“What does it mean to be a person with a special destiny?”
Xia De asked, and Miss Annette pointed at him:
“This is the simplest condition in the ritual, because both you and I can do it. You are outside of destiny, and I…”
Miss Bei Ya Si instinctively covered her eyes, but immediately lowered her hand, answering with a firm tone:
“This is simpler than I imagined. If the price for gaining power is just one eye, I think I should be fine.”
The ritual required sacrificing one’s eye, so it couldn't be replaced by something like a magic eye.
“But with this kind of ritual that sacrifices to a god, if it demands your eye, it’s likely that you won’t be able to restore it afterwards (Note).”
Xia De reminded him worriedly. He had recently learned more and more occult common sense. She was truly seventeen, and this decision would affect her entire life.
“Detective, gaining power always comes at a price.”
Miss Bei Ya Si gritted her teeth with a serious expression:
“My decision to become a Chosen One was not because someone asked me to, but because I genuinely want to do it.
I’m not a very determined person, but this power has been Entangled me; it’s a part of me. My heart also yearns to explore it. You are not me; you won’t understand that fated longing. In the middle of the night, I often ponder what that power hidden within my soul and body truly is, and now I understand.”
Xia De and Miss Annette both looked at her, and Miss Bei Ya Si’s expression was firm:
“One eye, safely exchanged for powerful strength, I don’t think anyone would refuse. Moreover, it’s not truly impossible to restore it. But… Detective, if the sacrificed eye truly cannot be restored, I hope you won’t find my face too…”
“No, I won't.”
“Mm.”
She nodded, saying nothing more.
Xia De found it difficult to understand her feelings at the moment, but if he encountered such an opportunity, where he could exchange one eye for the potential to definitely become a Thirteen Ring Arcanist and extraordinary power, he would probably also choose to accept it gladly after some hesitation.
Power always comes at a price. In this world, there are no good things to be gained without effort.
“So, Iluna, the fated enemy, who will you choose?”
After waiting for a while, seeing that Miss Bei Ya Si’s emotions had calmed down, Miss Annette finally asked.
“Silver-Eyed One.”
This answer hardly needed guessing; this choice was also the most suitable. This type of sacrifice ritual couldn't succeed by just picking any ordinary person.
“You don’t have to worry about your eye. Even if it truly cannot be restored, I can use divination to find a way to heal you.”
Miss Annette said softly, and Miss Bei Ya Si smiled at her:
“It’s really good to know you all.”
“Say that when you successfully gain the status of a Chosen One.”
The female Diviner picked up another gold coin. After the first divination, only two blood money remained.
“Can I use another one to divine the potential difficulties we might encounter when fighting the Silver-Eyed One?”
She asked Xia De.
“Why ask me?”
“Didn’t you win this blood money? This is your relic.”
“Hmm?”
Xia De finally understood her logic, so he nodded:
“I wouldn’t dare to keep something that has almost no positive effect on an Arcanist. If it’s used up, it’s used up. But Miss Annette, does continuous divination like this not burden you?”
Miss Bei Ya Si also thought of this, looking worriedly at the female Diviner.
Sensing the concern of her two companions, Miss Annette smiled gently:
“One of you is willing to sacrifice your eye, and the other is willing to sacrifice a precious relic. How can I hold back? But it’s fine, after the divination, I just need to sleep for a while.”
“Alright then, but this fifth blood money will still be used by me.”
Xia De said. He believed that he felt no curse after using the blood money, most likely due to the presence of Divine Radiance.
Miss Annette did not refuse Xia De, and only took the blood money from his hand after the patterns on both sides appeared.
After the purple light disappeared from her eyes, the slightly tired Diviner gave her answer:
“The information that can be obtained from one blood money is limited.
First, regarding the Silver-Eyed One’s situation, his current power is only at the Hexacle level at most. Because he is severely injured and fears the relic going out of control, he doesn’t possess many relics himself. The most dangerous thing is his famous eyes. Those eyes are Sage-level magic eyes, and I cannot give specific information.”
“I know that.”
Miss Bei Ya Si said, taking a deep breath to suppress her anger:
“The team I was in when I was a One-Ring Arcanist was wiped out because of those magic eyes. The magic eyes are called 【Greedy Silver】, and both eyes are magic eyes simultaneously. Their specific effect is actively triggered, activating the magic eyes requires preparation time, and the effect of the magic eyes cannot be maintained for a long time. During the effect, anyone gazed upon by the eyes, unless they immediately cut off the transformed part of their body, will irreversibly turn into a pure silver statue… irreversibly.”
“How to counter it?”
Xia De asked.
“After that incident, the Church specifically created a batch of amulets that can temporarily resist the magic eye’s effect. But that is a relic after all; the amulet can resist for at most three seconds, and it only works once.”
“Three seconds is enough.”
Miss Annette said.
