Chapter 642 : The Sacrificial Ritual

Church of Reincarnation Holy City - Balenska.

The room was nearly devoid of light. A divine art that blocked sound and sight had isolated it from everything.

"Is this really okay?"

"What's not okay?" A red-robed elder sank into a sofa. "The Hero's Festival will take two months to end. Do you think the Demon King's daughter will participate in the Hero's Festival during these two months?"

He rubbed his forehead. "The key is, we can't find any regulations to stop the Demon King's daughter. After all, no one ever thought a demon could join human society."

"But we can ruin her reputation. Didn't we see some initial results when we used Sylvain to cause the Crystal Rock Beasts to mutate in the Royal Capital District?"

"And the result? Sylvain was killed by her. Now the royal family of the Siviesus Empire has recognized the Demon King's daughter's combat power and supports her even more."

The red-robed elder slowly stood up and walked before the crowd.

"The sacrificial formation is a great divine art created by countless followers of Reincarnation who willingly sacrificed their lives. When it is placed on the heart, the pure power of the God of Reincarnation will descend upon a person."

"Flos is a good child. I see she bears some resemblance to the God of Reincarnation. If she uses the sacrificial formation, she will surely be able to exert its greatest power, and perhaps even obtain a new divine art. Winning the Hero's Sword and achieving victory in the Hero's Festival all depends on her."

"No one will be able to discover the existence of the sacrificial formation. If anyone suspects Flos, we will step forward and declare that this is a secret divine art of Reincarnation that Flos has newly mastered."

The red-robed elder continued, "If the conditions allowed it, I would really like to see her directly use the most primal power of the sacrifice..."

"I'm afraid that's not appropriate, is it? The Church of Reincarnation is not yet ready for war."

The red-robed elder turned around, frowning.

He felt it was precisely because this group of old fossils was too afraid of death, so conservative, that the power of the Church of Reincarnation was becoming weaker and weaker.

If he were in power, why would he even participate in some Hero's Festival?

He would just have Flos perform the sacrifice, and then... then have that existence directly snatch the Eye of Reincarnation.

---

The battle for Lianlora's relic had been split into two battlefields.

The first was the main battlefield, where hundreds of people had Lianlora under control.

The second was on the edge of the battlefield, the crisis triggered by Flos.

The fighting in both places was urgent, but the battle on Felyn's side was clearly beyond everyone's comprehension.

A divine chain he had never seen before was linked to Flos, who was walking out of the forest.

That divine chain was extremely dazzling, like a pillar holding up the sky.

The church members ambushing in the forest behind Flos had all lost consciousness and fallen to the ground.

The church members by her side had all been voluntarily sacrificed, providing Flos with life force and affinity.

And Flos herself was not in a much better state.

Flos's eyes were constantly changing color. Her originally moss-green short hair was growing wildly at a visible rate, spreading all the way to the ground.

"It's a sacrifice," Daiyi said.

Among those present, only Daiyi knew what this was.

Or rather, in the entire Royal Capital District, and even the entire empire, the only person who knew what this was happened to be present.

"At the cost of sacrificing life force, they offer the affinity within their bodies to a god, thereby guiding the god's descent. However, this is usually a ritual for the descent of an evil god."

Olivia was most likely influenced by such a ritual.

"Isn't she from the Church of Reincarnation? How did she become a follower of an evil god?"

"Perhaps, Reincarnation has mastered the same sacrificial ritual as the evil gods. After all, Reincarnation is very special."

Daiyi activated "Omniscient Insight" and saw the massive amount of affinity continuously overflowing from Flos's chest.

The affinity within Flos's body could no longer be detected by "Omniscient Insight."

Just by looking at it for a moment, Daiyi's eyes became extremely sore, and her head felt like it was about to explode.

"She has the pure power of a god on her. She's about the same as a Child of God right now."

"A Child of God?"

Everyone present heard this title.

No one could defeat a Child of God.

Felyn could still remember the power of the divine arts used by the Child of Order in the space of Order on the night of the school festival, which far surpassed that of ordinary people.

As affinity increased, the degree of trust a church member received from their god would also increase.

According to the level of trust, from low to high, the ranks were God's Revelation, Executor, Adjudicator, Priest, Elder, and Child of God.

With each promotion, one could master an additional divine art.

And a Child of God was undoubtedly at the pinnacle of the combat power pyramid.

Putting aside the purest divine power within a Child of God, just the power of six max-level divine arts alone was something no one could contend with.

Not even a Hero.

