Chapter 3 The Appearance Of The Tower, Part One
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
In the Lemar city, located in the western part of the Ravendora Empire.
This city was once flourishing as the imperial capital, with a magnificent castle at its center where the emperor resided. However, after the capital was moved three hundred years ago, it is now known as the old capital Lemar.
The old capital Lemar may not have the same liveliness as it did three hundred years ago. However, it is not considered desolate as travelers and merchants still stop by because it is located on the central road. The old-fashioned streets by the lakeside are more suited to the current relaxed atmosphere than the chaotic air of the former imperial capital.
Therefore, the old capital still thrives as a charming city.
* * *
On a corner of a residential area in such an old capital, there stands an ordinary house in a commoner’s residential district. The exterior is no different from the surrounding houses, but the interior is best described as peculiar. The black walls of the room, which has no windows, absorb even the slightest bit of light. The eerie light of the candles placed on the floor illuminates the blood magic circle drawn on the floor and the people dressed in black surrounding it.
”The summoning of the hero shall begin from here.”
There, a man stepped forward from the people surrounding the magic circle and shouted with both hands raised. He was covered from head to toe in a damp-hued priestly robe. In the slightly open cavities resembling eye sockets, the pupils shone brightly, and in his right hand, he held a staff with a beast’s skull fitted on it, while in his left hand, he held a sinuous short sword.
”Oh, our great god Asura-Telmaal. Please grant our wishes.”
As the man chanted, those surrounding the magic circle echoed his words in unison. Then, the praise to Asura-Telmaal by the priest continued, and the believers repeatedly uttered words of gratitude as if affirming those words.
Even that alone was an unusual sight, but what made the space even more eerie was the magic circle in the center of the room where the priest stood facing. There, five naked young girls were tied up with their hands behind their backs, sitting in the center of the room. The immature girls, whose chests had just begun to swell, huddled together, trembling and sobbing.
The magic circles on their backs are etched in red, just like the ones on the floor. However, they weren’t drawn with red ink. The circles on their backs were drawn directly onto their skin with a knife, and as they were recently inflicted, blood is oozing from the letters and dripping onto the floor. The girls’ sobbing voices echo in the room, whether from the pain on their backs or the fear of being in the midst of a gruesome ritual.
”We desire the purification of the world. Oh mighty god Asura-Telmaal, descend upon this world. Vanquish the detestable heretics of the Holy Light Religion with the might of the great god Asura-Telmaal, and transform this world once again into the world of the great god Asura-Telmaal.”
The ritual continues unaffected by the trembling of the girls. The priest and the believers face the god Asura-Telmaal. Though there are no visible idols, surely the eyes of the believers reflect the image of Asura-Telmaal. Among the believers, there are even those who whisper, “Oh, Asura-Telmaal.”
”Oh great Asura-Telmaal god. We offer our sacrifice. And bring salvation to this tainted world, overrun by heretics.”
Finally, the gaze of the priest fell upon the young girls.
Needless to say, the sacrifice mentioned by the priest referred to these girls. The priest raised a dagger towards the ceiling, facing the believers, while the believers clasped their hands together in prayer and bowed deeply.
Ten seconds passed without movement. Only the sobbing of the girls echoed through the air. Then, the priest slowly turned around, facing the magic circle where the girls sat.
The only sound that escaped the gags was the voiceless screams. Their bound hands and feet struggled in vain.
This was the sacrifice ritual of the Asura-Telmaal religion. The priest would now stab the dagger into the girl’s neck, split her abdomen from throat to groin, and burn her heart in the fire to offer it to the od Asura-Telmaal in the heavens. By doing so, the Asura-Telmaal god would bestow part of his power and favor upon a chosen hero, who would descend to the earth and eradicate the heretics who did not believe in the Asura-Telmaal religion. However, the ritual was never completed to its end.
At the moment when the priest swung his dagger towards the girl with chestnut hair who was closest to him, the ritual came to an abrupt end.
”That’s enough. You followers of Asura-Telmaal.”
The guards broke into the ritual room, which was cut off from the outside world, along with the sunlight. Like a battering ram breaking down a gate, they smashed through the door and poured into the room, instantly transforming the interior into a chaotic castle and frenzied space.
”Performing large-scale rituals with magic power is prohibited in the capital. Therefore, according to Article 18, Section 5 of the Imperial Law, you will be detained. Capture them all!”
”Don’t you dare interrupt our sacred ritual, you heretics!”
Surrounded by the guards, the priest raised his voice, determined not to be captured silently. However, with his slender body, he was unable to engage in a fierce struggle with multiple guards. That’s why the priest’s target was never the guards to begin with. Instead, he turns his back to the approaching guards, and swung down the dagger that had lost its intended purpose just minutes ago towards the sacrificial girl.
Amidst the echoing cries of the guard shouting “Stop!”, the priest’s dagger deeply pierced the back of the girl who was trying to escape, all the way to the hilt.
