Steam Age: I Fight Against Divine Authority with Otherworldly Tales

Chapter 32 The Verdant Ritual

In the quiet alley, the girl was still sobbing softly. After much deliberation, Suren finally spoke:

"I would suggest you rent an apartment. Apartments in Loren Town cost around 30-40 gold pounds a year. After deducting living expenses and being frugal, that should last at least two to three years. During that time, you can slowly..."

"But why should I live?" The girl's words abruptly cut him off.

Suren opened her mouth, but the words she wanted to say stuck in her throat; the words she had prepared seemed pale and powerless at that moment.

He had never experienced what the other person had gone through, so what right did he have to advise the other person to live? Looking at the thin figure in front of him, Suren suddenly felt that whatever he said at this moment would be wrong.

The girl looked up at Suren through her moist eyes, wiped her eyes, and surprisingly, a faint smile curved her lips.

"Sir, this is my own choice, you don't need to blame yourself."

Her voice was unusually calm, as if she were telling someone else's story.

"Since I've chosen this path, whatever happens is my own responsibility, and it has nothing to do with you."

Suren stood there, looking into the girl's determined eyes. In the end, he said nothing and silently took out the "Evil Spirit Dust Crystal".

The girl handed Suren a cloth bag containing gold pounds, which Suren didn't count and simply tossed into the bag.

She looked at him with some surprise, opened her mouth as if to speak, but ultimately asked nothing.

Suren knew why: because his behavior did not conform to the "doctrine." But at this moment, he was too lazy to pretend, or rather, he had no mood to pretend; he just wanted to end it all as soon as possible.

Following the girl, they arrived at Old Vic's shop. The girl struggled to open the door, and the room was filled with a faint stench of decay. The dim light of dusk shone through the window, allowing them to see the state of the room; it had long been emptied of its contents, leaving only some tables and chairs.

At this point, a magic circle had been drawn on the ground. The entire pattern was quite complex, and it was clear that it had been drawn over several days. Judging from the colors, it was drawn with ordinary ink. The magic circle pattern was clearly different from the church's.

The outer edge of the pattern resembles a circle formed by repeated knots, while the inner part is a rather abstract large tree.

The magic circle was somewhat crooked, and it took Suren quite a while to discern it. Suren had seen this pattern in a book; it was the image of the "Mother Goddess of Life" circulating among the people, but Her followers only existed in legends and were ritual objects with a very low survival rate.

Suren knew why the girl would choose this ritual; she might be fantasizing about being able to resurrect her parents. But Suren knew that reversing life and death usually meant difficulty and an incredibly heavy price to pay.

"Surren Chern," he suddenly said, "what's your name?"

The girl who was preparing for the ceremony paused, then turned around: "Ellie Higgs."

Suren nodded and memorized the name.

Without further hesitation, Ellie carefully walked to the center of the magic circle, clutching the "Evil Spirit Dust Crystal," and prepared to begin the ritual.

Suren's voice came from behind her, tinged with doubt: "Where did you get this ritual from? Do you only need this one sacrificial ingredient?"

"From a book," she replied hesitantly, but her determination remained unwavering. "The book says that all you need is 'evil spirit dust crystals' and the devout recitation of a believer's incantation to open the gate to the other side."

Suren fell silent, pondering to himself that the book's account was most likely flawed. Although the origins of extraordinary abilities differed, the underlying logic must have been the same; otherwise, the Church wouldn't have been able to mass-produce extraordinary individuals.

Based on the church rituals, to become a transcendent being, one needs at least "Evil Spirit Dust Crystals" mixed with corresponding auxiliary materials to create "Source Knowledge Essence" through a ritual. Then, a specific "Demon Heart" is used to guide the connection and establish a link with an unknown entity.

This is what Suren has summarized over this period of time. However, he still has some doubts about the incantation of the ritual. It seems that the ritual Ellie is performing will most likely fail because it is missing too many elements.

According to the books and church records that Suren recently came across, this kind of ritual could not possibly establish a connection with a specific being, in other words, it would not turn one into a monster. After all, the prerequisite for becoming a monster is establishing a connection.

Thinking of this, Suren felt much more at ease. He made up his mind: "Once Ellie fails, I'll return the gold to her and let her live a good life."

At this moment, Ellie was unaware of Suren's inner thoughts; she was focused on performing the ritual, chanting the incantation:

"The great god of life."

"You represent existence and reproduction, revival and hope."

"I will practice the principle of putting life first throughout my life."

"Please transform my source of knowledge and grant me the power of life!"

The magic circle on the ground began to emit a verdant light, which grew stronger as Ellie chanted, eventually enveloping the room in a verdant glow.

Suren's brows, which had just relaxed, furrowed again, and the ceremony began smoothly.

He also discovered that the structure of this incantation was very similar to that of church incantations, meaning that the ritual incantations of the two had some commonalities.

"Could there really be gods?" Suren's previous atheistic speculation began to waver.

Meanwhile, the ritual on Ellie's side was still going on. After she finished reciting the last incantation, the light of the entire magic circle seemed to come alive. The light rose and converged from every line, like a waterfall flowing backward, and surged toward the "Evil Spirit Dust Crystal" in Ellie's hand.

The scene resembled "evil spirit dust crystals" drawing power from the magic array, causing even the air to subtly distort.

Ellie's "Evil Spirit Dust Crystal" began to tremble. She gripped the crystal tightly, closed her eyes, and dared not look at it again.

Suren was also a little nervous and surprised. He hadn't expected that the ceremony could still proceed normally despite so many missing materials.

He silently pulled out his two revolvers, but he didn't pull the trigger, a sliver of hope still lingering in his heart: "What if it works?"

Time seemed to stand still, and the only sound in the room was the trembling of the "Evil Spirit Dust Crystal".

Finally, after an unknown amount of time, the light of the magic circle gradually faded, like the receding tide. Ellie still stood quietly in the magic circle, motionless.

"It worked?" Suren was thrilled and instinctively took half a step forward. "Ellie?"

Ellie slowly turned around, a sweet smile curving her lips at him. Tears still lingered in her eyes, but her smile was warm: "Mr. Suren, I succeeded..."

Before she could finish speaking, her smile froze, her head began to swell strangely, as if something was pushing it up from the inside. It was as if something was writhing and multiplying wildly under her skin, and even some granulation tissue began to appear. Those granulation tissues sprouted from her cheeks, forehead, and corners of her mouth, while her eyes, still bearing traces of tears, continued to gaze at Suren.