The God's Punishment Army's transformation ceremony was something that the Pope had to master. A year ago, when Mayne received the God's Punishment Army's ancient book from His Majesty O 'Brien, it was equivalent to obtaining the right to inherit the position of the next Pope.
Mayne had already memorized the contents of the book by heart. A God's Punishment Army needed to sacrifice a witch's life, fusing her blood with the God's Stone of Retaliation, and then injecting it into the body of a Judge. This ceremony had been improved several times over the past hundreds of years, but the essence remained the same. The witches determined the upper limit of the number of God's Punishment Army, and the will of the Judges was the key to the success rate of the transformation.
After reading this ancient book, he finally understood why the Church took in so many underage women every year. The witches appeared without any warning, and before the magic gathered, they were no different from ordinary people. But once the magic began to gather, their bodies, organs, and blood would all be changed. Therefore, in addition to expanding the scale of breeding, there was no other way.
This was also the reason why he agreed with Heather's statement. Everything they had done could already be regarded as extremely evil. Every high ranking member's hands were stained with blood, and they had slaughtered more witches than any executioner. But in order to defeat the Devil, in order to avoid the destruction of mankind, they had to do this.
Only the winner was qualified to receive God's favor.
…
Two Judges were lying on the transformation table, Mayne recognized them, they were Darian from the advance camp and Tucker Thor from the Holy City Guard, the latter was also a Presiding Judge.
Although both of them were smiling, the Bishop could still see the tension in their muscles and clenched fists. He patted their shoulders, "Relax, I believe you can do it."
"My Lord, when the time comes, we only need to endure the pain?" Darian couldn't help but ask.
"That's right, we just need to endure it," Mayne said with a smile, "You're Darian, right?"
"You still remember my name," he said excitedly.
"Of course, you're a member of the advance camp, and participated in the defense of Hermes last year. The captain is … Alicia, am I right?"
"Yes, yes," Dareon nodded repeatedly. "Our team suffered heavy casualties in a battle. Half of our team members died at the hands of demonic hybrids. At that time, I thought, if only I had the ability to kill all those deformed hybrids. So, Your Excellency, I want to join the God's Punishment Army! "
"It's good to become stronger to protect your comrades," Mayne encouraged. He then looked at the presiding judge. "What about you? Why did Tucker Thor decide to join the God's Punishment Army? "
"In order to protect the New Holy City, Your Excellency," he said firmly, "the priests said that every year from now on, the demonic beasts will become stronger and stronger. Last time, they had already touched the walls of the Holy City. If it weren't for the God's Punishment Army, the cathedral might have been destroyed. I also want to be a strong shield against the demonic beasts and a spear that can pierce through the enemy. "
"Very good. Both of you are the pride of the Church." Mayne followed the instructions in the ancient book and used conversation to dispel their nervousness and fear. Seeing that the two of them were getting more and more excited, he waved his hand and signaled for the ceremony to continue.
The guard came forward and blindfolded the two of them, then used bracelets and ankles to firmly fasten their limbs to the conversion platform. Then the witch was carried in and placed between the two of them.
As a witch raised by the Church, she had spent most of her life in the monastery of the old Holy City. After her awakening, she would be sent to the Pivotal Secret Area to wait for the conversion. The day before the sacrifice, she had been given a large amount of Dreamland Water, an herb made from sleeping fern 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 was a routine inquiry. Only the blood of an adult witch was enough to meet the requirements for the conversion of two God's Punishment Army members at the same time. Mayne checked the list of witches again and announced the start of the ceremony.
A delicate silver needle was inserted into the witch's arm. Red-brown blood flowed down the tube wrapped around the needle and gathered in the crystal basin under her body. The bottom of the basin was covered with a layer of light blue God's Stone of Retaliation. The blood gradually soaked the stone and finally filled the whole basin.
Soon, the God's Stone of Retaliation changed. Through the side of the basin, it could be seen that the blue stone was absorbing the blood. After about a quarter of an hour, the stone gradually melted and disappeared. The turbid blood became clear and the color changed from reddish-brown to sky blue.
