153 A Ritual Amidst the Chaos

Bang bang bang!!

"Groen, help heal the injured!" shouted the Police Lieutenant Roze. She quickly drew the attention of the skinny humanoid creatures with blood all over their bodies away from the victims.

The Police had received news of the sudden invasion of a lot of 'bloody thin creatures' near Raadhuislaan that had taken a lot of civilian casualties. They had quickly dispatched all the available members to take care of the creatures and protect the people.

When the Police arrived, the situation had descended into chaos. People were running about and ghouls were eating and dismembering all they could reach. There were a total of five ghouls in that part of the street and there were many bodies lying on the ground. Most of them were badly dismembered and dead, although some still managed to survive and were in dire need of help.

The Police had decided to surround the street where the supernatural creatures had been sighted and would press forward slowly. Their plan would effectively bring the supernatural creatures to the center, cornering them from every direction.

As Roze shouted that command, Groen quickly dragged a man whose right arm had been half eaten away from the fight. The man's upper arm now had a gaping wound and his bone was protruding, with a clear bite mark cutting it off. Blood still came gushing out of his wound and the man had fallen unconscious. Groen took out a pouch of blue powder and placed it right under the man's nose, forcing him to inhale it. Slowly, the blood stopped flowing and his wound was gradually closing, also his arm couldn't grow back. The man also regained consciousness not long after.

Bang! Bang!

Several normal Police officers were providing support to their Contractbound counterparts with guns embedded with gemstones. There were a total of five ghouls there and only two Contractbounds present, so their support was necessary.

Roze, the Police Lieutenant with long brown hair, was using a short bow and blood arrows to shoot at the supernatural creatures. Her hands moved very quickly and each of her shots hit the ghouls right in the head. However, the attack was not enough to kill them, and the shots from the other officers only served to paralyze them.

"Groen, do I really have to use blood ritual to kill them off? I cannot do that to kill them one by one; it will take too much time!" shouted Roze.

Groen, who was busy treating another injured person, looked up and turned to her.

"Just keep shooting at them. I'm sure they will die eventually!" he replied, and then switched his attention back to the injured woman in his arms.

The woman's legs had been completely chopped off and there was a bite wound on her stomach. She seemed to have lost so much blood and was also unconscious. Groen let her inhale the blue powder and her wounds began closing gradually. However, her condition didn't seem to get better.

Two of the Police officers quickly ran towards the row of parked motor carriages and approached the one at the end. They took out a stretcher and ran back towards the woman's location and quickly put her on it and took her back to the motor carriage. Once the woman was inside, they drove off right away.

Swoosh!

The blood arrows kept on shooting the ghouls but they kept returning to life. However, Roze noticed that they were getting weaker each time she shot them.

"I think I've got this! Keep on paralyzing them! Don't worry about using up the bullets; Groen can make you guys new ones!" shouted Roze confidently.

Groen could already imagine the pain he had to go through in making more bullets, but he could only smile at those Police officers. He then went on to help more injured people.

...

"G, I've got everything. Now it's just the ritual," said Valentine.

He was sitting in his hotel room at the table in the dark. The room was filled with the fragrant balsamic aroma of Storax essential oil that he had sprinkled in every corner. On the table, there were still droplets of oil that emitted the strongest floral and leathery smell that penetrated his nose, calming him down and helping him concentrate. It was the same essential oil as the one Graham had used for his ritual, so he didn't need to go out to buy any.

Valentine looked at the watch that he was wearing. The clock hands struck exactly one after midnight. It was time for him to do the ritual. He looked at the table in front of him and the objects lying on it. There was the contract scroll, candles, an object that resembled a compressed brain matter, a lighter, and a vial with silver liquid inside.

The bright moonlight outside tried to shine into the room, but the thick curtains were blocking its light. Valentine opened the contract scroll that he had got from killing the enemy that morning; it was for the Deity of Deception and Hidden Thoughts, exactly the one he needed. He laid the scroll bare on the table and placed four orange votive candles in each corner; each one facing a cardinal direction.

Valentine wore a calm but solemn expression on his face. His breathing was calm and steady and his movements were not without a purpose.

He took out his trusted commando knife that was 29cm in length and had a carving of his initials on the handle. He held the sharp blade against his left palm and sank the metal into his flesh, creating a wound deep enough for blood to flow through.

The crimson liquid came out of the wound in his palm and dropped down to the parchment below. Valentine used his blood to redraw the sigil of the Deity of Deception and Hidden Thoughts that was on the scroll. He began by drawing the sideway 'shield' facing the left and a staff going through it at the 'bottom'. He then drew the two 'pendulums' inside the shield before drawing the crosses at the bottom and on the right side.

