Those who frequently perform live sacrifices know that holding a grand sacrifice requires skill and adherence to rules.
What kind of offerings should be presented to what kind of object, what kind of ritual matches what kind of god, and what kind of existence is willing to accept sacrifices…
Fortunately, unlike Chaos of the first two eras, throughout the entire Third Era, there have been many Great Divine Powers who have taken action in the world, and more than one is willing to accept sacrifices. This somewhat increased the choices available to sacrificers.
However, even so, Jordano was well aware that no matter how wide his range of choices, there was only one who was not picky about anything, regardless of who you were, what you wanted to do, what your purpose was, or who your enemies were. As long as you dared to sacrifice, she would dare to respond with power, and her own power level was sufficient to contend with or even surpass any Great One.
The Scarlet Monarch, the Blood and Flesh Great Mother, the flesh mother tree that devours all spirits… Only she could achieve this.
This was a common consensus among sacrificers after the Typhon Disaster, when the proliferation of Ancient Evils gradually brought this Outer God into the sight of gods and mortals.
Of course, although more people became aware of the Mother Tree's existence, their understanding of her remained unchanged.
Some people regarded her as an existence similar to Tartarus, some believed she possessed her own Wisdom and reason, while others simply considered her a clone disguised as an Ancient God, rather than a completely independent entity.
Different people held different views, as no one had ever seen the Mother Tree's true body, which was sealed by laws, and Jordano was no exception.
Fortunately, he no longer cared about the identity of this Evil Lord, because, setting aside these differing views, one point was universally acknowledged by all.
That is, while the flesh mother tree's power is terrifying, that is when it is directed at oneself.
If you use her against your enemies, then she is extremely and remarkably effective…
…
Boom—
Boom—
Boom—
…
East of the land, around the city of Nafplion.
Just as the Queen of Mount Olympus felt something, the third ritual began to glow from the city's ruins, and the truly affected areas were more than just this one city.
Almost simultaneously, red glows lit up around several city-states that also worshipped Hebeunder the Queen's command.
Fanatics, fallen believers, beings tainted by the aura of Ancient Evil… They were almost simultaneously affected by the ritual in Nafplion, transforming into one source of pollution after another.
It was only at this moment that the priests who had gone to exterminate the Ancient Evils suddenly realized that what they were facing were merely bait.
Under the sacrifice of the Goddess of Youth's bone and blood, these closely located faithful city-states were directly subjected to devastating repercussions.
Even though it was different from Nafplion, and out of caution, these nearby city-states did not have pre-arranged sacrificial rituals set up by mages beneath their cities, when the Mother Tree's power descended upon the world, her very existence was the greatest threat.
So when the Centaur in the underground palace finally locked onto the coordinates on the other side of the spatial gate, what he saw when he stepped through the portal was this scene.
On an unnamed hill, an ancient and ruined corpse turned to ash in the flames.
In the once bustling city-state, a headless 'Divine Corpse' twisted and deformed at the center of a massive ritual array.
Millions of scattered bones began to combine under the pull of some power, forming one fallen Ancient Evil after another.
And in the clouds far in the Sky, the red light from the ground reflected colors, like a series of magnificent fireworks.
"What—what happened here?"
Stunned, unable to hide the shock in his heart.
Looking at all this, Chiron even thought he had left the human world.
A terrifying aura of defilement assailed him, and the empty eye sockets of a skull stared at him, as if questioning his heart.
What happened? What did those mages do here?
He subconsciously took a step back, but a hand firmly held his retreating foot.
The expression on his face was almost impossible to maintain, as the young Archbishop walked out of the light silver gate right behind him.
Blood and fire reflected in his eyes, as if telling him of the destruction and disaster here.
This was not Silvermoon City, and the people here were not the Lord's believers… But they were merely lost, and should not be offered as sacrifices to the Evil Demon.
Taking a deep breath, the young man felt some regret.
