Chapter 912
The Ouroboros Ring is Activated! (Seeking double monthly tickets)
Miss Sprenger had already placed all the necessary ritual materials, and now she handled them with unparalleled smoothness. She, along with the other two, picked up brushes and first drew a complex ritual array on the ground using honey. Afterward, they sprinkled a mixture of powdered rubies, amethysts, red spinels, copper powder, the ashes of sapient creatures, and the ashes left behind by demons.
Once the honey adhered the mixture to the ground, a wind-summoning spell was used to blow away any loose powder. Then, Miss Sprenger took out several dried snake meats soaked in mead. These snake meats, stiff as cured meat, were coiled into rings, inscribed with blasphemous sentences of black runes. Each snake was covered in exaggerated phrases of praise for the fallen. The content was so explicit it wouldn’t pass censorship.
There were four such snake rings. Madam Marasia, Miss Sprenger, and Dr. Leviathan each stood within three of them, separated by 120 degrees. Even Dr. Leviathan, who was in a wheelchair, managed to stand up and enter his designated ritual ring. The last snake ring was cut into three pieces with a ritual knife and placed strategically between them, forming three leaky walls. With this, the preparation ritual for the Ouroboros Ring was complete. After all, the outer ring ritual was the core of this ceremony, while the inner ring ritual was merely an ignition device, used to connect the “gravity-enhanced” ritual to the Fallen Heavenly Envoy. In a sense, the inner ring ritual’s function was akin to attaching the Fallen Heavenly Envoy’s waistband to a rocket.
Miss Sprenger poured several barrels of mead, which had been used to soak venomous snakes, all over Master Walter. Then, she raised her hand and ignited a feather from a Winged One. The feather burned with remarkable durability, its flame shifting from red to an eerie purple, then to black. Under Master Walter’s terrified gaze, the feather burning with black flames floated from her palm and flew towards him like a butterfly.
“Ugh… Wait… Wooo… I…” His words became slurred. Master Walter struggled valiantly, tears slowly welling up in his eyes. And under his frightened, despairing gaze, the feather landed on him. The mead, despite being low-proof, ignited like gasoline, erupting with a whoosh. Black flames, accompanied by a horrifying stench, spread, engulfing Master Walter in an instant! Amidst his heart-wrenching screams, the black flames surged ferociously into a pillar of fire that reached the ceiling! However, the pillar of fire did not ignite the basement ceiling. At its apex, it condensed into a swirling vortex of pitch-blackness resembling an abyss, emitting mournful wails. The black flames began to spread across the ground as well, igniting the honey markings. The originally shining purple and red powder burned with charcoal-black flames, their edges tinged with an ominous emerald green.
As the entire magic circle filled with black fire, a gale roared through the room. Accompanied by the wails of misery, Miss Sprenger recited loudly, seemingly to drown out Master Walter’s screams: “As above, so below; by this, the miracle of Taiyi is fulfilled—” As she spoke, Master Walter’s screams subsided in an instant, and the fiery figure burning with black flames ceased to struggle and convStricken. His chest collapsed inward—a bloody bull’s head emerged, roaring ferociously as if struggling to break free. This was a Berserker Demon, evolved from a Labyrinth Demon under the influence of the Mark of Wrath. Compared to the pitch-black Labyrinth Demon, the bright red Berserker Demon better embodied the concept of “Wrath.” Unlike Madam Emma, who indulged her desires and thus couldn’t seal the succubus within her, Master Walter diligently suppressed his Mark of Wrath using the knowledge imparted by the “Chronicle of Roses,” causing his Demon Avatar to fall into eternal slumber. However, this act led him to commit other forms of sin… In the end, he never achieved freedom and couldn’t break free from the Fallen Heavenly Envoy’s influence even in death. Ultimately, after death, he transformed into a newly born Berserker Demon. Yet, Miss Sprenger merely cast a stern glance at the newborn Berserker Demon. Madam Marasia and Dr. Leviathan simultaneously recited incantations that suppressed the bull’s head back into his chest. Miss Sprenger continued to chant the ritual incantations from the “Ouroboros Chronicle”: “All things are originally Taiyi, created from Taiyi through differentiation!” Miss Sprenger knew this was the secret of the Origin River, whose Sacred Number was “One.” The Origin River of Creation—it was said that before it became Love and the Beast, it was a sun. It created all things like the sun illuminating the land and radiating light, without diminishing its divine sanctity and perfection. That was the ancestral Sun God, the master of the First Origin River, “Taiyi.” A miracle created from “All That Exists”—”The sun is father, the moon is mother, conceived by wind, nurtured by earth.” Miss Sprenger chanted the incantation she obtained from the emerald stone tablet, the “Ouroboros Chronicle”: “Here lies the source of all perfection in the world; its power is most complete on earth!” As she chanted, a faint holy song replaced the mournful wails.
