The conversion ceremony of the God's Punishment Army is a knowledge that the Pope must master. When Mayne took over the God's Punishment Book from His Majesty O'Brien a year ago, it was equivalent to obtaining the qualification for the next Pope's succession.
The contents of the book, Mayne, have already memorized it by heart. A God's Punishment Army needs to sacrifice the life of a witch, fuse her blood with the God's Punishment Stone, and then inject it into the Judgment Army. This set of rituals has been improved several times in hundreds of years of use, but the essence has not changed. The witch determines the upper limit of the number of God's Punishment Army, and the will of the Judgment Army is the key to determining the success rate of transformation.
After reading this book, he understood why the church took in so many underage girls every year. The witches appeared without warning, and before the magic gathered, they were no different from normal people. And once the magic begins to gather, their bodies, organs, and blood will be changed. So there is no other way but to expand the breeding scale.
This is also the reason why he agrees with Heather's statement. Everything they have done is considered to be extremely evil. Every high-level executive has blood on their hands, and they have slaughtered more witches than any executioner. But in order to defeat the devil, in order to avoid the annihilation of mankind, they must do so.
Only the victors are eligible for God's favor.
…
The two judges were lying on the transformation platform. Mayne knew them. They were Daleion from the advance battalion and Tucker Thor from the Holy City Guard. The latter was also a presiding judge.
Both were smiling, but the Bishop could see the tension in their tensed muscles and clenched fists. He patted the two of them on the shoulders, "Relax, I believe you can do it."
"My lord, is it enough to just endure the pain?" Daleen couldn't help asking.
"That's right, just get through it," Mayne laughed. "Your name is Daleen, right?"
"You still remember my name," he said excitedly.
"Of course, you are a member of the advance battalion, and participated in the defense of Hermes last year. The captain is... Eleithia, am I right?"
"That's right," Daleen nodded again and again, "Our team suffered heavy casualties in a battle. Half of our team members died at the hands of hybrid demonic beasts. I thought at the time, it would be great if I had the ability to kill all those deformed bastards. So, my lord, I want to become the God's Punishment Army!"
"Being strong to protect comrades in arms is a good belief," Mayne encouraged, then he looked at the presiding judge, "What about you, Tucker Thor, why did you decide to transform into the God's Punishment Army? "
"In order to defend the new holy city, my lord," he said firmly, "the priests said that the evil beasts will become stronger and stronger every year from now on. The last time they touched the wall of the holy city, if it wasn't for the God's Punishment Army , the cathedral may have been destroyed. I also want to be a strong shield against evil beasts and a spear that pierces through the enemy."
"Very good, you are all the pride of the church," Mayne followed the steps explained in the classics, and used conversations to relieve their tension and fear. Seeing that the emotions of the two gradually became high, he waved his hand to signal the ceremony to continue.
The guard stepped forward and blindfolded the two of them, and firmly fixed their limbs on the transformation table with hand rings and anklets. Then the witch was carried in and laid flat between the two.
As a witch raised by the church, she spent most of her life in the monastery of the old holy city. After awakening, she will be sent to the central secret area as a material to be transformed. The day before the sacrifice, she had been doused with a large amount of Dream Water, an herbal remedy made from sleeping ferns and winter flowers, to ensure that any noise during the ceremony would not wake her up.
"Number, age?"
"Number one, eighteen years old," the guard replied.
This is a routine inquiry. Only the blood of an adult witch is enough to transform the two God's Punishment Army at the same time. After checking the witch roster again to confirm that it is correct, Maine announces the beginning of the ceremony.
A delicate silver needle tube was inserted into the witch's arm, and the reddish-brown blood flowed out from the leather tube wrapped behind the silver needle and gathered into the crystal basin under her. The bottom of the basin was covered with a layer of light blue God's Punishment Stone, and the blood gradually soaked through the stone, and finally filled the entire basin.
Soon, the Stone of God's Retaliation changed. From the side of the basin, you can see that the blue stone is absorbing blood. After about half an hour, the stone gradually melted and disappeared, the turbid blood became crystal clear, and the color changed from reddish-brown to sky blue.
