Chapter 681

【 ANOS 】

—

The so-called sacrifices were, in truth, living human offerings. More precisely, they were rituals that demanded the life of a creature belonging to the same species as the one presenting the offering.

The practice of offering living beings was not something unique to evil gods alone. It also existed among the righteous gods, since clergies would offer their own souls and lives when performing certain rituals.

After all, although the soul and life force were not as potent as divine power, they were still among the fundamental forces of the world and could be directly absorbed and used by gods.

The key distinction lay in the fact that most righteous gods followed reason and adhere to order, whereas evil gods were self indulgent and deranged, willing to accept any method that satisfied their impulses.

Most righteous gods disdained living sacrifices because it was shortsighted and needlessly destructive. For evil gods, however, this was the most efficient method to please them.

This was only natural, because nothing delighted evil gods more than seeing living beings slaughter one another in chaos and bloodshed.

Through such sacrifices, they not only absorbed life force, which was one of the core energies of the world, but also savored the terror and despair of the victims.

In addition, the stronger the vitality of the offering, the more valuable it became. A sacrifice with a powerful soul, or one possessing great strength, was far more likely to draw an evil god’s attention. At times, such a sacrifice could even provoke a direct response, which was the outcome most cultists desperately sought.

Upon Otto’s command, the Church of Twilight’s Pope quickly brought seven extraordinary individuals, each at least of silver rank. Every one of them was bound tightly with anti magic ropes as they glared at Otto with unmasked anger.

War always produced such prisoners, along with rebels who opposed the regime.

These were the origins of these individuals.

To Otto, they were ideal sacrifice.

Inside the main tent that the Red Maple army had erected, after dismissing everyone else, Otto turned to the Pope and his accompanying priests and said, “Begin the ritual.”

The Pope agreed at once. He used the materials prepared in advance to draw a massive ritual array with deep grooves, covering nearly two thirds of the entire tent.

He then ordered his attendants to place the seven bound experts onto the ritual circle and under their terrified gazes, he slit their throats one by one.

Blood sprayed out at once, quickly soaking into the ritual array.

As the blood filled the grooves, a dark crimson glow slowly gathered within the circle.

Seeing the glow appeared, Otto’s eyes flickered slightly.

“That will do. Leave us,” he said to the Pope.

The Pope opened his mouth, a hint of awkwardness crossing his face, but he still bowed and left with the other priests. The curtain of the tent swayed behind them as they departed, leaving Otto alone with the growing radiance of the ritual.

A cloud of violet black smoke surged upward without warning, swirling into a single point before coalescing into a colossal spectral face that hovered above the ritual array.

Its blurred features tilted downward as it regarded Otto in silence.

“Otto, did I not instruct you to refrain from disturbing me for a while?” the genderless voice said, echoing through the tent.

As the words fell, a crushing pressure descended, sweeping toward him like a tidal wave.

Otto’s face drained of color and he instinctively dropped to one knee, but despite the unbearable weight pressing upon him, neither a hint of fear showed in his eyes. ṝＡNÔ𐌱ÈṢ

“Your Grace Anos, is this what you call cooperation?”

His voice remained steady.

The pressure disappeared instantly as the faint features of the giant face contorted into something resembling mockery.

“Otto, had this been two hundred thousand years ago, a creature as insolent as you would have regretted ever being born into this world.”

“If not for the vestiges of Guy’s bloodline which you carry, you would already be dead, and Maple Leaf Territory would have been reduced to ashes together with you.”

Facing the face’s cold expression, Otto stood, brushed off the dust on his clothes, and smiled faintly.

“But if I were to die, Your Grace’s plan to quickly recover your strength will suffer a setback, and you will lose a future ally you may find useful.”

The enormous face examined Otto’s confidence, then responded with a cold, detached tone. “Otto, are all of you bloodbornes this self absorbed?”

“Do not assume that obtaining the blood progenitor’s divinity with Nidhogg’s help makes you another progenitor of the blood race. Guy’s divinity carries a fatal imperfection.”

“Without the authority of death, even if you ascend as a blood progenitor, you shall remain a weak and insignificant god.”

“And if the current God of Death learns that Guy’s divinity has fallen into your hands, I question whether you will even live to witness the next sunrise.”

Otto met the taunt with a relaxed smile.

“You will not act, Your Grace, because the Titans have dwindled to only you, alone. That is why you require my assistance, insolent as I may be.”

