For some unknown reason, the Sky became enraged, and purple lightning roared incessantly.
The mist that had always enveloped Tsurumi Island also dissipated due to the terrifying thunderstorm.
Molten lava flowed across the land, a result of the lightning's corrosion. The island in the sea now resembled the legendary underworld.
"I'm out of here! What in the world is happening in this place?!" Childe desperately dodged the lightning striking down from the Sky, but unfortunately, a few bolts still hit him.
The descending lightning was like raindrops, making it almost impossible for the three people present to avoid it.
"Nothing's happening. Haven't you ever seen lightning before?" Ember, unlike Childe, didn't bother to dodge. He simply stood in the lightning, shrugging, looking quite relaxed.
The Sky-wide lightning struck him, but nothing happened, as if the surging electricity was an illusion.
"This lightning is really dense. Could it be that a God once existed on Tsurumi Island?" Balladeer, while dodging the lightning, also tried to block it with his own power.
Even so, the pressure the thunderstorm brought him was considerable, which made Balladeer wonder if this was lightning sent down by a God.
Seeing Childe and Balladeer scrambling to dodge, Ember clapped his hands. He felt that if he didn't intervene soon, Childe and Balladeer would end up with afro hairstyles.
A staff inlaid with glowstones appeared in his hand. As he waved the staff, a deep, lightless black hole appeared in the Sky.
Ancient Darkness — the forbidden magic of the Sealed City of Zelia. It could create darkness, attracting magic and Prayer. It could be cast while moving.
This was the lost magic of the Eternal City — and the despair that brought about the Eternal City's destruction.
As soon as the blue-bordered black hole appeared in the Sky, it erupted with infinite suction. The straight pillars of lightning were immediately twisted, surging en masse towards the black hole.
The black hole in the Sky seemed to only have an attractive force for specific objects. In the entire space, only the falling lightning was drawn by the black hole's gravity; other things were unaffected.
The black hole, wreathed with wisps of purple, quietly floated in the air, and the boisterous, trembling earth instantly fell silent.
"Finally, it's calmed down a bit." Childe wiped away the charred marks on his face, letting out a sigh of relief.
Although the lightning striking from the Sky wouldn't kill him, the stinging and numbness from being struck by lightning were far from comfortable.
If possible, Childe preferred not to be struck by lightning.
"No one has escaped Tsurumi Island for a very long time. It's probably related to what we're seeing now, isn't it?"
Ember looked down at the ruined ground around them. With this level of destruction, the chances of ordinary people surviving were extremely slim.
It was more likely that the civilization of Tsurumi Island had been completely destroyed in this catastrophe.
"The ritual succeeded?!"
Just as Ember and the others were observing the hellish scene before them, they suddenly heard a familiar child's voice.
Following the sound, they saw Ruu had appeared behind them at some point, his face filled with uncontrollable excitement.
"I knew with your help, the ritual could definitely be completed!"
"Foreign guests, let me show you around Tsurumi Island in my final moments!"
With cheerful steps, Ruu skipped and hopped to stand before them.
"Final moments? Little guy, you're celebrating too early." Hearing Ruu's words, Ember raised an eyebrow.
Looking at the little guy, he probably thought the cycle had ended. Unfortunately, the current calm was merely maintained by Ember's forced intervention.
He snapped his fingers, and the black hole in the Sky vanished without a trace. The thunderstorm, which had just subsided, descended once again.
This immediately turned Ruu's excitement into bewilderment.
"The... the ritual failed again?" The falling lightning boomed, but Ruu stood amidst it as if he were an outsider.
The lightning struck him, passing directly through without causing him any harm.
But Ruu just stood there, at a loss, without any movement.
"This ritual of yours... it's probably not a good thing, is it?" Ember snapped his fingers again, the black hole reappeared, and the thunderstorm correspondingly subsided once more.
Seeing Ember suppress the calamity that had repeated tens of thousands of times with his own eyes, hope rekindled in Ruu's eyes.
Ember saw this and waved his hand.
"If you want my help, you at least have to explain the situation, right?"
"For example, why are you so special, what is the ritual, and who are the 'Thunderbird' and Kapatcir that you keep mentioning?"
Facing Ember's dark, scrutinizing gaze, Ruu couldn't help but shrink his head.
"The ritual... the ritual always needs sacrifices. And the main sacrifice this time is me."
Ruu very candidly stated the fact that he was a sacrifice. There was no unwillingness, nor any resentment.
He then scratched his head, saying with confusion and bewilderment: "But I clearly remember being offered on the altar? Why did I wake up again? And after I woke up, everyone ignored me."
"It must be that something went wrong with the ritual, making Thunderbird angry. As long as the ritual can be completed, everything will be fine."
Looking at Ruu, who was nodding repeatedly, Ember and the other two fell silent.
"You... you're making it hard for me to comment." Ember was also at a loss because of Ruu; he had never seen someone so eager to be a sacrifice.
"What's the big deal? Every year, everyone has to offer a sacrifice to the adult inside. After all, it's Thunderbird who released the mist to protect Tsurumi Island from the corrosion of external darkness."
Ruu spoke as if it were the most natural thing. There were sacrifices every year; it just happened to be his turn this year. Moreover, Thunderbird even favored him.
"Ignorant." Balladeer scoffed.
"Indeed, hard to comment." Childe shook his head, not knowing what to say.
"You can't say that. If you were thrown into those conditions, you might not perform better than the people of Tsurumi Island."
Ember turned to look at Balladeer and Childe. These two seemed to look down on them. If they were thrown into the same conditions as the people of Tsurumi Island, they might be even worse off.
On a secluded island, the sudden appearance of an extremely powerful individual would almost certainly lead to primitive worship.
And under primitive worship, the existence of blood sacrifice was inevitable.
"What was Thunderbird's attitude towards your blood sacrifice?" Ember looked at the surrounding mist. This thing was not released by Thunderbird to protect the people of Tsurumi Island.
To be precise, this mist should have originated from the fragments that fell from the Sky. Thunderbird merely discovered this place by chance.
"This... I don't know."
"Don't know?"
Ember was shocked. Continuing to perform sacrifices without any feedback? That was truly something.
"Thunderbird just watched the sacrifices, did nothing, said nothing, and then flew away."
"Anyway, according to the High Priest, the result of every sacrifice is very good!"
Ruu also couldn't figure out what Thunderbird thought of their sacrificial acts. Every time Thunderbird finished watching, he would just fly away.
"I understand, he's an arrogant fellow." Ember turned to glance at Balladeer, who quickly waved his hands.
"I wouldn't stand by and do nothing while living people are sacrificed. If I want to kill someone, only I can do it; I don't need anyone's help!"
"Heh, I hope that's truly the case. You two should be glad I'm not that kind of guy, otherwise, the grass on your graves would be three zhang high already."
Ember said to Balladeer and Childe, crossing his arms. The period of being arrogant was long past for Ember.
Because whenever he was arrogant, something unexpected would always hit him on the head.
Things like the cursed frogs in the sewer, the three dogs in the elevator, or the giant iron ball that flew out of Akasha.
After experiencing several deaths caused by his own complacency, Ember's eyes, which had been on top of his head, grew back into place.
Now, he looked at everything with a calm mind.
"Understood, understood." Childe nodded quickly, not daring to disobey.
"Hmm... although I don't want to admit it, you are the strongest person I've ever met." Balladeer deliberated for a moment, then still conceded to Ember's statement.
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