These operations seem simple, but after tens of thousands of trials, a complete and reliable set of steps has been obtained. For example, the blood volume estimation of witches of different ages and body shapes, the production of silver needles and leather tubes, which part of the body is inserted to drain blood, and which part of the body is inserted for blood transfusion, as well as the quality and weight of the God's Retaliation Stone, etc... The previous failed experiments and improvements also explained the general principles of transformation.
After the witch's body is transformed by magic, its blood has the ability to strengthen organs and tendons. If it is used directly, it will only kill the blood recipient instantly. The Stone of God's Retaliation must be soaked in the blood of the witch to dissolve the unknown power before it can be injected into the Transformer's body. Only instinct and some strong will remain. The surviving God's Punishment Army has the same level of reinforcement as the extraordinary, and even if he does not wear the God's Punishment Stone, he can also have the effect of banning magic.
I have to say that this is a wonderful combination. The blood of witches can kill humans, and swallowing the Stone of God's Retaliation will kill people, but the combination of the two can minimize this adverse effect. .
When the blue liquid slowly flowed into the bodies of the two judges along the leather tube, the blue veins on their arms and necks suddenly burst, and their expressions were hideous, as if they were enduring great pain. Dalian was the first to shout out. He struggled on the stage, his fingers clenched and spread, but his hands and feet could not move. After a while, a thin layer of sweat broke out all over his body.
Tucker was not much better, he let out a low growl, a trace of blood dripped from the corner of his mouth, and his whole body twitched.
The liquid level in the crystal basin slowly dropped, and when the bottom was almost reached, Daleon's voice had turned into a cry. Judging from the description in the classics, his transformation was basically on the verge of failure. When Mayne hesitated whether to observe again, the Pope pressed his shoulder from behind, "Enough, let him free."
A guard stepped forward, drew his dagger, and stabbed Dalene in the neck cleanly, twisting the hilt violently, ending his pain.
After an agonizing wait, Tucker Thor's convulsions subsided, his breathing gradually stabilized, and his skin transitioned from ruddy to light blue. Mayne knew that he had survived the transformation ceremony.
One person succeeded and the other failed. This result made the Lord sigh. In just two quarters of an hour, the church lost a pious judge army and wasted half of the witch's blood.
However, there are still sixty judges waiting for the transformation, and he must let the ceremony continue.
…
When the ceremony was completed, Mayne was almost unable to stand, he staggered off the stage, and sat against the wall of the hall almost disrespectfully.
The Pope slowly crossed over and stood in front of him. "To tell the truth, you surprised me, boy. The first time I performed the ceremony, it was much worse than you. I was exactly forty-five that year. 20 years old, the strong smell of blood made me vomit directly on the ceremony table, almost wasting a whole basin of blood. The former Pope even beat me hard, but after the pumping, he then ordered me to return to the stage , continue to preside over the ceremony."
"..." Mayne opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.
"So, don't think about anything, just go back and rest for a day."
"Yes, Your Majesty." The bishop took a deep breath, knelt down to salute and was about to leave, he suddenly remembered the purpose of his visit, "By the way, you asked me to come to the secret area to..."
"Oh, look at my memory," O'Brien shook his head mockingly, "I came to you to give you a new poison developed by an agency."
"Poison?" There are institutions in the secret area of organization that specialize in research on the Stone of God's Punishment, such as cold-dispelling pills, fluorescent stones, and mad chemical drugs. After the results are obtained, they will be distributed to the bishop for use. But I have never heard that they are involved in poison. In Mayne's impression, this should be what alchemists are good at.
"According to them, getting this result is entirely due to an accident." The Pope said slowly. "As long as it is sprinkled on the rotting corpse, it can take effect on the surrounding people for a long time, and it does not have to be poured into the mouth like ordinary poisons. Without a special antidote, it is basically impossible to cure. You can ask Master Crow's Eye for details. It may come in handy in the battle of the four kingdoms."
Maine immediately thought of Broken Tooth Castle, which could not be conquered for a long time, and the unpleasant stalemate in Greycastle. He suppressed his joy and saluted again: "If this poison is really as effective as Crow's Eye Master said, then it can really help me a lot." (. If you like this work, you are welcome to come and vote, , your support is my greatest motivation. Please come.)