“Allies? I have never needed such things. Speak. You have already failed to spread my faith properly, so why are you bothering me now?”

Otto’s expression grew solemn.

“Your Grace Anos, I have encountered a problem. The elves have joined the war.”

“The elves…? Ah, you mean those long eared creatures created by that Yggdrasill? Hm. Speaking of which, the ones you offered last time had a pleasant flavor. If you manage to obtain more, you may present them to me again,” the giant face remarked with lingering interest.

Otto remained silent for a moment before letting out a quiet sigh.

“Your Grace, you must not underestimate those elves. Unlike the ones in the Maple Leaf Territory, these elves come from the Elven Forest. Their nature is far more aggressive and ruthlessly cunning, the complete opposite of the traditional elves I previously offered you. Moreover, they are protected by the Goddess of Life and can resurrect repeatedly.”

“So? That is even better. It means they can be sacrificed without limit, again and again.”

Otto: “…”

Seeing his expression, the giant face let out a mocking sound.

“You want me to intervene because you cannot defeat them, correct? You could have simply said so.”

“Since the elves have entered the war, the successor of Yggdrasill that you mentioned will most likely intervene as well, correct?”

Otto straightened slightly and nodded.

“Most likely. If you take action personally, that deity who is lurking within the Elven Forest will probably do so as well.”

The giant face nodded slightly, its hazy eyes shifting with interest.

“That god’s name is Evé, correct? The one who inherited all of Yggdrasil’s divinities?”

“Yes. According to rumor, she was originally an elf who ascended to godhood through the faith of the inhabitants of a demirealm. She then used her authority to transform all humans within that demirealm into pure blooded elves. The drastic shift in the elves’ temperament is believed to have originated from this transformation,” Otto explained.

Hearing this, the giant face narrowed its eyes.

“So she is a true god born from the accumulation of faith.”

“Fret not. I have studied the power of faith recently. It is indeed an intriguing method since it allows you mortals to ascend to mythical rank. However, this method of ascension remains inferior. It only provides a larger reservoir of divine power. When confronted with an ancient god of true strength, it will still fall short.”

Seeing the disdain on the giant face, Otto quickly added,

“Your Grace Anos, that elven goddess is far from ordinary. Although she is newly ascended as a god of faith, she effortlessly killed a deity at the peak of weak divine power.”

“Although the slain god was also a deity born from faith, it still demonstrates the strength of the Goddess of Life. Based on my estimation, her power most likely already reaches the peak of weak divine power or even approaches that of intermediate divine power.”

The colossal face regarded Otto’s earnest expression and appeared mildly surprised.

“You are surprisingly well informed.”

Otto smiled.

“Ascending to mythical-rank is one of my primary ambitions. The divinity of the blood progenitor does not rely on faith, but it demands vast amounts of death and slaughter. You require war and terror to expand your influence as well. This is the foundation of our cooperation, is it not?”

The giant face returned a cold stare.

“Otto, being too clever is not always a virtue.”

“Evé, was it? I do want to meet this upstart deity. I wonder how she would fare compared to the dragon gods.”

“As for the debt Yggdrasill owes me for sealing my true body, this successor of hers can repay it in her stead.”

After speaking, the giant face turned to Otto again.

“Enough chatter. I understand the situation. I will intervene if it becomes necessary,” the voice intoned, cold and decisive.

“You intend to seize that city before us, correct? I sense no fewer than five thousand exceptional beings within it who possessed strong life force.”

The eyes of the Titan lingered on Augsburg City, a faint cruelty glimmering in their depths.

Noticing the violent greed reflected in the Titan’s expression, Otto paused for a moment, measuring his words carefully before speaking again.

“Your Grace Anos, the threat is not limited to that city alone. The elves claim to have deployed two hundred thousand soldiers. They have already split their forces and are marching to attack several nearby settlements. Without your intervention, we will not be able to withstand their advance.”

Hearing this, the colossal face cast Otto another mocking glance.

“Otto, do you take me for some convenient weapon for your petty war?”

Otto lowered his gaze slightly, choosing his words with care.

“No. It is simply that only You, Your Grace, can reverse the current situation. And You also require more souls to devour, correct?”

This time, his tone carried a deeper reverence, almost cautious.

The giant face let out a low, cold laugh.

