Chapter 612: Experimental Ritual

"I hate the Plague Believers more, but that doesn't mean I don't hate you.

"Either leave now, or die."

After dealing with the Plague Believers, Anna turned her blade toward the Bountiful followers.

They didn't waste this opportunity either, scrambling and tumbling as they fled.

"They won't live much longer."

Only after the Bountiful followers had left did Loren make his appearance.

"Why?"

Anna was a bit puzzled. She had already killed all the Plague Believers, so logically, they should at least be safe for a while.

"They've all been infected with the epidemic. Even if they go back, they won't survive more than a few days..."

"So what do you plan to do? The Bountiful Church is unlikely to care about them anymore."

Anna felt no pity for those people. If Loren hadn't talked her out of it, she would have absolutely let those who fell into the River of Blood die.

"..."

Loren fell silent for a moment. The scene he was seeing now was already this tragic, so elsewhere it could only be worse.

But even if he truly wanted to manage it, he couldn't possibly handle it all.

"Let's set out. We're going to the God of Plague's territory and take out the God of Plague first."

That was the best solution Loren could think of.

To be honest, Loren didn't really care much about the lives of ordinary people either. If he saw them, he'd lend a hand; if he didn't, they might as well not exist.

But the God of Plague's methods were far too cruel, even reminding Loren of a certain nation.

"I'm still too kind-hearted..."

Loren let out a sigh and led Anna toward the corpses of the Plague Believers.

"Have you prepared the Severance Ritual?"

Anna quickly caught up to Loren and asked.

"No, but Starnight can transform into a Mythical Creature. Maybe Starnight can help with the ritual too."

If that really worked, it would save a lot of trouble. The most difficult part of the Severance Ritual was finding those Mythical Creatures that were as elusive as dragons seen but never their tails.

"However, we can try it first.

"Apart from the Mythical Creature, we also need a key item. Right now, we've only obtained the Extreme Cold Dragon's heart, which is the key item for targeting the God of Light and Fire...

"But if we're just simply experimenting, we don't really need a key item. The effect would just be much worse, nowhere near enough to sever a concept.

"This gives us a perfect chance to run a test."

Loren activated Return to Earth, and the corpses, along with the epidemic inside them, turned to flying dust, making the soil even more fertile.

After disposing of the bodies, Loren began rummaging through their equipment.

Loren didn't even want to touch them with his hands. Even while searching, he controlled a few tree branches to do the work.

Sure enough, Loren eventually discovered something off in a carriage. The carriage was very large, but it was completely empty inside, and the arrangement of the facilities inside was also very strange.

Loren split open the carriage's roof with a single slash of his blade, then tossed out all the facilities inside, finally revealing the carriage's true appearance.

This was a pre-arranged limited Severance Ritual, used to deal with Angels.

The moment an Angel appeared, it would deal a devastating blow to an army, so every army would prepare a small-scale Severance Ritual.

Loren had already compressed the cost of the ritual, so it wasn't difficult for every army to be equipped with a limited Severance Ritual.

This also made things convenient for Loren. Whenever he lacked materials, he could just casually rob an army.

"Anna, go fetch Starnight. I'll modify the ritual here first."

"Okay."

Loren didn't want a limited Severance Ritual, so the ritual here still needed to be modified.

He cut his finger and began carving runes on the ground, quickly drawing a massive ritual circle.

Then Loren started rearranging the ritual items needed. This simple, limited Severance Ritual gradually expanded, but compared to the true Severance Ritual, it was still missing quite a few things.

But none of that mattered. A ritual was essentially like asking someone for a favor. First, you think of a way to get in contact with them, then you send some gifts that please them, and finally, they get the job done.

So as long as the ritual followed this set of procedures, that was enough. The runes were like the phone number, and the offerings were like the gifts. As long as you had these, it would work, even if you arranged them haphazardly.

By the time Loren had prepared the ritual, Starnight had just arrived.

"Master, is there anything you need my help with?"

When she got close to Loren, Starnight leaped into the air, then transformed into a Nightingale and landed on Loren's shoulder.

"Transform into the Desolation Deer, stand in the center of the ritual, and channel your energy into it."

Loren casually stroked Starnight's little head and gave the order.

"Okay."

Starnight flew up again, landed in the center of the ritual, and transformed into a giant deer that looked like it was carved from stone.

"Will this ritual affect the land around our home?"

Before the ritual began, Anna asked one more question.

"No. I've restricted the range. It won't affect the house, and it won't be discovered by others either."

With that said, Loren officially activated the ritual.

"Final Singer!"

Loren chanted the name of the deity the ritual was directed toward. This was the "dialing" step, the most important part of the ritual.

Upon hearing the command, Starnight also began actively feeding in energy.

Actually, she didn't need to actively output anything. The ritual would automatically drain energy on its own.

"It's working!"

Loren could feel the ritual proceeding, drawing closer and closer to the Final Singer.

Loren guessed that this step wasn't originally this difficult, but the Final Singer was most likely asleep right now, which was why the ritual required a Mythical Creature to be performed.

The Mythical Creature's purpose was to borrow the Final Singer's authority. Since the Final Singer couldn't respond on its own right now, this was the only way.

"I hereby borrow your authority to sever the concept of Bountifulness..."

As Loren chanted the ritual incantation, the altar emitted a blazing light. Loren could feel that the ritual was just one step away from completion.

But just at that moment, Starnight suddenly fainted, reverting to her original form, and the ritual began to spiral out of control.

"Not good!"

Loren lunged into the ritual, scooped up Starnight, and flew with her straight into the distance.

Anna reacted just as quickly. The moment Loren made his move, she followed right behind him, now retreating from the altar alongside Loren.

By now, the altar had come alive, writhing and twisting, but after a few convulsions, it collapsed onto the ground.

"Not enough energy?"

Holding the unconscious Starnight in his arms, Loren understood what had happened.

A ritual required energy to activate. Those Mythical Creatures had all lived for tens of thousands of years. Even if some Mythical Creatures were a bit weaker, their weakness was only in combat ability. The energy within their bodies wouldn't be any less.

But Starnight was just a witch, likely only a little over a hundred years old. Just transforming alone consumed her magic, let alone sustaining the ritual's operation.

"..."

Rather than feeling regret, Loren felt even more heartbroken for Starnight. He immediately checked her condition and only breathed a sigh of relief after confirming she had merely exhausted her strength.

"Forget it. Let's go back and eat first."

Starnight wasn't going to be able to sustain the ritual. They would have to find a genuine Mythical Creature.

But fortunately, Loren knew the whereabouts of the Mythical Creature needed for dealing with the God of Plague. It wasn't the kind of Mythical Creature that liked to run around like the Dawn Magpie.