Chapter 57 Ritual Solidification
"The spell of the Goddess of Night—are you a Night Watcher of the Goddess's Church?"
The girl was indeed discerning; upon seeing Lu Ze's talisman, she immediately guessed his identity. "But I don't think I've seen you around here before. Did you come from another city?"
"That's right, I was passing through on a business trip."
Lu Ze nodded. "Were you sent by the Steam Church to oversee the market?"
"Um."
The girl casually scratched her messy hair, her clothes stained with machine oil. She was very cute, but it was clear that she wasn't paying attention to her appearance at all. "Mechanical Heart member, just call me Greta."
"Okay, Greta, so what do you need someone skilled in rituals for?"
Instead of giving his name, Lu Ze changed the subject and asked about her needs.
"Oh, you're asking about that?"
At this point, the girl suddenly became lively. "Well, I suddenly had an idea! I want to try solidifying ritual magic into items! You see, normally using ritual magic requires preparing an altar and chanting incantations, which is troublesome and time-consuming. If we could solidify the ritual directly onto an item, wouldn't it be much more convenient to use? That way, it could even be effective in battle!"
A solidification ceremony?
It's a very bold idea, and many of the rituals do have very powerful effects, but the preparations are cumbersome and inconvenient, making them difficult to apply in actual combat.
A series of ritual names flashed through Lu Ze's mind.
"That's a very interesting idea, but how do you plan to implement it?"
Lu Ze asked.
Ritual magic requires the power of gods or high-ranking beings. If the ritual is simplified, will the other party agree?
Hearing this, Greta's smile vanished instantly. She sat back down, a little embarrassed, and said, "Well, I'm still researching that. So I wanted to observe the ritual magic process first before designing the props. But Mr. Nice in the team is very busy; he has to go out and help out today. So I thought I'd try my luck at the market."
I see.
Luze nodded. "I am skilled in many ritual magics, which will perfectly meet your needs."
Whether it's possible or not, I just need to show it to her and get that diary.
"Oh, you're also a spy?"
"More or less, I am a member of the Mystic People."
"???"
Greta stared in astonishment, her eyes widening.
Seeing her reaction, Lu Ze thought his words had frightened her, but to his surprise, after a moment of stunned silence, she became excited, her eyes shining as she rushed to Lu Ze, "Really? Does that mean I can witness some rare rituals? Speaking of which, this is my first time meeting a Mystic. How did you get accepted into the Church of the Goddess of Night?"
It took Luze a while to shake off Greira's entanglement. Since she had to stay at the market that day and couldn't leave on her own, the two agreed to meet the next day at their hotel to discuss the transaction.
As for payment, Luze naturally mentioned the few pages of Russell's diary. Greta added another hundred pounds, but refused Luze's request to take a look at the diary first, as she could tell that Luze seemed very interested in the two manuscripts.
The little girl seemed carefree, but she was actually quite shrewd and not easily fooled. Lu Ze had no choice but to leave. He couldn't miss the people Edward had hired to perform their daredevil act tonight.
————
Luzer returned to the hotel and met up with Leonard and Klein; it was almost evening. They enjoyed a grilled fish meal with local flavors at a nearby restaurant, and then arrived on time at the entrance of the fishing club, located in the basement of the building.
The monster, transformed from a crew member, still looked the same, imprisoned in a large birdcage, constantly uttering curses and murmurs, though the night watchmen guarding it had been replaced by two others.
Edward was already waiting for him downstairs with the night watchmen of Enmat Harbor, including Ms. Daly. In addition, there was a middle-aged man dressed in a classic black robe beside him.
This must be the Seeker of Sequence 7.
Upon seeing the classical robe, Lu Ze instinctively closed his eyes. Only then did he slightly open them, cautiously scrutinizing the other person.
Fortunately, no strange eyes were floating above the head of this voyeur.
He had already learned his lesson from Old Neil once.
"This is Mr. Nis Brown of the Steam Church, Sequence 7 of the Seeker Path, 'Wizard', and he will be our assistant tonight."
When Edward saw Luze and the others come down, he gave a slight nod as a greeting, and then introduced them to the helpers he had invited.
wizard?
Lu Ze carefully examined the other person.
The middle-aged man had an ordinary appearance. Apart from the classical robe he was wearing, he did not have any of the unique qualities of a wizard. He only had a rectangular leather bag hanging from his waist, which was about the length of an adult's forearm and the width of two fists.
That probably contains the core items for the Wizarding Path.
The wizard named Nice smiled politely at them. Despite the twisted monster in front of him, he remained very calm and seemed quite confident.
"It's almost time, Mr. Nice, you may begin."
Edward spoke to him politely.
"OK."
Nice nodded, placed his right hand on his bag, and slowly walked towards the large birdcage, his expression gradually becoming serious.
Click.
The clasp on the bag was opened, revealing its contents—neatly arranged compartments, each containing a different colored powder. Nice reached into the bag with his right hand, and without even looking, precisely selected a compartment, pinching out a pinch of grayish-black powder with three fingers before tossing it towards the monster.
"Sizzle!"
Spell-inspired runes appeared on the back of his hand. The powder instantly ignited as the runes lit up, transforming into a vast expanse of golden light that illuminated the ground and warmed everyone present. This soft, gentle light flowed like water into the large birdcage, covering the fleshy monster's body.
"Ahhhh—"
The monster, which had ignored everyone else, was enveloped in golden light and let out a piercing howl. Its twisted flesh began to show signs of melting.
"You can open the cage now."
Nice Road.
"Open the cage!"
Edward immediately waved his hand and gave the order. The night watchmen next to the cage each pulled from both sides of the cage, and the cage bars opened in the middle, falling to the ground in two pieces.
"Pfft! Pfft!"
As soon as the monster left the seal, its flesh and blood showed signs of reviving and expanding, but Nise then threw out a second pinch of powder.
"boom!"
The black iron-colored powder transformed into a giant hand in mid-air, pressing it firmly to the ground!
Seeing that the opponent was powerless to resist, Nis continued to sprinkle various colored powders. Under the different effects of the various strange powders, the monster's originally swollen and bloated flesh gradually melted away, and the sound of the curse almost disappeared. He was about to succeed.
Edward watched all this, a hint of joy flickering in his eyes.
"Let's retreat to the back."
Lu Ze suddenly spoke up, whispering to the other two.