“So you do know how to speak properly when circumstances force you to. If that is the case, you should speak in this manner more often.”

“There is no need for haste. Deal with this city first. I want to test the capabilities of this successor of Yggdrasill. As for the other cities, I could easily take them back even if they fall. If the faith of their populace changes, then we could just forcefully change it back. With me here, what do you have to fear?”

“If this war allows me to seize the Goddess of Life’s power, I am certain I will reach my goal much sooner. When that happens, your army will stand unrivaled across the continent.”

Otto sighed softly.

“But even so, that would take at least three years. According to secret intelligence I gathered from the Eternal Church, the world’s dimensional pathways will fully open in three years. At that point, all true gods beyond this world could descend here in their true forms. When that happens, everything I have painstakingly built will be reduced to nothing.”

The colossal face emitted a derisive snort.

“Three years is ample time. Once you ascend to mythical-rank, such trivial worldly concerns will no longer trouble you. You are not like those Gods of Faith who rely on cheap methods of Ascension.”

The Titan’s gaze hardened.

“Now then, I must continue digesting the power of those angels. As always, keep a close watch on the artifact I gave you. When the battle has accumulated enough life force and souls to support my descent, do summon me without hesitation.”

With those final words, the giant face dissolved into a swirling cloud of violet-black mist, which slowly dissipated into the air. The oppressive, suffocating pressure that had filled the tent gradually vanished.

Only the bloodstained ritual array remained, along with Otto, King of Red Maple Kingdom.

Otto let the smile fade from his face and gazed at the ritual array with a thoughtful expression.

“The King of Titans, is it?”

He remained silent for a moment, then left the tent and summoned his guards and commanders.

“Pass down the order. Prepare to attack the city.”

༺⟐༻

Augsburg City, Forzel Fortress.

This fortress, currently occupied by the players, had become their base of operations and the defenders that remained were volunteers from various guilds.

At this moment, Li Mu and the others had already departed, while Sophia had left with the main army heading toward Zelouan. As a result, command of the fortress had fallen to the upper leadership of the All Stars Guild Alliance, with All Stars’ Achan temporarily assuming the role of city commander.

Among the five thousand defenders, the majority were players from the second wave of the public beta.

Their experience in battle was limited, and they often faltered under pressure. As such, this type of defense mission, with teleportation arrays already set up and the city’s holy barrier arranged, therefore was perfectly suited to them.

For many, this was their first time participating in such a large scale war event and their first time defending a city, so everyone was extremely excited.

This included Yeye and Nana, who had chosen to remain behind.

“That’s the trebuchet the human army is assembling? So they really are building them with whatever materials they could find. Does this mean they’ll start attacking soon?”

Standing atop the tall walls, Nana’s eyes sparkled as she observed the massive army gathering outside the city.

“It’s not as overwhelming as when our army marches out. It actually feels smaller,” Yeye remarked from beside her.

“It’s already a considerable force. The guild just captured an enemy scout. There are close to thirty thousand soldiers. That’s plenty for us to fight,” FacetheWind added with a laugh, adjusting a ballista.

The ballista, discovered in the fortress’ partially damaged warehouse, was perfectly suited for wall defense and it allowed archer players to fully imbue their skills.

“What if there are high-ranking experts among them? What do we do then? We don’t have any high-ranking NPCs,” Nana asked, her eyes narrowing in concern as she studied the distant army.

“What are you worried about? We have the goddess’s holy barrier. Even legendary-rank enemies cannot break through that. And if things go south, we still have the teleportation array. We can call upon Alice, Thranduil, Samuel, Rose, or even Big Sister herself to help us. If Sister Zero comes, we’ll win for sure.” FacetheWind said confidently, wiping sweat from his brow.

“Big Sister?”

The two newcomers asked curiously.

“You probably haven’t met her yet, right? She is Zero, the strongest Godwarden of the goddess. She can contact and borrow the goddess’s power,” he explained.

“Really…? that’s amazing.”

“Yes, it really is,” he replied with a grin.

The players continued their casual conversation, the air buzzing with anticipation. Suddenly, a distant horn echoed across the battlefield, slicing through the chatter.

FacetheWind straightened, his gaze locking onto the advancing Red Maple Kingdom army as countless grey figures slowly began to move forward.

“You guys hear those horns? Looks like the battle is about to begin.”

He clenched his fist, excitement rising within him.

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