Scarlet Descent-Chapter 55 - Scarlet Ritual

As soon as the thought of "advancement" emerged, an unusual longing appeared. Wei Wei turned to look at the somewhat blurry mirror on the wall and saw that his eyes had faint bloodshot streaks.

No wonder Little Lin said earlier that the demon advancement ritual wasn't that difficult. Wei Wei had unintentionally awakened his Scarlet powers at first, and it was quite smooth. In the training camp, he had easily advanced during a mission, and later, some special measures helped him control it for a while. Now, back in the unrestricted Scrap Iron City, that long-forgotten longing was returning.

Just by adding a small class, the advancement ritual was again before his eyes.

Collapsing onto the sofa, Wei Wei closed his eyes slowly, still dressed and resting his head on a gun pouch. As his mind became dazed, endless murmurs and illusions appeared, and he seemed to return to that deep red world.

The surroundings were filled with a thick, blood-red mist. In the distance, shadowy, twisted monsters slowly roamed this world. Wei Wei walked forward, his feet submerged in blood, with massive gallows beside him. These gallows stood on the sea of blood, towering into the clouds like they were hundreds of meters high.

On the giant gallows, numerous colossal giants were bound, their bodies mostly shrouded in blood mist. You could only see that blood continuously flowed from them, merging into the sea below. Wei Wei was walking on their blood.

In this eerie and bloody world, Wei Wei slowly moved forward, passing by the first two gallows. These two gallows were no longer shrouded in mist, revealing their forms.

The first giant on the gallows had its body cut into many pieces but was nailed back together. Its head hung low, filled with terror and surprise. From below, it was unclear if this giant was real or some kind of eerie statue, but Wei Wei believed that if it were a statue, the person who made it must be a master, even surpassing human capabilities. The giant was so lifelike that just one glance could evoke a strong sense of its terror, as if its intense experience at the moment of death was forever frozen.

The second giant on the gallows was pierced by countless spears, resembling a hedgehog. Even its left eye was pierced by a spear, making its expression almost indistinguishable. However, the hand trying to lift towards the sky and the slightly open mouth seemed to convey its confusion and helplessness at the moment of death.

Now, Wei Wei arrived at the third gallows, stopped, and looked up. The murmurs in his ears suddenly intensified tenfold, and his eyes seemed to involuntarily redden. As his gaze fell on the gallows, the thick mist surrounding it slowly cleared, revealing a giant bound by iron chains. Its neck was broken, and its head rested in its own arms.

As Wei Wei met its gaze, the head blinked and slowly opened its eyes. Since the head was held close to its body, it was closer to Wei Wei on the ground. Looking down at him with a hollow, mysterious gaze, the giant's massive, broken head had a powerful oppressive feeling. Yet, its expression seemed to convey an unspeakable pity, its empty gaze falling on Wei Wei's face. Its lips moved slightly, carrying a mysterious meaning:

"Endless slaughter of foolish violence."

"The Scarlet descends upon the world, like a deep night, blooming a tragic flower."

"Granting peace to the lost souls, inspiring awe in the living..."

Wei Wei furrowed his brow.

The giant on the gallows looked at him with a pitiful gaze, perhaps lamenting its own tragic fate. Its eyes were dull and empty, and it only repeated the same phrases. Each sentence overlapped with the next, forming waves that crashed against Wei Wei's mind. Advancement Rituals.

To further obtain demonic powers and enter a higher stage, one must complete these rituals. Whenever a Transcendent's demonic power activity reaches above 75%, their mind often fills with vague images and phrases, along with more direct and specific things that tell them what their next advancement ritual and goal are.

Wei Wei's demonic power activity had always been stable, consistently above 95%. So, he had known what his next advancement ritual was long ago, even before returning to Scrap Iron City. However, the problem was that he didn't understand it.

According to Wei Wei's understanding, other demonic systems' advancement rituals were usually clear. For example, the War Demon Sequence's ritual, as Little Lin mentioned, required specific actions and sacrifices. Other sequences had similar strict requirements and greedy demands for offerings. They disregarded the world's stability and peace, casting cruel directives into the minds of demon-infected individuals. Completing these rituals could grant more powerful demonic powers. It seemed difficult yet strangely simple; each person had a clear direction in their mind. The more devoted to the demon, the clearer the direction.

Thus, many ambitious Transcendents, to achieve their advancement, would stir up bloodbaths in the Spiritual Barrier or the Wastelands, leaving mountains of corpses or destroying cities. Human lives or cities were just numbers, necessary links in the ritual. However, Wei Wei's problem lay here. When he first awakened his Scarlet abilities, it was unintentional, happening when he entered a room carrying a scythe. At that time, he didn't realize why he awakened; he just knew he had to kill the monsters in front of him. The Scarlet murmurs sounded in his ears, and the blood from his wounds wrapped around the scythe. That was the first time, and he didn't even realize it until it was over.

The second time was during a high-risk mission at the training camp. The Instructor led them into a situation where they were surrounded by demon-protected thugs in an abandoned gymnasium. Everyone thought they would die, but when the rescue team arrived, they found Wei Wei sitting on a pile of corpses, laughing. After that, the Instructor insisted on sending him to a mental institution for a few days...

But that was it. Afterward, he was chosen by the Foundation and joined a mysterious program as an experiment, trying a different path. However, that path was already closed before he returned to Scrap Iron City. It had nothing to do with him or the Scarlet powers anymore.

You could say that it wasn't until he formally left the training camp and returned to Scrap Iron City that he prepared to continue on the Scarlet path. And that's when the problem arose.

The first two times, he had advanced unintentionally, but this time was different. Advancement rituals usually consist of two parts: offerings and the ritual itself. Wei Wei's offerings should have been more than enough, even excessive. However, the ritual itself became the most troubling part for him.

Wei Wei could feel that the key to advancing to the third state—Scarlet Mentor—lay in this ritual. But perhaps there was something subtle he hadn't grasped. It was as if he was just a thin layer of paper away from understanding.

Maybe if he understood, he could smoothly enter the third state the next second. But what was this subtle thing?

Wei Wei felt frustrated. Hadn't he worked hard enough? Why was he stuck on this advancement ritual?

Perhaps he was too kind? It's said that the crazier you are, the faster you can advance. His law-abiding and kind nature might be holding him back. In the famous haunted house of the 15th district, room 302, the thick curtains made the room dark even during the day. Wei Wei curled up on the sofa, sleeping with his gun pouch as a pillow. His brow was furrowed, as if his dream was influencing him.

Until a faint "tick-tock" sound appeared in the room and in his deep dream. It seemed like a voice was whispering in his ear, explaining and telling him something:

"Touching the soul's emotion, triggering true awakening..."

At the same time, the Head Pendant hanging on the wall was quietly sleeping, but unlike its usual state, it occasionally moved its mouth. Its tightly closed eyes seemed like a computer running at high speed. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

After a while, it suddenly opened its eyes, filled with terror:

"God's legacy..."

"Demon Forbidden Object—God's Death Knell!"

"..."

With a sudden "whoosh," Wei Wei was startled awake, instantly drawing his gun and facing the Head Pendant.

Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock...

Happy Reading!

Please give the novel a rating and a review on

https://www.novelupdates.com/series/scarlet-descent/.

It will help the website and also help people find this novel!

You can subscribe to our patreon

/join/ScarletDescent and read up to 12 chapters in advance