With a gush of blood from her mouth, the girl collapsed forward onto the floor. The screams of the other girls, who had just been huddled together, pierced the tense air. And a few seconds later, the guard reached the priest and took away the dagger, pinning him to the floor. At the same time, another guard rushed to the other girls to prevent further harm.
”Oh, God Asura-Telmaal. I beseech you to send a hero. If you do, I shall offer a million virgin hearts──”
”Silence!”
Even though restrained, the guard grabbed the priest’s head and pressed him down onto the floor. The situation was resolved. The ritual of the cultists, which resulted in the death of one person, had been dealt with, and the plan was to capture the priest and main followers to prevent any further rituals.
However, a single drop of blood spilled from the tip of the short sword that pierced the chest of the sacrificial girl. Unnoticed by anyone, not even the priest, the crimson gem that dripped from the dying girl’s chest blended with the blood-lettered magic circle as if being drawn in. It was the next moment.
”T-this is…!”
That magic circle had no power at all. Even a magician capable of performing miracles would have laughed at it as a mere scribble of a magic circle. However, the ground rumbled loudly, almost centered on the room, rather than the magic circle.
”Behold, you heretics! The great god Asura-Telmaal has heard our plea. From this point on, it is the judgment of the god that begins. It is the thunder of the god that will punish all the wrongdoings you impure beings have committed against us!”
The priest, pinned down by the guard, spits as he shouts. Tears of emotion flow from his eerie, wide-open eyes, and his ecstatic laughter, celebrating the divine work of the god he believed in, resonates with the rumbling of the earth.
”Captain, this is…”
”Hahaha, gahahaha. Oh god, the mighty Asura-Telmaal──”
Immediately, a bright light enveloped the world. A pure white light burst forth into the world, obliterating everything in its presence.
* * *
At the same time, in a chamber of the old capital city of Lemar.
Currently seated on the throne of this castle, once the Emperor’s residence, is Lucia Ravendora Harenamerehta, the second daughter of the current Emperor, serving as a regent. She has a refined face with long, pale blue hair inherited from her mother, who hails from the northern region. Her deep-sea-like azure eyes and porcelain-like skin evoke the legend of the ice princess passed down in her mother’s snowy homeland.
She still possesses a youthful countenance, but her cuteness is not strongly felt. This is because she wears a pants-style political attire instead of a dress and carries two long swords at her waist. Her face resembles that of a seasoned knight, and if one were to compliment her, it would be more appropriate to describe her as beautiful and dignified rather than cute.
Lucia, who turned eighteen this year, was known for her exceptional talent to the extent that everyone lamented her being a woman. Her talent extended to political acumen, and the swordsmanship she had been learning as a form of self-defense since childhood was so impressive that even the guiding general was astonished, and she was known as a girl loved by both name and reality.
However, Lucia was also confident in her own worth. It was not just because she was the emperor’s daughter, but also the value of what her talent produced. That’s why she remained single, intending to marry someone worthy of her, and currently, she assisted her father, the emperor, as a government official, while managing the politics of the western empire in the old capital.
On that day, Lucia’s daily routine was supposed to remain unchanged. She would wake up early in the morning, exercise in the courtyard, take a bath, tidy herself up, have breakfast, and then carry out political duties in her office as the magistrate of the old capital.
She was in the middle of receiving a tax report from the tax collector in her office when the ground shook violently, and in an instant, the room was enveloped in light.
”What’s going on? Is it a large-scale magic!?”
Reflexively, Lucia shouts while hiding under the desk. Amidst the calmness of the old capital’s castle, the situation suddenly turned into a chaotic beehive, as a soldier leaped into the room without even knocking on the door.
”I-I must report… Something terrible is happening in the lower town.”
Without listening to the report until the end, Lucia rolled out from under the desk and hurried to the window.
”Your Highness, you must not approach the window until the situation is fully assessed.”
Ignoring the warnings of the servants and the knights, or rather, as if not hearing them at all, Lucia leaped to the window in a state of mind where she seemed oblivious to the warnings. What appeared in Lucia’s field of vision as she jumped to the window was the very answer to the identity of the shaking earth and the shining light.
”What in the world is this…”
”S-So divine.”
Both Lucia and the soldier who tried to pull her away were captivated by the spectacle as if they had forgotten about time. They were entranced by the scene to the extent that their thoughts overflowed directly from their mouths, completely fascinated by the seemingly impossible spectacle.
”What a beautiful tower it is. That is a sacred tower created by God, which mere humans cannot possibly reach…”
There stood a pure white towering tower reaching towards the sky. It was so divine, making one believe in the existence of God, and it even evoked a sense of faith in some who laid eyes upon it. The towering tower stood amidst a residential neighborhood, seemingly crushing it under its weight.
Hello, there’s a new work featuring a heartwarming story where the heroine’s limbs are severed, and the main character takes care of her, with a hint of ero mana transfer. I hope you can read it, and don’t forget to rate it max. Here’s the link : [Link]
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.