It was dusk. Across the entire Star Antinomy, purple lights began to flicker. On a wall on a certain street, a purple radiance that bewitched the mind suddenly bloomed, revealing a purple “infinity” symbol, drawing gasps from onlookers. In a certain lake, rendered golden by the sunset, a purple luminescence suddenly bloomed from its depths, condensing into an “8” in the sky. In a classroom at a certain school, the student on duty was sweeping the floor, and on the blackboard behind her, a vertical purple pattern of an “8” suddenly appeared, emitting an eerie glow that caught her eye. In forests, valleys, rivers, and homes… The outer ring ritual of the Ouroboros Ring was, in a sense, simple. This symbol must be seen and noticed, and the observer must not simultaneously see another symbol elsewhere for it to be considered effective. Furthermore, the symbol must not be destroyed before the ritual is complete—even a fine scratch made with a carving knife, or severing any part of the “Ouroboros Ring,” would count as destruction. When setting up these symbols, there should be no more than three hundred and thirty-three of them. The timer begins when the ritual is formally activated—and if, by the end of the ritual, at least eighty-eight imprints are discovered and still exist, then the Ouroboros Ring ritual is established.
Miss Sprenger closed her eyes, feeling the connections she had established with each imprint. If someone were to look down on the entire Star Antinomy from directly above with energy vision, they would see numerous purple halos lighting up and connecting with each other, forming a constellation-like pattern that gradually coalesced into the shape of a bull’s head. That was the mark of the Fallen Heavenly Envoy—the Eyeless Four-Horned Golden Bull. In portraits and statues of the Fallen Heavenly Envoy, He always wore a peculiar helmet, unwilling to reveal His true face. This helmet was dark gold, with no eyes, and only the part below the nose was visible. Where the bull horns should be, there were two intertwined spiral horns, giving the impression of two horns from a distance, but revealing four upon closer inspection. When His followers worshipped Him, they would smear the “eye” position of the eyeless helmet with the blood of their own kind, drawing a pair of eyes with blood. Thus, the Fallen Heavenly Envoy “opened His eyes” and saw their prayers.
As Anna Sprenger closed her eyes and confirmed that the number of imprints recognized and activated by sight far exceeded one hundred, she began to chant downwards: “Divide earth with fire, extract essence from the crude, act with caution—” This was the miracle called “Alchemy.” In the ancient age of ignorance, it was the Ring Heavenly Envoy who pioneered the miracle of Alchemy, ushering in the dawn of civilization for the world. “—Ascend from earth to sky, and descend from sky to earth, acquiring the power of that which is above and that which is below!” As Anna Sprenger’s voice fell, an immense pressure emerged. The dusky yellow sky of evening, illuminated by the purple radiance from the ground, transformed into a pure and dreamlike violet. The dark gold clouds in the sky indented and contracted into black vortexes, appearing as black suns in the purple sky! The sun was completely obscured, and the moon had not risen. Countless deep purple lightning bolts struck the earth, like carving knives slicing the land of Star Antinomy into individual territories. Erupting rock formations transformed into blades, shooting back towards the sky from where the lightning had struck, reaching heights of over a hundred meters. Amidst the gasps of astonishment, Miss Sprenger loudly praised the might of the Ring Heavenly Envoy: “—Thus, gain the glory of the world, and depart from darkness and ignorance! The world is created thus, and by this, miracles can be achieved! I am Hermes, threefold Great, possessing the truth of threefold worlds! This is the Ouroboros Ring, an endless Great Deed—”
As Miss Sprenger finished her recitation, the eighty-eight “Imprints: Ouroboros Ring” on the ground simultaneously shone with radiance. Within the eighty-eight dark vortexes in the sky, clusters of purple light lit up one after another. They then rose into the sky, disappearing into it. However, far beyond human vision, their brilliance dimmed, forming a star map visible only at night—as this star map was born, a vast expanse of ethereal stars instantly appeared in the sky! These stars were the Wall of Balance arranged by the Hourglass using the remains of the sun! This purple star map gradually blurred, overlaying the stars in the sky. Although each star it covered was only subtly different in position, when combined, they formed a distorted, new star map. If viewed from elsewhere—for example, Avalon looking at the night sky—there would be no apparent difference. But if an astrologer looked up at the sky from Star Antinomy, they would easily discover that the positions of the stars in the sky had silently changed! The barrier between the Dream Realm and reality had thus been cleverly breached!
