MMORPG: Rise of the Primordial Godsmith

Chapter 1473: Myriad Prodigies: Ritual

”A ritual…?” asked Ataraxia, looking at Valyr for a bit before looking back at Lunarossa in confusion.

”Did Ylvar not inform you?” asked the woman in return.

The young man shook his head. ”He did not.”

”I see.” Lunarossa faintly nodded before shifting her gaze towards Valyr. ”Are you going to do the explaining or do you want me to do it?”

”Iʼd rather you do it, Director,” answered Valyr in response, his expression calm.

Then again, even though he looked calm on the outside, he was incredibly nervous on the inside. After all, all he knew about the Crimson Cathedral was its name. He had no idea regarding the organizationʼs workings whatsoever.

”Iʼm certain that you have more information than I do in that regard,” he continued, to which Lunarossa nodded in agreement.

”Alright, then,” she said after that, only to then close her eyes to gather her thoughts.

”…Okay.”

Opening her eyes once more, Lunarossa looked at the two with a calm expression. ”Iʼm sure both of you know that the Crimson Cathedral is an organization not known by many throughout the continent.”

”Specifically, itʼs a religious organization that worships the god Sanguis Primus in the form of offering human sacrifices to it.”

Hearing those words, Valyr and Ataraxia nodded in confirmation.

”Due to the Crimson Cathedral having specific criteria on who to offer to their god, theyʼve unknowingly committed countless atrocities in the process, with each one enough to cause chaos if publicized.”

”Because of that, only those with a high-enough status are privy to this information,” she said, glancing at Ataraxia for a bit. ”…Or those whose task involves interacting with the organization.”

”Now, the way the members of the Crimson Cathedral offer human sacrifices to their god is usually in the form of a ritual,” said Lunarossa, to which Ataraxia nodded in understanding.

”According to the information the empireʼs gathered on them, there are four tiers of rituals the members could do as worship for their god.”

”The first tier is a mass ritual, which the organization has been recorded doing every 5 to 10 years or so.”

”In this ritual, the members of the organization focus more on the quantity of the people they offer to the god rather than the quality,” the woman told them, causing both Valyr and Ataraxia to slightly shudder in response.

”As for the reason why this kind of ritual is done often… one of the members that defected to our side told us that it was to appease the godʼs hunger.”

Giving Ataraxia all the time he needed to digest the information, Lunarossa eventually moved onto the next type. ”Above the mass ritual is the elite ritual.”

”Being done by the organization at most once every century, the elite ritual is what caused the leaders of the continent to keep the existence of the Crimson Cathedral a secret.”

”Thatʼs because, just like the name implies, a great number of elite people would be sacrificed to their god, making up the reduction in quantity with higher quality offerings.”

”According to that same member, around 5,000 elites would be sacrificed during an elite ritual, which is enough to turn the tides of war if one side lost that many people at once.”

”Whatʼs the reason behind the elite ritual?” asked Ataraxia after that, his body still shuddering at the thought of it. ”If the mass ritual is to appease the godʼs hunger…”

”Then the elite ritual is to maintain the godʼs strength,” replied Lunarossa, causing both Valyr and Ataraxiaʼs expression to turn solemn.

”Maintain the godʼs strength?” Valyr asked after pondering over her words for a bit. ”Does that mean the god the Crimson Cathedral worships exists in reality?”

”Even the empire doesnʼt know the answer to that.” Lunarossa slowly shook her head. ”I think itʼs a metaphor of sorts since those who do the ritual end up becoming stronger…”

”But since gods do exist beyond Veldanyr…” She didnʼt say anything else after that, intentionally cutting her response short for the two to speculate.

”…”

”…Moving on.”

Leaving the two still thinking about what sheʼd just told them, Lunarossa proceeded to talk about the third tier. ”The third tier of ritual is called the Heaven-appeasing Ritual by the organization.”

”In this ritual, only one person is offered to the god,” she told them, her expression somewhat grim. ”However, the person offered up as tribute is considered by the continent to be a pinnacle talent even after many generations pass.”

”For reference, this ritual has only been done once by the organization according to the empire.”

”Yet weʼre still trying to recover the losses from that ritual to this day.”

”Thalinaga Meltierre,” Lunarossa told them, which made the two look at each other in slight confusion. ”She was the sacrifice the Crimson Cathedral chose for the Heaven-appeasing Ritual.”

Just as they were wondering why she mentioned a name all of a sudden, her next words answered that question.

”She was also the empress that brought about the Golden Age of Meltierre.”

”…”

For a while after that, the two of them could only stare back at her in disbelief, the words she told them still echoing in their minds.

In the end, the two inwardly decided to shift the topic back to what it should have been, with Valyr taking the initiative between the two of them.

”…What kind of ritual is Erika attempting to do?” he asked, taking quite some time to gather his thoughts.

”Considering that sheʼs doing it during the tournament, thereʼs a high likelihood that sheʼs doing an elite ritual,” replied Lunarossa after a bit of pause.

”However, thereʼs also the possibility that she may do a variant of the third ritual. As far as what my people have told me, she was successful in inviting some of the incredibly talented participants to come with her.”

”And you want us to stop this ritual from happening?” asked Ataraxia after that.

”If you think you can, then go for it,” said the woman in return, taking out a small crystal from her spatial bracelet. ”However, what I want you to do is to record even at least a bit of the ritual with this crystal and give it back to me.”

”All you need to do is to point this crystal at the scene and infuse a bit of mana into it for it to start recording.”

”Of course, Iʼll make sure to compensate you two greatly for the risk youʼre going to take if you accept.”

Hearing those words, both Valyr and Ataraxia looked at each other for a bit in silence, seemingly exchanging thoughts through their gazes.

After some time, the two of them looked back at Lunarossa, with Ataraxia asking, ”How much time do we have?”

In response, the woman smiled, understanding their stance on her offer. ”Before the third round of the tournament begins.”

Valyr faintly nodded at those words.

”Weʼll see what we can do, then.”