“Alright then, I’ll take care of the amulet. This time, we absolutely won’t let him get away.”
Miss Bei Ya Si took several deep breaths before finally suppressing her emotions.
Miss Annette continued:
“The passage to the deepest part of the ruins is blocked by three extremely dangerous relics. The one closest to the exit is the keeper-level relic 【Thousand-Eyed Gargoyle Number 3765】. That is a relic mutated from an ancient alchemical product of the fourth epoch, with the manufacturing number 3765 engraved on its surface. It possesses both stone and flesh attributes. Its combat power is extremely strong, and it is proficient in close combat and spellcasting abilities. After killing enemies, it will take their eyes and place them on its body, thereby having an almost blind-spot-free vision.”
“Do we need to fight it head-on? What Ring Arcanist level is the Gargoyle equivalent to?”
Miss Bei Ya Si asked.
“No, if it could only be solved by direct combat, Mercury Blood wouldn’t be able to continuously occupy the ruins. Sacrificing three pairs of living human eyes each time can make the Gargoyle temporarily stop attacking living humans. It must be living human eyes freshly cut out on the spot.”
But while Mercury Blood seemed to be able to do this with trepidation, Xia De and his two companions could not.
“Then what about sacrificing magic eyes?”
Xia De asked, frowning.
Miss Annette knew about what happened on Monday from the study group and understood Xia De’s plan:
“Two magic eyes can keep it quiet for 48 hours, but the magic eyes will enhance the power of 【Thousand-Eyed Gargoyle Number 3765】. This relic is a rare relic that can continuously enhance its own power.”
“Let’s not worry about that for now. I have one magic eye in my hand, but I still need one more. Can either of you find one?”
Xia De asked, not caring how precious the things he was sacrificing were.
Miss Bei Ya Si raised her hand:
“Coincidentally, last week I encountered an incident where a magic eye went out of control. I haven’t been able to sell that eye yet, so I’ll take care of the second magic eye.”
Miss Annette nodded:
“The second relic, the keeper-level relic 【Mirror Behind】, is ineffective against ordinary people. It is a rare offensive relic that affects the ‘other self’ of Ring Arcanists. It has an almost irreversible damaging effect on the ‘other self’ of Ring Arcanists below Seven Rings, which is very terrifying. And once the ‘other self’ is injured, we ourselves will also suffer severe damage.”
Xia De heard laughter. The woman chuckled in his ear; he was familiar with that laughter.
“You can?”
“I am you. Divine Radiance strengthened you, and it strengthened me too.”
“No need to say more, I’ll handle this one.”
Xia De gestured with his hand.
Both ladies looked at him suspiciously, and Miss Annette reminded him:
“Detective, this is no laughing matter. That mirror can even harm a Thirteen Ring Arcanist. You can imagine its danger as much as possible. If it weren’t for its overly simple containment conditions, the grading of this item would definitely not be just keeper-level. Most sage-level relics might not be more dangerous than this.”
“It’s fine, I’m fine.”
“But even if you are fine, it means that you, Detective, will have to delve deep into the ruins with us.”
Miss Bei Ya Si said with some concern:
“No one understands the situation of that ruin, and Miss Annette’s divination cannot see every corner, not to mention that once Mercury Blood discovers our intrusion, people will surely enter the ruin to intercept us within a short time.”
“But the operation won’t be completely safe, will it?”
Xia De asked. There was a god's gift box in the ruins, and inside the god's gift box was a gift from the Old God, The Innocent Creator, for him. And that box could not leave the ruins, so he had to go this trip no matter what:
“You don’t have to worry that I will drag you down. When it comes down to it, perhaps I will be the strongest among us.”
Seeing him say this, Miss Annette and Miss Bei Ya Si did not continue to object.
“Then the last relic, this one is only Document-level, 【labyrinth candle】. This is not a guardian of the ruins itself, but something the Silver-Eyed One placed there. When lit, it forms a large-scale illusionary labyrinth in an enclosed space, and the candle can only be extinguished by exiting the labyrinth.”
Miss Annette paused, giving them a chance to think. Then, before the other two spoke, she shook her head and said:
“You don’t have to worry about this. I still have some face at the Prophet Association, so I can borrow a compass-shaped relic. When we break into the ruins, I will take care of this candle.”
“I also have some friends in the Church, and Church Ring Arcanists themselves can apply to the Church to use relics, so I can also get some good things then.”
Miss Bei Ya Si also expressed this.
Xia De didn't know many people, but one person would certainly not be stingy:
“I also have a friend who really wants the Silver-Eyed One’s corpse as bait. I can ask her for help. Even if she doesn’t agree to directly intervene, I imagine she won’t be stingy in providing me with some assistance.”
He was referring to Miss Jialinna. The Thirteen Ring Sorcerer of the Sun Church was currently in Tobesk. She probably wouldn’t directly intervene, but this Duchess definitely had a lot of good things in her possession.