In the past, whether it was him or other divine office holders of the Church, they had always held this student of the Goddess of the Magic Web in sufficient respect, even though he had taught one student after another who had never believed in the Lord.
But it was not until the great battle on Mount Olympus broke out that they suddenly realized that perhaps they had always overestimated this famous 'Sage'.
Yes… Chiron might indeed be learned, but for thousands of years, he had never personally achieved any incredible feats.
He did indeed teach many powerful students, but what they learned was not even the Goddess of the Magic Web's witchcraft.
He was like Prometheus before he was locked and punished in the Ocean Eye; although the world gave him sufficient fame, what was hidden beneath was an essence that did not match his reputation.
Perhaps the Goddess of the Magic Web also saw this point, which is why for thousands of years, she rarely came to see this apprentice of hers again.
"Chiron… you have truly taught me an unforgettable lesson."
Taking a deep breath, the Archbishop stepped forward and then raised the scepter in his hand.
"Never again grant privileges based on a person's identity… unless it is explicitly promised to them by the Lord."
Holy power surged, and the scepter pointed forward.
Before employing his true methods, he had to first test the strength of these Ancient Evils.
Only by eliminating them here could he continue to track down the mage who had committed such a great sin.
After all, according to the Church's records, the existence of Evil Demons is rejected by all things, and their power can only be cast into the mortal world at the moment of a successful sacrifice.
Even if past images were intercepted by the Evil Demon's power, he could still investigate the identity of the person who personally performed the ritual.
"Death—"
[Ten-ring Divine Art · Commandment · Death]!
An ancient and unfathomable voice spoke from the Archbishop's mouth in a way that ordinary people could not comprehend.
In an instant, in the city of Nafplion, countless bones that were transforming and gathering stiffened instantly, then turned to dust in the wind.
As if their meaning of existence had been fundamentally erased by an invisible force, even the vigorous Life force of the Ancient Evils could not save them. Only the headless Divine Corpse in the city center remained unchanged.
Seeing this, the young man with silver-grey hair finally breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Thankfully, it wasn't the worst outcome. Although the sacrifice ritual was successful, this level of sacrifice was clearly not enough to attract overly powerful forces.
Aside from the one in the city, there were no Ancient Evils above a high-level existence… Since that was the case, even if the prayer to the angels before coming had not been answered, he alone could handle it.
As for Chiron? The Archbishop clearly did not count him as a combatant.
After all, although he spoke lightly, the current Ancient Evils in this city were already enough to directly wipe out several kingdoms on the continent if no gods intervened on a large scale.
This was not just about power, but more because of their powerful immortality, which was precisely not something the Centaur, whose martial arts surpassed magic, excelled at.
Just like now, seemingly finally remembering that he was still a combatant, Chiron quickly took a long bow from his back.
He drew the bow and notched an arrow, and the arrow turned into a rain of arrows in the air, piercing hundreds of aggregated bones upon landing.
But when the arrow shadows dispersed, the aura of those Ancient Evils only slightly weakened, and there was no further reaction.
"It's useless… Against the Evil Demons plaguing the world, only the Lord's power can contend; mortal martial arts are meaningless against them."
"Even the power of mages and those false gods' holy office holders can only sigh in despair at their existence…"
He spoke indifferently, then raised his scepter again.
Several halos of light lit up beneath the Archbishop, and holy power, far more potent than before, gathered on him.
As he said, the power of Ancient Evil is too troublesome; the immortal power extending from its source is permanently etched deep within their roots.
The most powerful among the Ancient Evils, those directly originating from the Mother Tree's true body, are existences that even Great Divine Power cannot obliterate.
Even the so-called Ancient Evils, which are one layer removed, are enough to make all True Gods sigh in despair at them.
And if the number of these existences was still too small, then ordinary Ancient Evils truly made the world feel genuine fear.
