost perfectly memorized everything. After confirming that Vanya had memorized all the incantation pronunciations, Gothsmore expressed her admiration. After praising Vanya for a few sentences, she decided to speed up the training progress.
Afterward, Vanya's training entered the second phase. According to Gothsmore's instructions, Vanya directly borrowed more than a dozen Sisters from the local Church of Glamorgan to act as assistant priests, and then they went together to the lake center Church, where they began realistic scene rehearsals. Those local Sisters were very happy and excited when they heard that they could perform an important ritual with Vanya, and their enthusiasm was very high.
Under Gothsmore's teaching, not only had Vanya mastered all the procedures she needed to perform as the chief priest during the ritual, but those dozen Sisters also learned what roles they were to play in the Consecration Ritual. They would assist and support Vanya's sacrificial process, mark out the boundaries at the edge of the ritual with their bodies, and sing hymns of praise.
Finally, after a long period of training, both Vanya as the chief priest and the Sisters as assistant priests understood what they needed to do during the ritual. When all the stages of the ritual had been rehearsed, the sky outside the Church had turned dark, and it seemed that the day was coming to an end.
"Alright, it's getting late now, Sister Vanya, you should go back and rest, but before that, we can practice the complete ritual connecting all the steps one last time, just like before."
Looking at the moonlight outside the window, Gothsmore said this to Vanya, and Vanya nodded in response.
"Mm, it is time to go back now, but practicing it one more time before going back to deepen the impression is also good."
Vanya responded to Gothsmore like this, while the other party continued to speak with a smile.
"Alright then... Sisters, let's practice one last time now, and then we'll go back."
Gothsmore said loudly to the Sisters scattered within the chapel, and upon hearing the news, those Sisters also gathered together again, forming a ritual formation within the chapel, while Vanya herself was at the very front of the entire formation, directly facing the huge mirror moon statue before her.
"Sister Vanya, before we start the last time, there's one more thing I'd like to tell you." Just as the final ritual practice was about to begin, Gothsmore came to Vanya's side and spoke like this, while Vanya responded with some doubt.
"If there's anything, just say it directly, Gray Sister."
Listening to Vanya's words, Gothsmore silently turned around, looked at the huge mirror moon statue beside her, and then slowly spoke.
"In the Consecration Ritual, the two most important points are the ritual incantation and the ritual symbol. By changing different ritual incantations and ritual symbols, Consecration Rituals targeting different deities can be performed. Therefore, this type of ritual is also called the Substitution Ritual in the hidden world outside the saint church, and it is a ritual with a relatively high degree of universality.
"Now that Sister Vanya has mastered the ritual incantation, in fact, as long as the ritual symbol is replaced with the symbol of the Holy Mother, the Consecration Ritual can now be successfully performed. However, it is a pity that the simple symbolic statue of the Holy Mother is being sent by the subsequent troops, and we have to wait until they arrive before we can officially perform the ritual.
"The symbol in this heretical ruin is clearly this heretical goddess statue. After the Holy Mother statue is delivered, this heretical statue will be replaced. Sister Vanya, when you perform the Consecration Ritual, you must focus your attention entirely on the replaced Holy Mother statue, treating it as the core and target of the ritual, only then can the Consecration Ritual be successful.
"The chief priest's main operation during the Consecration Ritual is to constantly focus attention on the replaced symbol while reciting the incantation. Although this operation is not difficult, it requires practice to ensure no mistakes are made. However, it is a pity that we do not have a Holy Mother statue here for Sister Vanya to practice focusing attention, so I would like to find a substitute."
Gothsmore said this to Vanya. Listening to her words, Vanya couldn't help but open her mouth with some confusion.
"Attention practice? It sounds like that is indeed somewhat necessary... Gray Sister, do you have any options that can serve as a temporary training target?"
"Yes, that is me." Gothsmore said this, and Vanya was somewhat startled after hearing her answer.
"Ah... you, Gray Sister, do you mean for me to treat you as the Holy Mother to train my attention?" Vanya said in surprise, while Gothsmore continued to answer with a smile.
"It's not about treating me as the Holy Mother, that would be serious blasphemy. What I mean is, Sister Vanya, you just need to treat me as an attention target. I will observe your gaze to see if you are paying attention to me. Afterward, you will be more proficient when you need to pay full attention to the Holy Mother statue."
"Oh, so that's how it is."
Listening to Gothsmore's response, Vanya nodded and said understandingly. Seeing that Vanya had understood her meaning, Gothsmore slowly walked to the front of the ritual formation that had been set up, with her back directly facing the mirror moon statue behind her, standing in front of Vanya and the other Sisters.
"After the heretical statue is removed, the Holy Mother statue will likely be placed in the original location of the symbol, which is slightly behind my current position. Now, Sister Vanya, just focus your attention on me while rehearsing."
Gothsmore said this finally to Vanya. Listening to her words, Vanya nodded, and then began to lead the Sisters behind her, starting to rehearse the Consecration Ritual once again.
The rehearsal ritual began. Vanya, as the chief priest, while keeping her eyes constantly on Gothsmore in front, began to slowly walk with elegant steps after bowing respectfully.
The assistant Sisters formed several queues, moving forward in a circular, staggered manner around Vanya in the center, at the edge of the chapel's ritual area. They emitted a unified low murmur from their mouths. For a moment, pure and beautiful female voices echoed and reverberated within the vast Church space, creating a mysterious and distant atmosphere.
In the center of the ritual, after taking a few slow steps, Vanya began to perform various actions slowly. Finally, she knelt on the ground, clasped her hands in front of her chest, and clearly recited the incantation whose meaning she herself did not know. As she recited, her gaze was fixed forward.
Standing in the position where Vanya's gaze fell, Gothsmore looked at the officially beginning ritual rehearsal before her. A few traces of wickedness couldn't help but appear in the smile on her lips. While confirming Vanya's gaze and the content of the incantation she was reciting, she also silently recited in her own heart.
'Deep Web Queen, feared by all living beings, God of Shadow and murder, Master of abuse and pain, Bloody Lady... I, Gothsmore Arkick, your most loyal servant, your gate in the present world, now pray to you.
'I will use the body of a Witch, acting on your behalf, your will. I will be your idol, your symbol, walking among mortals, feared and worshipped by the world.
'I shall now transform the domain of the night sky beneath my feet into your woven nest...'