Flos was closing in bit by bit, while Bernice was still preparing the transfer divine art.

The Imperial Knight, Veronica, was the first to charge.

Eerie green patterns, like cotton wadding, floated everywhere in the air. The slightest touch would cause one's skin to start burning.

Even the heavy armor on Veronica couldn't withstand it. Those divine art patterns, like the ghosts of Reincarnation, corroded her armor and burned her skin.

In just a distance of three steps, Veronica had to endure the burning pain on her skin, her speed clearly slowing down.

To charge at this speed was to court death.

But someone always had to sacrifice, someone always had to be at the forefront.

An Imperial Knight could only fall on the path of the charge.

"Moonlit Sanctum" unfolded.

The cool, sky-blue divine art healed the knight. Veronica's body began to recover.

But the speed of healing was no match for the speed of the burning.

Watching Veronica gradually approach, Flos snapped her fingers, and several strange, eerie green spiritual bodies appeared behind her.

"Miss Knight, I only want Felyn. Why must you charge forward?" Flos's voice echoed, the sound waves refracting endlessly in the forest.

It was hard to say whether she was still conscious or had already been controlled by the God of Reincarnation.

"Felyn belongs to Her Highness, so he is someone I must protect."

"Oh? Is Felyn that likable?"

Flos waved her hand lightly. "Unfortunately, I hate him very much. He made me lose face, made me feel embarrassed. Anyone who embarrasses me, Flos, anyone who embarrasses Reincarnation, must die."

The eerie green spiritual bodies moved.

These were the elders who had entered the "Hall of Valor" of the Church of Reincarnation in the past. They relied on the power of Reincarnation to achieve spiritual immortality and would fight for Reincarnation when needed.

The attacks of the spiritual bodies had no physical form, but they could cast divine arts.

Several Tier 4 divine arts were cast from their hands. For a moment, the entire sky was covered by the eerie green light of divine arts.

Veronica's vision was blocked by the dazzling light. She held her sword in one hand and cast a Tier 5 defensive divine art with the other.

The moment the Tier 5 defensive divine art was deployed, it was subjected to a fierce bombardment. She saw countless dense cracks appear on the defensive barrier, but Veronica's steps did not stop.

Since it had come to this, she might as well go all out.

"BOOM—!"

The defensive divine art finally couldn't withstand the spiritual bodies' attacks. The moment it shattered, it let out a huge, mournful cry.

Amidst the eerie green dust and light, a sharp sword cut through the thick fog, and Veronica emerged, gritting her teeth.

One step, two steps.

The distance between her and Flos was only five steps away.

The light of a divine art covered her sword. Veronica used all her strength to slash down at Flos.

"Crack!"

The expected muffled thud did not come. Instead, a crisp cracking sound entered Veronica's mind.

Her gaze shifted slightly downwards, and she discovered that the sword in her hand had already broken.

The eerie green divine light that Flos had casually released had easily cut Veronica's sword.

The sword in Veronica's hand was of the same level as the Hero's Sword, a legendary blade.

There was no ridicule, no mockery on Flos's face, only the disdain of someone standing on the clouds, looking down on humanity.

She was no longer herself.

"Veronica!"

Veronica felt her body suddenly become very light. Her limbs left the ground, and the whole world retreated crazily.

The pain in her abdomen only came at this moment.

Her back slammed onto the ground, causing blood to gush from her throat.

"Veronica!"

Seeing Veronica sent flying by Flos, Dorothy hurriedly ran to her side, knelt down, and undid her helmet and armor.

"Your Highness, Bernice's divine art..."

"It's ready, it's ready! Her divine art is ready. We can transfer to a safe place right away."

Just as her voice fell, a dazzling, pure white light of divine art pierced through the eerie green sky.

A giant transfer divine art formation appeared on the ground. The power of the God of Palmi was displayed to its fullest at this moment.

With the assistance of Zervanie's divine art, Bernice's transfer divine art could move everyone present away.

Felyn felt his body begin to lighten, and a white light covered him.

He took one last look at Flos, who was standing still, her long hair already piled up behind her.

The blinding white light made him close his eyes, listening to the whispers of the God of Palmi.

A moment later.

The transfer divine art ended.

Felyn opened his eyes and saw the familiar eerie green, saw the god standing in the dim light.

"H-How could this be..."

The transfer divine art had failed.

Bernice looked at the surroundings in disbelief. Her vision went black, and she collapsed to the ground.

The large-scale transfer divine art had exhausted all her affinity. Her physical strength could no longer support her standing.

(End of Chapter)