### Chapter 402: Ritual of the Banquet Master
A sacred relic in its sealed state doesn’t reveal any obvious characteristics of a divine path.
Minister Griffith had clearly not yet completed the unsealing process; otherwise, Lily would have been able to “extract” it from the corpse.
Therefore, it was not strange that the Arbitration, the Inspection Bureau, and the Supervisory Department had searched it three times without finding anything—after all, no one dared to lay a hand on the sacred statue. They probably wouldn’t even dare to touch it.
Although the number of Nine Pillar Gods and Heavenly Envoys was limited, the number of Disciples was not small.
The Church of the Nine Pillars God permitted the worship of all current Nine Pillar Gods and their affiliated Disciples, and did not restrict faith in Heavenly Envoys and their Disciples. Only in the case of Dwarves, where formal worship of Heavenly Envoys and their Disciples, or outright sacrifice, was considered illegal.
With so many Disciples, who knew which Disciple was legitimate and which was not?
It was possible that an unassuming sacred statue was actually the earthly manifestation of a Heavenly Envoy or even one of the Nine Pillar Gods, or an avatar they had once used.
For example, placing a sacred statue from the era of Arthur, the Silver Crown Dragon, in a room, and then placing a sacred statue of the Bear Heavenly Envoy and another Nine Pillar God’s sacred statue at an equal height on a higher level, would undoubtedly be considered blasphemy. Furthermore, if one’s understanding of religious studies was shallow, they might mistake Arthur for one of the Silver Crown Dragon’s knights, thus discarding Arthur’s sacred statue along with the Bear Heavenly Envoy’s sacred statue.
No matter how it was handled, it was easy to make a major mistake.
Therefore, according to the procedure, such matters were usually handled by professionals from the Church of the Nine Pillars God.
Eivass was now using this as an excuse to investigate—undoubtedly, he was a professional.
It was simple to search for evidence, and it didn’t even matter if there was no evidence. Eivass knew this, and Lixia knew this too.
Eivass first had a grand meal with Lily and Lixia at Griffith’s manor, filling himself up and drinking a large amount of wine until he exuded a strong alcoholic aroma.
When night fell, Eivass had Lixia seal all the doors and windows and draw the curtains, creating an artificial dim environment, allowing only a sliver of moonlight to fall before the sacred statue.
Then, he had Lixia and Lily retreat to a distance, maintaining their vigilance.
Lixia was clearly very interested in this as well.
She had previously discovered that Eivass had profound attainments in religion and Ritual Studies. At the very least, ordinary priests would not have been able to preside over a grand ritual like her “Molting and Rebirth.”
Under the watchful eyes of Lixia and Lily behind him, Eivass, reeking of alcohol, solemnly lit a candle, sprinkled a small pinch of black pearl powder before the sacred statue, and then, in front of the candlelight, removed all his clothes and stood in the moonlight—this was a necessary step in the ritual, which required the presence of multiple witnesses of the opposite sex throughout the process.
Two people were the minimum requirement.
Eivass could choose the best candidates, which were Lixia, who could practically be his grandmother, and Lily, with whom he was too familiar.
There were many ways to unseal a sacred relic. One could use complex rituals to forcibly unseal it, or directly summon the Disciple themselves to unseal it. In those folk knight stories, when heroes obtained holy swords and were recognized by them, it was actually the knights themselves who sensed and recognized the heroes’ perseverance and courage, thus completing the unsealing.
In a game, it would be an unsealing quest that wasn’t too troublesome.
However, being able to receive this quest from the Disciple themself was considered a preliminary unsealing. At least, the item itself could be used and equipped, but its equipment and set bonuses were not fully unlocked.
In other words, all Eivass needed to do now was to summon Sister Sasha in person.
Minister Griffith, as a Law Master and Blood Mage, could not achieve this, but for Eivass, as a Priest, it was as easy as pie.
Eivass took out a cup of excellent quality red wine—this was also taken from Griffith’s home. Because of its best quality, Eivass specifically did not drink it, but saved it for Sister Sasha.
Then, Eivass bit his left middle finger, injecting a drop of blood along with two points of light-attribute mana into the wine.