These operations seemed simple, but after tens of thousands of experiments, a complete and reliable set of steps was obtained. For example, the estimation of the witch's blood according to her age and body shape, the production of the silver needle and the tube, which part of the body to insert the silver needle and which part to insert the blood, as well as the quality and quantity of the God's Stone of Retaliation used and so on … The ancient book recorded in detail the previous failed experiments and improvements, and also explained the general principle of the conversion.
After the witch's body was transformed by magic, her blood had the ability to strengthen the organs and tendons. If it was used directly, it would only kill the recipient in an instant. It was necessary to soak the God's Stone of Retaliation in the witch's blood and dissolve the unknown power within it. Only then could it be injected into the body of the transformed person. Even so, this kind of blood would damage the person's mind, causing them to gradually lose emotion and intelligence, and eventually leaving only instincts and a strong will. The strength of the surviving God's Punishment Army was equivalent to that of an extraordinary. Moreover, even if they didn't wear the God's Stone of Retaliation, they would still have the anti-magic effect.
It had to be said that this was a wonderful combination. The witch's blood could kill humans, and swallowing the God's Stone of Retaliation could also put people to death. But when the two were combined, they could instead minimize the adverse effects.
When the blue liquid slowly flowed along the tube into the bodies of the two Judges, the blue veins on their arms and necks suddenly bulged. Their expressions became grim, as if they were enduring great pain. Dareon was the first to shout. He struggled on the stage, his five fingers clenched and then opened, but his hands and feet were unable to move. Soon, his whole body was covered with a layer of sweat.
Tucker wasn't any better. He issued a series of low growls, a trace of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth, and his whole body twitched.
The level of the liquid in the crystal basin slowly decreased, and when it was about to reach the bottom, Dareon's voice turned into a sobbing voice. He randomly shouted some unclear words, his skin burst open and dissolved, and his whole body emitted white smoke. According to the description in the ancient book, his transformation was basically on the verge of failure. When Mayne was hesitating whether he should continue to observe, the Pope pressed his shoulder from behind, "Enough, let him be free."
A guard came forward, pulled out a dagger, and neatly pierced Dareon's neck. Then he suddenly twisted the hilt, ending his pain.
After an unbearable wait, Tucker Thor's twitching subsided, his breathing gradually stabilized, and his skin changed from red to light blue. Mayne knew that he had survived the transformation ceremony.
One person succeeded, one person failed. Such a result made the Lord sigh. In a short period of half an hour, the Church had lost a devout Judge, and at the same time wasted half of the witch's blood.
However, there were still sixty Judges waiting to be transformed, so he must let the ceremony continue.
…
When the ceremony was completed, Mayne could hardly stand. He staggered down the stage, and almost lost his manners, he sat against the wall of the hall.
The Pope slowly walked over and stood in front of him, "To tell you the truth, your performance surprised me, child. The first time I presided over the ceremony, it was much worse than you. That year, I was forty-five years old, and the strong smell of blood made me vomit directly on the ceremony stage. I almost wasted a whole basin of blood. The former Pope even severely beat me, but after the beating, he ordered me to return to the stage and continue to preside over the ceremony. "
"…" Mayne opened his mouth, but did not know what to say.
"So, don't think about anything, go back and rest for a day."
"Yes, Your Holiness." The Bishop took a deep breath, and when he was ready to leave, he suddenly remembered the purpose of his visit, "By the way, you asked me to come to the Pivotal Secret Area for …"
"Oh, look at my memory," O 'Brien shook his head, "I asked you to come to give you a new poison developed by the Agency."
"Poison?" In the Pivotal Secret Area, there was an institution that specialized in the research of God's Stone of Retaliation, such as Cold Expelling Pills, Fluorescent Stones, Berserker Drugs, and so on. Once there were results, they would be distributed to the Bishop. But he had never heard that they were also involved in poisons. In Mayne's impression, this should be the expertise of the alchemists.
"According to them, this result was completely accidental." The Pope slowly said. "As long as it is sprinkled on a rotten corpse, it will have a long-term effect on the surrounding people, unlike ordinary poisons that must be poured into the mouth. Without a special antidote, there is basically no cure. You can ask Master Crow's Eye about the specific situation, I think it may come in handy in the battle against the Four Kingdoms. "
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