Chapter 836: Ritual, Opera, and Princess
This Saturday was also an important day for Doctor Schneider. Tonight, the yellow moon of march was full, making it the “Day of yellow moon’s Radiance,” a date the doctor had long reserved for his PentaCircle to Hexacle promotion. Coincidentally, Dorothy had suspended her classes this week, so Xia De stayed at the doctor’s clinic to help him with the promotion ritual.
Compared to Dorothy’s Four Ring to PentaCircle promotion, which required connecting Sublimation Words, Doctor Schneider’s PentaCircle to Hexacle ritual seemed somewhat simpler.
In the attic of the doctor’s clinic, when the Moonlight of the yellow moon illuminated the circular ritual array drawn with bloodstains on the floor, the three overlapping isosceles triangles within the circle emitted red, blue, and green light respectively. In the middle of those geometric patterns, demonic runes alternated with commonly used contemporary ritual runes.
Tonight was cloudless, and the Moonlight shining through was quite stable. On the outer ring of the nested double circles, the illuminated runes flickered with a special frequency.
With Xia De’s help, Doctor Schneider was hung upside down by one foot above the glowing ritual array on the ground. His eyes were tightly closed, and his wrists and ankles were adorned with three, five, seven, and nine silver bracelets respectively.
When the time reached 7:23 PM, Xia De, standing at the door in a black robe, immediately shook the handbell he held. Amidst the buzzing sound that seemed to resonate in one’s forehead, Doctor Schneider bit the tip of his tongue, and at the same time, his Destiny Ring appeared behind him.
The yellow Moonlight of Bewilderment passed through the Destiny Ring, causing the shadow of the Destiny Ring to perfectly overlap with the nested double circles on the ground. Strange black substances emerged from the inverted doctor, enveloping him like a cocoon.
This was the doctor’s Sublimation ritual, modified with demonic Knowledge, combining it with the ritual provided by the academy. And in that Moonlight, Xia De clearly saw that when the black cocoon completely closed, what was inside was not Doctor Schneider at all, but some terrifying and indescribable fiend without a fixed form.
The inverted cocoon made the already cramped attic even more eerie. Xia De snapped his fingers, and eleven white candles carved into the shape of worms, surrounding the ground ritual array, lit up one by one.
Amidst the 'poof, poof, poof' sounds of combustion, Xia De quickly took two steps forward, pulled open the front of his robe, and successively took out thirteen short silver daggers, inserting them into the black cocoon to form a constellation-like pattern. These thirteen silver daggers were made of pure silver, custom-made by a specialist at a high price for the doctor. On the handle of each dagger, there was a different red twisted demonic rune. This red substance was not a ruby, but the forged philosopher's stone.
The forged philosopher's stone that the doctor sought for this ritual could be considered the cause of all the stories since the Outsider came to this world. And now, they were finally put to use.
As the thirteen silver daggers were fully inserted into the giant black cocoon, an eerie darkness descended upon the attic, leaving only the crimson glow from the dagger tips floating in the air in the darkness.
Xia De counted nine silently in his heart, and the Moonlight and candle light brightened again. At this moment, Doctor Schneider, who had already landed, was standing in the bloody ritual on the ground, smiling and twisting his neck, and showing Xia De the Destiny Ring behind him.
He had successfully been promoted to Hexacle.
Xia De breathed a sigh of relief, dispelling the urge to take out the Moonlight Greatsword. The doctor had said beforehand that his ritual might attract some troublesome things, including but not limited to Evil Spirits and Evil Spirits:
“Your ritual is even more sinister than most cult rituals I’ve seen.”
Xia De casually turned on the gas lamp in the attic, and the warm yellow light that lit up dispelled the eerie atmosphere of the attic. Then he walked out of the room and brought over the Night Watchman, swinging it left and right in the attic to confirm there was no reaction, then pointed it at Doctor Schneider, scaring the doctor into a shiver, but nothing happened (Note), and only then did Xia De fully confirm the ritual was successful.
The doctor replied with a smile:
“There’s nothing I can do about it. The demon is in my heart, and if I want to advance, I must consider its power. However, tonight was really smooth. I heard you talk about Louisa encountering a mirror ghost during her promotion, and I thought I would also encounter trouble this time.”
“If you also encountered trouble, then it’s not your bad luck, it’s my bad luck, after all, I was present both times.”
Xia De was also happy for the doctor.
The two tidied up the scene in the attic, which would definitely be mistaken for a cult ritual. The doctor planned to go to a pub in the city with Xia De for a drink. Although Xia De didn’t drink often, there was no harm in having some tonight to celebrate the doctor’s promotion.
However, before they could leave the clinic together, someone delivered a letter to Xia De, specifically stating that it was from Miss Cavendish.
“Which Miss Cavendish?”
Xia De instinctively asked, holding the letter, while the doctor standing beside him looked at him with extreme surprise.
Then, Xia De sniffed the envelope:
“Oh, Leia’s perfume, no mistake.”
