The main material plane, the western continent, the Foresta Empire, the outer city area of the imperial capital.
In an abandoned house somewhere in a civilian area.
A tall and shriveled figure, completely covered in a black robe, walked through the deserted rooms of a residential building, arranging props for the ceremony.
Bottles and jars of drugs, remains of unknown creatures, glittering magic gems...
There is also a strange magic array pattern.
"A high and mysterious black fog."
"You are the cloud that overlooks the world, the eternal kingdom outside of time, and the mist outside of the law."
"Please, as a witness of fair trade, pass on to me the lofty things beyond the astral realm, the things promised in fair trade."
The black-robed figure gazed into the silver mirror in front of him and uttered a prayer in an old and withered voice.
...
...
Five seconds passed.
Ten seconds passed——
Nothing happened.
It was not until the old black-robed figure began to lose his patience that the silver mirror suddenly shook.
The dark, illusory mist quietly dissipated from the silver mirror.
Then, it completely swallowed up the room he was in.
“It’s finally here.”
A gleam of light flashed in the eyes of the old man in black robe.
He continued to wait patiently.
After a long time, the fog dissipated.
And the silver mirror had quietly shattered at some point.
Instead, there was a white skull surrounded by black flames.
At the moment of seeing the skull, the eyes of the old man in black robe became more serious.
He could feel the majestic aura lingering above the skull, which was high and deep, as if it came from beyond the starry sky.
This is truly a holy object belonging to the one true God.
Even if only a little bit of the aura was revealed, it was enough to make this legendary figure feel fear in his heart.
But, at the same time.
The heat that came from deep within his heart also began to burn fiercely in the heart of the old man in black robe.
As long as the deal with the Grand Pope of the Ash Cult is completed.
Then, he could also obtain a wisp of ownerless divinity and the fragment of the Star Grail.
Then, use it to ignite the divine fire and set foot on the long stairway to godhood - the road to godhood.
In time, I will surely become a great being like the owner of this holy skull of ashes, above the secular world and the starry sky.
Of course, the cost of completing this deal is bound to be high.
Although those crazy people in the Ash Cult are insane, they are not fools.
The ownerless divinity and the fragments of the Star Grail are extremely attractive to any mythical creature. He had no relationship with the Ash Cult and the Lord of Ashes before, so how could they be given to him for free?
The price of this gift had already been secretly marked.
Once the conspiracy of the Lost Realm cults to overthrow the empire is truly accomplished—
That would mean the collapse of the entire empire.
And everything that he had built up over the years in the empire would no longer exist.
Not to mention, the so-called "the nail that sticks out gets hammered down".
The collapse of the empire and the advent of the evil god are such a huge outbreak of movement that it is bound to cause turmoil among the people of the entire Western Continent.
Whether it is the Church of Dawn, the Alliance of Princes, or the Three Wizard Towers... they must stand up and give an explanation to the entire Order camp.
But those cults are the kind of people who are barefoot and are not afraid of those who wear shoes. They have done enough bad things and their feuds have already become irreconcilable. When the time comes, they will simply hide back in the Lost Realm and naturally will not care about being remembered for any more.
However, he was the instigator and traitor of the empire's downfall.
I will surely be caught as an example by the entire Order camp and become a wanted person on the wanted list, especially the Dawn Church, which will surely kill me, the summoner of the evil god, as soon as possible.
By then, he would most likely be forced to hide in the Lost Realm, and be attacked by those evil cults.
The old man in black robe is not a fool. He had already thought about the development of all this at the secret meeting of the Golden Dawn.
However, he still chose to propose a deal. Because his life as a legendary strong man is about to come to an end, but the boundary of the throne is so far away.
It was so far away that he had never even seen hope within reach.
And he didn't want to die.
For any legend whose lifespan is approaching the limit, the desire to survive is the strongest and most intense.
As long as he ignites the divine fire with the ownerless divinity and the fragment of the star cup obtained from the transaction, he can give new life to this already decayed human body and turn it into a true mythical creature.
Of course, doing this means giving up a lot of things.
But in the face of the desire for life, the loyalty, justice, or the sense of responsibility instilled in one's heart since childhood all seem so insignificant.
When he was young, he fought bravely and expanded the empire's territory in the war against the Lost Realms.
But with his body aging and his spirit gradually decaying, he eventually reached his current state.
A hint of nostalgia only flashed across those withered and old eyes, and then disappeared.
"Come in and follow the process I told you before. Pray to the holy objects and ask for the ritual preparation steps for the Divine Descent Ceremony."
The old man in black robe made a gesture toward the outside.
Soon, a black-clad warrior walked into the room and saluted the old man. Without saying anything or asking any questions, he knelt down in front of the black flame skull and began a virtual prayer.
Having settled in the imperial capital for so many years, the old man has naturally cultivated a group of confidants who are loyal only to him and unknown to anyone else.
Of course, it was the kind of secret medicine that would kill one if one did not take the antidote, just like the secret medicine that Norton asked Char to take in the remnants of history.
Char, who was peeping through the spiritual mark on the Giant King's skull above the black fog, couldn't help but sigh: "One Norton fell, but thousands and thousands of Nortons stood up."
After all, this is a contaminant of the evil god that still exists in the world. Even with the legendary strength of the old man in black robe, he dare not have too much contact with it, for fear that the contaminant will unknowingly infect his spirit and corrupt his believers into ashes.
With his confidants who hold the power of life and death at his disposal, he naturally did not want to come into contact with the pollutant in person.
The prayer to the Giant King's skull ended quickly.
Soon, the confidant who went to pray returned.
However, the confidant had a confused expression on his face.
“My Lord…”
"Hmm?" The old man in black robe was somewhat dissatisfied with his confidant's confused attitude and urged, "Hurry up and tell me. How can you be so hesitant?"
The assassin hesitated for a moment, then quickly walked to the old man in black robe and whispered a few words.
Before he could finish, he was interrupted by the old man's stern look.
"Ridiculous! You've been with me for so long, and you can't even do such a small thing?"
The confidant hesitantly defended himself: "But the oracle of the holy relic did instruct us to do so."
"Ridiculous!" The old man in black robe snorted coldly: "Let me ask you, whose holy object is this?"
"It's the Lord of Ashes..."
Because he had to explain the words of the prayer, this confidant naturally also knew the real name of the person being prayed for.
"Yes, you know this is the Lord of Ashes who loves to burn cities and hold fire festivals. His followers hold tattered sickles all day long and pretend to be the god of death. When they see a couple, they shout "burn, burn, burn."
The old man in black robe was so angry that he laughed. He had lost trust in his confidant.
Even though it meant risking exposure to contaminants, he decided to do it himself.
The old man in black robe bowed towards the white skull and recited the prayer of his trusted warrior again.
Then, he spoke in a respectful voice.
"Supreme, great Lord of Ashes—"
"As an ally of your believers, I pray that you will allow the grace of God's descent and inform us of the preparations needed for the descent ceremony."
As he prayed, black flames suddenly lit up in the two empty eye sockets on the white skull, like will-o'-the-wisp.
Then, lines of light golden text appeared in the sky above the abandoned room.
The old man in black robe raised his eyes and looked——
“1. Cut 1,000 kilograms of lean beef into fine pieces and cook until it is 30% done, without leaving any fat on top.”
"2. Cut 1,000 kilograms of fatty beef into fine pieces and cook until it is 50% done, without leaving any fine part on it."
"3. Cut a thousand kilograms of beef cartilage into fine pieces and cook it until it is 70% done, leaving no meat on top."
"4. One thousand pounds of steak..."
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