Chapter 745: The Heart of the Gods, Composite Ritual 4k
The speed of mental communication was extremely fast, making time seem to flow slowly.
From the moment Professor Lily went through the wall and Dak grabbed the torch, no more than a minute had passed.
And when Dak gained some insight, a small, lonely head finally poked out from the only vacant position.
“Heave-ho!”
Professor Lily took the final position, finally appearing on the platform for mental communication.
Then Dak glanced past her, focusing on the massive hall at the center of the ceremony — the view instantly zoomed in, clearly showing the structure and scenes within.
The entire grand hall was still made of bronze, with a height exceeding ten meters, let alone its expanse.
Its overall shape resembled a large hexagonal altar, with only one layer above and below, supported by a central copper pillar, six pointed copper pillars, and countless slender copper pillars.
Like the bronze fire basin, these copper pillars were also carved with exquisite patterns reminiscent of frescoes.
But unlike them, each bronze pillar’s pattern had a sequential narrative quality.
“Huff.”
Just about to be captivated, Dak sharply inhaled, breaking free.
Now was clearly not the time to admire these “frescoes.”
Yet, even this brief moment of immersion gave him a faint sense that each bronze pillar could serve as a single ritual’s vessel!
With so many bronze pillars, they formed an incredibly vast composite ritual.
As the main conductor of the ritual, Professor Kazel stood atop the Bronze Grand Hall, in a circular “basin” that was slightly concave at the center.
Called a “basin,” it was actually just a structure shaped like a round basin.
And standing at the bottom of this basin was Professor Kazel, alongside the maid leader of the Aries Palace Maid Corps—Olivia Demon!
The maid leader with the Demon surname still wore the same maid outfit, unchanged for millennia. However, in this composite ritual, her importance came second only to Professor Kazel.
Before them stood a column platform over a meter high, composed of six copper tubes intertwining from six directions, entwined at the base like tree roots and knotted at the top like claws.
A massive heart floated atop the platform!
“Thump! Thump! Thump!”
When their eyes met, the slow and heavy heartbeat suddenly reached their ears, a familiar roar echoing in their minds, their own hearts synchronizing, as if trying to burst out of their bodies.
Dak instinctively covered his heart, then quickly calmed his mind, resisting the spiritual influence.
Since the underground city incident, he had seen this massive heart again.
And this heart wasn’t a projection but a physical entity!
…
“Professor Kazel, did you find the true form of the heart?”
Though he had already guessed, Dak was still awestruck upon seeing it.
Last time, they saw the [Heart of the Gods] in the hidden space on the 99th floor of the underground city.
But what they saw then was merely a projection based on the hidden space mechanism.
The real [Heart of the Gods] was actually hidden deeper in the underground city.
Now, Professor Kazel had successfully traced back to the source through the projection, found the true form of the [Heart of the Gods], and brought it out of the underground city!
This genuine [Heart of the Gods] still retained perfect vitality, yet it was encircled by countless runes forming a band that concealed its divine aura, making it undetectable to the outside world.
At this moment, Professor Kazel continued whispering with Olivia, rapidly exchanging opinions.
Both looked very serious, yet closer inspection revealed excitement deep in their eyes.
No one could be unexcited.
If this ritual truly succeeded, they would be written into history.
…
Dak once again focused his thoughts and heard Professor Lily talking incessantly about the ritual details.
In this composite ritual, Dak was just a minor participant. The inner workings and external manifestations were too profound for him, leaving him feeling like a human at the foot of a giant, merely seeking to broaden his knowledge.
But with persistent learning, there would come a day when he too could lead such a massive ritual!
Amidst his excitement, Dak suddenly thought of something and asked, “Professor, which deity does this heart belong to?”
Given the professors’ caution, they naturally wouldn’t overlook the ownership of the [Heart of the Gods] since they were already performing a resurrection ritual.
Previously, due to confidentiality needs, Dak had suppressed his curiosity and hadn’t asked.
Now that he was fully involved, a casual question was quite reasonable.
“It’s the Intelligence Deity!”
Sure enough, Professor Lily blurted it out without any secrecy.
— That’s why Dak didn’t ask before knowing she would be so open.
However…
“Is it really the Intelligence Deity?”
This aligned perfectly with his guess.
The mere aura emanating from the heart could make the monsters in the underground city regain their memories and awaken. Its owner wasn’t hard to guess.
[Intelligence Deity] was the most likely option.
Other possibilities might include [Life Deity], [Death God], or [Creator].
But given how certain Professor Lily sounded, it must be true.
“The Intelligence Deity fits well with our academy.”
He thought to himself and shared this in the mental exchange.
Professor Shylph nodded, saying, “This is indeed an era of gods awakening. We need our own deity. The Intelligence Deity has always held significant power. If we gain its protection, it should provide ample defense for the academy. Of course, this is a conservative perspective.”
Dak smiled slightly and asked, “Do you know which specific Intelligence Deity it is?”
With generations of cycles and transformations, this world had gone through multiple eras, and even deities had risen and fallen repeatedly.
Among them, deities with similar powers and names were numerous.
For instance, there could be hundreds of owners of the name [Intelligence Deity].
And among deities, there were certainly ranks and hierarchies.
So, specifically, which [Intelligence Deity] it was became crucial.
However, this time, Professor Shylph merely shook her head, saying, “We can’t determine that yet.”
Dak asked curiously, “Not even Professor Kazel?”
Professor Shylph chuckled, “Kazel isn’t a god.”
Dak turned to Professor Metia and asked, “What about Professor Metia?”
Professor Metia Bartholomew smiled, “Why take risks when the answer is imminent?” “True.” Dak nodded and continued listening.
