The badge had already indicated the location of the Witch of Shadow, so Shadow was not surprised by Tifa's appearance.
He nodded to Dorothy, and the somewhat shy girl took the initiative to enter the room. When Shade walked towards Tifa, Ajelina also followed Shade.
"Good evening, Miss Carina."
In the bright lounge, the Duchess stood in front of the window holding a glass of wine. The window was open, letting the cold night wind blow her long red hair.
"Good evening, Shad."
As he spoke, he turned around and saw Ajelina was also here:
"Ajelina, why don't you go and entertain the guests? You are the protagonist of today's banquet, and you can't be absent for a long time."
"I just wanted to thank you for coming today."
Ajelina said somewhat awkwardly:
"If you come to my birthday party, my father will be more cautious about my marriage. In any case, thank you for coming."
Miss Carina would not attend every royal family member's birthday. It was even more surprising that she came today. However, people also believed that this was because Miss Carina had just returned to Tobesk. This powerful duchess with her own fiefdom was quite influential in Tobesk.
"You know, I was only able to come because Shad was here."
She said casually, looking at Xia De who wanted to speak, and raised her eyebrows:
"Shad, you don't have to interrupt. I know what Ajelina is thinking and I know you want to help her. Just go for it. I will support you no matter what decision you make."
The little princess showed a look of surprise on her face, and the Duchess laughed:
"I don't intend to get involved in the political struggles of the royal descendants. After all, it has nothing to do with me. But if Shade asks me for help, I am still willing to help."
Then he waved to Ajelina:
"Go and entertain the guests. Diana will be worried if she can't see you."
Ajelina lifted her skirt and bowed to thank him, then turned and left in a hurry. Tifa closed the door, and Shad took out two bottles of red wine from his pocket and placed them on the table:
"Drink this of mine, but I don't recommend drinking too much."
Miss Carina shook her head:
"I didn't come to you to discuss this. I received news from Benanis that the Church of the Righteous God's operation to round up the followers of the Evil God was basically completed two hours ago. The result... can't be said to be very good, but at least it's not bad either."
"Then let's tell you the good news first."
Shad sat on the sofa and Tifa bent down to pour him tea.
"The good news is that the cultist with the power of the earth and the incarnation of stone that you mentioned was shot dead on the spot during the church's roundup."
The Duchess sighed slightly:
"The thirteenth ring warlock who was transferred from another place to the Randall Valley personally took action against him, and Benannis was also secretly preparing to intercept his escape. I thought it would be troublesome, but it turned out to be so simple. This shows that the other party is not the chosen one of the earth. Past experience shows that the only one who can kill the chosen one is the chosen one... ... or you."
Shad smiled embarrassedly, but after the ring warlock with the "stone incarnation" was ruled out, the suspicion of Mr. Lathers and Mr. Thomas Granger in the undead form increased again.
"Before the cultists' stronghold was breached, Benannis copied a copy of the ritual for learning the power of the earth and stone incarnation. Now the Council and the Church have mastered this unique magic, but unfortunately the learning conditions are too harsh and require the possession of an artifact that inherits the power of the earth."
Miss Carina said, this is indeed good news.
"What's the bad news?"
"Don't worry, the good news isn't over yet."
The red-haired witch continued:
"Didn't you say that the ritual of the Chosen One of the Earth requires the combination of three different rituals of summoning gods? The church has obtained a large number of documents from the cultists this time, including some information about the ritual of contacting the Stone Heart Demon. That part of the information was mixed in with other documents. Benanis was forced to retreat after just taking a look. The ritual is not complete. At present, we only know that three sacrifices are required: flowers, stones, and souls."
"Speaking of which, the offerings required for the ritual of contacting the Thousand-Eyed Illusion Butterfly are leaves, flowers, and fruits. 'Flowers' are overlapping elements, which means that during the feast of the split Earth Mother, the element of flowers was absorbed by both gods. But the soul..."
"Although the ritual of summoning the evil god is based on the ritual of the ancient gods, it does not mean that all of it belongs to the ritual of the ancient gods. The three gods must have added their own elements to their respective summoning rituals. Therefore, to piece together the final ritual of the chosen one, we not only need to make up for the missing parts, but also need to identify the redundant parts. In my opinion, sacrificing souls should be considered the redundant part."
Miss Carina spoke cautiously, but this was just an inference. To be on the safe side, they had to prepare their souls in advance, which was a very taboo action.
