The Righteous Player(s)

Chapter 650: Ritual: Dragon Purification Fire

Suuankou felt a mix of emotions.

Is it just me, or is it an illusion? Every encounter with Saint Henry gives me a surprise that disrupts my worldview.

Are all the locals in this world like that?

You all seem to be more open-minded than people on my Earth.

Now that I think about it, it seems unsurprising.

After all, there were ways to change one’s appearance, gender, and race. Furthermore, it was easy to achieve them.

The technological level of this world was between the years 1500 to 1700. However, the technology to swap bodies had already surpassed the Earth.

Even without marriage, the locals of this world could create offspring and continue the bloodline through the Child in the Grail ritual.

The marriage views and views on transcended power brought about by various convenient rituals and transcended power were more advanced and open than the players from Earth.

“However,” Suuankou suddenly realized something, “The [Eternal Lady] tries to hurt me with the curse [Moth’s Knot].”

“Does that mean that she is proficient in the ritual of the Moth Realm?”

“You’re trying to ask about her gender change, right?”

Seeing Suuankou’s true intention, the saint couldn’t help but laugh aloud, “Am I right?”

“It’s a logical consideration,” Suuankou whispered.

Saint Henry couldn’t help but laugh, giving Suuankou a playful rub on the head. He messed Suuankou’s hair up. “Since I told you this, would I not know?

“It’s expected that Ingrid is capable of utilizing the Motherly Moth’s ritual. In the Motherly Moth and the Silent Lady’s rituals, the shared requirement is that ‘the ritualist must be a woman’.”

“The slightly harsher rituals require that ‘the ritual host must be a virgin’ or ‘the ritual host must be the mother of three children’, or even ‘the ritual host must have had an abortion’ or ‘never have an abortion’.”

“Like Mr. Ray’s rituals, half of them must be held by men. Mr. Ray’s rituals are held by boys or robust and healthy men. So in Mr. Ray’s Church, almost all priests are men. In contrast, over 80% of the Motherly Moth’s priests are women of different age groups.”

I see. Suuankou nodded knowingly.

That’s why the Sun Realm and the Moth Realm have rituals about switching genders because their high-level rituals have gender requirements.

This meant that some rituals’ prerequisites were bound to conflict.

However, the priests could easily find suitable ritual hosts to help each other when using their churches’ rituals — so as to meet each other’s ritual needs.

In comparison, the stray ritualists would hardly satisfy the ritual condition. That was why they traveled afar to collect different types of rituals.

“I don’t care whether Ingrid was originally a man or a woman.”

The saint with honey-colored hair narrowed his eyes slightly, looked at the sky-imitating dome shining with faint brilliance, and murmured in a low voice. “It’s in the past. That has nothing to do with me.”

Judging from his tone, there’s a story behind them.

Suuankou’s eyes moved slightly.

He was actually quite curious about the details of this story. However, he was keen to realize that Henry Worden was not in a good mood.

If Suuankou continued to pester Saint Henry for questions, it would advance the plot. However, it would lower the players’ rapport with this NPC.

Unlike Jiu Er, Suuankou was reserved in his play style. Compared with satisfying his urge to know more, it was more important for him to maintain a friendly relationship with this saint.

“Alright, after I leave, she should stop attacking you.” The young saint comforted Suuankou softly, “If you’re still worried, I’ll teach you a ritual in the realm of Father Flint. With this ritual, you will never fall under her curse again.”

After that, Saint Henry couldn’t help but smile. He blinked at Suuankou, “You should still be chaste now?”

“En.” Suuankou took a deep breath before nodding.

Generally speaking, Suuankou wouldn’t feel any discomfort when asked by someone of the same sex like this.

However, when Suuankou learned that the saint named “Henry Worden” was once an abstinent female Holy Grail Knight, Suuankou suddenly had the illusion of a “sister” in front of him.

In addition, the saint’s hair color resembled a certain character.

When the saint talked to him, Suuankou couldn’t help but imagine a girl with the same honey-colored hair but stars in her eyes and a wand in her hand.

