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Chapter 249: Upright and Reversed

Using a bit of magic, Vilyric temporarily put the already exhausted Eudora into a dormant state to recover, disguising her as a human again, and then entrusted her to Xiao Guang for care. Vilyric turned to approach Xi Fu Lin, who had already taken the initiative to investigate the blood pool.

After the recent shock and series of changes, the few bloodsuckers whose inner madness had been ignited by the will to kill had long since passed out after hurting themselves.

After all, no matter how insane they were, the raw power gap between them and the Life Goddess was apparent, and even if their teeth were all shattered, there was no way they could break free from the restraints.

Though the physical state of the bloodsuckers shouldn’t lead to death outright, being caught up in a conflict at the divine level meant that even the residual effects of a brief skirmish could be enough to leave them in shambles.

Putting aside the bodily damage, the mental scars would likely take a long time to heal, and it was uncertain if there would be any lingering effects.

The power of gods is terrifying to mortals; even slight movements could lead to destruction.

“Xi Fu Lin, how’s the situation?”

Hearing the voice, the goddess, which was using the body of her divine envoy, turned her head to glance at the Miss White Fox walking up from behind and slightly nodded.

Then, with fingers delicate and tender, nurtured by the Life Goddess’s power, she pointed at the ground she was observing.

“Look here, these patterns—do they feel familiar?”

“Um…”

Squatting down, Vilyric observed intently without doubt.

Only upon getting closer did she realize that the intricate engravings around the blood pool almost completely surrounded it, even extending downward, spreading to the interior and depths of the pool, forming some huge whole.

“I see now. This is a type of magical array with special uses, likely related to the function of the blood pool itself?”

“Yes, Vilyric, actually, you’ve seen this magical array before.”

With no outsiders around, the Goddess directly addressed the Priestess by her real name, waving her hand. The colorless liquid that had once been the blood pool, along with the wreckage of the destroyed statues, all rose and compressed into a giant water orb floating above the heads of the two women.

Thus, the bottom of the blood pool was finally exposed to Miss White Fox’s view.

It was far more precise and complicated than the patterns on the surface, filling the entire circular bottom of the pool with large engravings, countless blood-colored crosses thrust into the ground, creating a bizarre and unique pattern together with the walls of the pool and some outside.

“Eh? This is…”

A hint of realization crept into the voice leaking from beneath the mask of the White Fox Girl.

Wasn’t this just like those blood-colored engravings that were guarded by demons in the Celestial Barrier of the Saint Pelgen Mountain range?

At that time, it was precisely these magical arrays that formed blood-red pillars reaching the heavens, ultimately coalescing into the cruel magic known as “Blood of the Inverted Cross.”

Indeed, “Killing” and some bloodsuckers hadn’t given up yet and continued performing similar rituals after that.

No, wait.

Xi Fu Lin’s understanding of this incident was completely through Tilysha’s perspective, and the latter had remained in the main camp at the time, not witnessing the ritual scenes in the mountains firsthand.

In other words, what Xi Fu Lin meant by “seen” did not refer to that event in the Saint Pelgen Mountain range.

With this thought, Vilyric quickly reacted.

Perhaps due to differences in the engraving methods, the magical array here appeared more three-dimensional than that in the Saint Pelgen Mountain range. The White Fox Girl thus deduced a particularly significant fact.

Or more accurately, she had a suspicion but could never be certain.

This “Blood of the Inverted Cross” engraving was of the same kind as the blood-colored magical array that hid the “Command Center” underground in the Holy Spirit Path Forest, where the “sinners” were sacrificed…

…It was just reversed.

“I see…”

As if finally lighting up the most crucial piece of the puzzle, the scene ahead suddenly became clear.

The forbidden spell “Blood of the Inverted Cross” was named thus not only for its function; the “inverted” was, in its literal sense, a reversal.

Underground in the Holy Spirit Path, the sacrifices were sinners who disrespected the gods, so the blood from the Saint Pelgen Mountain and here came from devout believers.

Moreover, if one reverses the order of the engravings and the shape of the sacrificial crosses…

“Is it the true… ‘Blood of the Cross’?”

Then its function, alongside the “Blood of the Inverted Cross”…

“‘Blood of the Cross’… such a nostalgic name.”