High-level Ancient Evils comparable to demigods cannot be harmed by powers that do not include Authority rules; even ordinary gods would need decades or centuries to obliterate them, yet such existences are not uncommon on the continent…
Even if the Ancient Evils in Nafplion rarely reached this level, they still did not take Chiron's attacks seriously.
This is what Ancient Evils are: existences of the same realm can never truly harm them, and even stronger beings one rank higher can only wash them away with the passage of long time.
If there was any power in this world that could inflict fatal damage upon them at the same rank, it would only be the Authority closely related to their source, which is the power of Life and Death.
It was because of this that Erebus, who had been contaminated, tried to obliterate it with the power of Life; however, the Life bottle was ultimately no longer complete, so he ultimately failed.
However, this is the domain of Great Divine Power, while in the mortal domain, the two sides can still barely contend…
A thought flashed through his mind, and the young-looking Archbishop focused all his energy on his divine art.
Although Commandment · Death could indeed completely kill these Ancient Evils, there were simply too many of them, and a headless Divine Corpse was still being nurtured by the Evil Demon's power at the city's center.
Fortunately, he was a divine office holder of the Church, and they were never afraid of numbers—
—[Eleven-ring Divine Art · Mass Summoning of Otherworldly Divine Servants]!
Buzz—
In an instant, a full one hundred and twenty pillars of light suddenly rose around the city of Nafplion.
Holy power, like a sea, poured out from the Archbishop, but in just a moment, this outflow turned into a trickling stream.
As a summoning divine art, as long as the divine office holder themselves held a high enough position in the Church's faith system and were pious enough, the otherworldly beings they could summon would far exceed the limits of the divine art's level, and even a significant portion of the cost could be paid by the summoned beings.
"That's enough… Thank you, sirs, for coming to assist."
He spoke loudly, and as the pillars of light gradually converged, the Archbishop could clearly see over a hundred tall beings with wings on their backs, filled with positive energy, appearing before him.
One hundred and eight Golden Humans, they came from the depths of the spirit world, the heroic spirits of the legendary Golden Humans, positive energy beings living in Seven Hills Paradise… It was just that they could not release divine arts from the Death domain, so the young man only hoped that they would be responsible for consuming and gathering those Ancient Evils.
As for the remaining twelve… they were [Demigod Spirits · Seraphic Divine Servants] whose faith in Life was recognized by the angels, and who were personally promoted by them after Death!
Disregarding his Authority as Archbishop, each of them was no weaker than him in strength and could easily defeat powerful Evil Demons.
"No problem, eliminating Evil Demons and spreading the Lord's faith, this is what we should do."
Speaking concisely, a tall Divine Servant radiating flames of light spoke.
"Archbishop, please give the order."
"These sinful lives… I cannot tolerate them for another moment."
"Good, then I leave it to you all."
Speaking in a deep voice, the young man's gaze swept over the Centaur beside him.
Compared to him, these people from the Church itself made him feel more at ease.
The scepter in his hand was raised for the third time, and behind the Heavenly Clan members who swept across the Sky and rushed towards Nafplion, the Archbishop's third divine art began to prepare.
They alone still could not contend with the powerful Ancient Evil born from the Divine Corpse, so he could only reluctantly go himself.
"It's been so many years, I haven't personally taken action in a long time. I wonder if I'm rusty."
He murmured to himself, shaking his head secretly.
There was no other way; divine office holders were like this.
Mages only needed to painstakingly study witchcraft day and night, but they had much more to consider.
For example, how many helpers to call when fighting, how many domains of power their worshipped god could lend at any time, and what kind of divine artifact projection they should summon when facing different enemies—these were all difficult problems.
Holy power surged, and profound array patterns rose beneath his feet.
And at this moment, the Archbishop felt something and looked towards the horizon.
"That is… the power of the King of False Gods?"
"No, it's not him, it's his Queen. She is probing the reality here."
He ignored it; for now, it was more important to deal with the mess at hand.
As for Hera's existence, that could wait.