“Flowers, stones and souls must be related to the symbol of ‘autumn’. They cannot be ordinary objects, but they don’t have to be powerful either. They must be mysterious and symbolic enough, that’s the key.”
Miss Carina added, and Shade frowned slightly:
"Interesting, a ritual calling upon the old god, the Butterfly God, asking for the symbol of 'Spring'."
"The Earth Mother Goddess was originally the God of the Four Seasons. This ancient deity influenced the four seasons of the earth and was also known as the 'Lord of the Four Seasons' in ancient times. In addition to the earth and the cornerstone, her most famous authority is actually the four seasons."
The witch explained to Shade, and then she and Shade thought of the same thing:
"What season does Earthshaker Worm, the last of the three gods of earth and the old god of earthquakes, represent?"
Shade asked, currently Miss Aurora is still actively communicating with the last priestess, Old Lady Yinlar (Chapter 457), who lives near the town of Hekils, to obtain the ritual of summoning the gods.
"I heard Xiwei talk about it during the last meeting in the summer."
Miss Carina said with certainty, and inferred from this:
"Spring, summer, and autumn. Maybe the missing part of the ritual represents the power of winter. I remember the old god who symbolizes winter is..."
She glanced at Shade:
"Let's collect all the materials for the three rituals first. Besides, in my opinion, it may be completely useless for us to prepare these in advance. Look at the four chosen ones who have performed the rituals, Balance Yin Luna, Dark Yin Fan Darkness, Death Joe Yin Barton, and Knowledge and Wisdom Lai Jins Prisha. Which one of them didn't prepare everything by himself? They don't need help from others. Fate will guide them. Performing the ritual is just a process they have to go through, just like pushing open the door before entering."
After a pause, he added:
"Xade, I'm not saying your preparation is useless, it's just..."
"I understand what you mean, but we still have to do something. Moreover, we have to prevent the Chosen from failing due to an accident. We have to hold a ceremony to purify the earth. This ceremony is not only for the sublimation of the Chosen, but also for the earth in the material world."
Xia De emphasized, Miss Carina put the wine glass on the windowsill and sat next to Xia De:
"I like the way you talk seriously."
As she spoke, Tifa looked at Shad closely, standing behind the sofa where the two were sitting, watching the scene in front of her. Shad reached out and hugged the dear lady, then took the initiative to kiss her, and the latter's smile became even brighter.
"If that's still good news, then what's the bad news?"
Shad hasn't forgotten it yet.
"Oh, that's what you're talking about. Benanis said that although the cult's local base was breached, and several people were arrested and killed, allowing the local church to seize a large amount of information, the number of cultists finally confirmed was much less than expected."
"Let them get away?"
"They must have gone into hiding. Furthermore, we didn't see any members of the Blood Spirit School in this operation, which is very strange. The only contact between the Randall Valley Parish and the Blood Spirit School was the encounter you had in the black mud a week ago. Therefore, the church and Benanis are also unclear about what role the Blood Spirit School played this time."
Listening to Miss Carina's description, Shade felt that what happened in Randall Valley tonight was more suspicious. Although the church had achieved most of its goals, it seemed that it had only obtained important documents. The real enemy was lurking again at this moment, waiting for the next opportunity in the dark of the Spring City.
The two continued talking, discussing the three academies' handling of the Randall Valley incident and the current situation of the owners of the power of the earth. However, the conversation did not last too long. Seeing that Shade looked like he wanted to leave, Miss Carina took the initiative to say:
"Then let's talk about this first. I don't want Little Lecia to think that I deliberately want to keep you here to waste her time. You don't want to... ... What's your excuse?"
She asked Tifa, who was kneeling on the carpet beside the coffee table and packing the tea set. Tifa smiled and said:
"Read the handwritten copy of Summer Nights."
"Yes, didn't she ask you to watch Summer Nights? And the three of us watched it together."
The Duchess shook her head, stood up, pulled Shadra up, and pushed him:
"As a gentleman you must not be late for such an important date."
After saying that, he took the initiative to help Xia De straighten his collar.
Shade didn't know what to say at this time, so he kissed the red-haired witch again before saying goodbye and leaving. The witch came back to the window, picked up the wine glass and looked at the night view outside. After a long while, she asked Tifa:
"Should I be more proactive? Like Lecia?"
The black-haired maid just stood there and didn't answer. She knew that the question was not directed at her. Of course, in Tifa Servet's opinion, Princess Leisia was a little too anxious.