Chapter 152: Night of the Sacrifice
Baron Cecil came to urge Yu Mo to proceed with the ritual as soon as possible.
“Do you know, Eloren? The magic potion you made has greatly impressed Earl Trek. He’s willing to introduce us to Duke Harriman!”
Baron Cecil spread his arms wide as if he could already see the bright future ahead, his emotions running high.
“My God, Duke Harriman! If we can win the Duke’s favor, I might even become a viscount, or perhaps even an earl!”
He looked toward his son, who was sitting in the corner, flipping through a book. “Eloren! We can’t wait any longer. We need to fix your condition, and then you can come with me to meet Duke Harriman!”
“We can’t afford to miss this opportunity! Tomorrow, we’ll perform the ritual!”
Yu Mo was nearly done reading the thick and tedious imperial law book. Without looking up, he replied, “It’s going to rain tomorrow. There won’t be any moonlight at night. It’s not suitable for the Moon Goddess’ ritual.”
Baron Cecil’s enthusiasm quickly soured, and a look of irritation crossed his face. He angrily snapped, “Of course I know that we can’t perform the Moon Goddess’ ritual without moonlight, but damn it, we had so many days of good moonlight before! Why didn’t you perform the ritual earlier?”
Yu Mo glanced up from his book.
Baron Cecil was an ordinary man, without any talent or notable appearance. The only thing remarkable about him was that a genetic fluke had given him a son with magical talent.
He had kept Eloren sheltered in the manor from a young age, not just because of his strange illness, but also to maintain complete control over his son and preserve his authority as a father.
“The ritual will start in a couple of days,” Yu Mo said calmly, returning to his imperial law book.
Compared to the laws of his original world, this book was absolute garbage.
Baron Cecil wanted to hurl a few more insults like he used to, but under his son’s cold gaze, he inexplicably found himself unable to speak. With a grunt, he held his stomach and left.
The rain kept falling, incessant and annoying.
Baron Cecil had never found rainy days so irritating before. He personally went to the Moon Goddess’ underground shrine to inspect the offerings.
Yu Mo, unhurried and methodical, was drawing the sacrificial magic circle. His hands were steady, and the intricate patterns he sketched revealed a beautiful symmetry.
Baron Cecil stood nearby, overseeing the process, pointing things out, while indulging in thoughts of the future.
“Although, Eloren, your black hair and black eyes are truly ugly and won’t be well-received in noble circles, as long as you win the favor of Duke Harriman, no one will dare to snub you.”
“But you must be careful. You’re not a registered magician with the temple. Don’t expose yourself. If your identity as a Moon Goddess follower gets revealed, we’ll all be doomed.”
“This ritual is bound to succeed. Charli has been raised to be so beautiful and pure; the Moon Goddess will surely favor such an offering… though, what a pity, tsk tsk.”
Yu Mo, facing away from him, continued drawing the outer circle of the magic formation.
“The final magical runes will be added in three days, just in time for the ritual.”
Baron Cecil complained, “Why wait another three days! I can’t wait any longer!”
Yu Mo ignored him. Neither of them noticed a figure in a white dress standing just outside the basement door.
Charli trembled all over, covering her mouth tightly. She hurriedly fled from the basement, rushing back to her room where she shut the door and wrapped herself in her blanket.
She had only been curious about why her brother often stayed alone in the basement and wanted to take a look.
In the past, she would never have dared to disturb him, but recently, she had discovered that her brother was actually quite gentle. So, she had allowed herself a rare indulgence in her curiosity.
Who would have thought she’d overhear such a terrible secret?
Even now, Charli still couldn’t believe everything she had heard.
Her father and brother were both heretical followers of the Moon Goddess, and they were planning to use her as a sacrificial offering!
When Charli was younger, she had seen the temple priests in the town square dealing with captured heretics.
The bloody and brutal scenes were deeply etched in her memory.
Now, her entire world had been turned upside down.
*
The rain continued to fall as Yu Mo saw Charli at the dining table.
She greeted him as usual, calling him “brother,” but her voice and expression were strained and unnatural.
Yu Mo instantly guessed the reason but showed no reaction.
As he pierced his fork into the steak, he thought to himself, ‘What will Charli do?’
Run away, most likely.
Charli did indeed want to run.
She looked out at the rain, desperately wanting to dash into it without thinking. But she had no idea where she could go.
Besides, she knew very well that even if she managed to flee, she’d soon be caught and brought back.
So, she remained silent, staring out at the rain, and when night fell, she once again wrapped herself tightly in her blankets.
…
Compared to his overly silent son and adopted daughter, Baron Cecil remained in high spirits.
From morning to night, he drank fine wine, his face flushed with excitement, bragging endlessly about his insignificant “great achievements” from his youth.
That night, a violent storm raged outside. Lightning split through the rain, and thunder rumbled so loudly that the windows and floors trembled.
Charli couldn’t sleep. As the day of the ritual she had overheard drew closer, her fear and despair only grew.
The relentless thunder outside seemed to mirror her inner turmoil.
Suddenly, her door swung open.
A heavy figure suddenly fell onto her bed.
The thick smell of alcohol and Baron Cecil’s slurred voice shattered the self-deceptive barrier Charli had built around herself.
Amid the roaring thunder, her faint struggles and cries were swallowed up.
Suddenly, a flickering lamp appeared in the pitch-dark room.
In her utter despair, Charli suddenly heard a scream from the mountain-like weight of Baron Cecil on top of her, followed by him rolling off her body.