He thought to himself, and upon opening it, he indeed found that Leia was inviting Xia De to the Delarion Royal Opera House in the south of the city at 8:30 PM tonight to watch an opera. It was already close to eight o’clock, so it was likely that Leia hadn’t found Xia De in Saint Delan Square, and after asking Dorothy, had the letter sent here.
“Doctor, I’m afraid…”
Xia De looked apologetically at the blue-eyed middle-aged doctor, who was still doubting whether what he had just heard was indeed the surname “Cavendish.”
“It’s alright, you go take care of your business.”
He shook his head, looking up and down at Xia De with considerable surprise. When Xia De asked, the doctor refused to say anything:
“Young people nowadays are truly remarkable.”
Hurriedly went home to change into formal attire, carrying the cat, and took a carriage to the Opera House in the south of Tobesk City, thankfully not late.
And when Xia De met Leia in the box with the widest view on the top floor of the Opera House that evening, Angelina Cavendish, dressed in formal attire, was indeed by her side. Seeing Xia De walk in panting, Leia warmly invited Xia De to sit down, and before the opera began, she mentioned the wedding of Leia’s sister, Angelina’s elder sister, Princess Mona Cavendish.
Leia had already mentioned this last Saturday night during the heavy rain.
A royal princess’s wedding would naturally be quite lively. Not only Angelina, but even Leia was looking forward to the wedding. The specific date of the wedding was the eighteenth or nineteenth of the frost descent month, and the location was the Peace Church in this city. Currently, the preliminary preparations were in full swing.
While discussing this topic, Leia sat upright, as if her relationship with Xia De was no different than usual. But after the contemporary famous romantic tragedy opera titled “Murder in the Wedding” began, the red-haired princess suddenly stopped the conversation, waved her hand behind her, and her personal maid, along with a group of servants, went to another box next door through the side door of the room.
Then, the princess, sitting on the sofa, pursed her lips and smiled as she looked at Xia De:
“Knight, did you miss me?”
She reached out and embraced Xia De, smiling as she touched the ruby earring on her ear, and then, without giving Xia De a chance to speak, she kissed him.
“Again.”
Sixteen-year-old Angelina Cavendish said softly, but then realized that their actions seemed a bit off.
“A week ago, that rainy night, you performed really well. I don’t believe she didn’t look for you this past week. Honestly, she knows I can’t easily stay out overnight, but she just won’t agree to let me temporarily use her body.”
Leia complained in a low voice, already loosening her dress strap. Her face flushed with excitement, and her right hand covered Xia De’s mouth, telling the young knight not to speak. Then, her right foot kicked off her left shoe, and her left foot, wearing a white garter stocking, kicked off her right high heel.
With a wave of her hand, the gas lamp in the box slowly dimmed, and then, with shining eyes, she kissed Xia De again.
“Sister, you two…”
Angelina, seeing that things were a bit off, immediately spoke to stop them.
“Oh, Angelina, are you still here?”
Leia released a heavily panting Xia De after a deep kiss, raised both hands to the back of her head, tied her long red hair with her waistband, gently pushed Xia De down to lie on the sofa, and said to her sister:
“Take Xia De’s cat, go out through the side door, and help us guard the door. I’ve thrown a silencing charm, so don’t worry about any strange sounds.”
The little princess covered her mouth in disbelief:
“Sister, you two really… But Xia De is Lady Jia Lin Na’s… Are you two sharing one…?”
“My dear Angelina, there’s still an hour and a half until the opera ends. After cleaning up and tidying up our makeup, I actually don’t have much time. Now, either get up and lock the door from the inside and watch us here; or go out through the side door and have the servants guard the door for us.”
Leia was quite strict with her sister:
“Don’t waste my time.”
“But…”
The elegantly dressed princess picked up the reluctant Mia, and in the dim light of the room, she stood up pitifully, somewhat understanding why incense had been lit in the box beforehand today.
She bit her lip, watching the somewhat “helpless” Xia De being pressed onto the sofa by her assertive sister. For a moment, the sourness of a young girl’s budding emotions burst forth, almost making her want to cry.
“Knight Hamilton…”
She wanted to help the handsome and seemingly weak knight, but the psychological shadow Leia had cast on her for years caused Angelina to merely clench her fists, dejectedly holding Mia with one hand, carrying the late-night snack prepared for Mia, and walking towards the door on the side wall.
“Close the door tightly.”
When Angelina reached the door, Leia did not forget to remind her, though her voice was muffled. Angelina pursed her lips, wanting to scold Leia for such a disgraceful act to the family’s reputation, but what came out was:
“Do you need me to prepare a late-night snack for you two?”
She received no answer, because the lights in the box had completely gone out. Angelina stood in that darkness, listening to the loud singing outside praising the innocent love of a young girl, listening to the joy expressed in the song.
After a long while, she finally left, holding Mia.
As for the cat she was holding, it seemed to understand the young girl’s feelings, shrinking obediently in her arms, but in truth, it didn’t want to leave either.
PS1: The doctor is usually normal, only direct contact with the Night Watchman will cause him to be attacked by the Night Watchman.
PS2: There are too many advertisements recently, and the author is bothered by them, so the speech restriction of 1 fan value has been enabled.
