Chapter 408: Schemes Upon Schemes

“To restore the glory of our ancestors, I will sacrifice everything!”

“Since you will all become necromantic beings eventually, why not serve as my resources?”

“Don’t blame me. Your deaths are not meaningless. If you want to blame someone, blame the Rust Crow. It was the Rust Crow who sold me this ritual. I will avenge you by killing the Rust Crow.”

Watching the footage of the crazed Zuvendas mercilessly attacking his kin, everyone stepped further away from him. ‘Weeping Sand Red Cap’ Cleos even slightly raised her gun, seemingly ready to aim at any moment.

Like Annan, Zuvendas’ ritual was skipped by the Gospel, directly jumping to the celebration after the ritual’s completion.

Zuvendas sat in a bizarre blood-marked magic circle, surrounded by the corpses of Kaesrei clansmen: they had been cut in half at the waist by Zuvendas. Their upper bodies outside the circle had their hands clasped in prayer, while their lower bodies knelt in front of their torsos, legs together. Their dried corpses contained not a drop of blood, all of it converging on Zuvendas’ forehead, forming a diamond-shaped blood mark.

“Fate... I see it...” Zuvendas’ pupils shone with a flowing light. “Everything will inevitably come to an end.”

Zuvendas Kaesrei received the reward ‘Blood Mark.’

“Blood Mark: Requires 100 milliliters of Kaesrei clansman’s blood to activate. The Blood Mark remains active for 10 minutes, during which the sorcerer’s cognitive abilities are enhanced by 15%.”

The footage ended, but the echoes of its impact lingered.

“Kaesrei,” Mercury chose his words carefully. “This is an internal matter of your family, so I will not comment. However, you can no longer represent the Kaesrei Family, and therefore, you cannot participate in the distribution of spoils. But I assure you, in the name of the Mercury Family, that any intelligence we acquire will be shared with the Kaesrei.”

Mercury’s mixture of firmness and tact was a calculated effort. The Future Ranking had clearly pointed out Zuvendas’ future misdeeds, and not taking this chance to expel him would be wasting the Gospel’s assist. However, he still needed the combat strength of the Kaesrei sorcerers, at least to deter Senhaeser, so he gave Zuvendas enough face.

“Heh.”

Zuvendas suddenly chuckled. “I don’t think so. You can ask the Kaesrei. The patriarch still trusts me.”

“Quite confident,” Qenna raised an eyebrow. “If a traitor harming their kin appeared in Senhaeser, I would definitely turn them into a firework. Or are you confident you can convince your clansmen that the Ranking of Schemes was the Gospel framing you?”

“No, I’m quite sure this is my future,” Zuvendas said. “I do admire the ancestor Kross. If given the chance, I would stop at nothing to involve myself in Kross’ Fate Sect... even without external pressure, just to break through the Sanctuary and ascend to legend, I would do it. After all, I’m out of options.”

When Zuvendas mentioned being “out of options,” the Sanctuary sorcerers fell silent. They had been immersed in the Sanctuary realm for years and were frequent visitors to the Distant Sky Domain. In the mundane world, they had achieved countless feats and earned much admiration. Yet, the anxiety of having “no path” constantly tormented their hearts.

Some found solace in their Family, like Qenna; others in their careers, like Ina; some pursued rankings, like Cleos... Sanctuary sorcerers were often extraordinarily talented and proud individuals, making it hard for them to accept that their gifts had limits. It was like realizing that what they thought was freedom was just a larger cage.

When Zuvendas claimed he would go to such extremes for power, everyone immediately believed him. They wouldn’t do the same, not because they didn’t want to, but because there were things in life more important than power.

“But the truly dangerous person in the Ranking of Schemes is not me,” Zuvendas said. “Schemes upon schemes.”

Everyone was slightly taken aback and looked down at the continuously updating Ranking of Schemes.

“Yes.” Ashe’s face was severe. “And then?”

“That’s it. But don’t you think I’m very smart?”

“If you were as young as Lise, I might pat your head, but since you’re all grown up...” Ashe reached out and gently tapped Annan’s nose. “I’ll reluctantly allow you to hug me.”

Annan playfully punched his side, clearly pleased—now everyone’s attention was on the ranking list and Rust Crow, leaving the Funeral with less scrutiny. If Qenna remained firm, they might all return to Vamora. However, this time, they probably wouldn’t escape Qenna’s grasp again...

At this moment, the ranking list updated again, and another familiar name appeared.

“Ranking of Schemes No. 2: Ewaton’s Fundamental Convergence Ritual”

“Synopsis: Ewaton Belldate, the ancestor of the Belldate Family, was a Five Wings sorcerer, a Demigod Angel, who once commanded several deities. To dominate the Necromancy form of their ancestor Ewaton, on April 10, 1678, Yvaren Belldate burned the mental power of all subjugated individuals to initiate the Fundamental Convergence Ritual.”

“Mastermind: Yvaren Belldate”

Damn!

Everyone’s hearts were filled with admiration for Yvaren.

This was the most ambitious plan they had seen so far—Yvaren wasn’t just trying to resurrect her ancestor or inherit his legacy; she was directly attempting to dominate her ancestor!

Only the Belldate family could play this game. After all, other people’s ancestors had long since returned to the Virtual Realm, but the Belldate’s Necromancy Angel was still lingering in some tomb. Conveniently, the Belldate’s ancestral spellcasting was from the Dominance Sect. With all the key elements in place, not trying to dominate one’s own ancestor would indeed waste the fate’s arrangement.

In the distance, Yvaren, who had been watching the scene unfold, frowned slightly.

She hadn’t expected the Belldate family’s years of planning to be revealed just like that.

Yes, this wasn’t her idea alone. It had been thought of generations ago—perhaps starting from Ewaton’s son—the Belldate family had been contemplating how to dominate this Necromancy Angel.

However, because there was no immediate survival pressure, this plan had always been in the process of being perfected and had never been put into practice. There were many significant flaws that couldn’t be ignored, and Yvaren herself had never seriously considered this plan.

But upon seeing the image, Yvaren understood how Rust Crow’s ritual was clever: she would burn a massive amount of mental power to warp reality, weaving a body out of nothing, and then use Ritual Track to summon a wisp of the Necromancy Angel’s consciousness, trapping it within the body. Since every cell of this body would be under Yvaren’s control, this cage would completely imprison the Necromancy Angel, achieving indirect domination.

Yvaren was immediately tempted and couldn’t wait to try it.

But everyone had the same question: who exactly was Rust Crow?

Soon, the Gospel Book would answer all their questions—

“Ranking of Schemes No. 1: Ashe’s Kingdom Resurrection Ritual”