The moment his blood touched the scroll, it got absorbed right away, making that part of the sigil slightly red. However, it was not enough, so he had to use a lot of blood to finish redrawing just a section of it. By the time he managed to redraw the whole sigil, he had lost a lot of blood and was feeling rather weak.

That point of the contract ritual was the most critical. Some people failed because they had become too weak and couldn't bear with the pain that came with the next stage of it. If they were not strong enough, they would just die without the ritual being finished.

Valentine looked at the blood sigil that he had finished on the table in front of him. It somehow emitted an inexplicable aura that triggered his supernatural sense. He then carefully placed the remains of the enemy, which was a compressed brain that was cold to touch. With the remains lying in the middle of the sigil, he could now proceed to the next step of the ritual.

He picked up a black lighter that had been prepared on the table. Valentine lit the four orange candles one by one, starting from the one facing north, followed by east, south, and lastly, west. The orange flames burned brightly and illuminated the dark room, revealing Valentine's cold gaze. The warmth that the flames brought gave him a slight feeling of comfort, preparing him for what was to come.

Everything was now ready, so he could go to the most important step of the ritual: the summoning. He recalled the summoning chant that he had got the moment he laid his eyes on the sigil and said it out loud in a ceremonious tone.

"Thee I invoke, the One born from Fire,"

"Thou art the master of Deception,"

"Thou art the master of Illusion,"

"Thee, that didst Conceal Thoughts,"

"Thee, that didst bring Silence,"

"Come thou forth, and accept my offering,"

"And grant me your power, worthy of thy name!"

Silence descended into the dim hotel room at once. Not even the sound of his breathing nor his heartbeat could be heard. Valentine sat in the chair with anticipation and conviction. He knew he would have to undergo extreme pain, but he was prepared for it.

In the strange silent world, the flames of the candles went out on their own quietly. The smoke rose to the air without making any sound. After that, the compressed brain on the blood sigil slowly sank into it and once it was completely gone, flames came gushing out and surrounded Valentine. Despite all that was happening, there was still no sound that could be heard.

With the flames burning silently around him, Valentine suddenly found himself standing in the dark. Although there was fire surrounding him, it didn't dispel the darkness in the slightest.

Suddenly, he felt an agonizing pain in his heart. It felt like something was holding it tight and the grip became stronger and stronger with each passing second. It became difficult for him to breathe, and each breath became very painful. It felt like he was inhaling sharp nails instead of air, and the nails stabbed every part of his inside.

His chest became more and more painful until Valentine collapsed to the dark ground. His right hand was gripping his left chest to lessen the pain without any success. He gritted his teeth and bore with the worsening pain.

In a matter of seconds, he felt that his heart had been crushed and all his bodily functions should cease soon. However, he was still alive to feel the sensation of his organs shutting down one by one.

"...!!!!"

Valentine let out a loud scream but there was no sound coming from his mouth. The silent world was absolute.

After that, he felt a strange sensation in his chest where his heart should have been. It was like a tiny piece of flesh was growing bigger and bigger slowly. The new 'organ' then took the role of his heart and began pumping blood to all parts of his body.

Once his 'heart' was renewed, he now felt pain in his tongue. An invisible hand was pulling it out!

The burning hand kept on pulling his tongue and stretched it beyond what was humanly possible. Valentine felt that the nerves inside snapping one by one, sending a painful signal to his brain. He couldn't fight back for the invisible hand had no body. He could only lie down in agony while bearing with the process. His face had gone pale and there were droplets of sweat on his forehead.

Not long after, his tongue had become completely severed and blood came flowing from it. His mouth was in unimaginable pain.

The burning hand came back shortly after that, and it felt like it was carrying a new 'tongue' for Valentine. It placed the new tongue violently in the spot where his original one was cut off and burned it with its heat. The new tongue melted and after a while, completely merged with the cut section. The whole time, he could only clench his fists as tight as he could to lessen the sensation.

After the process was done, slowly, the flames surrounding him receded, and the absolute darkness dissipated. Valentine found himself lying on the hotel floor next to the chair with a drenched shirt that was wet with his own sweat. He slowly got up and looked at the scroll on the table. The four candles had been blown out and the blood sigil on it was glowing red.

Valentine rolled the scroll back and placed it on the table. He then concentrated on the silver liquid inside the vial and issued an Order.

"I, in the name of the Deity of the Tongue, order you to seal this scroll!"

He chanted the Deity's name and the pattern on his belt glowed violet. The silver liquid then rose to the air and wrapped itself around the contract scroll, effectively sealing it. After that, the scroll burst into flames along with the seal and the ashes entered Valentine through his nostrils.

Valentine took a deep breath to calm himself down and sat down in the wooden armchair. He was still wearing his solemn expression and his eyes were gazing coldly into the dark space in front of him. He then leaned back on the chair and crossed his arm.

"G, with this, I've become a Deceit: a President rank Contractbound,"