Chapter 65
Chapter 65
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: Blood Rite and Falling Stars
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'Lantern Guides' headquarters basement.
An underground cavern vast enough to hold hundreds sprawled across its floor, where a single magic circle glowed with a crimson light.
Atop that circle, the believers knelt in prayer.
"I believe! I believe!"
"Lord... even the hunger of darkness is part of your plan..."
"Your order is eternal. Eternal..."
They chanted endlessly.
Drip.
Red blood trickled from between their clasped hands.
The spilled blood flowed along the grooves of the massive magic circle etched into the altar's center.
"Hunger too is your order and providence... Ack!"
Thud.
One of the praying believers collapsed.
Yet the prayers did not stop.
"I believe. I believe..."
"Show us this one step toward completing your grand plan..."
The believers, bleeding as they prayed, shot wary glances at one another.
They had to stay awake until the very end.
Only then could one ascend to the glorious rank of priest.
Thud.
Thud.
Thus, all the other believers fell, leaving just one survivor.
"I believe..."
Enlightenment gleamed in the eyes of the last offering to endure.
"It's me! I'm the last one standing! Now appoint me as your heavenly priest...!"
He tried to rise, but his legs, drained of strength, refused to obey.
Thud.
With that, every offering had met its end.
The cult leader standing before the altar said nothing at the sight of the fallen man.
The other priests remained silent as well.
They held their rigid postures, eyes fixed solely on the altar ahead.
The leader murmured softly.
"Regrettably, no one has passed this 'Ascension Rite'."
His words expressed regret, but not a single soul there truly felt it.
All the priests gathered knew the truth.
No one ever truly became a priest through this ritual.
If one truly wished to become a priest, they must never participate in it.
Instead, they had to shove others into it.
In this horrific land, there was no other choice for survival.
The massive blood magic circle drawn in the headquarters basement.
Human blood had to be fed into it ceaselessly, or the magic beasts outside would sense their location.
Drip, drip...
Blood trickled down Sara's palm.
It stung a little, but compared to the agony her little brother must be enduring, it was nothing.
Sara turned to Howard.
"That... a mountain?"
"Yes. Precisely, an underground cave connected to an abandoned mine on the mountainside."
"..."
Sara was at a loss for words.
The mountain Howard indicated was the prime suspect her squad had pegged.
Of course, they hadn't known about the caves beneath the mine...
Their hunch had been partially spot on.
Howard's intel rang true.
The other squad members' eyes darted eagerly.
"M-Me too! Please, Howard sir!"
"Can you find my son as well?"
Howard took their blood in turn and cast tracking spells.
Dozens of missing persons' locations revealed themselves.
Marking them all on the map, the points clearly clustered into three groups.
"A total of three sites?"
Sara peered at the map and nodded at Howard's question.
"Yes. From what we've gathered, there's the leader's headquarters and two branches overseen by archpriests—a total of three."
"Raid one, and the rest scatter."
Sara nodded at Howard's words.
With crystal orbs to signal one another, tracking them down would be a nightmare.
No choice but to strike all at once.
Sara spoke up.
"Factoring in the magic beasts we'll encounter en route, our current numbers are woefully short."
One of Sara's squadmates ventured cautiously.
"What if we request reinforcements from the commander?"
"We might have t—"
Before Sara could finish, Howard cut in.
"No. That'll take too long."
He continued.
"Even now, someone might be dying in one of those three places."
"..."
It was an irrefutable truth.
Howard pressed on.
"You all link up with other teams and hit one site."
"What about the other two? Abandon them?"
"Leonard and I will each take one."
"That's insane!"
Sara and the rest recoiled in horror.
"You'll get yourself killed, you fool!"
"These aren't like giant worms!"
"..."
But Howard ignored the squad's protests.
He closed his eyes briefly, as if concentrating.
Then he opened them.
Sara asked Howard.
"What was that just now?"
"Done planning. I'll take the central stronghold; Leonard gets the left."
Howard addressed the squad.
"I'll head out first, then. Infiltration at exactly 10 p.m. sharp. Don't be late."
