Chapter 24: A Chance?

"Number One, is everything ready?" Reed asked.

Currently, he and Number One were standing on the edge of a huge altar. The altar comprised of many formations where corpses of humans and beasts were placed as sacrifices to the Skull Lord. All these formations converged to a single formation in the middle of the altar where there was a huge skull mark.

"Yes, Liaison. All sacrifices have been placed at their appropriate places. You can start making offerings to the Skull Lord. These sacrifices shall be used to make the outer shell of the Skull Lord. Once the Lord slowly starts taking over the soul of that boy, his consciousness along with all his strength shall be able to slowly manifest into this shell. If by any chance the Skull Lord stops getting the Soul Energy of that boy, his consciousness will immediately be forced out of this plane. We need to be careful about that." Number One bowed as he explained the arrangements to Reed.

"Do not worry about that boy. Once the Soul Shield weakens and the Skull Tattoo starts taking over, he will be in so much pain that he would not be able to think about anything. At that point, he would just be a source of soul energy for our Lord. Hahaha"

"Liaison, as I had mentioned before, the sacrifices here won't be enough to make the outer shell strong enough. We need to get that girl and use her as a sacrifice as well." Number one reminded.

Reed thought for a moment before he shook his head.

"Let me start the ritual first. You go alone and kill her and bring her to me once you feel that the Universal Energy in the formation has gone down. Since she is the highest quality sacrifice we have, it would be best to use all of her pure energy rather than mixing her energy with these weaker sacrifices."

"Remember, once the ritual starts, you are not to let anyone interrupt me. Even if those invaders are to reach our temple, you are on your own to defend against them. But going by the reports from our sentries, they have only made it halfway past the forest. They won't be here anytime soon."

"Also, take this pill. Just in case the Pool of Damnation is unable to weaken that brat's Soul Shield, feed it to him. This will dissipate about half of his Soul Energy, which will weaken the barrier. Remember, use it only as a last resort. If we use this pill, the lower energy available will significantly reduce the time that the Skull Lord can sustain in this plane. "

"Leave it to me, Liaison" Number One bowed respectfully.

"Good" Reed nodded as he sat down on the edge of the altar and started the ritual. As he kept on chanting incantations, the entire altar slowly started glowing with a red hue. One by one, all the formations started activating slowly and one could observe a small red-colored abomination slowly forming in the middle of the altar.

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Meanwhile, Jane was just sitting on the floor far away from the actual bath and trying to regulate her breath. It had been only about fifteen minutes and already she could feel her protective barrier starting to weaken. After all, she had used all her Universal Energy to make the barrier in her room. She had even used quite a bit of her Soul Energy to strengthen the barrier for Jason and masquerade as Jason to deceive Reed.

'Ah, I underestimated this Pool of Damnation. At this rate, I won't even be able to survive the next two hours. No, I have to survive!!! Once I fall, Reed will immediately realize that Jason is not the one in the pool and double down to capture him. I must try to maintain this feint as long as possible.'

'Damn it!! Elder Sister, please come fast. If you don't hurry it up, then both my and our mother's sacrifice will be in vain.'

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The minutes kept on passing and soon, almost two hours had passed since Reed had started the ritual. The abomination in the center of the altar was no longer tiny and had become a ten feet monster. But for the past ten minutes or so, the rate of growth had considerably slowed down.

Number One, who was watching the entire scene, finally decided to move. 'It seems like it is time to go and get that girl. Once the Universal Energy of that girl is completely fed into the altar, the formation of the outer body shall be complete.'

'I need to hurry it up. Those pesky intruders are almost at our doorsteps.' He thought as he rushed towards the living quarters.

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By now, Jason had completely given up hope of leaving the room. No matter what he tried, he simply could not find an exit. He even tried to calm his mind and at one point, literally begged for a miracle like the ones that had happened before. Sadly, he was bound to be disappointed.

'Why is it not working? Could it be that my soul knows that this is the only way that I would be safe, and hence is not taking any action? But I... I don't want to be safe. I don't want to survive this alone. I... Sob Sob'

Jason started sobbing as he remembered the few interactions he had had with Jane. Even though he had still not seen her face, he knew from her words and actions that she was a very kind and caring person. He started hating himself for not being able to do anything for the only person who had treated him with care.

Suddenly, Jason heard a demonic voice from the corridor.

"Little girl, your time has finally come to an end. Today you and your energy shall become sacrifices for our great Skull Lord. What a pity that it is you who shall be the cause of the downfall of your entire Empire. Hahaha"

Jason's eyes immediately widened when he heard the voice outside. Wasn't this the voice of Ralph, the first person whom he had met when he had arrived at the temple?

'A Chance!!!' Jason exclaimed inwardly as he called out to Number One.