330 Feast

William had engraved the teleportation beacon in the Canopy Temple when he first came to this messed up timeline.

So when he, Floral, and Ebony teleported back to Holy Tree City’s temple, he happened to witness that terrifying scene.

The dry ground made of withered wood was now covered in greasy, sticky blood and guts. Severed limbs hung from the tree crown that once sheltered them from wind and rain, like ripe fruits on those twisted branches.

The stench of carnage permeated the air, a foul mix of corruption, filth, blood, and fear strong enough to make even the toughest vomit.

William wasn’t sure what Floral saw, but she covered her mouth, clutching the magical medium with shaking hands. As for Ebony, he clung to a wooden wall and threw up. William worried he’d spew out his internal organs.

Even after casting Lionheart twice on Ebony, he only stopped him from passing out due to the excessive vomiting.

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Aside from that, there’s those sounds… William thought.

Compared to the miserable screams and wails echoing through the hall, those munching and gulping sounds were even more chilling.

“Is this a Holy Communion ritual?”

Floral asked with difficulty, recovering from the shock.

“No, this should be called a Holy Communion party,” William replied stiffly, looking at the scene from hell.

“What’s a party?”

William didn’t answer. He stepped on the slippery ground and walked on.

Their arrival didn’t go unnoticed, what with the commotion when the portal opened. Yet none of the revelers stopped what they were doing, most not even bothering to glance their way.

All were focused on completing their work.

“Hey… Why are you eating this?” William approached the person closest to him and asked.

No response. After finishing the remains, she rose and staggered to the temple wall.

William didn’t stop her because he wanted to see what would happen.

The withered vines instantly bound her. As the wall squirmed, she became part of it, leaving only a blurry humanoid outline.

Still William said nothing. He asked the same of another, who only looked up before continuing. Ignoring her disemboweled stomach, she swallowed only for the food to spill from the hole underfoot into unrecognizable remains.

“Is it out of your will, or for a reason?” William asked patiently.

Such willful silence was reason enough.

William knew the Holy Communion ritual was crucial for the Forest Elves, one of the few Vic Continent races still worshiping the ancient gods. Such customs were inevitable to gain the gods’ favor. Even more disturbing ones were found in Bronze Age records as races pleased their gods.

Yet the Holy Communion ritual shouldn’t be done on the living.

William relaxed his rationality and unleashed his emotions.

An invisible wind blade sliced a Forest Elf’s head in half. As she fell, pure white flames consumed her body.

The child—or whatever was left of it—fell into the pile by her burnt half.

She was first. Unsatisfied, William sought another.

A burning white skeleton floated over the lead-colored magical medium, punishing any continuing the ritual in William’s view.

One by one, they were dealt with.

Watching the sparks, William felt the task mundane and dull.

Like squashing ants in his room or game dailies for a quest counter.

No pleasure or venting, not even sadness.

Like tasteless yam.

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William noticed a child crying, shaking one remaining arm. He awakened.

At that moment, nearly the entire temple was engulfed in pure white holy flames.

Most of the corpses and the people who had caused them were reduced to rising ashes in the flames.

A voice seemed to reach his ears from a distance. William turned his head and saw Floral backed into a corner.

In that moment, she struggled to erect a frost barrier using the magical medium in her hand. She frowned and resisted the white flames that were slowly approaching her.

Not far away, Ebony stood alone amidst the flames. He looked perplexed as to why the flames, which could instantly burn more than half of the temple occupants to ashes, were not as hot as summer sunlight.

Oh, right. Floral has an undead body, so she will also be within the attack range…

William suddenly remembered this and immediately dispelled the Demon Burning Fury spell, causing the flames in the temple to disappear.

Using undead creatures as fuel, the Fire-type Legendary spell had burned most of the crowded hall.

Although he had not vented the anger suppressed in his heart, at least the charred smell in the air was much better than the suffocating and disgusting smell from before.

Walking on the charred ground, he returned to the others. The two of them looked at William’s face and didn’t speak. Even though one of them had almost been burned to death, they remained silent.

“Although it’s just a guess, I don’t think they’re performing a Holy Communion ritual,” William said after a moment of silence.

His voice was surprisingly calm.

“Why?” Ebony asked, unable to contain his curiosity.

“Since the Forest Elves in this timeline are undead and essentially corpses, it’s reasonable for them to undergo the Holy Communion ritual while they can still move, right?”

Ebony had witnessed Holy Communion rituals performed on energetic ‘corpses’ during his few years in this timeline. However, he had never seen such a large-scale, crazy… party, as William put it.

“Those people are a mix of women and children. I guess there’s a high chance that they’re mother and son or mother and daughter. Although they’re all undead, the ritual only focuses on extracting the core imagery into an abstract concept by recreating it. And the fact that everyone was eaten alive is the most important thing they have in common,”

William said, pausing momentarily. He recalled the person who had not answered his questions and continued to eat mechanically.

He thought for a moment and continued, “That’s not all… Eating numbly like a walking corpse might be a part of the imagery.”

Floral inquired, “Then, what part of the ritual is this?”

“It’s…” William began to explain the faith in the Dark Mother’s desire for her children to return to her, but before he could finish speaking, he suddenly remembered something.

There were dozens of subtrees in Ravenwood, and each subtree had a Canopy Temple.

Could this be the only tree having a ‘feasting’ party?

The child returned to the mother’s body, and the mother returned to the subtree’s body as its daughter.

The subtree returned to the body of the World Tree. With the three rituals embedded, how complete would the original mother in the middle of Holy Tree City be?

…

Meanwhile, on the World Tree in the heart of Holy Tree City, in a deep and winding secret tree hollow…

“Master Enso… Something seems to have happened. The resonance of the Yews’ ritual at the temple is rapidly weakening.”

“Did the compost wake up?”

“Do you think it’s possible to break free and wake up in just over ten seconds?”

“Bring some men to check it out.”

“Alright, I’ll leave the matters here to you for the time being…”

“You don’t have to worry about anything here. Bring more people over. Bring the Wild Hunt troops, the Yew tree spirits, and reinforcements from the Empire’s Second Order, Mother.”

“Sir, aren’t you being too cautious?”

“Just do as I say. We have to ensure that the ritual to welcome the Matriarch’s rebirth is foolproof.”

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