Ashes Of Deep Sea

Chapter 21 A Successful Ritual

After hearing the content of the cult priest’s prayer, Duncan immediately halted the process of canceling his astral projection to return to the Lost Home.

The captain dumbfoundedly looked at the masked priest who had just completed the fanatic prayer. The dagger that seemed to be carved out of obsidian was raised high up in the priest’s hands. The cultists around the sacrificial altar cheered enthusiastically as they recited the name of their ‘lord,” the legendary “True Sun God,” who had fallen and broken into pieces a long time ago.

They wanted to offer the “sacrifice” to the Sun God. More specifically, they were going to provide the sacrifice’s heart.

Duncan finally understood where the painful cries in the cave originated from. He also learned of the sins that those zealous cultists had committed.

He then saw the masked priest take a step toward him. The priest raised the obsidian dagger, and a black flame appeared on the blade.

The interesting supernatural phenomenon managed to pique Duncan’s interest. He wondered if the dagger was also an “abnormality” and if the priest was also a “special human” who could control the supernatural power. He thought about how many unique humans actually existed in civilized societies and what their roles would be.

At the same time, he expressionlessly watched as the dagger burning in black flame pierced his chest, making the sound of a blade piercing through a few layers of cloth.

The flame burned beneath the cloth, but it didn’t burn anything.

The fireball burning on top of the totem behind him suddenly made an uncomfortable crackling sound. There was even a hint of unpitched sound that sounded like someone was screaming in pain. Duncan could faintly feel something starting to spread from the fireball. It was cold to “touch.” He was having a hard time describing the feeling. It wasn’t only because the sense of the body he had temporarily possessed had a muted reaction but also because it was not something he had felt before. However, he did understand one thing. In the supernatural world, the priest performing the sacrificial ritual was in trouble.

The mutation that represented the sun on the totem immediately caught the attention of the cultists in the vicinity. There were a few gasps, and the room quieted down from the excited cheers. Even the two men in black robes, grabbing Duncan’s arms tightly, looked as if they were stunned by something. They loosened their grips out of fear and immediately knelt in front of the totem. Even the priest, still holding the obsidian dagger, was frozen in his spot. The blade was still tightly in his hand, but he was now staring at the face of his “sacrifice.” Duncan could see the confusion in his eyes through the holes in the mask.

Duncan forcefully moved his paralyzed lips and managed to form a terrifying grin. He slowly raised his right hand and rested it on the priest’s hand holding the dagger. The green flame started to flow from him like water onto the dagger.

Almost instantly, Duncan could feel the “feedback” from the dagger. However, weirdly enough, the feedback was weak and hollow. It was as if the dagger was a cheap imitation, a hollow shell with a hint of “borrowed power.”

However, whether the dagger was real or, an imitation didn’t matter much to him.

He smiled at the priest and slowly said, “There are two things I want to say.”

The next second, the priest could feel that an external force suddenly interrupted the connection between him and the obsidian dagger. It was as if his fanatic belief in the Sun God had unexpectedly run into an unbreakable wall and was cut off.

“First, I have a kind heart. Look at how kind I

am.”

Duncan ripped the cloth already torn by the dagger and exposed a shocking hole. Through the hole, the priest that hosted the ritual could see what was behind Duncan.

“Second, try not to feed your human sacrifices expired food.”

Duncan gently pushed the priest back. He had no idea why the priest looked weak after the green flame had surrounded the obsidian dagger, to the point where the weak body that Duncan had possessed could easily push the tall and strong priest back.

It wasn’t until he was pushed back that the priest finally regained his wits. Fear and anger filled his head. With his body trembling, he raised his hand to point at Duncan and yelled at the top of his lung as if he was trying to calm the cultists down. “You! You reincarnated filth! How dare you stain this holy sacrificial ritual! W-who’s the necromancer behind this? Are you not afraid of the Sun God’s power?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Duncan replied as he looked at the obsidian dagger in his hand that had been giving him feedback. He then raised his head to look at the priest in front of him. With the crackling sound still coming from the totem, he suddenly had a bold and excellent but unusual idea. “You know what? I have the sudden urge to satisfy a curiosity of mine.”

He then raised the obsidian dagger high up. With the panicked cultists in black robes watching, he pointed at the priest and yelled, “Oh! Supreme Sun God! Please accept this sacrifice on the altar. I offer you his heart! I pray that you return from blood and fire!”

The flame on the obsidian dagger rose, and the totem’s cold sensation suddenly retracted. Duncan could see the fear in the priest’s eyes under the mask. He wanted to leave the altar immediately, but the dagger was faster.

The dagger flew out of Duncan’s hand as if an invisible force guided it. With the black flame and a hint of green flame surrounding the blade, it stabbed the priest in his heart. The head of the cult let out a loud cry of pain before a hole appeared in his chest, and his heart was turned into ashes in almost an instant.

The dagger then returned to Duncan’s hand. It flew out of his hand and back in just a few seconds. The little to no power inside of it had been depleted.

There were only two people on the altar. One had a heart, and the other didn’t. Since the evil god wanted to feast on a human heart, there was only one that would lose their heart, the only one with his heart still intact.

Despite coming to that logical conclusion, everything still went much more smoothly than he had expected. He did not expect the idea he got on a whim would actually work. After the priest had fallen dead, he glanced at the totem that had quieted down. “So, he takes any hearts as long as it’s offered to him?” he mumbled.

Naturally, the fireball on the totem would not reply to his question. However, a few cultists around the altar had finally regained their wits. A considerable panic was unavoidable, but among the chaos, a few zealous cultists expressed their anger, an anger that overshadowed their fear of the unnatural occurrence from the totem.

The closest to the altar shouted their god’s name and charged toward Duncan. The action of these courageous cultists inspired others to follow suit—a group of people dressed in black robes charged as if they had lost their minds. A few even took out the dagger and short sword they had brought.

Duncan had planned to say, “I’ll sacrifice all the hearts on the altar to the Sun God” to test the appetite of the evil god, but when he spotted a few of the cultists having revolvers in their hands, he decided not to do that. He considered the time it took for the ritual to happen and the principle of “accurate and haste within seven steps,” he showed the cultists a middle finger without hesitation and cut off the projection.

“They can go wild. I’m heading back to Lost Home.” He grinned.

At the same time, on the vast ocean, rhythmic footsteps could be heard on the deck of Lost Home.

The puppet, Alice, left her room in her long gothic dress and headed to the captain’s cabin.

This time, the elegant wooden box did not follow the puppet. She left it in the room instead.

The captain had said that she could move freely among the cabins below the main deck. She could also roam around the main deck, and if she had any questions, she could look for the captain in his cabin.

Alice clearly remembered that.