Chapter 376: Armor Sanctification Ritual
Ashe said in a serious tone, "Witch, we're not joking. If you get infected with the secret poison, you won't be the only one suffering. Our symptoms will worsen as well. So if you can avoid it, don't get infected.
"Alright, let's drop this topic. But just to make sure the Witch doesn't keep dwelling on it... Swordswoman, tickle her armpits."
"Understood."
"No, stop! I'm really ticklish! Hahaha, stop it! Wait, I have something to say too! I really need to say something!" Dia's face turned crimson as she collapsed into Sonya's arms, her shoulders trembling with a mix of laughter and breathless sniffling. After a moment, she managed to compose herself. "It's about my relationship with the Gospel Incarnation..."
Ashe and Sonya instantly sharpened their attention.
Looking back on their adventure at the Amnesia Cabin, the ultimate mystery wasn't the true purpose of the Incarnation of Secrets or the Incarnation of Stars. It was the Witch herself and the Empress Hero. Why did the Empress, who was utterly infatuated with the Gospel Incarnation, the Witch, the Witch's grandmother, and the girl in the basement all share the exact same appearance?
Even if the Witch was undeniably beautiful, beauty alone couldn't explain it. Taste was subjective, after all. And what about genetic diversity? Had meiosis been wiped out entirely by mitosis?
Rather than attributing it to a mere fluke of aesthetics, Ashe and the others leaned toward a different theory. The Witch's appearance wasn't a natural miracle of evolution, but a deliberate selection engineered by sorcerers. That was the only reason it had remained unchanged for dozens of generations.
Dia explained, "First of all, the Gospel Incarnation and I shouldn't be related by blood. Besides the fact that the Gospel Incarnation has existed for at least a thousand years, more importantly... well, let's not even worry about whether she possesses reproductive capabilities, because she never would have had the opportunity to use them anyway."
That much was true. Ashe and the others still vividly remembered the Empress Hero's dark history from the Amnesia Cabin. Though from the Empress's own perspective, it was probably a glorious tale.
"You slaughtered her followers. You twisted and corrupted her glory. You distorted her teachings and shattered her commandments until the world forgot her Gospel. You became her only believer, and she became a deity belonging to you alone."
This meant the Gospel Incarnation had always been entirely under the Empress's control, trapped within a possessive love that allowed no offspring. Even if the Gospel Incarnation had reproductive ability, the Empress would never have allowed it to be used.
As for whether the Empress might have used a Miracle to forcibly conceive a child with the Gospel Incarnation... all three of them immediately dismissed the idea.
From both their direct interactions and the cabin's historical records, it was clear the Empress was not the type to like children. A child would inevitably steal attention away from the parent, which, to the Empress, would make them an intolerable rival. She had eliminated the Gospel Incarnation's most devoted followers just to have her alone. How could she ever allow a child to siphon away that love?
Dia continued, "As for why I look exactly like the Gospel Incarnation, it actually traces back to a Miracle-based ritual called the Armor Sanctification Ritual."
Sonya gasped in surprise. "Armor Sanctification Ritual?! People actually perform those?"
Ashe blinked, looking between them. "You've heard of it?"
Sonya replied, "I've read about it. It's an ancient ritual that has long been abandoned, a piece of lore passed down by early sorcerer-predecessors who explored the Virtual World. In short, mortals who sought to usurp a deity's power would disguise themselves as that deity. They would adopt their principles, walk their path, and replicate their deeds until the world could no longer distinguish the mortal from the divine.
"At that point, the mortal has 'armored and sanctified' themselves, standing on equal footing with the god. The armor is meant both to mimic the deity's appearance and to conceal their human essence completely."
Ashe whistled softly. "That sounds like an incredible ritual. Why was it abandoned?"
Sonya countered, "Have you ever actually seen a deity? The absolute prerequisite for the Armor Sanctification Ritual is that you must know the deity you are imitating inside and out. The sorcerers who recorded it noted that back then, there may have been many so-called deities walking the earth, which is why sorcerers attempted to steal their powers..."
Ashe cut in, "By the way, do you know what happens when a spirit advances to five wings? It elevates to become a Divine Spirit."
Dia nodded understandingly, while Sonya froze.
She fell into deep thought, her brow furrowing. "A Divine Spirit... a spirit that condenses five wings becomes a Divine Spirit... If we follow that line of logic, then the true essence of the Armor Sanctification Ritual is..."
"To summon a Divine Spirit," Dia finished for her. "Just like how we summon ordinary spirits, the Armor Sanctification Ritual is actually a grand ritual for summoning a Divine Spirit."
