The God of Jesters
Chapter 462 - 7.19.2 The ceremony.

Chapter 462: 7.19.2 The ceremony.

"Are you really going to use it this early my Lord?"

"I can’t take any chances, not after the news I received."

Amir recalled the news he received a few days ago from General Vera’s contact, the weird woman he met not too long ago while visiting there to converse with his grandfather.

It would seem that something bad happened to the man he fought in the arena not too long ago, a man that can be considered his cousin just like Ludwig was, the Prince Named Lucius Von Blood Heart.

A spoiled prince caricature that was all talk. And it may be due to their little spat that he was the first to come under suspicion along with who he thinks of Ludwig.

And while Ludwig was called to the city for questioning, the same was not true for Amir, as his grandfather had already pulled some strings beforehand.

This could be seen as suspicious on certain fronts, but this was the Royal family we were talking about, it was a personal matter and someone of Deimos rank could easily pardon Amir from facing trouble.

Of course, he did get one warning from his grandfather during all these incidences. "No matter what happens, don’t agree to any summons unless they are vetted by me."

It might be due to the fall of a Royal, but his grandfather seemed a bit paranoid from the messages he left. This spread to Amir as well, who started to have his own ideas about what was going on.

Which was why he took out the Wine bottle made from the blood of a Progenitor Vampire.

"Leave this space, don’t let anyone in no matter what happens from now on." This was the first time he was doing a ceremony of this level, so he didn’t wish to make any mistakes during the process.

He brought the chairs, the table, and a good tablecloth on which he drew multiple insignias as were noted in the book of sacrifice he obtained from his grandfather.

Following this he brought a total of five skulls of goats that were sacrificed not too long ago for making a feast for the soldiers, which he decorated with roses and the like.

Seeing that he was done, he placed two small glasses on either end of the table next to the chair and sat down. Before lighting up candles and filled the two glasses with a little bit of the wine. "The Lord that loves Wine, the lord that was born from the blood..." He spoke a prayer, which became intelligible the more he spoke.

And Amir felt it first hand the feeling of dread the more he spoke, his eyes bled, and his mouth made a sound that he couldn’t even hear himself.

Most of all, the skulls on the table seem to come alive, breathing blood from their orifices which turned the whole tablecloth red and caused the insignias on the tablecloth to pulse with life.

And by the time Amir had come about, he found himself in a void with a dark figure sitting in front of him.

"##*@@!" A figure whose mere existence caused Amir to droop his head lower in awe, there was fear on his face along with wonder.

Such a fascinating feeling, such a unique existence.

"Speak." These were the only intelligible words that Amir could understand, the only words he was allowed to understand with his feeble mind.

"Lord of Blood, I wish for survival through this war, in hopes of resuming my passion for technological arts in the future." An odd request. Which even startled the being that sat in front of Amir, who after looking deeply at Amir, took the glass of wine.

And took a sip of it, enjoying it like a connoisseur.

Though Amir had no such luxury, the longer he remained in such an odd place, the heavier his mind turned. He could even feel his flesh being eaten by the surrounding void. If not for the protection of the ceremony, he would have already been devoured by the darkness.

But he didn’t panic, his grandfather had told him. The Great God of their Family appreciated etiquette the most. This means the next course of action is to act as a proper host and enjoy the wine with his guests.

Even the action of moving had too much burden on his body. A normal mind would have already collapsed by now and failed the ceremony, but Amir was not the kind to back down so easily. He held the glass of wine and made a toast to his guest. "I hope you loved the wine, Lord." Amir tilted the glass toward his guest, who seemed enthralled by Amir’s action, bringing his glass closer and accepting the toast by touching Amir’s glass with his own, causing a bit of his darkness to flow into Amir’s glass.

Though the being still didn’t speak a word, he just waited for Amir to drink the wine at a proper pace.

And when one glass was empty, Amir poured some more and kept repeating the same procedures that had been practiced by him to death at this point.