Tears streaming down her face, Charli widened her eyes in terror and saw her brother’s calm face illuminated in the candlelight.
She didn’t know what he had done, but Baron Cecil’s face was flushed, and he was gasping like a fish out of water.
“Put your clothes on. Take this, and come with me.”
The thunder outside was deafening, but Charli clearly heard her brother’s words.
Her mind, overwhelmed by the series of events, couldn’t function. She obeyed instinctively, hastily clutching her torn clothes and trembling as she picked up the small silver knife her brother had thrown onto the bed.
Throughout the process, her tears kept falling, cold and unrelenting.
Yu Mo lifted Baron Cecil, his brow furrowing in annoyance at the man’s heavy weight.
He didn’t like his plans being disrupted by unexpected events.
This wasn’t supposed to happen today, but it seemed there was no choice but to move things forward.
“Charli, hold the candle,” Yu Mo instructed.
He dragged the paralyzed Baron Cecil into the mysterious underground room.
Charli, holding the candle, was trembling so much in fear that the light wavered constantly.
Her breathing was fast and heavy, as was Baron Cecil’s. Only Yu Mo remained calm and composed.
With a thud, the drunken Baron Cecil was thrown into the intricate magic circle.
His back was bleeding, and the pain had sobered him up considerably.
“Charli, light the candles,” Yu Mo said, noticing the trembling girl hadn’t responded. He called again, “Charli.”
Charli snapped back to reality, glancing at the bloodied Baron Cecil lying in the magic circle, then at her brother, nervously swallowing.
“Don’t just stand there, go light the candles.”
For some reason, at that moment, her brother terrified her more than Baron Cecil, who had been groping her earlier in the room.
Unable to resist, she moved to light the candles, while Yu Mo completed the magic circle.
Now fully awake, Baron Cecil was both terrified and furious. “Eloren! What do you think you’re doing?!”
Yu Mo didn’t respond. He simply continued preparing everything.
Charli, after lighting the candles, looked just as frightened as Baron Cecil in the magic circle. Her voice trembling, she asked, “Brother, am I… am I a sacrifice too?”
Yu Mo seemed to find her question amusing and suddenly chuckled.
“Isn’t there already a sacrifice?”
In his world, ancient customs required offerings to the gods—usually pig heads. Baron Cecil’s bloated face seemed far more fitting to Yu Mo than Charli’s.
Charli stood frozen, unable to comprehend.
‘Is my brother planning to use our father as the sacrifice?’
Baron Cecil became even more frantic, more disbelieving than Charli.
Filthy, panicked words spilled from his mouth. Yu Mo finally looked at him.
“To cure my illness and restore the glory of the Cecil family—isn’t that what you wanted?”
“I think the Moon Goddess might prefer that I use you as the sacrifice. It might increase the chances of my prayers being answered.”
In his world, the moon symbolized longing, homeland, and pure beauty—everything that was good and noble.
But in this world, the moon represented something entirely different—illusions, chaos, fear, dreams… the darker side of everything.
The moon here was a symbol of madness and strangeness.
Worshipping such a god, offering sacrifices to such a deity—Baron Cecil was the perfect fit.
“Charli, go over there and watch closely,” Yu Mo ordered.
He could have let her leave now, but he didn’t.
Ignoring Charli’s reaction, Yu Mo lit the dried moon grass and threw it onto Baron Cecil’s chest, beginning the ritual amidst the wisps of pale smoke.
For a brief moment, he thought of his adoptive father from the world he came from.
After being taken back by his elder brother, he had once considered how to deal with that adoptive father. At the time, he had been so consumed by hatred that he would have given his life just to take revenge on him.
But he never saw that man again, as he had vanished from the world without a trace.
His elder brother had taken care of it.
“Brother will help you. Just spend more time in the sun!” his elder brother had said.
Holding the silver knife, Yu Mo stabbed it into the sacrifice’s flesh, just as he had pierced the crow’s body before.
He never told his brother.
Some things were more satisfying when done by one’s own hand.
It had been a stormy night, but at some point, the thunder had stopped, and so had the rain.
The incomplete moon peeked out from the clouds, its silver light casting a glow upon the earth.
*
In the capital, the most magnificent structures were the royal palace and the Holy Temple of Light.
The Holy Temple of Light, a sacred blend of white and gold, was a building of pure elegance and sanctity. Even in the night, it exuded a soft, gentle glow.
Inside, illuminated by the light magic that brightened the room, a group of young priests sat with their books, listening attentively to their teacher’s teachings, heads tilted upward in concentration.
If it had been any other day, these children wouldn’t have been so attentive. But today, the lesson was being delivered by one of the Holy Temple of Light’s cardinals, the esteemed Lord Peruth.
Not only were the young children listening with rapt attention, but even the younger and older priests alike wore expressions of deep reverence and admiration as they listened just as closely.
With platinum blond hair braided neatly and swaying gently, amber eyes that shimmered like flowing honey, and a voice as soothing as it was captivating, he held their attention effortlessly.
A pristine white robe draped with a crimson sash, embroidered with a golden sun, adorned his tall and elegant figure. The cardinal’s stature made the traditional red vestments appear all the more regal and dignified.
At one point, he paused in his lecture and glanced up at the sky outside the window. His words faltered only for a moment before he seamlessly resumed his teaching.
After finishing a chapter, Peruth closed the book and announced, “That’s all for today.”
Smiling, he placed a hand over his chest in a gesture of devotion and said piously, “May the light endure forever.”