The middle finger symbolized Aether, and the left middle finger belonged to Light. Mana injected into such non-mana-storing materials would be quickly lost. Therefore, Eivass immediately drank half of the blood wine and poured the other half onto the sacred statue.
Soon, the black silk covering the sacred statue was soaked by the blood and wine.
As the sacred statue also began to exude a faint, tipsy aroma, it simultaneously began to emit a faint dark gold radiance.
At the same time, Eivass began to chant: “I solemnly call upon you, Dancer of the Three Aspects!
“God of Sacred Number One, God of Death and Rebirth, God of Eternal Vision, Unseeing—Eternal Me!”
As Eivass chanted, his body suddenly emanated an extremely strong fragrance.
Like the finest roast meat, or like excellent fine wine, Lily and Lixia, watching from a distance, were instantly filled with intense attraction. If they had not already eaten their fill, they would have felt their stomachs churning and their reason crushed by the intense hunger.
Eivass’s pupils lit up with dark red radiance, and cold sweat broke out on his back, which was a pale red liquid like fine wine.
“I beg you to descend into the moonlight!
“I am Eivass Moriarty! I am the sweetest fruit, the strongest wine.
“Please peel off your outer skin and drink deeply from the wine goblet. I will stand alone in the moonlight, dancing alone in the thicket of thorns.
“Please, Eternal Me and your Disciple, the Banquet Master, respond to me—”
Eivass prayed: “Please grant me desire and blood energy!”
There were multiple directions for prayer to Eternal Me, just as the Path of Love had multiple branches such as the Blood Domain and the Shadow Domain. With Eivass praying in a state of fullness and intoxication, and having specifically asked the Banquet Master to respond, only the Banquet Master could respond to him at this moment.
As Sister Sasha was not a true Disciple, the sacrifice could not be directly directed at her.
However, the Banquet Master could see Eivass praying before Sister Sasha’s sacred statue at this moment, thus knowing that Eivass was not looking for Him. Therefore, He would have Sister Sasha come in person.
As expected.
Eivass immediately felt dizzy, his whole body tilted forward, and he immediately lost consciousness.
Lily subconsciously rushed forward, wanting to support Eivass.
But after only a few steps, she stopped.
The sacred statue before Eivass flashed with dazzling blood-red light—the next moment, a semi-transparent nun exuding a gentle aura emerged from it, catching the tilting Eivass directly in her embrace.
It was not a spiritual manifestation, but a true descent!
She wore a black silk blindfold, black silk gloves, and was wrapped in a heavy nun’s habit.
She gently held Eivass, straightening his head.
Then, she gently caressed his head, from the back of his skull to his nape. A stream of blood-red splendor flowed into Eivass’s body along with her touch.
Immediately after, Eivass vaguely woke up.
He was “awakened by suffocation.”
He felt his mind clear, his blood energy full and boiling—his whole body felt like he had taken stimulants, filled with vitality and desire. The blood vessels in his scalp and neck visibly bulged and pulsed. His rationality had significantly weakened, and his thinking speed and calmness had noticeably decreased. This was temporary fatigue, and it would take about more than a day to recover.
His whole body turned red, like the cheeks of someone extremely shy; or, one could say, like having opened the Eight Inner Gates. Under the rapid circulation of abundant blood and qi, Eivass’s entire body muscles bulged, and he even had obvious physiological reactions. Fortunately, his back was to Lily and the others, so he did not expose any indecent parts.
The moment Eivass opened his eyes, Sister Sasha had already disappeared as if she were a phantom.
The confirmation that she was not an illusion came from Lixia and Lily, who were watching from the side!
This was also why the ritual required witnesses—without witnesses, Eivass would only have had a long dream, and upon waking, besides temporarily expending his rationality, he would not have had any other effect other than restoring his blood energy to its peak state as much as possible.
But now…
In the place where the nun had disappeared, upon that sacred statue…there was a pure white butterfly dancing gracefully.
In the moonlight, it reflected a pure and holy white radiance.
On the wall of the room, where only a beam of moonlight entered, countless butterfly-like moonlight reflections were cast, making it look like a dance of butterflies.
