Ritual Requirements Met.

"There is a very specific ritual that can be performed to open the door to the devils that live in the spirit world, but this is not as you suspect it to be."

Seeing Walburga eager to learn more, Loki spoke calmly.

"There are several ingredients that are needed for the ritual, one needs to have a high-level Beyonder Characteristic from the criminal Pathway-"

Walburga's eyes narrowed sharply but Loki continued as if what he'd just said wasn't impractical.

"One needs the blood of the Head of the Black Family manor and finally along with a few herbs and charms, one also needs to prepare a sacrifice for the devils."

"Why the sacrifice?" Walburga asked softly.

"That's what I meant earlier by opening the door to the devils that live in the spirit world-

"-Although we will be performing the ritual in the spirit world, all it will accomplish is giving us a connection that the devils can respond to-"

"-And once they respond to it, it will be up to the devil that responds if it wants to allow us to enter the Devil's turf or not. Hence we need a sacrifice worth their attention, we need to tempt the devils."

Walburga nodded in understanding but then she spoke her worry quickly, "And how are you planning to get a high-level Beyodner Characteristic from the criminal pathway? By attacking other Noble families? Death Eaters?"

Loki shook his head.

"No. I have a Sequence 3 Blatherer Beyonder Characteristic. I got one from destroying the Horcrux that Voldemort made out of that Locket that Uncle Regulus sacrificed his life to obtain."

"So you need my help for the sacrifice?" Walburga nodded, albeit a little shocked but she didn't say much about Regulus.

Loki shook his head.

"I have an idea for a sacrifice they won't be able to reject. The Horcrux Voldemort made when he was young."

Walburga's eyes widened.

"That…how do you plan on getting that? You're going to bargain with one of his closest circle of Death Eaters? Or make an exchange with them? That'll be hard if not impossible…unless you take 'His' help and forcibly make them change sides and betray you-know-who."

Loki shook his head and interrupted Walburga before she could spin off conspiracy theories.

"Tom Riddle, child Voldemort, attacked the school in the second year. I have his soul trapped inside a mystical item. I also have a spare body to use to stitch the two of them together with Mr. Error's help. I will sacrifice him after I am successful in doing so."

Walburga *sighed* again.

"You are better prepared than I thought you were…good, you are as a member of the Black Family should be. You've grown up well."

Loki smiled with a little pride and then spoke in a soft tone.

"I learnt from the best after all."

Walburga pinched his cheeks lightly as she spoke with a warm smile, "Let me know if you need any more of my help."

Loki nodded and spoke quickly, "I have something that needs your help, but Mr. Error told me to tell you that he'd help you with your advancement ritual for helping me by risking yourself."

Walburga's eyes widened immediately.

"But…"

Loki nodded, "I know, your ritual requires you to observe the nights of fifty years. But Mr. Error is confident in being able to pull it off for you."

Loki wasn't talking out of nowhere about this or making a baseless claim, he had actually noticed that he could help Walburga attempt to complete her ritual and advance by using the Sequence 3 Mentor of Deceit Beyonder Characteristic.

But this couldn't be applied to most other people, not even Sunny. Because Walburga had already suffered from losing control once before, Loki was guessing that he could forcibly stabilize Walburga's condition because she had already observed nights for about forty-five years or so, but also because Salazar Slytherin had resurrected.

Walburga's hand trembled a little before she closed her eyes to think about it all and she nodded. "I can agree to that. Let me know when 'He' will be ready to help me out. I can plan things around that."

Loki nodded and then shared his concerns with Walburga, "There is another thing I need your help with grandma, I suspect that 'He' is up to something that alters the balance of fate of the world-"

"You don't need to be worried about that. With me here, I will make sure 'He' doesn't overstep his bounds. I might not be as powerful as 'Him' as a Beyonder but the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black isn't afraid of just anyone."

Walburga's pride was almost infectious and caused Loki's chest to swell up too.

But Walburga quickly switched up the mood when she finally asked Loki a question since they were alone, "What about Elane? Are you not going to bring her back?"

Loki bit his tongue and after seeing Walburga's kind gaze he melted a little, "I mean…."

When Walburga leaned in to show her anticipation, Loki finally *sighed* before almost speaking the truth, "....she made a promise to a friend of hers in Aunt Cassandra's orphanage that she would stay with her..."

Loki saw a slight disappointment in Walburga's eyes but he quickly tried making it up to her, "You could go meet her at Aunt Cassandra's orphanage? I'm sure she'd love it and is waiting for you to show up…!"

Walburga's eyes widened and a small smile showed up on her face as she nodded, "I just might."

"Any more questions Grandma?"

Walburga shook her head.

"No. It's just nice to be back among the living once again."

Walburga brushed Loki's hair out of his eyes before turning away and walking back up the stairs as she calmly spoke to him, "Make sure you get all the documents regarding your business ready and prepared by tomorrow evening! I'll be visiting the Gringotts bank during the night."

Loki *sighed* and shook his head but he had an amused smile on his face all along.

With Walburga gone, Loki began to examine the various components of the ritual that he would need to perform to establish contact with the demons.

'I doubt I can attempt to use Tom's soul more than once, I doubt I will even get it back from the demons after sacrificing it to them, so everything about it needs to be perfect.'

'I also need to make sure that Tom can't do anything once he is out of the ring.'

'Even though he's dead, I don't want Voldemort to suddenly appear in the spirit world to try and wrestle away his ex-Horcrux.'

Miles away, Voldemort sat at the head of a long table as he looked around at the various people that had gathered around him.

They all bowed their head in complete silence as they waited for Voldemort to speak to them, to give them new orders they had to follow and complete lest he take their lives.

Surprisingly, Voldemort was never the type of person to plant a secret curse on the bodies of his followers. Even the dark mark he etched onto them was a simple corruption that allowed him to communicate with their body of heart and mind.

And while he could ask Mother Tree of Desire to further the corruption to kill them, Voldemort had never done such a thing yet.

Voldemort would usually hunt down traitors himself and publicly torture them and humiliate them before they were killed.

That was what kept them on a leash.

Since they knew that no matter what happened, Voldemort would never let them run away from him.

Their bond was a strong one. And it was a bond for life.

As such, when Voldemort's gaze surfed over the fearfully bowing bodies of everyone around him, they trembled a little while trying their best to stay calm and project a fearless side that was ready with fanaticism to execute his next orders.

Bellatrix was the only one however to match her gaze with Voldemort as she looked at him with true fanaticism.

But Voldemort quickly turned his gaze away from her.

Voldemort closed his eyes for a few seconds as he thought back to the meeting he had had a few days prior with a man he knew very little about personally, but whose name was etched deeply into the annals of history of the wizarding world.

________________________________________________

A/N : Join my Patreon (p@treon.com/hooin_kyoma_au) to read 24 chapters ahead for just $3.