Paladin of the Dead God - Chapter 353



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Episode 353. Thirsty Dinner (3)

No, the word ‘transformation’ is not correct. Rather, the procedure that Isaac knows is ‘transformation’, and the ritual that Sadraja is trying to perform is closer to the ‘original’.

In order for any ritual to proceed, at least three common conditions must be met.

Temples, priests, and sacred objects.

A temple is a place that has historical significance or is filled with divinity. Even if it is small and shabby, if it is a place where divinity resides, it becomes a great temple.

It is good for a priest to be someone with a high reputation and who has accumulated many achievements and has received the attention of the gods. Tools are also classified according to their story.

If two of these are good, the rest can be a little lacking. This is why priests are obsessed with good relics and great temples.

It was thanks to this that Isaac was able to successfully perform all the rituals with just one division ceremony.

But it is difficult to achieve a miracle as big as breaking up a salt desert even if all three conditions are met.

Isaac resorted to trickery to meet this requirement.

‘In that respect, this place… is the best.’

A thousand-year-old grand temple directly connected to the gods. It is difficult to find such a location even in the Code of Light. Will we be able to see any traces of it in the Holy Land of Lua?

Sadrazza is now also the only high priest of the Sea Cult in the world. Isaac judged his physical transformation to be a kind of ‘postnatal body’ belonging to the Salt Council. Since there are many cases of postnatal manifestations of the body, it was not strange that he, a member of the Sea Cult, had become like that.

That is, the priest’s conditions are also excellent.

The tool… … is a bit ambiguous, but the body he has offered for a thousand years is already an excellent ritual tool.

It’s a kind of sacrificial offering.

From the perspective of the nameless chaos, it would be a bit of a strange situation since his own followers would be on someone else’s ancestral rites table, but he is a depraved son who cannot even recognize the agent of chaos.

Isaac thought that those guys deserved to die.

“There is a ritual called the Thirsty Feast.”

Isaac began to explain the ritual that even Aidan, a member of the Salt Council, did not know. Originally, it was supposed to be discovered through the hard work of searching the Salt Council dungeons, recovering them, and translating them, but Isaac already knew all the necessary procedures.

“It involves obtaining various sacred offerings and going through the process to awaken the power of the gods enough to create a rift in the salt desert… … I don’t know the exact process myself. Sadraja would know more about it than I do.”

Aidan no longer looked at Isaac with astonishment, for he had become too accustomed to the situation in which Isaac knew intimate details of the secrets of the faith that even they did not know.

“So, can we perform the ceremony? Is there any reason why we can’t do it now?”

Isaac looked embarrassed.

According to his plans, it would be difficult for the Salt Council’s god to be liberated now. This was because his goal was not to see the Salt Council’s victory conditions, but to recover the Holy Land, Lua.

“There is a possibility that the outer wall may collapse temporarily.”

Rihanna opened her eyes wide.

“What is an external view?”

“The apocalypse is maintained by the power of the Light Code. And this area is a place where the power of the Lighthouse Keeper is strongly reflected. If that power is removed, a vacuum will be created, even if only for a moment. Then, it means that a huge influx of monsters from the apocalypse toward Mirmia can occur.”

Aidan seemed to not understand for a moment after hearing Isaac’s words.

“Why do you say you’re taking away the lighthouse keeper’s power? Isn’t that just destroying the salt desert?”

“If you want to see the sea dry up again as soon as you break the salt desert… … then of course you have to first put out the cursed sun. If you fail to achieve that prerequisite, the Thirsty Feast ritual will not be established.”

That is, the following process is required to create a sea in Mirmia again.

One, put out the cursed sun.

In the process, there is a chance that the lighthouse keeper will break the heads of these annoying guys.

Second, the Thirsty Supper ceremony is held.

Depending on how much Sadrazza prepared, in addition to collecting additional sacrifices, the lighthouse keeper noticed the change and showed up to chop off the heads of these annoying guys… … The rest is omitted.

Third, sea water comes in.

And as the outer wall collapses, monsters will come with it. Perhaps the newly resurrected and weakened ‘Caller’ will seem like a tempting prey to them.

That means the Isacrea Dawn Army will have to deal with a lot of apocryphal monsters.

Every single step is horrible.

The ‘Thirsty Feast’ ritual that Isaac performed to win as the Salt Council was not written in a modified version for nothing.

Because it is a much safer method, even if it is more complex and difficult.

“To safely break through the Salt Desert, you must overcome the trials presented by the Lighthouse Keeper, collect three important relics related to the Salt Council, kill sacred monsters that have come into contact with the Apocrypha, collect offerings, and then proceed with the procedure.”

However, there is not enough time, personnel, or volume to do each and every one of them.

“So you’re saying it’s impossible now?”

Aidan looked disappointed, but Isaac shook his head.

“It might be possible if one condition is met.”

***

“How to avoid the lighthouse keeper’s wrath?”

“Yes. Even if we break the salt flats and let the sea water flow back in, it will dry up again quickly as long as that damned sun shines. And we can’t perform another ritual that would involve dealing with the lighthouse keeper right after performing the Thirsty Feast ritual. Is there any other way to stop the lighthouse keeper?”

In fact, if we just turned off the sun, we could eliminate the salt deserts over a long period of time.

All you have to do is mobilize your manpower to dig a channel through the hills on the border between the sea and the salt flats. A huge amount of seawater will quickly come in, filling up the sea in front of Mirmia and melting the salt.

Of course, it would take tens or hundreds of years.