Hearing the nostalgic tone from the Blue-haired Girl, Vilyric couldn’t help but turn in surprise.

“Xi Fu Lin, do you know about this magic?”

“To say I understand it would be an understatement; it seems you’ve noticed as well.”

Saying this, the goddess lightly leaped down, heading straight to the bottom of the pool, several meters deep, with Vilyric following closely.

Stepping on the uneven bottom marked by engravings, Xi Fu Lin placed her hand on one of the hanging roots of the blood tree at the edge, gently explaining.

“The last time I saw such a scene through Tilysha’s eyes, I thought it was either similar or coincidental. After all, something like that shouldn’t theoretically appear in this era, but since even inverted magic has emerged, it seems it is not a coincidence.”

“Slutut couldn’t possibly have acquired such technology… It must be the doing of those bloodsuckers, as this race has quite a connection with that guy.”

“That guy? Which guy?”

“Don’t rush, let me explain slowly.”

The goddess shook her head helplessly, no longer keeping mysterious.

“Vilyric, have you heard of the name ‘Exmont’?”

Taken aback for a moment, the White Fox Girl quickly recalled information that a certain ratman had previously mentioned to her, and the corresponding title slipped out.

“The God of Subversion and Inversion?”

Xi Fu Lin turned her head in mild surprise.

“Oh? You actually know, it seems you’ve been exploring information about the mythological era well during this time, very good; this saves me the trouble of explaining in detail.”

Xi Fu Lin nodded.

“That’s right, the God of Subversion and Inversion, Exmont; he is a new generation god from the neutral camp. Of course, being ‘new generation’ is just in comparison to ancient deities like Xi Fu, who have existed for tens of thousands of years. If he hasn’t fallen yet, he would probably be over ten thousand years old.”

“This deity… how should I put it? He is quite special.”

“The law represented by the God of Subversion and Inversion is ‘creation’, but it’s different from genuine ‘creation’; his powers can only target already existing things and phenomena, producing completely different ‘subversion creations.'”

“Like a mirror can only reflect objects that actually exist, Exmont’s ability is to extract the reflection and rewrite it according to his own will but cannot create truly new things out of nothing… That’s roughly how this peculiar law works.”

“It isn’t a particularly broad concept of power, so the status of the God of Subversion and Inversion isn’t very high. When I last saw him over three hundred years ago, before Xi Fu was sealed, he was still at a mid-level deity’s standard, lacking two full levels to compare with the main gods.”

“As long as Exmont’s divine spark hasn’t evolved, even in my divided state, I am stronger than he is, so he can’t be considered particularly skilled in battle.”

“That said, ‘subversion creation’ can, in a sense, also be described as a very miraculous, or perhaps dangerous law.”

“Through this power, Exmont can create all sorts of unbelievable and absurd artifacts, even taking the powers of other gods as templates to give birth to new ‘reversed laws.'”

“Though Exmont has no intention of occupying any territory or forming an army, due to the uniqueness of his law, over time, he has begun to gather many bizarre inverted creations, some of which even break limits and reach the realm of gods.”

“This behavior aroused the dissatisfaction and wariness of the gods, and Exmont was thus warned and forbidden from continuing to create beings that defied the laws of the world; otherwise, he would face a united attack.”

“Under pressure, he had to stop his ‘experiments’ and redirect his main energies towards the development of magic and technology that are harmless as long as he doesn’t use them.”

“The forbidden spell ‘Blood of the Cross’ was born in such an environment.”

Seeing Xi Fu Lin pause meaningfully, Vilyric looked down at the complex magical array beneath her feet, a look of realization on her face.

“So this thing is actually the ancient technology created by that ‘God of Subversion and Inversion’, further modified and inverted by certain individuals now?”

“No wonder you said it shouldn’t appear in the present era… By the way, what exactly is the actual effect of this magic, and what changes occur after it’s reversed?”

The Blue-haired Girl nodded gravely, a brief spark flashing in her azure eyes before she continued in a low voice.

“Currently, I have not witnessed its activation effects firsthand, so I can’t draw a firm conclusion. However, if the function of ‘Blood of the Cross’ hasn’t changed, then there can only be one…”

“To create an existence that does not actually exist—‘Inverted Divine Spark’.”