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Chapter 130
Transcension Ritual
The ritual involving the Mythical Bird of Soul Transcendence or Ascendance that would be held soon in the Imparie tribe’s designated ritual area was called the ‘Transcension Ritual’ by the members of the Imparie tribe.
The designated area was located deep inside the Imparie tribe’s forest. After entering a cave deep inside the forest, they had to go through many turns inside the cave that Ann couldn’t even remember their way back anymore, and eventually, they would arrive at a hill, leading to a small and secluded meadow, equipped with a small lake and small waterfall.
The atmosphere inside the area was so tranquil and serene, without any noise aside from the waterfall’s sound.
Though the meadow looks ordinary, it’s quite eerie how there doesn’t seem to be any lively insects here. No bird can be seen in the sky, either.
Perhaps this place is chosen as the place to hold a sacred ritual for a reason.
Only a few members of the Imparie tribe participating in the ritual were allowed to pass through the hill, towards the ritual meadow. They were Sylthea, Rakiasha, and a few other tribesmen who would play the music for the ritual using their tribal instruments, and a few who would perform the backing vocal of the ritual songs.
Of course, Ann, Birdie, and Faye tagged along with them towards the ritual meadow.
That left Nymnienna and Quira back in the hill as spectators, along with the rest of Ann’s party: Her beloved hubby–Allen, her beloved bestie–Laura, the game’s popular capture target–Prince Kiehl, the crossdressing prince’s guard–Mila, the willful old geezer–Elder Priest Matthias, and the two NPCs–Matthias’ lackeys.
Ann was actually amazed how there were no other members of Imparie tribe tagging along as spectators.
They said that the Imparie tribes held rituals occasionally, but as for Transcension Ritual, one might spend their entire lifetime without it even occurring.
She thought they’d be more insistent in making this ritual a spectacle for all of the members, but that wasn’t the case.
“We often practice rehearsals for the Transcension Ritual, and to make sure that this ritual won’t be forgotten by our tribe.”
“But the real thing is surely different from rehearsals?”
“Not really, aside from the presence of a real target and the Mythical Bird of Soul Ascendance.”
“…” Isn’t that what’s most important, though?!
Ann reminisced the conversation she had with Rakiasha one day, when they had just been briefed about how the ritual would go on and about the allowance of spectators.
“Our tribe members know how sacred this ritual is. It’s not a ritual that can be used as a spectacle. In any case, everyone has seen the Mythical Bird of Soul Ascendance, so they’re already satisfied with it. After the ritual succeeds, they can witness the result with their own eyes, and that’s what matters for us,” Nymnienna added.
Ann nodded and was again amazed by how the Imparie tribe members thought.
Be it in the modern world or in the Siegcrest kingdom, the people there had similar thoughts. If there were a rare thing going on, most of them would fight to witness it.
In a way, they had gone through the advancement of the era, but they had touch with their spirituality and respect for certain things that indigenous tribes would usually still maintain.
Back to the present time, all people taking part in the ritual quickly filled their positions.
Positioning themselves near the lake were Sylthea, Faye, and the other music group.
In the middle of the meadow, there was already a bonfire prepared. Rakiasha, Ann, and Birdie quickly positioned themselves in the center.
Ann sat down in a meditative position with her hands cupped open in the middle, with Birdie sitting on top of Ann’s hand. Rakiasha stood in front of them, wearing her tribal ceremonial dress. There were markings put on her face and limbs, and so did the rest of the participants, including even Ann and Faye. Each had a different form and color of marking.
The proceedings started first with a prayer of the Imparie tribe, in their tribal language, led by none other than Rakiasha.
Then, it was followed by an opening tribal singing led by Sylthea.
Rakiasha started to dance, with two tribal fans in her hands. As she danced fluidly, she would sometimes put the fans inside some kind of cups placed by the bonfire, occasionally swiping the liquid inside it to both Ann and Birdie.
“The head of the tribe is the dancer…?” Laura unconsciously commented.
She thought that since the head of the tribe was such a high position, she’d only be the one commanding, not executing, let alone something like dancing.
“Only the tribe leader can lead and dance in the Transcendance Ritual. The leader chants inwardly as they dance, imbuing their steps with magic. Even the fan and the water inside the cups have received special ancient magic spells that the leader applied beforehand,” Quira explained.
“Eh… Really?” Laura was surprised to hear this.
“Yes. Mother told me that the method to lead the Transcendance Ritual is only told and passed down from the previous generation of the sun of the tribe to the next. The rehearsal of the ritual held annually during the Mythical Bird day is also done to demonstrate that only the sun of the tribe can do it,” Quira said.
It seemed that the rehearsal was also one of the ways the sun of the tribe could remind people of their privileges and position.
“Amazing… to be able to witness this sacred ritual in my lifetime…!” The old priest Matthias almost wept loudly as he witnessed the proceedings intently, his two accompanying young priests had to really hold their elder to make sure he won’t fall due to leaning forward too much.
“This… is an odd mix of sacred ritual with a tribal ritual…,” Mila muttered with a mixed feeling.
The proceedings happening before her eyes, indeed, provoked a feeling like this was a tribal ritual due to the way it’s done, but there was a sense of sacredness in it.
“…,” Allen remained silent, but the frown on his expression grew deeper. He could only focus his thoughts and vision to Ann, and all the other stuff–for example the bickering and comments near him–fell to deaf ears. He even couldn’t really register the sound of the ritual’s songs…
Prince Kiehl was standing next to Allen and was about to say something to his friend, but he decided to remain silent after looking at the current Allen.