In an instant, the vast power of the Dream Realm poured down! The pitch-black flames suddenly expanded and broke apart. The figure of the Fallen Heavenly Envoy appeared within them! He was now four meters tall, like a young giant. His upper body was clad in pitch-black armor—matte, not like metal, but more like bone. His physique was incredibly robust, with bulging muscles beneath his bronze skin. His hands were not slender like a human’s but had transformed into ferocious claws—yet they still retained their grasping ability. His cascading purplish-black long hair was bound into numerous thin strands, falling down his back like optical cables. A dark gold, eyeless bull mask covered his face, and the visible corners of his mouth were downturned in displeasure. He slightly raised his hand, and his large yet still slender right claw easily gripped Miss Sprenger’s shoulder! The hooked thumb pressed against Miss Sprenger’s neck. With a slight exertion, he could sever Miss Sprenger’s throat!
However, Anna Sprenger showed no fear. Instead, she looked at the Fallen Heavenly Envoy with a smile and outstretched her hands, making an embracing gesture from a distance. “…Enough.” After a long pause, the Fallen Heavenly Envoy’s deep voice resonated as he gazed at her: “I do not wish to hear those praises for serpents any longer.” After leaving the Dream Realm, his voice was no longer layered and echoing but clear and steady, like a normal human’s. With that, he released Anna. He looked down at the other two, a mocking smile on his lips: “These two… are they the sacrifices you tricked? It seems they still harbor doubts about my arrival.”
Upon realizing that the Fallen Heavenly Envoy had descended into the Material Realm—and showed no surprise at the current situation—Madam Marasia and Dr. Leviathan knew something was amiss. They had been tricked. Or rather, they had always known they would be tricked… After all, the contents of the ritual were too alluring to not arouse suspicion about its authenticity. Yet, as Transcendent beings, they could not afford to miss such an opportunity. Once the feasibility of the ritual was verified, they had to come here and gather, just as Transcendent beings of the Path of Love could not control their love that transcended ordinary morality, and Transcendent beings of the Twilight Path could not resist the slumber from the depths of their Path. Now, they felt a sense of relief. “So this is the trap… it was here all along…” Their suspended hearts finally found peace. “Honored Master, if possible, please do not kill them. They are all capable individuals,” Miss Sprenger said calmly. “As you reign over the world, you will need subordinates, won’t you? Demons may be able to slaughter a city-state, a race, or even a world, but they struggle to govern a nation. This is a common weakness of Phantom Demons; they are too deeply infused by Path Power. Unlike living beings… they are complex.” Madam Marasia and Dr. Leviathan immediately knelt, pledging their allegiance. “Heh… very well.” The Fallen Heavenly Envoy looked at the two, his lips curving slightly upwards. He raised his claws and casually said, “Then I shall bestow my mercy upon you.” A magic circle characteristic of the Winged Ones appeared before his claws. The Mark of Sin was branded, shining with radiance—their bodies let out screams as they transformed into demons, then back into human form. At this moment, he waved his other hand in the air. Beneath this starry sky, the boundary between reality and dreams in the corresponding domain blurred. Directly above the Fallen Heavenly Envoy at this moment—purple portals opened in the sky. The demon army was coming. (End of this chapter)
