"Okay, Sister Perry, I understand. So..."
Shade looked at Mr. Fred Lehman again, who explained before he asked:
"I offered an ancient book treasured by my family to a witch, and she agreed to guide me here."
"Yes, I have heard about this, but I didn't expect his destination to be here."
The middle-aged witch, Ms. Maggie Brachett, said that Mr. Lyman thanked her cautiously and softly, but the witch ignored the man.
"Then let me ask you another question. Both ladies are here in search of power. What about you, sir? Why did you come here
Xia De spoke again, and Mr. Leiman hesitated before answering the question:
"Actually... I was born in the East Continent. Since I was a child, I have loved playing with friends of different races. No, not friends with elven blood like this nun here, but... When I grow up, I have always wanted to marry a girl with... animal characteristics... But you also know that I am a human male. Girls of different races who have not awakened to become witches have more or less the power of their race's inheritance, so they rarely fall in love with someone like me..."
He was a little embarrassed:
"I was born into a privileged family. Although my rank is not high, I am indeed the heir of a small kingdom. People always have to pursue something. Although this sounds a bit ridiculous, I have always wanted to realize my dream, so I wanted to try my luck here. This musket was lent to me by my distant aunt, a real witch... That's it."
It sounds like Professor Manning will have a lot to talk about with this gentleman. However, Shade really didn't realize that the middle-aged nun actually had elven blood. The half-elves he had seen, such as Miss Orlanod and Professor Garcia, at least had characteristics from their ears, so the middle-aged nun's bloodline must not be outstanding.
Xia De is not a correspondence student of the School of Political Science and Economics, and his understanding of alien races is limited to the knowledge given by Tree Father and some subtle information in the Witch's Echo.
After confirming that the three companions this time were all normal people, not incarnations of gods nor the souls of individuals, Xia De assisted them in the god-summoning ceremony with confidence.
In fact, they had already started preparations before Xia De arrived, and Tree Father sent Xia De to this time point, obviously wanting him to participate in the ceremony.
Due to the site conditions of the "Worm Cave" itself and the existence of the round table where the gods once held banquets, the originally complicated ritual of summoning the gods has become much simpler. Powerful divine items can make the ritual unnecessary to draw the base array, and also unnecessary to use those expensive and rare ritual symbols "leaves", "flowers" and "grass".
The middle-aged witch Miss Maggie Blackett prepared more than a dozen small statues from the ruins of the Fourth Age and placed them on the empty chairs; Sister Ollie Perry of the Church of the Sun brought the original copy of the poem "Song of Butterflies" which once recorded the story of the old gods' banquet, and prepared to recite it later; and the ordinary person Mr. Fred Lehman, he did not have those magical items, but he brought the holy emblem and small statue of the Butterfly God, and placed them respectfully on the table.
The Butterfly God is not a very famous god, and most of its believers are not humans, but non-human races, so Mr. Fred Lehman was well prepared.
As for the three people preparing different items, but they all happened to meet the requirements of the God-summoning Ceremony, there was no hidden reason. Xia De had specifically asked about it. In fact, each person's individual preparations were enough to complete the ceremony, but when the three of them were together, the probability of the ceremony's success would be greater.
After a brief preparation, Sister Perry unfolded the poem and recited the first stanza:
"Since the beginning of the new year,
Growing from midsummer,
Since the golden autumn,
Buried since winter.
The grass leaves are scattered at the feast of the earth,
Butterflies are flying in the beautiful spring breeze.
Morning dew turns into fine wine,
The birds are singing and flying,
The grass is dancing.
Flowers weave poems.
Praise the master of thousands of butterflies,
You are the protector of butterflies,
You are the guardian of the fertile earth,
May your banquet be well attended to."
As the nuns of the Sun God solemnly recited poems, fragrant grass and flowers emerged from the bare soil at the bottom of the cave, like a green carpet covering the ground. Tender branches, green buds and morning glories stretched out from the caves around the cliff, intertwined with each other, and were covered with fruits and flowers.
The light from the sky above the cave could only illuminate the huge round table and the surrounding area, but now all the creeping branches and flowers are spontaneously emitting soft pink, white and green light. The bare underground cave is being embellished, and at this time, miracle elements are pouring in from all directions in an unprecedented form. The huge round wooden table in front of everyone begins to emit a dazzling golden light.
