Chapter 53: Birth Rite of Dawn and Twilight
Inside the golden church, the candlelight flowed freely, and the prayers were loud and clear. The believers bathed in the warm candlelight, their expressions solemn.
Today was Sunday, also known as Holy Descent Day and Salvation Day, a day for all the Pan-Glorious faith sects to hold worship.
Even the Holy Candle Mass Church in a place like Ark Town needed to conduct worship under the leadership of the resident priest.
Before the altar, Mog changed into solemn priest robes, holding The Grace of Glorious in his hands, and recited, “We must remember those who gather firewood, for their fire is hot enough, and their light is glorious…”
The believers below sang along: “We must remember those who burned themselves in the fire, for their sacrifice, all our sins shall be forgiven…”
When the worship ended, Priest Mog distributed bread, dried meat, and wine to each believer. These worshipers were all familiar faces, and he could basically call them by name, having received his favor or help to some extent.
“Priest Mog, thank you so much. My son got better immediately after using the holy water.”
“All is the favor of Glor.”
As twilight approached, after sending off the last believer, Priest Mog’s devout expression instantly turned indifferent. He looked behind him, and Li Wen, cloaked in a hooded robe, had already appeared there unnoticed.
“The ritual can be prepared.”
She said.
The promotion ritual for a Witch Disciple is called the “Birth Rite of Dawn and Twilight.”
[Birth Rite of Dawn and Twilight (Twilight)]
[Knowledge – Ritual – Promotion (Stage One)]
[Requirements: The Primordial, Twelve Offerings of the Pillar God]
[Dawn and Twilight were born from the First Childbirth of the Old Days. Since then, Glor has not slept.]
[By conducting the ritual at dawn and offering twelve offerings to the Pillar God, one can be promoted to a Witch Disciple.]
[Step 1: Prepare an empty church of any denomination. The church’s location must be under the shadow of twilight, with a spacious interior. The four walls, from clockwise, must respectively be placed with an inverted golden basin, a silver cup filled with fruit wine, an intact bronze mirror, and a dried mistletoe. These are the Four Sacred Objects.]
[Step 2: Prepare the Soul Cleansing Liquid by mixing bay leaves, mercury, dark pine resin, and blood sulfur in a ratio of 2:5:2:1. Use the liquid to draw the ritual magic circle [Birth Rite of Dawn and Twilight] with the intersection of the four sacred objects as the center.]
[Step 3: 13 meters away from the ritual magic circle [Birth Rite of Dawn and Twilight] as the center, draw twelve circular ritual magic circles [Elegy of Sighs] of equally distributed size with the Soul Cleansing Liquid.]
[Step 4: Bury a piece of transparent amber weighing thirteen grams or more beneath each ritual magic circle [Elegy of Sighs], and then place the Pillar God’s twelve offerings on top of them respectively.]
[Step 5: Place The Primordial Codex of Ending on the ritual magic circle [Birth Rite of Dawn and Twilight], then, in a clockwise direction, shatter the bronze mirror, drink the silver cup dry, right the golden basin, and ignite the mistletoe.]
[Step 6: Chant the Eternal Verse of the Ancient Twilight and the First Admonition of Glorion. With this, the ritual begins.]
To prevent the ritual magic circles from being damaged, Li Wen waited until all the worshipers had left before beginning the drawing of the circles. To finish drawing before the night fell, she drew very quickly.
The Soul Cleansing Liquid was prepared the previous night. Some of the required materials could be found in the Candle Sun Church itself, and the missing parts were supplemented with materials purchased from Old Sem.
Priest Mog watched the unprecedented array of magic circle patterns on the ground, saying nothing.
When the last stroke was finished, the Soul Cleansing Liquid was just used up. Li Wen discarded the oak twig used for drawing the magic circle and said calmly, “Now all we need are the offerings.”
The main ritual magic circle for promotion, [Birth Rite of Dawn and Twilight], had been drawn in the church, and the Four Sacred Objects were placed. The twelve auxiliary magic circles outside the church were also completed, and sufficiently sized amber pieces were buried beneath each.
The preparations were now complete, and all that remained was for the Great Rite Order to deliver the offerings to perform the final step of the ritual.
“I hope everything can follow the Master’s will.” Under the shadow of twilight, Mog glanced deeply at Li Wen.
*
While waiting, Li Wen returned to the nunnery.
The young nun Luna brought her the bread, dried meat, and juice left over from the worship.
But why juice?
“Miss Mephisto should not be of drinking age yet…”
Li Wen did not correct the mistake of being called the wrong name but noticed that the nun’s expression was hesitant, as if there was something on her mind.
“If you have something to say, just say it. I won’t tell Mog.”
She chewed on the dried meat. These foods were prepared days in advance for worship and did not taste very good. Coupled with the thought that this so-called communion represented the flesh and blood of legendary saints, the tasteless dried meat suddenly changed its flavor.
“It has nothing to do with Priest Mog!” The nun’s small face blushed. “I just saw it this afternoon. Were you preparing for some kind of ritual?”
Why would a nun care about this?
“That’s right.” Li Wen had no intention of hiding it. After all, when she was drawing the ritual magic circle, the nun Luna was watching from afar. “It’s a very important ritual.”
The implication was “don’t interfere.”
“That’s wonderful. I wonder when I will be able to help Priest Mog.”
The nun’s eyes were full of longing. Li Wen silently thought that in such a situation, the young nun could only be the offering for one of Mog’s evil rituals.
“Speaking of which, I still don’t know why you became a nun.”
Actually, Li Wen didn’t want to know at all. It was just that her thoughts just now were too fiendish, making even her feel apologetic, so she wanted to change the subject quickly.
The clergy of the Candle Sun Church were forbidden to marry for life. Normal families would not let their children become clergy members. Although their treatment and living standards far exceeded those of ordinary people, many people felt that a life of poverty was better than not being able to have descendants.
Nun Luna’s expression darkened: “I joined the church two years ago. At that time… flocks of beasts attacked the village, and many people lost their lives, including my parents… Priest Mog saved me then. He was like the heroic saint described in the scriptures, single-handedly driving away all the beasts, and then brought me back to the church.”
“That’s very lucky.”
If anyone who knew Li Wen were present, they would likely realize she was being sarcastic.
But the young nun would only take it as Li Wen’s sincere opinion, “Yes! Although my parents are no longer here, their souls must be praying for me in the hall of Glor.”
After saying that, the little nun closed her eyes and began a long prayer.
At the same time, Li Wen heard a sound.
She got up and left the nunnery. Mog at the door said to her in a cold voice, “They’ve been here. The things are in the church.”
Li Wen nodded in agreement.
“Then let’s begin the ritual.”
