With the aid of another silver coin, the Hexagram that was on the brink of collapse instantly stabilized.
The Bizarre, which was about to escape, was once again contained within the white light.
As the firmly controlled Bizarre slowly descended, a flicker of joy passed through the old man's eyes as he intoned loudly at the side.
Success was within reach!
The people around also saw the hope so close at hand, and their chanting grew louder all at once.
However, Romiel, who was in the center receiving the Bizarre into his body, was far from comfortable.
Agonizing roars, bulging veins, and bloodshot eyes fully demonstrated the unparalleled pain he was enduring.
If not for his strong physique and considerable endurance, he would likely have lost consciousness long ago.
But clearly, the ritual had reached a point where it could not be stopped. Even if the process of the Bizarre's entry differed from that of the others, it had to continue.
Time slowly passed. Just when Romiel was on the verge of losing consciousness, the Bizarre finally entered his body completely.
Seeing this, the people around were overjoyed and swiftly acted in unison.
The white Hexagram in mid-air rapidly shrank and, in the blink of an eye, condensed into a palm-sized, solid Hexagram imprinted on Romiel's chest.
"It's finally complete!"
Seeing the Hexagram that signified the completion of their task fall into the middle-aged man's hands, everyone promptly retracted their silver coins and heaved a long sigh.
"You may all rest now. Thank you for your hard work!"
The elder who presided over the ritual wiped the fine beads of sweat from his forehead, his gaze softening considerably as he looked at the others.
"Yes, My Lord!"
As everyone gradually left the room, only the elder and the middle-aged man holding the Hexagram remained standing before the stone chair.
"Fadika, he should awaken in a few hours. Release the chains, and bring him to me once he's awake."
"Yes, My Lord! I will assist you to your rest and secure it in the meantime."
Glancing at the Hexagram in the middle-aged man's hand, the elder nodded slightly.
As the two departed, only Romiel remained in the vast room, bound by chains to the stone chair.
Just then, a ring-shaped scar silently appeared on his forehead, only to quickly vanish.
With a CRACK, the chains wrapped around Romiel shattered into several pieces, falling to the ground in the blink of an eye.
Romiel's eyes had opened unnoticed. His face was full of malice, his eyes like endless abysses, revealing only darkness.
"Interesting. After all this trouble, these damn fools were actually trying to give me a human body. I really should thank them!"
A vicious smile on his face, Romiel glanced at the silver coin in his hand. He tilted his head in thought for a moment, then tossed it into his mouth.
"It does have a familiar taste... Where have I encountered it before?"
As he pondered the origin of the aura on the silver coin, distinct footsteps gradually sounded from outside the room.
"My food... has arrived!"
Romiel's mouth stretched to his ears, revealing rows of sharp, densely packed teeth.
Fadika, clearly in good spirits and carrying the keys to the chains, walked into the room with a faint smile on his face. But the smile froze the moment he saw the scene inside.
"Where is he?"
Staring at the shattered chains lying on the ground beside the stone chair, horror gripped him.
Wasn't he supposed to awaken only after several hours?
"Surprised, my dear, tasty little morsel?"
A voice both strange and familiar made Fadika's eyes widen instantly. A faint white light suddenly lit up on his chest.
With a SQUELCH, a large hand holding a beating heart burst out from his chest.
Glaring crimson blood sprayed across the ground, along with unidentifiable pieces of flesh and tissue.
"You smell so good," Romiel purred, a tentacle-like tongue darting from his gaping maw to lightly lick the side of Fadika's face. He then added with an intoxicated expression,
"Ghh... ghh..." Bloody froth bubbled from Fadika's mouth. He glanced at his chest, his eyes filled with disbelief, unwilling to accept his fate.
The next second, his consciousness plunged into darkness.
"Tch. Placing your hope in the Bizarre within your body... what an amusing joke."
Romiel snatched the silver coin from the chest of the corpse in his arms. He tilted his head to examine it, then tossed it into his mouth as well.
The moment the silver coin left Fadika's body, a dark form suddenly burst from within him and merged into the shadow beneath the corpse.
"Don't go!"
Seeing the dark form emerge, Romiel grew visibly excited. Several bandages erupted from his body and, in the blink of an eye, plunged into the shadow on the ground.
Accompanied by muffled WHIMPERS, another Bizarre, wrapped tightly in bandages, was forcibly swallowed into his belly.
"Tsk tsk. Being nurtured by humans for so long, it really has become quite tasty!"
Romiel stretched out his blood-red tongue, licking the corners of his mouth as if savoring the recent taste.
"Right, there's also this." His gaze fell upon Fadika's corpse again, lips curling to reveal sharp, fine teeth. "Can't let it go to waste!"
Accompanied by CRUNCHING, gnawing sounds, Fadika's corpse disappeared without a trace in a short while.
Though he had devoured both a Bizarre and a human, Romiel's belly hadn't swelled in the slightest; it even appeared slightly smaller.
"I'm so hungry! So very hungry!"
Romiel patted his flat belly, his greedy eyes slowly turning towards the outside. He could sense a great deal of human flesh and blood out there, as well as his own kind—other Bizarre.
"Eat them... Eat them all!"
With a whisper full of malice and an eerie smile on his face, he stepped out of the room.
The distant flesh and Strength called out to him.
And while Romiel indulged in his "delicacies," the old man, who had just fallen asleep in another room, remained oblivious.
In the chamber next to the old man's room, the one containing three Pyramids, a Hexagram floating above the top of one Pyramid had just completely lost all its luster, crashing to the ground and shattering into countless fragments.
「...」
Above an ordinary-looking high-rise, Chu Feng stood suspended in the sky.
The steadily strengthening breeze caused his clothes to flap loudly.
He had started searching from one corner of the city, eventually encountering this building that gave him an odd sensation.
At first glance, it appeared to be an ordinary high-rise with a somewhat large footprint, evidently built some years ago.
But looking down from high above, the shape of the building, complemented by the surrounding flowerbeds and fountains, did indeed resemble a complete Hexagram pattern.
However, whether due to poor maintenance or some other reason, most of the plants in the flowerbeds had withered, and even the fountains had ceased to function.