"Lex, you're back?"
The big boy clearly hadn't expected Harribel to bring Lex, and he quickly pulled his hand back in fright. He hadn't forgotten that Harribel's older brother was once known as the devil of Enki Town.
"Oh my god, Lex, you're looking more and more like Dad," Harribel rolled her eyes, looking at Lex with some helplessness.
I'm not like him at all, at least my hairline isn't as high as his.
Lex silently complained in his heart, then stood between Amanchi and his sister: "So, where's Denise?"
"I'm here," a somewhat weak voice sounded in the living room.
Lex strode into the living room and saw a girl about his sister's age.
Kaosi's youngest daughter, Denise, was wearing a long dress adorned with multiple layers of ruffles. Her flaxen hair had lost its former luster, and her face, pale from fright, was a heartbreaking sight.
Lex noticed an ancient-looking book on the table in front of Denise.
"Are you okay, Denise?" Harribel's energetic voice slightly lightened the gloomy atmosphere in the living room. "Where's the thing I asked you to bring?"
Denise looked at the book on the table: "It's right here. Last night, Erica performed the ritual exactly as described in this book."
Lex walked over, picked up the book. The text on the cover was Hermes, meaning 'the book of eternal life'.
Tsk, just by the name, it sounds like something mystic.
These kids nowadays are too bold, daring to touch just anything.
Lex glanced at Denise, then casually opened the ancient book. It was filled with text written in Hermes, recording the rise and fall of a Family. Lex didn't read it carefully, quickly flipping to the page that described the ritual.
Next to the text on this page were annotations; someone had translated the Hermes, which explained why Erica and these children could understand it and even perform the ritual.
This ritual required at least three participants, and the best place to perform it was in a cemetery. The specific steps of the ritual were as follows.
'First, prepare a living creature. Anything will do, there is no specific requirement, only one: it must be alive.'
'Then, in the center of the cemetery, three people sit in an equilateral triangle, placing the prepared living creature in the middle. Prepare candles, powdered or essential oil of sleeping flowers, any bone ash, powdered hair of the deceased, as well as a silver plate and a golden box, among other things.'
'Next, the ritual can begin.'
'After the three participants are seated, first light the candles and place the living creature on the silver plate. Then put the other prepared items into the golden box and light them. Next, the participants must hold hands and continuously chant the following incantation.'
'Sleeper of the Underworld;'
'Ruler of Pale Souls;'
'Existence wielding death.'
'The descendant of Terence calls upon you, guided by the life of a living creature, in exchange for three Souls.'
'Please bring back the immortal Ya'erlin.'
After reading the ritual steps, Lex couldn't help but frown. The text describing the ritual steps was translated in great detail, but regarding the incantation, only the pronunciation was provided, with no explanation.
And judging by the pronunciation, it was clearly ancient hermes, which meant that those three reckless children had no idea what the incantation meant.
And this incantation was very evil.
From the first three verses, it was a prayer to a deity in the field of death, but these three verses were very vague, with no clear direction or obvious honorific name.
Take the Night Goddess as an example.
Her complete honorific name includes terms like 'Night Goddess'.
And in the projections of the Beyonders Lex had summoned, those Saints also had clear honorific names, which allowed prayers to be sensed by the designated existence.
But the incantation in this book was very Admiral; in other words, if one prayed with it, probably all the deities belonging to this field could sense it.
And the latter half of the incantation further highlighted the danger of this ritual.
The danger lay in 'in exchange for three Souls,' whose Souls? Of course, those of the ritual participants.
But it was unknown who they were exchanging with.
Was it with a 'big shot' in the field of death, or that so-called 'immortal Ya'erlin'.
In any case.
Once this ritual succeeded, the participants would likely die, and then, something would return.
Lex closed the book and looked at his sister: "Do you know Erica's surname?"
Harribel looked at Denise, and the pale-faced girl thought for a moment before saying: "I remember it was Bolin. Yes, she said she was Erica. Bolin when she first introduced herself."
Lex couldn't help but glance at the book of eternal life in his hand. The ritual incantation contained the words 'descendant of Terence'.
If there were no accidents, it would require a descendant of Terence to perform the ritual for it to be effective.
But Erica's surname was Bolin, and Amanchi and Denise clearly did not have this surname.
"Wait."
Denise suddenly said: "I remember, Erica once proudly boasted to us that her Family was very ancient. The surname Bolin can only be traced back a hundred years, but her Family also had an older surname, one that could even be traced back to the Fourth Epoch."
Lex cleared his throat: "That surname, it wouldn't happen to be Terence, would it?"
Denise was stunned: "How did you know?"
"Well, it seems you've hit the jackpot, and it's the grand prize."
Lex wasn't going to explain too clearly to Denise and them; it would scare people. He winked at his sister: "Harribel, come out with me for a moment."
"I'll be right there," Harribel patted her friend's hand, stood up, and left the living room with Lex.
They arrived in a corridor.
Harribel immediately said: "What did you find? Is this ritual very dangerous?"
Lex nodded gravely: "Extremely dangerous. It involves the field of death, and it also involves the exchange of Souls."
He opened the book of eternal life to the page with the ritual. Harribel, who had also received mystical education, naturally understood the ancient hermes on it.
"Oh my god, Erica and the others actually performed such a dangerous ritual…"
The blonde girl looked up at her older brother: "What do we do now?"
"The safest course of action is to have Denise and the others go to St. Witt's Church immediately and ask the Church for help, but Erica might be…"
Lex's guess was that the 'immortal Ya'erlin' was probably the origin of the Terence Family, Erica's ancestor.
If this ancestor were to return now, there's a high probability he would revive by possessing a descendant's body. In that case, Erica would likely be in grave danger.
Fortunately, this 'immortal Ya'erlin' should not yet be a Saint, or a more powerful high-sequence Beyonder, let alone a deity.
Lex made this judgment because the incantation was not a prayer to 'Ya'erlin', which indicated that this ancestor of the Terence Family could not return by his own power.
So, dealing with him shouldn't be difficult, but it would be more appropriate to have the Church intervene.
Harribel nodded almost imperceptibly: "Okay, I'll tell them…"
"Denise, Denise, what's wrong with you?!"
Before his sister could finish speaking, Amanchi's exclamation rang out from the living room. Then the big boy ran out, pointing at the living room: "Something happened to Denise!"