And in that light, wooden wine glasses, spoons, bowls and plates fell from the sky. Fragrant wine, sparkling fruits, and tempting meat and vegetable dishes were gradually piled up on the round wooden table.
The original white skylight gradually transformed into a soft warm yellow light, covering the huge round table and the four people sitting beside it. The light was unusually warm and bright. From an unknown height, a clear bird song was heard, and then, in the strange sound, a group of butterflies like a waterfall torrent flew out from the cliff cave where the branches and leaves extended, and fell to the bottom of the cave.
The flock of butterflies blocked everyone's vision, but Shade was keenly aware at this moment that some indescribable powerful existence was slowly appearing at the other end of the round table.
As the swarm of butterflies spread out from around the round table, evenly dotted the grass, flowers, branches and vines, the originally bare banquet venue now had the most abundant feast.
Xia De was very glad that the banquet did not start with the sound of metal knocking, otherwise he would probably jump up.
The gods had come, and their appearance swept away all the stench in the air, and the fresh fragrance of flowers and plants filled the air. But Shade noticed that as the buds and branches stretched out from the cliff holes, dense and terrifying swarms of insects also climbed on the plants and left the narrow corridors.
Therefore, although it currently appears that this is a banquet venue deep in an underground cave, dotted with flowers, green grass, and tall vines, in fact, disgusting bugs are hidden in every beautiful scene here.
The warm yellow light from the sky made it impossible for eyes that had adapted to the darkness to open fully at once. When Xia De, who was the first to adapt to the light, looked up at the opposite side of the huge round table, he saw the lady in a rose-red and black dress already sitting at the main seat of the banquet round table.
The light brown long hair falls naturally behind her, but if you look closely, you can see that the hair on the forehead is parted, and 5 cm of hair is taken from the temple to the ear, which is divided into three thin and overlapping braids and hangs on the side of the long hair. She wears a wreath on her head and a ring woven with green buds on her right index finger. Her rosy lips are like the most gorgeous roses in the new spring, and her quiet cheeks are like the most elegant magnolia.
Colorful dots of light danced around the god, and every time the god blinked, his form would change. This was not the original form of the old god, the Thousand-Eyed Illusion Butterfly, but a god in the form of a saint who appeared in the material world, using one of the thousands of butterflies as a carrier.
The golden crack had already penetrated Xia De's right eye, and then spread to his entire body inch by inch, until even the hem of his clothes was emitting a golden glow.
Because it was only a saint and not the real body, Shade dared to face it, but the others did not dare to look up. At this moment, unknown melodious music sounded from the sky, and the huge mental pressure that followed made Miss Maggie Bletchley, Sister Perry and Mr. Lyman almost vomit blood. The music seemed to be able to vibrate the heart, and the countless light points floating in the air around them seemed to fall into an endless dream at a glance.
The witch saw something unusual about Shade from the corner of her eye, and also noticed the way Shade looked up. But before the suspicious witch could ask, Shade placed one hand on the edge of the round table and asked the god:
"Guardian of thousands of butterflies, may I ask how these mortals can obtain your permission to gain the favor of your most loyal followers?"
Every time you use a new time key for the first time, time is the most tight, after all, you still need to spend time to understand the background of the adventure and the situation of your companions. At this time, time is running out, and Shade needs to hurry up.
The other three people at the table remained silent and listened quietly to Xia De's questions.
The gods beside the round table looked at them with a smile, the butterflies flying in the sky looked at them, and the dense swarm of insects also looked at them:
"You have come here, calling me to hold this banquet of the earth, which is not grand but very interesting. Since it is a banquet, please enjoy it with me and the butterflies. May you be intoxicated by the dream of the earth."
Xia De didn't quite understand what this meant, but he could basically conclude that the God of Butterflies was indeed related to the ancient goddess Mother Earth.
The melodious music in my ears was changing its tune, and Mr. Laiman, who was the weakest, was already groaning while holding his heart. After a brief pause, the dreamlike and beautiful god with butterfly wings behind him and thousands of eyes on the wings smiled and said:
"Please come to this feast and show the butterflies who you are. No, not your possessions, for mortal wealth will eventually turn to dust. No, not your strength, for it is not foolish strength that butterflies admire."
The saint chanted like singing, and as the gentle wind blew through the deep underground cave, the petals fell downwards. The small petals, which were gradually changing to pink, fell on everyone's hands, and each person got three petals.