Chapter 64: Instigator

Tuesday at dawn. Backlund, Empress Borough.

Audrey, who woke up earlier, beckoned her golden retriever over, "Susie, you are also a Beyonder now. We are the same kind—no, what I mean is that we have to help each other. Guard the door later and don't let anyone disturb me. I have to conduct a ritual."

Susie looked at her mistress and shook her tail.

After instructing Susie, Audrey paced around, uncertain if the ritualistic magic would result in anything odd.

"Let's do this..." Her eyes turned calm as she used her state as a bystander to view the imagined process.

Audrey tied up a rectangular table with many bottles placed on it. Then, she moved candles and sacrificial items and closed the bathroom door.

With everything done, Audrey picked up a translucent light-blue bottle beside the four candles. In it were the essence oils she had distilled from a mixture yesterday.

"Moon flowers, gold mint, slumber flowers, fingered citron, and rock rose... What an odd concoction." Audrey mumbled softly. "Oh, one has to cleanse one's body and calm their mind before engaging in ritualistic magic. This is a form of reverence to the divine—uh, to the target."

As she went through the entire process in her head, she placed the ritual's essential oil beside her bathtub.

Audrey coiled up her hair into a bun and carefully stepped into the bathtub.

"Phew..." She exhaled, feeling relaxed.

Audrey forcefully pumped herself out as she grabbed the translucent light-blue bottle beside her and dripped a few drops into the water.

A waft of fragrance dispersed.

"Not bad. It smells really good."

"How relaxing. How comfortable…"

"I don't want to move at all. All I wish is to lie here in silence.

"Silence, in silence... si...lence..."

After losing her sense of time, Audrey rubbed her eyes.

I fell asleep? "Haha, the effects of that bottle of ritual essential oil sure are great. Yeah, really great!" Audrey chuckled dryly.

She stood up, picked up four candles, and placed them on the four corners of the table.

Audrey set up the altar according to The Fool's descriptions.

After she was done with the preparation, she focused her mind and pulled out the silver 'sacred blade,' cogitating her spirituality.

Invisible energy spewed out as Audrey held the knife and circled the altar once, erecting a spirituality wall.

Maintaining her Spectator state, she put down the silver knife and picked up the crystalline bottle, dripping a drop on each candle.

Sizzle! A faint fragrance emanated. Audrey drew a breath as she lowered her head in reverence and began chanting the incantation in Hermes.

"The Fool that doesn't belong to this era,

You are the mysterious ruler above the gray fog,

You are the King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck."

"I pray for your help."

"I pray for your loving grace."

"I pray for you to give me a good dream."

"Moon flower, an herb that belongs to the red moon, please bestow your powers on my incantation!"

"Fingered citron, an herb that belongs to the sun, please bestow your powers on my incantation!"

Right after chanting the incantation, she felt there was a stir within the spirituality wall and saw a dark red star swirling on the back of her hand.

She hurriedly closed her eyes and calmed her heart to plead sincerely. When everything was over, she surveyed her surroundings wondrously but did not find anything odd.

"Is that all?" Audrey whispered.

...

In the Blue Avenger's captain cabin, Alger Wilson in his windstorm robe was silently reciting the three lines of description he had heard in the afternoon.

Alger was not at ease inside the Blue Avenger—the ancient ship that was a relic from the Tudor Dynasty. Although he was in control of the ship, he had a feeling that it had hidden secrets, just like the Blood Emperor.

Therefore, he planned on using the ship to test The Fool's powers but did not wish to attempt the unknown ritualistic magic on the ship.

Alger left the captain's cabin and went on deck. "We will be reaching the Rorsted Archipelago soon. We will be anchoring there for a day."

The sailors shouted in unison, "Thank you, Your Grace!"

As the ghost ship did not need sailors, there were very few sailors on board, and they didn't have to worry about their supplies. However, day after day of voyaging at sea and the nearly unending vistas exhausted them both physically and mentally.

As for the Rorsted Archipelago, it was a famous colony on the Sonia Sea. Their business was booming with all kinds of industries.