Chapter 2070 One Hundred and Eight
The preparations for the sacrificial ritual were finally complete.
Jacob de Vile stood within the vast chamber, waiting. Through the open ceiling above, the moon had devoured the sun. Crimson light poured into the chamber, bathing the cold stone floor and the one hundred and seven stone slabs arranged in a perfect circle.
Upon each slab lay an unconscious maiden, their bodies motionless as they awaited their fate.
Jacob stood at the center of it all. He stood at the foot of the hundred and eighth slab that would soon be occupied by her lover's vessel.
Around his neck hung the ruby amulet. Within it rested the soul of his dear Charlotte. After thousands of years, she would finally descend into the real world once more.
The thought alone filled Jacob with genuine happiness. He smiled faintly. For so long, he had waited. And now, at last, the moment had arrived.
Footsteps echoed through the chamber.
Jacob turned. His bride was being ushered into the chamber by his servants.
His expression changed slightly when he saw her. The chains around her wrists. The chain around her neck. And the tear stains still marked her face.
Jacob couldn't help but frown.
It was a necessity. Genevieve had tried to take her own life countless times, even while drugged. Jacob could not risk it. Not now. Not when he had come this far.
His gaze lingered on her for a moment before his expression returned to its usual calm.
Everything was finally ready.
He walked toward her and gently cupped her face. "My love," he whispered.
But Genevieve did not reply. Instead, tears trickled down her face.
Jacob frowned, watching her. He noticed how Genevieve's eyes were completely dilated and glazed over. He looked over her shoulder and sternly asked the ghouls, "How much did you drug her?"
The ghouls broke down in cold sweat.
"Answer me!" Jacob roared.
One of the ghouls stepped forward and stuttered, "Y-Your Grace, she… she tried to stab herself in the throat with a hairpin while we dressed her. W-We had no option but to inject her veins with more Pale Draught j-just now."
Jacob's frown deepened as he shifted his attention back to Genevieve.
This girl…
"No matter." He shook his head.
He gently held Genevieve's hand and guided her to the center of the formation. He then helped lay her down on the slab at the center. Then he placed the ruby amulet over her chest.
More tears streamed down Genevieve's face. She could vaguely feel what was happening around her, what fate awaited her. But she could do nothing. Nothing at all.
Even now, the appearance of that boy with raven hair and a patch of bone-white drifted in her foggy mind. She vaguely remembered his smile. She vaguely remembered his name.
Adam…
Her thoughts drifted back to her grandfather, who taught her so much. He wanted her to grow up and become a strong and independent Magus.
But here she was, about to have her body and soul taken over by someone else.
More tears streaked down her face, falling on the cold stone slab.
Genevieve thought of her friends at the Sapphire Tower. Her teachers. Her juniors. She would never see them again.
Adam returned to her thoughts again.
For the first time in her life, she had developed feelings for someone, feelings that transcended mere friendship. But she never got to tell him about how she felt.
More tears streaked down.
And lastly, her dream.
The pinnacle of magic.
𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚
As she lay on the cold slab, she realized that her dream would remain just that. A dream.
She would not get the chance to make it a reality. She would not get the chance to live up to her grandfather's expectations. She would never get the chance to confess her feelings to Adam. To hold his calloused hands. To hug his scarred body. To feel his warmth.
Finally, the memory of the veiled woman came to her.
The mysterious woman from the Domina Occulta said she knew her mother. Genevieve would die never knowing about her mother. Or her father.
She was afraid. So, so afraid.
I don't want to die…
I don't want to die…
Please… Please…
With an eager look on his face, Jacob stood outside the giant circular formation.
Dozens of ghouls stood by the walls, excited to see their master's long-cherished plan finally come to fruition.
All Jacob had to do now was weave the hand seals and activate the formation.
The blood essence from the one hundred and seven virgin girls would flow through the channels and into Genevieve's body, strengthening her for the vampirification process.
Charlotte's soul, housed within the ruby amulet, would then enter Genevieve's spirit sea and take over her body.
The eclipse was the most auspicious day to conduct this ritual.
One hundred and eight women. That number was no coincidence.
In this little world, 108 was a sacred number that connected the earth, the sun, and the moon.
The distance between the land and the sun was 108 times the sun's diameter.
The distance between the land and the moon was 108 times the moon's diameter.
Even the diameter of the sun was 108 times that of the earth.
Thus, the number 108 represented the perfect connection between the three celestial bodies. And on the day when the sun and moon aligned in an eclipse, that number held even greater significance.
That was why Jacob needed a total of 108 women.
One hundred and eight sacrifices to complete the ritual beneath the eclipse.
To Jacob, there could be no more auspicious day, or more perfect number, to bring Charlotte back to this world.
Just as Jacob was about to begin the hand seals and activate the sacrificial ritual…
Frantic footsteps approached from the corridor behind him.
With a dark frown, he turned around. But soon, the frown vanished, replaced by a look of concern.
"Old Aneesa, what happened?"
The elderly gypsy stumbled into the chamber, bruised and bloodied. For all the years Jacob had known her, he had never seen her in such a miserable condition.
Aneesa stepped forward, voice frantic. "Quick! Quick! Finish the ritual! That boy… I couldn't kill him. But I managed to trap him inside the castle. It wouldn't be long till he breaks out. Hurry up!"
Jacob's eyes slowly widened. Old Aneesa was a Magus at the Mana Seed Rank. She was a strong woman, despite her age. What kind of man was capable of inflicting such fear in her?
"Hurry up, please!"
Her voice snapped Jacob out of his shock.
He looked deeply at the gypsy and solemnly nodded.
"Guard the chamber," he instructed her.
Then Jacob turned around, his gaze glued to Genevieve's unmoving body at the center of the formation. His hands turned into a blur as he activated the formation.
The runes carved into the ground glowed brilliantly.
One hundred and seven crimson lines emerged from the formation, each originating from one of the maidens and flowing toward Genevieve.
Just as the 107 lines of crimson light were about to converge upon Genevieve's body…
One of them abruptly vanished!
Then the entire formation flickered and collapsed. The light disappeared. The runic formation had failed. The ritual had failed at the very last possible second.
Jacob felt as though he was struck by lightning.
His eyes immediately followed the crimson line that had disappeared first.
He traced it back to its source. To one of the stone slabs.
The maiden occupying that stone slab lay dead, her neck twisted at an odd angle.
And standing beside the dead girl stood Old Aneesa.
Jacob's gaze fell upon Aneesa's hand, still wrapped around the girl's neck.
She had killed her.
She had interrupted the ritual.
Destroyed his dream.
Ruined everything.