Ultimately, the question is how to safely put out the cursed sun.

Sadrazza’s solution was simple.

“Don’t turn it off.”

“What? Then?”

Sadraza pointed to the ceiling, his tentacles waving.

“You probably felt it when you entered the Fisherman’s House… … This area is not exposed to the heat of the cursed sun. It is because the lighthouse keeper erected the ‘lamp’ based on the Fisherman’s House. Not by his own power, but by drawing on the power contained in the Fisherman’s House to maintain it.”

It is unclear whether he is being frugal or has a great teabagging skill, using the remaining power of the faith that has already been trampled and reduced to ashes to maintain the curse. However, thanks to him, Sadraja has found a way to bypass that miracle.

“I intend to use the lighthouse keeper’s miracle. I intend to make his ‘lamp’ a little bigger… … so that it can completely cover the cursed sun. No, even halfway will suffice. Then the heat will not reach the land and the sea.”

“Hmm… … So instead of cleaning up the poop, you’re going to cover it up so it can’t be seen.”

Aidan looked at him from the side as if to ask why he was using such a metaphor, but Isaac didn’t care. The important thing was whether or not other people could understand it well enough.

Sadraja also nodded heavily.

“That ‘shit’ can be cleaned up if the one calling it comes back.”

Isaac thought Sadraza’s idea was quite plausible. It was a strategy he had not discovered, but it was quite possible.

“Is the ritual performed separately from the Thirsty Supper?”

“The ‘lamp’ is something that draws power from the fisherman’s house… … I can take care of it.”

“That sounds plausible. It could be possible.”

Sadrazza suddenly bent down.

Reina, who was standing away, grabbed the sword without thinking, but Rihanna stopped her.

Sadraza stared at Isaac from close enough that he could see into his eyes.

“Is it possible? Is it true?”

“Isn’t this the ritual you’ve been preparing for for a thousand years? You should know better.”

“I… … I don’t know. For a thousand years, I had no one to talk to, no angels to ask for advice, no gods to give orders. I just planned and imagined. I just thought about what I could do with what I had.”

Sadrazza’s words were filled with deep regret.

It would be difficult to simply describe the feeling he had as ‘loneliness’ when everyone he knew was dead or gone, the country and religion he had relied on were falling apart, God was silent, everything was a wasteland, and he himself was gradually turning into an octopus.

But after nearly a thousand years, someone finally appeared who told him that it was possible.

Just that alone made Sadra feel more than just joy.

“So, do we just need to help with the thirsty supper ceremony?”

“Yes. But are you really going to help me? Why on earth… … .”

From Isaac’s perspective, who needs to reclaim the Holy Land as soon as possible, this is ‘something else’. There may be commanders who grumble that they are being held back in an unnecessary place.

But Isaac spoke firmly.

“Because I promised. That’s all.”

***

“That’s a lie. I can’t just leave you in this wasteland of ruins just because of a personal promise I made to you.”

The barracks for the commanders were set up in a building that seemed to be some kind of government office. Isaac, who had left the fisherman’s house, called the commanders of each alliance there and told them about what had happened while they were resting and about his conversation with Sadraza.

Aidan looked uneasy at Isaac’s words, but the other commanders looked curious. Tukhalin asked first.

“Then why did you say you would help him with his consciousness?”

“First of all, his plan is realistic. If it were absurd, we wouldn’t even look at it. If we can help the Salt Council regain its full power while avoiding the wrath of the Lighthouse Keeper, we’ll gain another powerful ally to help us.”

Isaac looked back and forth between Tukhalin and Ethelred.

“Of course, you are valuable allies, but wouldn’t it be worth it if you could get the achievement ‘Savior of the Gods’? And if the difficulty is relatively low.”

Tukhalin nodded with a smirk.

“I have accumulated quite a few achievements, but they are certainly worthy of praise. But that is not all. Also?”

“Mirmia becoming a port city is a great strategic advantage for us as well.”

Currently, the biggest weakness of the Isacrea Dawn Army is that there is no escape route or supply route.

Although the Salt Council’s ships are said to be waiting across the Salt Desert, the Salt Desert is not only impossible to cross with only a small number of people, but even crossing it would be life-threatening.

However, if we can pull the ships all the way to Mirmia, both supply and retreat will become easier. It will also have a big impact on the morale of the army.

Ethelred nodded vigorously, as if he understood the story. It seemed to him to be a sufficient reason to help, even if it meant some delay.

“Are there any more?”

“There is, but… … It’s hard to say anything because it’s not certain yet. It’s a plan with so many variables.”

“The Commander-in-Chief is still secretive and adventurous. Alright. So what should we do?”

“There is an important role to play. We will have to move very urgently.”

Isaac whispered a stern warning.

“We have to fool Sadrazza into thinking that the ritual is proceeding smoothly.”

“what?”

Tukhalin asked in surprise. The others also looked surprised. As the rumbling began, Aidan opened his mouth as if he had to handle this himself.

“Let me tell you. Of course, I believe what Sadrajah says, and I acknowledge the credibility of his words. However, since the subject of consciousness is Sadrajah, we must rely on him for many parts of our plans. Even though we have only known him for half a day.”

“……yes.”

“I don’t want to betray him, but I don’t want to risk the lives of our allies so carelessly. In short, I want to be prepared.”

Isaac nodded at those words and continued.

“If everything goes according to plan, Sadrazza will get what he wants. But if he betrays… … .”

Isaac glanced at Aidan and said.

“You will lose everything.”