And when the bottle was emptied out, a sound came from the being. "#H*F#" Still Amir understood none of it, besides two words. "You will."

And with that, the void collapsed on its own, and he was back in his tent.

"??"

*****

"Master, are you alright?" Hemant rushed in as soon as Amir called. He wondered his if master succeeded or not. And if not, was there any problem caused by the ceremony?

One shouldn’t forget that no ceremony in this world is easy to conduct, specifically a Sacrificial Ceremony whose success rate is less than one percent.

But that is just in a general sense, if the devotee has something precious to sacrifice, the chances are always higher. What did Amir do in his case?

Well, if he really did, why was the bottle of Wine still filled to the brim?

"That’s just water, the ceremony seemed to be a success." Amir who was still reeling from the odd experience spoke before Hemant started having any wrong thoughts.

And he was right, the ceremony can be considered a success, as he had obtained the mark of blood as was written in the notes.

But what was odd was that unlike in the notes, he really didn’t seem to feel any change in his power.

’It’s a good opportunity to strengthen one’s bloodline, but why is there no change inside me?’ The mark was there, he should have obtained some strength to even the odds of his survival.

But it would seem, that there had been a mistake.

’Was my request the cause of all of this?’ He didn’t ask for strength, he asked for survival. ’I am not a religious person... that can be an issue as well.’ He was never a true believer, he just used the bait of the wine as well as his own blood to attract the attention of a god.

A god, something which he had only heard in stories about.

’I might have angered him.’

"Then Lord, have you obtained a blessing?" Hemant asked and Amir just showed him the small blood mark that was shaped like a Blood Sun. "You tell me." He can’t say that he feels no different, as it would only worry Hemant.

Amir can’t treat the gods the same as mortals, what they think what they want, and how they operate are outside of Amir’s perception. It would be like an ant trying to understand what is the sun.

"Then it’s good My Lord, our next outing will be safer than before."

"It will be, but we can’t look down on our opponents, you should be aware of the massacre that happened around the time the war began?"

"It’s rare for an Expert to come on his own and do something, I believe such fate won’t be repeated." Hemant thought before sighing. "But it’s always good being a bit more cautious."

No one can predict what will happen in the war as situations are changing all the time, with even small mortals playing big roles due to their survival and the information they can transport.

"You thought wrong... we have to be more cautious than before, a Royal Family member was harmed, and now I am being sent to the position where the brother of such a fallen prince was active on duty."

"There is a high chance we can be jumped there by the perpetrator..." Hearing these words, Hemant turned silent.

Of course, he knew of the place they were joining.

Due to Lucius’ accident, Ludwig had to hurry back, bringing along his Knights and all the people he could use, leaving his camp undefended and ineffective during the war.

Meaning, there needs to be someone to replace him.

And who would be better than Ludwig’s cooperator like Amir, who might be able to control most of the soldiers in the camp that was directly under Ludwig?

This is just using the resources properly, and part of it was to show that the two sides were strong enough to support each other during hard times.

Which is why Amir had openly agreed to the request.

Let’s save his camp.

******

Coming back to the present.

I walked along the lands, just like before, minus a bit of hunger.

I was not like my master who could absorb the nutrients from the soil itself.

For one, I never had the time to practice such talent, nor did I wish to bother with it. But it would be a lie to say that I do not regret it today.

’Ho, the smell of food.’ I turned to look at the camp in the distance, I could smell meat and even some dried fish in the air.

’Ho, they’re eating in luxury.’

I wanted to go there, but the surveillance of the mages made it dangerous for me to act so openly. Well can’t blame them, they have just suffered from a massive ghoul attack that caused the whole camp to shake under its might.

’Wonder if that boy survived or not.’ Of course, I am not talking about Farhad, who is virtually immortal in my eyes. Instead, I was wondering about the other little boy, a ghoul with a soul.

’I would feel sad if I never got to meet him again.’