[TN: I believe it is Sailor Moon’s reference.]

If Henry is still a woman, she must look like that.

“It’s nothing to be shy about, boy.” Seeing Suuankou’s embarrassment, the saint couldn’t help but laugh.

With his left hand in his pocket, he rubbed Suuankou’s hair vigorously with his right hand, “Chastity is not a mistake. Living a chaotic private life to prove that you are popular is not commendable.”

“The Grail-holding Lady once said that abstinence is a virtue.” The young saint said gently, “‘Love and lust are not the same. You should love others while practicing abstinence. Desire is a devouring beast, and only the strong can control it.”

“Many people think that the believers of the Grail-holding Lady are mostly indulgent lunatics. But in fact, the Grail-holding Lady teaches us to practice abstinence. Only a strong and powerful soul should indulge in its desires.”

“Just that some people have a skewed perception of themselves. They believe they have enough self-control… yet, they are unable to tame their desires and end up being controlled by them.”

“For these individuals, my lord’s will is that if they cannot control their uncontrollable desires, they should perish due to their lack of restraint. However, if they grow through this process, gradually reclaim themselves, and restore peace within their souls, they shall become the ones.”

It was about karma and letting nature take its course.

Suuankou was deep in thought.

I didn’t expect the Grail-holding Lady to be an upright deity practicing Buddhism.

That was why the Grail-holding Lady ignored the desperate cries that her greedy believers sent to her. Disasters caused by desires were already predetermined.

“The Grail-holding Lady is such a contradictory deity,” Suuankou murmured.

The saint was not angry, “Yes. The contradiction between love and lust, abstinence and indulgence, is the charm of the way of our Lord. We, Holy Grail Knights, believe that ‘only the self is the answer to the self’.”

“Self-persuasion, self-depravity, self-torture, self-salvation, overcoming the immature self, and firmly controlling desires in your hands is the way to hold the grail.”

The saint gently patted Suuankou on the shoulder, “There is no need to shy away from the relationship between a man and a woman, but it is not worth bragging about. Don’t choose a love destined to be short and unfortunate for vanity’s sake.”

“That’s the depravity of the self which harms others. If you can understand this truth, I can teach you this ritual, which can also be regarded as passing down the legacy.”

The saint was somewhat nostalgic, “Because when I was given this ritual, I was also educated by an elder in this way.”

“What ritual?”

“This is a high-level ritual of Father Flint. Only chaste and healthy young people can use it. It is called [Dragon Purification Fire]. Father Flint prefers chaste, healthy, and robust men.”

Saint took a deep breath and said slowly, “You need to turn off all artificial light sources within the visible range around you. Green Fire, Black Fire, charcoal fire, and firewood are prohibited.”

“Under the open night sky, pour your blood on the iron block, place the iron block on the iron mat, hit the iron block rhythmically while chanting—”

“[This is neither the golden flint nor the wooden flint; this is the dragon flint. The dragon uses blood, bones, iron, and fire to ignite its flame—]”

“Afterward, the purification fire will ignite on the iron block. This fire cannot be lit by wood or vegetation but can be ignited by alcohol. The more extinguished light sources around, and the stronger and chaste the young man, the longer the purification fire can last. Anyone cursed or sick, as well as livestock, can have their curses burned away by walking over the purification fire after removing their clothes.”

“This is a ritual that can dispel almost all curses. However, only healthy and robust men can bear this power. If others are to be cleansed of curses through this ritual, the purification fire will scorch their skin, and they will need to avoid sunlight completely for several days to recover.”

“Special attention must be paid to the fact that this ritual should not be used on elderly individuals, as it could very likely lead to sudden death… And under no circumstances should it be used to burn the bodies of others. If you were to direct the purification fire toward a corpse, you would lose the ability to use the purifying fire ritual and might even offend Father Flint’s believers.”

The young man said seriously with a straight face, “Do you understand, boy? Purifying fire is a serious thing.”

“I’ve fully understood.”

Suuankou nodded slowly.

This is a sacred ritual…

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