Dia paused, letting the weight of her words sink in. "Except, while a sorcerer can fully control ordinary spirits, a human soul cannot contain the vastness of a Divine Spirit, let alone wield its power directly. That's why the Armor Sanctification Ritual isn't just a summoning ritual. It's an activation ritual. Only when the mortal and the deity truly become one can the mortal completely command the Divine Spirit's power.
"This is also why I can't be the descendant of the Gospel Incarnation. The Empress, who was so utterly infatuated with the Gospel Incarnation, was actually a god walking among mortals."
Ashe and Sonya struggled for a moment to digest this heavy piece of lore. After a beat, Sonya suddenly snapped back to attention. She pulled Dia into an affectionate hug, her voice dripping with sudden sweetness. "So, Witch... are you currently performing the Armor Sanctification Ritual to try and summon the Gospel Incarnation?"
Sonya's eyes lit up so intensely it looked as though she wanted to lick the Witch right then and there. As a village girl, she didn't have a precise concept of how powerful a Five-Winged Divine Spirit truly was, but it absolutely had to be stronger than a Four-Winged Legendary sorcerer, right?
If the Witch succeeded in the Armor Sanctification Ritual, their team's average combat strength would essentially shoot up to level three! Mathematically speaking, $(2 + 2 + 5) / 3 = 3$.
In practice, the effect would be even more ridiculous. They wouldn't just dominate the Continent of Time. Even in the Virtual World's third layer, the Distant Sky Domain, they could blindly cling to the Witch's thigh and run wild! The advantage would be overwhelming, like a university student solving elementary school math problems.
By then, she could piggyback on Ashe while charging recklessly and lean on the Witch to coast through danger. Her life in the Virtual World would be even more comfortable than her real one!
"No," Dia shattered her daydream. "I accepted the Bronze Dragon's trial specifically to resist the Armor Sanctification Ritual and escape my grandmother's control."
Sonya sighed internally. So there really is no such thing as a free lunch...
Ashe asked, "Is it because the Armor Sanctification Ritual affects your personality?"
"Saying it merely 'affects personality' is a bit too naive," Dia replied with a wry smile. "Honestly, I don't know exactly what would happen either... Have you ever heard of the fairy tale The Wolf and the Sheep?"
"There are too many stories like that. Just get to the point," Ashe said.
"Fine," Dia seemed quite eager to tell the story, and being cut short left her looking a little unsatisfied. "In simple terms, my grandmother is like a wolf in sheep's clothing. She may look human, but deep down, her inner nature has diverged completely from humanity. She has become a thinking construct of rules, a literal fusion of divinity and humanity."
Sonya gasped. "Wait, so you're saying your grandmother succeeded in the Armor Sanctification Ritual and became... a god among humans?"
"You could also call her the Gospel Incarnation," Dia corrected softly.
"I remember the Amnesia Cabin mentioning that your grandmother wants you to become a god among humans, and that you rejected the ritual," Sonya pieced it together. "So... your enemy is your grandmother, a former god among humans?"
Dia shrugged, trying to downplay it. "It's not as serious as it sounds. She's just a witch destined to be defeated, like in any fairy tale. Luckily, I realized the truth early. I've basically escaped her control now, and eventually, I'm going to launch a counterattack!"
Watching Dia maintain a deliberately optimistic attitude, Sonya felt like she had just lost the "misery competition."
There was actually someone with a more tragic life than hers. Sonya had only suffered a slightly imperfect childhood, but at least her adult life was on track. Meanwhile, the Witch's grandmother had deceived her since she was a child, hunted her down the moment she reached adulthood, and left her unable to feel truly safe even now.
Sonya mused that following that tragic trajectory, the third operator Ashe eventually recruited would probably be a divorced woman with a shattered childhood, terrible adult relationships, and ongoing daily disasters.
Once the two girls finished exchanging their secrets, they turned their gaze toward the man in the front seat.
Sonya asked casually, "Watcher, do you have any information you want to share with us from these past few days?"
"These past few days..." Ashe muttered.
Vanmura, the Senheiser Family Reincarnation Dream, the white mist anomaly, the family rankings, and finally, being captured by the Belldets and humiliated in every imaginable way by Lady Evelyn...
There was far too much he could talk about. But because of Annan's confidentiality contract, Ashe realized with a pang of frustration that the only thing he could actually boast about was leading the team to clear the Sovereign Blade-Carp on Extreme difficulty.