"...!"
Snap to attention.
Sara came to her senses.
She couldn't let him go like this.
Grab. Sara seized Howard's clothes.
The blood dripping from her palm stained his outfit red.
She said.
"Wait! No matter how strong you are, tangling with the leader's HQ could spell disaster!"
"..."
Rumors held that the leader could wield a fraction of a supreme magic beast's power.
If true, even Howard might be overwhelmed.
Sara went on.
"We can't dump this all on an outsider like you, Howard."
"Outsider? I owe the Lantern Guides a debt, same as you all."
Sara glared into Howard's eyes.
No trace of that familiar anxiety—the kind every squad member carried.
She said.
"Liar."
"Pardon? What about?"
"You haven't suffered enough loss to risk your life like this. Right?"
"..."
Howard fell silent.
Sara's guess had hit the mark.
"Come with us. We're weaker than you, but we can at least secure your retreat."
Grip.
Sara's hand tightened on Howard's hem.
The fabric darkened to a deeper crimson.
"..."
"..."
Moments later, Howard spoke.
"Anyone here with family or loved ones at my target site? Raise a hand."
Raise.
Up.
Hands went up one by one.
Sara was among them.
A total of twelve.
Howard said.
"Then you lot come with me."
'Lantern Guides' headquarters basement.
The leader asked the high priest beside him.
"By the way, any word from the kids we sent to the capital?"
"...Regrettably, contact has been lost."
"Hm."
A mage had dared claim divine power, so he'd dispatched them to shut his mouth.
Kill if possible; threaten at minimum.
They'd botched even that.
"Send more?"
"No need. That heretic will crumble soon enough."
"..."
"The last meteor shower prophecy had its discrepancies, didn't it?"
"..."
The other priests held their tongues.
The leader gazed down at them.
He knew exactly what they were thinking.
The capital and this northern outpost differed in longitude, so time zones naturally varied.
Adjust for that, and the mage's prophecy matched perfectly.
But to question contradictions was to unravel faith.
One must believe before knowing.
True faith inherently floats atop paradoxes.
Much like their hatred of mages, propped up by blood magic.
Ugh...
The leader groaned, clutching his head.
'Pushed too far?'
Tangling with the capital's hero meant imperial and Magic Tower blades might reach them soon.
Best to flee now.
Relocate and rebuild from the ground up.
The leader addressed the priests.
"We'll 'dispose' of all remaining believers and abandon this place."
One priest balked.
"A-All of them?"
"Yes. Can't have a long tail on the escape route."
To shield from magic beasts during transit, no choice.
New converts could always be made.
Take only core personnel; use the rest as blood magic catalysts.
The leader repeated.
"Be ready by tonight."
"Yes, sir!"
The leader leaned against the altar, staring up at the cavern ceiling.
'Tonight... marks that heretic's second prophecy.'
The first—a meteor shower—could be guessed by anyone lucky, via astronomical records.
But the second? Impossible.
'If that heretic nails it... what then?'
Scripture decreed seven planets in the solar system.
Yet the heretic foresaw an eighth.
That very moment.
The entire cavern shook violently.
The priests panicked and shouted.
"Earthquake?!"
"No! Magic beasts!"
"Impossible! We've offered plenty of sacrifices...!"
But the cavern defied their fears.
It wasn't collapsing inward. The ceiling stones rejected descent—they began ascending toward the sky.
"Wha...?"
"What the hell..."
Motion defying reason.
Movement contradicting scripture.
Magic.
In an instant, the cavern roof was ripped away, revealing a night sky brimming with moon and stars.
Yet some stars refused to stay aloft.
They plummeted toward the earth at terrifying speeds.
Thud. Thunk!
"Argh!"
"My arm!"
Steel marbles rained down, skewering the priests' limbs.
Only then did the leader speak.
"...Mage!"
At his cry, a voice echoed from the heavens.
"Took you long enough to notice."
The voice's owner descended slowly from the sky.
Trailing dozens more subdued stars in his wake.