Several thousand pirates were crammed into the altar no bigger than a playground. By the time they realized what was happening, it was already too late. A barrier formed around the altar’s edge, trapping them inside.
The hastily prepared altar wasn’t very well made, and the barrier wasn’t perfect. Occasionally a few stragglers slipped through, but that wasn’t a big problem. The witches guarding outside would deal with them.
Screams rose one after another, but Loren ignored them and focused entirely on the ritual.
Thick fog filled the air, clouds churned, and a gigantic snake head thrust out from within. This was the Sea God, forcibly summoned by Loren’s ceremony.
“Sea… Sea God…”
Some of the pirates who still had consciousness saw the serpent head. None of them had ever seen the Sea God before, but the crushing weight and strange familiarity radiating from it made them realize, this was indeed the Sea God.
Seeing the Sea God meant the ritual was complete, and whatever life force they had left was stripped away. At least they got to see the God they had longed for before dying.
If not for Loren, they would never have had the chance to see the Sea God’s true form in their lifetime.
“Sea God! Tell me why you were so eager for these sacrifices!”
Loren chose to ask the Sea God this question himself. The pirates couldn’t possibly know the answer.
The Sea God struggled, trying to withdraw. What was happening was blatant sacrilege, but bound by the contract, it could not escape.
It could see the ritual’s contents, and yet—under these circumstances—it still agreed to let the ritual proceed. That alone showed how grave the situation was.
“The end draws near, the Divine War will begin, He will return.”
The Sea God looked like a colossal serpent, but its voice resembled that of a whale—ancient, resonant, and haunting straight into the soul.
“Divine War? The end? He?”
Loren knew about the Divine War; he had been preparing for it from the start. But the other two things—the “end” and “He”—were unfamiliar to him.
“Explain clearly: what is the end? Who is ‘He’? I hate riddlers.”
“I… do not know…”
Loren believed the Sea God. He felt the ritual’s power ebbing away, which meant the contract was being carried out smoothly.
He hadn’t expected to learn about the Divine War here and now.
After living here so long, Loren’s sense of urgency had dulled. The Sea God’s words were a wake-up call.
That the Sea God could even know this information meant its power had reached a certain level. Ordinary dark gods wouldn’t dare contend with the Orthodox Gods, much less be privy to such intelligence.
“Divine War…”
Loren repeated the words over and over. He wasn’t ready to face a Divine War. He wasn’t even prepared to perform a ritual to kill any god.
If the Divine War erupted now, Loren’s odds would be at their lowest. He couldn’t guarantee he could kill every god.
If the Divine War were allowed to play out, the situation would only get more complicated. Especially once the God of Light and Fire gained more authority, it would become nearly impossible to kill.
“First, prepare an escape route…”
Since the sacrifices had been made, Loren would not waste them. He drew a deep breath and shouted:
“Sea God! Grant all of us the ability to live forever on the seabed!”
An ability to live forever beneath the sea—this was different from the pirates’ temporary ability to hold breath on the seabed. At best they could stay submerged briefly. Loren wanted permanence.
The Orthodox Gods could not interfere with the deep sea; the Merfolk had already tested that for Loren. He was prepared to lead the witches to retire beneath the waves.
“It is granted.”
Several beams of light landed on Loren and the witches. The Sea God’s head vanished into the clouds, the fog dispersed, and everything returned to normal.
The pirates in the altar disappeared without a trace, their bodies and souls offered to the Sea God by Loren.
Name: Loren
Level: 52 (30%)
Strength: 10
Stamina: 46
Agility: 28
Intelligence: 56
Mana: 5430/5560
Remaining Attribute Points: 0
Accessories: [Weeping Blood Wedding Ring] [Lurking Fangs] [Virtue Rings]*7 [Emblem of Bounty] [Crimson Elegy] [Synchronized Heartbeats]
Blessings: [Truth Discernment] [Pluto's Mouth] [True Sight Eye] [Clear Conscience] [Heart of the Abyssal Tide]
Curses: [Shattered Love] [Scorn of All Beings]
Talents: [Sensitive Heart] [Necromancy Affinity] [Everything Has a Spirit] [Dreamwalker] [Pending Selection…]
By eliminating so many pirates, Loren leveled up.
At the same time, a new item appeared in the blessings list: [Heart of the Abyssal Tide].
Effect: The heart will beat in unison with the deep sea, allowing free breathing and movement underwater, immune to deep-sea pressure, and capable of commanding fish or sea monsters, and sensing through the ocean.
Loren mainly valued the permanent underwater survival. The other effects were icing on the cake.
He had received this blessing before; the ability to command sea monsters wasn’t especially useful.
It couldn’t command very strong sea monsters, nor could it control corrupted ones. The sensing ability was handy, but Loren didn’t lack that skill.
More importantly, Loren didn’t want the blessing just for himself—he wanted it for the witches.
“Master Mentor… what did the Sea God mean?”
Not only Loren had heard the Sea God’s words—everyone had.
“Let’s leave first. Finish our tasks quickly, then go home and prepare.”
Loren took out the Little Grudge Notebook. The paper that ranked the Orthodox Gods was tucked inside. He planned to start with the god at the top of that list.
“Alright.”
...
They returned to the Raging Tide and paid no further mind to the captured villagers. With the pirates dead, there was no more danger from them.
Loren had seized a second ghost ship from the pirates: the Abyss Diver.
This ship had much larger capacity than the Raging Tide, but Loren didn't need it for now. Their belongings were still on the Raging Tide, and Loren was too lazy to switch vessels.
Back on board, Loren kept scribbling on the paper, looking anxious.
The others didn’t bother him, but they were also turning over in their heads what the Sea God had said.
Loren had already told them about the Divine War concept, but they didn’t understand what “the end” or the Sea God’s “He” referred to. Judging by the names alone, it didn’t sound good.
“Mirrorheart, do you know anything?”
Loren was too busy, so the witches went to Mirrorheart. Though Mirrorheart obsessively wanted to be a hardworking servant and only taught a bit of star lore, the witches still respected her scholarship.
“I…”
Mirrorheart was about to answer when Loren, who had hurried over, interrupted.
“Children, I’ll calm you down ahead of time.”
Loren touched the Ninth-Rank magical potion [Swan Song] hidden beneath the black robe and said:
“If one day I die, do not panic. I can be resurrected.”
Loren, who usually lied without batting an eye, sounded unconvincing saying this. Even Scarlett could tell.
Comments