Chapter 122: The Ritual Begins

"We gather today in expectation of a brighter future, and in memory of our dark past! And so, without further ado, Ladies and gentlemen! I present to you, the Dawn of Ragnarok!"

Once the man said this, Percy’s entire demeanor changed! Percy’s eyes narrowed and he glared towards the performers as he wondered what the hell was going on here. Was Ragnarok the group that Alpha told him about earlier!?

The performers all turned towards the statue, and they blew out torrents of fire to set it ablaze! But this time, rather than regular fire, the statue lit up in a deep crimson fire that sent a wave of pure power through the entire gathering!

Hellfire!

BOOM!

An explosion went off as the hellfire spread through the air, and most of the civilians close to the statue screamed in fear as they quickly tried to escape from the flames!

"MOVE!"

Percy immediately began to move forward through the crowd, as he held his hand out to activate the extinguishing skill, but it was already too late! At the same exact time, two more torrents of Hellfire erupted from two different parts of the city! One of the torrents of fire came from the city gate that was located on the Eastern part of the city, and the other torrent rose from the southern part of the city!

’That’s the Academy. What the hell is going on here?’

Percy felt his eyes widen in surprise as he realised that the third torrent of fire had actually erupted from somewhere inside the academy, and Percy put his hand out towards the statue and activated [Eternal Ice Prison]! The entire statue was encased in the ice and the fire that had already begun spreading through the city square was immediately encased in ice!

Percy then looked towards the academy, and he narrowed his eyes as he wondered what the hell was going on here! Most of the performers from earlier had blended into the crowd to run away, but Percy noticed that Rita had gone after one of them, and she was currently holding him down on the ground with her feet on his chest! Percy moved towards Rita, and he asked her if she got anything from him. Rita shook her head.

"He’s just a grunt. He doesn’t know anything important. But if you enter his memories, you might be able to find something useful."

Percy immediately crouched and grabbed the man by the collar, and then he activated [Mind Scan]. Percy got most of the recent information from the man’s mind, and he tossed the man to the ground in anger before standing up again. Rita was a little worried when she saw the anger on Percy’s face, and she asked him what he saw.

"It’s a summoning ritual."

Rita frowned.

"What are they summoning?"

"He doesn’t know that much. But he called it the messiah. I need to get to the academy. You go to the gate and stop the hellfire there from spreading. We’ll meet back here once we’re done. Lana!"

Percy called out and Lana appeared in a gust of wind immediately! Lana had been helping some of the children to evacuate so they wouldn’t get stepped on by the rampaging adults and Percy nodded to her and said:

"You stay here and make sure no one tampers with the statue. Even if it’s sealed, it’s still dangerous. You understand."

Lana saluted and the three of them separated to go and deal with the different regions!

But although Percy had the right idea to try and take care of the three hellfire regions at once, he did not have the full picture of what was really going on right now. The three Hellfire locations had been strategically chosen by the Cult of Ragnarok, and it had been arranged in a way that would allow it to form a perfect triangular shape around the city! This triangular shape had an epicenter, and it was inside of this epicenter that the true Ritual was going on!

On a large altar, Hildegard’s unconscious body was lying still. Hildegard had been covered from head to tail in runes and carvings, and the altar had also been covered in runes that were spread out across the area around it! There were five demihumans standing around the altar, and they were all on their knees with bowls of red liquid in their hands. The giant minotaur that served as the leader of this cult was standing a little further back, and he raised his hand and spoke to the demihumans.

"The time has come, brothers and sisters. Now, you must display the true extent of your faith towards our master. Lay your life down for the dawn of Ragnarok! Sacrifice yourself for the rebirth!"

The runes around the altar began to glow with a red light as the hellfire around the city fueled it with its power, and the five demihumans kneeling around the altar immediately brought their cups up to their mouths and drank the liquid.

The red liquid in the cups was a special mix that was meant to help a mage to go through the Mana Alteration and change their affinity from a regular [Fire] based magic to a more dangerous [Hellfire] magic. But for these mages kneeling here, their magic was so weak that the moment they drank the liquid, the new affinity immediately began to consume them from the inside out!

The mages felt their entire body heating up as fire began to flicker from their skin, and the minotaur watched all this with a wide, maniac smile! This step was done, and now, all that was left, was the very last step! The minotaur turned around to look into the darkness of the night, and, out of that darkness, stepped an angel.

Mirio held the Staff of Verati in his right hand, and he went to one knee in front of the Minotaur and handed it to him with his head bowed! The minotaur’s smile widened even more until he looked like a madman, and the minotaur took the staff and raised it high as he felt the intense magical power flowing through the entire region!

This staff was not meant to be here today, and if not for the meticulous plans that the cult of Ragnarok had put in place to ensure that they got what they wanted, then it would’ve never gotten into their hands. This plan was something that they had been preparing for more than five years now! Right from when Mirio was just a little boy, he had already been a part of the Cult, and he had been taught to follow orders and do what he was told. That was why Mirio had been working so hard all this time to be at the top of the school charts.

Mirio and the rest of the cult knew that they would need this staff for their ritual, but in order to get this staff, one of their members would first have to go into the Eternal Cave under the school that was opened only once a year and get it! The person allowed to enter the cave had to be the best graduating student for that year, and that was why Mirio had been working so hard to make sure he stayed at the top of the school rankings.

But all of their plans looked like they would fall apart when Hildegard appeared out of nowhere and began to take over as the best student! It was a completely unexpected variable, and for a long time, the cult thought about killing her! But the moment the minotaur learned who Hildegard really was, he realized that this wasn’t a disadvantage at all! They had been blessed with an opportunity!