He probably won’t even have any space to think of anything else now. The crown prince thought as he shook his head slightly, before focusing his mind on the ritual.
Right, numerous thoughts and feelings went over Allen’s mind.
For the first time in his life, he felt so scared. What if this ritual were to fail and he were to lose Ann forever?
He hated how he couldn’t do anything to control the result of this. He could only watch and resign it all to fate.
When was the last time he felt like he couldn’t do anything or control the outcome of something that was related to him? Probably never, ever since the death of his parents.
The first unsettling movement of both the dance and song eventually stopped. Rakiasha put her hands on Ann and Birdie’s foreheads.
[Meol sê sweltendlic for ðâm ðe wægn undêadlic, forgiefan êower cynn ðêon dôð têoh!]
Then, she commanded them in an unknown language, with a clear tone that everyone could quickly understand that it was a command, despite not understanding the language spoken. Yes, it wasn’t even the Imparie tribe’s tribal language. Perhaps it was their ancient tribal language that was already lost…
Thankfully, Ann had been instructed beforehand so she knew what to do.
She quickly rehearsed the words that she had remembered so carefully during the 7 days of her arduous training.
[Yfel ârian mîn grâd cuman wægn têoh].
I hope I got the pronunciation correct…
Birdie also chirped.
[ðrâwan ge cêosan êower woruld]
As Rakiasha finished her words, Ann and Birdie moved.
Ann slowly but steadily went towards the lake, entering the waterfall slowly as the next movement of the song continued.
On the other hand, Birdie flew to the sky, circling the place several times, before entering the waterfall at the same time as Ann.
With Birdie perched on top of her head tightly, Ann slowly sat down in another meditative state, but with her hands assuming a praying position.
The song changed its vibe once more, with Faye taking the lead this time–or more precisely, it was more of a duet between Faye and Sylthea, with Faye having more parts.
Seeing that the song had started and that Ann and Birdie had secured their positions, Rakiasha started dancing again.
As she danced, the flames of the bonfire also swayed, as if in sync with the rhythm of the dance and the song.
In accordance to what had been explained to her, Ann found herself slowly falling to a trance as the ritual progressed.
When she ‘awoke’, she found herself in a very dark place where she couldn’t even see her limbs, or even nose. It certainly defied logic, so Ann found herself questioning, ‘How can this even be possible?’
Ann was really surprised, despite being warned about this priorhand. Had she had no clue of this, she would really feel fearful, one thing that was forbidden to feel here. The moment fear took over her, she’d be done for.
“Normally, the mortal’s soul undergoing the Transcendence Ritual would find themselves in a pure white, bright space where they can see everything clearly. There will be no issue and they can find the right ‘path’. But in your case… I have a hypothesis that you won’t be able to see anything at all, despite being in the same space. The opposite of a pure white, bright space where you can see everything clearly is the pitch darkness where you can’t see anything. But do not feel fearful, since it will cause the ritual to fail.”
–such was Rakiasha’s explanation.
Ann imagined herself locked in a very scary haunted house alone, one that was really haunted, whenever she practiced.
To think that my modern experience of going to haunted houses and seeing jumpscares in horror games and movies can come in handy even at times like this…
But if it’s true, I wonder if the original villainess, Anne, is currently seeing everything in the pure white, bright space?
Is it true that we are in the same space right now, but with different visions?
Despite being unable to see anything, Ann was able to hear the sound of the ritual’s song clearly.
This ritual had been modified to guide each soul to the right destination, so there were two lines of vocals going on, one with Faye as the lead and another with Sylthea as the lead, and some backing vocals.
It was just like what she was told before.
And oddly enough, despite her body staying still in their position and Faye also staying in the position, in this odd pitch-black space, Ann could hear the direction in which Faye’s voice was from.
She concentrated herself and walked towards the direction of Faye’s voice. The direction changed several times and there were several points where she had to pause and concentrate because there were other voices as well.
Even voices other than what was supposed to be in the ritual.
They sounded like gibberish, perhaps because Ann couldn’t understand what was being said, but it was like a chant, or a curse spell, even… And there were several distracting voices, seemingly trying to make sure Ann fails.
When Ann started hearing noises other than what should be there in the ritual, Ann had goosebumps, but she still remembered to control her mind, put aside her fear, and just focus on what she was told to do.
Since Ann was so familiar with Faye’s voice, she could easily tell which one was Faye’s voice. She was so grateful that it was decided that Faye would play a leading part in the song, and that she was such a die-hard Faye fan.
Just as Ann finally got close to Faye’s voice–so close that all it took would be a single step for her to arrive–she suddenly felt her body bumping into something, wobbling backward due to the bump, before falling away to the endless abyss, with Faye’s voice growing further and further.
“N-no, I can’t!” Ann panicked as she tried to go back up the moment she felt she had stopped falling, but there seemed to be something restraining her there.
Although all she could see was pitch black, she somehow had a feeling that there were some dark ‘hands’ covering her eyes. It was such an eerie sensation that she almost let her mind be taken over by fear.
At that time, Faye suddenly had a bad hunch and sweated coldly as she finished what was supposed to be her last line of the song.
[…Wislic lîchamod]
“…”
The previously lively meadow, full of the sound of ritual resounding, was now dead silent.
“Ann… sama…?” Faye turned to look at Ann, who remained motionless in her meditative position inside the waterfall. Birdie was also still in her last state, nothing had changed, nothing had happened at all.
Yes. The song had ended, but nothing happened…!
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