A fulfilling life meant spending day after day immersed in beloved research, cherished company, and enjoyable pastimes.
Morpheus felt himself teetering on the edge of indulgence, but fortunately, even amidst the inspiration of love, he could still practice magic, which kept him striving forward.
Effort was paramount.
However, Medea, one of the key participants, remained somewhat puzzled.
At this moment, the girl was flushed, drenched in sweat, and overwhelmed by an exquisite exhaustion from the peak of bliss.
"Morpheus, is this for real? This advanced magic you mentioned?" she asked.
Morpheus gently kissed her cheek and smiled. "Of course it's real. Since ancient times, this has been the most effective and swiftest of magical rituals!"
Medea could sense peculiar energy flowing around them, slowly dissipating. During their earlier intimacy, something had indeed descended, though she couldn't discern what it was. The only certainty was that it was akin to the gods... or perhaps something beyond them.
Morpheus wasn't lying. The ritual had activated as intended, and its target was none other than the legendary Babylonian Whore.
Not the Saber-faced figure from the Nasuverse, but Babalon, the pinnacle of feminine power in the Tree of Life, the supreme embodiment of yin energy, an entity at the 8=3 level of understanding the source!
She represented the Mother of All Things. Through this unique ritual, it was possible to draw her essence into the world!
But this was not only incredibly difficult... it was dangerous. Though Babalon, as the Mother of All, loved everything, her authority could reduce all to nothingness, stripping away the self.
If one could transcend this, they might cross the Abyss. If not, they'd revert to their original state.
In some ways, this entity aligned closely with a certain Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young, with little dissonance.
As a transmigrator, Morpheus had some knowledge of the Thelema magical system studied by Aleister Crowley, the founder of Academy City. This was only natural.
The ritual to summon Babalon's power belonged to the Thelema system, akin to the faction of Academy City's espers.
But Morpheus wasn't aiming to summon Babalon herself... just to draw out a fraction of her power. Failure wouldn't matter much, but success would imbue that power into the female participant of the ritual.
Not the male, but the female, for Babalon was the Mother of All!
The supreme feminine existence!
Through this ritual, the human body became part of the ceremony, solidified in its effects. If successful, Medea would gain immense enhancement.
The boost might be subtle at first, but its power would gradually manifest.
Now, alongside being Hecate's priestess, Medea had naturally become a "Priestess of Babalon" as well!
That was Morpheus' true goal!
"It feels… strange," said Medea, regaining some strength. She slowly raised her hand, and droplets of blood flowed from her fingertips, dancing under her control before returning to her body!
Her charm intensified in that moment. Though nothing visible had changed, she exuded an even greater allure. Taking a deep breath, she sensed new knowledge forming in her mind and murmured, "This is a magic to control blood, even the body?"
"For now, just the body and blood," Morpheus said with a smile. "But at its peak, it's not just the body... it's all tangible things, even granting form to the intangible."
"See? I told you, the ritual worked!"
"Do I have to worship… this entity now?" Medea asked, hesitating.
Morpheus shook his head. "It's just a path to explore magic. Follow your heart. From what I know, there are magicians who've beaten up the gods they worship, cursed them, or even demanded they run errands. And there are plenty of them."
Medea's eyes widened. "What kind of world did you come from?!"
Morpheus thought for a moment, then grinned. "A peaceful, friendly world full of ideals and love!"
Medea's face screamed, Don't lie to me.
"Really!"
It was just that differing ideals often led to fights, but that wasn't important. Morpheus kept that thought to himself.
At that moment, he froze, as if grasping something... a fleeting spark of inspiration.
"Wait a second…"
For some time, he'd been analyzing the unique magical energy tied to Yog-Sothoth, studying it. But that was part of a massive ritual, and the original site had been destroyed, making it impossible to draw that power again.
To reactivate such a ritual, he'd need to follow a story involving Yog-Sothoth's deeds as the foundation for the ceremony.
In other words, to harness Yog-Sothoth's mystical power again, he'd need to recreate a catastrophe based on a story featuring Yog-Sothoth!
This was why the Toaruverse despised Cthulhu-system magicians. Even if such rituals often failed due to the story's nature, they inevitably caused massive casualties.
Though those performing Cthulhu rituals were likely to be killed by the entities they summoned, the collateral damage to innocents led most magical cabals to eliminate such magicians on sight.
Imagine summoning an evil god that drives people mad just by looking at it into a city... what kind of terror would that unleash?!
This made Morpheus' research progress painfully slow.
But the recent ritual sparked an idea.
"Come to think of it, the Nasuverse has Outer Gods too, right? Even if the worlds differ, and these are genuine Outer Gods with similar settings, could I summon this world's Yog-Sothoth? Or at least draw a portion of its power for further study…
"Even if the two entities differ, they likely share commonalities. With the Root's existence, I might accelerate my analysis…"
Morpheus burst into laughter, startling Medea. He planted a quick kiss on her lips, then bolted toward the study.
As he ran, he muttered, "It's worth a try... definitely worth a try!"
***
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