Chapter 79: Advent

Following Miss Anate through the garden, he discovered that the lively sounds in the manor were gone, and even the chirping of insects on the summer night had ceased. Getting slightly closer to the manor, he saw the guests who had attended the outdoor banquet lying on the ground in a deep sleep, but they were temporarily in no danger of losing their lives.

It seemed that wearing the mask was no longer necessary.

Xia De observed again using 【Blood Echo】 and discovered that every person had blood-colored patterns clinging to them, while he and Miss Anate did not. This world was truly very dangerous for ordinary people.

"Although the ritual hasn't fully begun, its power has already started to affect the surroundings. This is beyond the expectations of the Society and the Zhengshen Sect, but that's fine; we won't have to avoid ordinary people when fighting."

Miss Anate explained.

The closer they got to the manor, the more they could smell the fishy, sweet scent in the air. When they truly arrived at the perimeter of the manor, they even saw that the vines originally clinging to the walls had actually grown blood-red, eerie flowers. Miss Anate even plucked two of them in passing, claiming that these were rare supernatural materials.

While Xia De was hiding behind the hedge "pondering life" and waiting for things to end, the manor was not peaceful either. Although Lady Lasoya of "Mercury Blood" was accidentally trapped by the doctor and others, and the man in the wine-red suit was looking for Xia De for "revenge," besides this organization, followers of the evil god 【Lord of the Blood Feast】 had also entered the Lake View Manor. Moreover, the ritual for the evil god's descent was actually being handled by the cultists, with "Mercury Blood" merely providing assistance.

One side craved the evil god's artifacts, while the other craved the evil god's descent; it could be considered each getting what they needed.

The Ring Mages of the Zhengshen Sect were the first to make contact with the cultists, and the latter triggered the ritual prematurely only when they saw that things were not going well.

As for Doctor Shi Nai De, he had taken a step ahead and made direct contact with Lady Lasoya; after all, he only knew that this gender-unknown fellow was a member of Mercury Blood.

Because of this accident, Doctor Shi Nai De was now meeting Lady Lasoya in the banquet hall on the third floor of the manor, while the Zhengshen Sect's squad was on the lower floors, battling the cultists. Afterward, Priest Ao Gu Si and Miss Lu Yi Sha were forced to stay on the third floor because they wanted to find the doctor.

Miss Anate's departure from the manor was not to avoid the battle, but because she held a document-level 【Relic】 that required two Ring Mages to use.

"Are we going to use this relic to defeat Lady Lasoya?"

Walking hurriedly, Xia De asked the female diviner about the plan.

"Of course not. We are going to use this relic to identify the nodes of the evil god's descent ritual and destroy those main nodes. Otherwise, once the evil god descends, even if we defeat many more people, we won't be able to escape. The appearance of 【Lord of the Blood Feast】 will destroy the entire Tobeisi. Every time this evil god appears, it inevitably launches a blood feast, devouring at least an entire city."

Miss Anate seemed quite familiar with the structure of the Lake View Manor. She led Xia De into the interior of the building through the entrance passage used for kitchen vegetables at the back of the manor. Afterward, she used the small staircase used by the servants, avoiding the first and second floors where the situation was unknown, and went directly to the third floor.

Arriving at the corridor from the staircase, in the increasingly thick blood mist, the magnificent passage seemed to be decorated with gold, but in reality, it was just the lampshades of the elegant gas lamps on the walls deliberately scattering such light. A red carpet extended from one end of the corridor to the other, and exquisite and expensive portrait oil paintings hung on the walls.

The doors were all yellow solid wood, which, together with the smooth floor tiles and the corridor walls covered with wall tiles, highlighted the owner's wealth.

It was extremely quiet here, as if no one existed. Xia De instinctively felt danger. In the silence of the third floor, there seemed to be an indescribable object peeking at the people in the light from the shadows. This feeling of danger was even more terrifying than the man in the wine-red formal suit.

Even though 【Lord of the Blood Feast】 had not yet appeared, its power had already unconsciously affected mortals.

"The evil god's descent ritual is being held on the third floor, so the manor owner, Little Klein, who was bewitched by the cultists, drove everyone away from the third floor in advance. Now the church's Ring Mages are downstairs. The five major Zhengshen Sects in the Tobeisi Archdiocese all have Ring Mages above the tenth ring. Although they don't know that the ritual was started prematurely, according to past conventions, they will arrive within fifteen minutes."

Tobeisi City was the capital of the Delarion Kingdom, one of the largest kingdoms of humanity. This was a veritable archdiocese, and there was even a thirteenth-ring mage stationed here—that was Sari Pirot, the "Steel Right Hand" under the Zhengshen 【Lady of Creation】, an old gentleman in his fifties.

"Then how much time is left before the ritual officially takes effect?"

Xia De asked.

"Seven minutes."

"Hmm?"

He blinked, suspecting he had misheard, but Miss Anate confirmed that he hadn't:

"Yes, luck is very bad. Now, we are the only ones who can stop the ritual. But fortunately, Mercury Blood and the cultists have both been entangled by others, so no one will block our actions. We are safe."

She noticed Xia De stop his footsteps:

"Detective, are you afraid?"

Xia De shook his head:

"I'm just surprised, why have we become the saviors? Rationally speaking, this is the church's mission."

Miss Anate's purple eyes revealed a smile; she didn't show a hint of fear:

"They were premeditatedly entangled, and the other party didn't expect that there would be Academy Ring Mages here. Detective, we live in this city, live in this world, and are inherently a part of it. Some things can be avoided, but some things cannot. The evil god summoned by the ritual doesn't rely on human possession to appear in the form of a saint, but its true body... This is a disaster; no one can escape."

"I know. Since I came with you, naturally I won't flee."

The diviner revealed a gentle smile:

"If it weren't for this level of matter, we would naturally have to flee. This time, we really can't leave. But don't worry, we are just doing what we can. We were unlucky enough to be pushed to the very front. Now, we are the only ones who can move freely. Although it sounds dangerous, in reality, this is very safe. The Ring Ringed Ringed Shushi squad of the Zhengshen Sect is the one bearing the most dangerous mission."

She stomped her foot with the high-heeled shoe whose heel she had knocked off, signaling the people fighting downstairs.

Xia De looked at her feet. Because he was wearing a mask, this action was particularly obvious, so he was patted by the annoyed woman.

In the fashion of this era, ladies could even cut their evening gowns to reveal a small part of their backs, but revealing legs was something only prostitutes would do. And staring at ladies' feet was naturally a very impolite behavior. ===== CHAPTER 80 =====