…
“Prepare!”
Suddenly, a voice without any inflection echoed in everyone’s minds.
Everyone’s thoughts instantly exited, and they opened their eyes, solemnly looking at the torches in their hands.
The most critical part of the ritual was about to begin!
On the Bronze Grand Hall, Professor Kazel held a magic wand, while his other hand held several mana cards, with his Eye of Truth already activated.
He extended his hand, and the magic wand directly plunged into the pedestal supporting the massive heart.
Beside him, Aries Olivia had already drawn the Armed Card named [Golden Armor Aries] from her deck!
“By the name of Olivia Demon…”
Her lips moved, rapidly muttering, her speech speeding up until the words nearly merged into a single line.
Then, a terrifying divine aura slowly seeped out from the Armed Card.
A fluffy, curly-haired ram phantom emerged from the card, gradually growing larger, leaping gently to stand beside Olivia.
Though the ram phantom had no physical form, Olivia’s touch felt like touching a solid object.
She gently patted the ram phantom’s head, then pressed the glowing Armed Card to her chest, releasing a gentle, watery white light!
“Meh~”
The ram phantom softly called out, then suddenly shrank, drilling into Olivia’s chest along the increasingly dazzling white light. A huge star chart depicting Aries instantly appeared.
The star chart transferred through her body to appear behind her.
She raised her head, her long lashes framing eyes that emitted sharp light, exuding a completely different sharp aura from usual.
— Even though the main ability of [Golden Armor Aries] was healing, a priest could still wield a hammer!
The magnificent white light transformed into countless threads, some entering her body, others wrapping around her limbs, turning into pure white armor.
About ten seconds later, the outfit was complete!
Olivia, clad in the Aries Saint Armor, her long hair flowing gracefully, her figure elegant, held a hammer as smooth as jade.
“Let’s start.”
She slowly opened her eyes, her sharpness fully retracted, a gentle aura radiating outward.
Professor Kazel nodded and activated a mana card, pressing it against the back of his right hand.
A light emblem from the mana card’s face shot onto his hand, imprinting itself there.
Then, a continuous stream of mana flowed through, bearing the emblem’s mark, altering the nature of the mana.
Professor Kazel controlled this altered mana, injecting it through the wand into the pedestal, swiftly transmitting it into the [Heart of the Gods].
In the next instant,
One magic circle after another erupted simultaneously from the [Heart of the Gods].
In a blink, countless magic circles filled the entire space.
The rune bands surrounding the [Heart of the Gods] silently dissipated, and the divine aura was no longer restrained, spreading out like ripples.
Then, just before emerging from the secret path, it was blocked by the barriers set up in advance by Professor Metia.
“Light the fire!”
Professor Kazel’s voice instantly rang out, unprecedentedly serious.
…
At the signal, the professors at the six positions simultaneously cut their fingertips, dripping fresh red blood onto the top of the torch.
In this moment where no error was allowed, Dak Demon, with a serious expression, performed the same action without hesitation.
He watched intently as his blood flowed from the cut on his fingertip, gradually staining the tip of the torch.
Mana surged in his right hand holding the torch, winding around the handle to the top, and then the flame of mana… instantly ignited!
“Boom!”
The sudden appearance of the flame almost singed his bangs.
He tilted his head back, allowing a few drops of blood to fall.
But by now, the torch was completely stained with blood, and the rising flames had covered the bloodstains.
He withdrew his hand, under the mental exchange, joining Professor Shylph, Professor Metia, Professor Jones, Professor Lily, and Sister Carrian. Simultaneously, they placed their torches into the first bronze fire basin.
“Boom!”
The black liquid inside the fire basin was instantly ignited by the torch.
The flames rose two meters high.
Dak’s back foot lifted, but he didn’t step back; instead, he kept his gaze fixed ahead.
Following the ignition of the first fire basin, the second, third, fourth… fire basins ignited one after another, their patterns lighting up. A straight, continuous line of fire began from one end, racing toward the Bronze Grand Hall.
This line of fire was like a dragon, like a chain… like a fuse!
The beginning of an era was ignited by this fuse.
A god was about to awaken!
…
Dak had no way of knowing if any gods had quietly opened their eyes in unknown corners, but the current [Intelligence Deity] was undoubtedly the first deity he knew of that was about to be resurrected!
The previous [Moon Goddess statue] was just a minor event.
His gaze followed the extension of the fire line, the darkness ahead being torn apart by the burning flames. Six lines of fire approached the central altar at the same speed.
On the Bronze Grand Hall, complex and intricate magic arrays continued to pour out wildly.
The beating sound of the [Heart of the Gods] grew louder, eventually sounding like a grand bell echoing throughout the secret passage.
Everyone’s hearts synchronized with the fully released [Heart of the Gods].
As the six lines of fire burst out of the darkness and entered the Bronze Grand Hall,
the bronze pillars touched by the flames lit up, emitting blinding red light.
The fire lines climbed up each ignited copper pillar, turning the entire grand hall into a blazing furnace.
The six copper pipes intertwined to form the pedestal gradually lit up with star-like flames.
Holding the magic wand, Professor Kazel had already begun chanting the incantations.
These incantations flew out of his mouth, forming tangible entities, continuously drilling into the pedestal, then transferring into the [Heart of the Gods].
“Buzz——”
A sudden hum made the entire secret passage seem to come alive.
In the midst of the great heart’s beats, a divine music resonated.
Dak and the others were tightly connected to the entire ritual at this moment.
They saw the very center of the Bronze Grand Hall.
The heart’s beat intensified!
