Embracing the Shadow

The skull candelabrum cast a faint glow upon the tabletop, where the white bone box gleamed with a subtle silver sheen.

Once Hedy had departed, Daphne began to prepare the items Grover had delivered.

Untying the clasp that sealed the bone box, the lid slowly sprang open on its own, revealing its contents to her: a complete index finger bone, a silver-white metal candelabrum, a small vial of oil, a pair of flintstones, and a damp cloth stained dark green by an unknown liquid.

Clearly, these were all the tools required for a simple ritual, yet the very nature of the items hinted at its malevolent purpose.

Adhered to the inside of the lid was a blank fragment of parchment. Daphne used a small brush to spread the oil across its surface, and gradually, dark script began to emerge.

However, she didn’t truly need to decipher the pitifully small, hastily scrawled words, which would, in any case, vanish again within five seconds. Concurrently, a translucent azure screen silently unfurled itself at the center of her vision.

[Arsuga, Great Lord of the Ice Tomb, is the embodiment of night and winter. Before his frost-dark blade, even the scorching sun will set.]

[Fusion of Shadows Ritual]

[Ritual – Faith – Initiation]

[Death Lineage – Path of Night]

[No prerequisites. Complete the ritual to gain faith in the Path of Night.]

[Candlelight brings not only illumination, but also potentially endless darkness. Where will the shadows lead?]

[Step One: Crush night-vine branches and mix with corpse oil to create a lacquer. Soak the cloth in this lacquer, then use the cloth to coat the surface of the flintstones completely, ensuring no corner is missed.]

[Step Two: Place a humanoid’s right index finger bone upright on the candelabrum, then pour oil over it.]

[Step Three: Extinguish all other open flames. Strike the flintstones to ignite the finger bone.]

[Step Four: Embrace the night.]

There were no location requirements, no prerequisites. So long as all other open flames were extinguished before the final step, it was truly the simplest initiation ritual for faith imaginable.

This was precisely why Daphne had come here to deceive Grover: to freeload benefits under Arsuga’s name.

In this world, faith was often more challenging to acquire than a profession. Even after joining a church or sect, one typically needed to earn significant recognition and merit before officially qualifying to embark on the path of faith and become a transcendent believer.

Normally, an individual could only choose one faith and one path in their lifetime. However, the passive effect of the Death Sigil granted Daphne the option of a second, temporary faith.

She decided to adopt the Death Lineage faith as this temporary belief, losing it when she removed the ring and regaining it upon wearing it again.

To prevent another incident where she might be tackled by other girls without the power to resist, Daphne absolutely had to acquire sufficient strength for self-preservation. Every choice would be made with maximum efficiency and benefit in mind.

In other words, she would stop at nothing.

Even the Death Lineage faith, strictly forbidden within the Empire, was not off-limits. So long as it could enhance her power, Daphne would readily accept it, or even actively seek it out.

Yet, as a seasoned gamer who had experimented with various faiths across different accounts and characters in COG, the mere Path of Night stirred not a single shred of guilt within her.

After reconfirming the ritual steps, Daphne began to prepare for the ceremony.

First, she found Hedy and instructed her not to allow anyone near her room for the next two hours. Only then did she firmly close and lock the door, before clearing the tabletop, leaving behind only the bone box and the ever-present skull candelabrum.

The ritual only required extinguishing open flames before the final ignition. Until then, Daphne still needed the normal candle for illumination.

The strangely colored damp cloth was already saturated with lacquer. Her task was simply to coat the surfaces of both flintstones with this substance. Daphne wiped each stone at least three times, ensuring no gaps were left before proceeding to the next step.

Grover’s silver candelabrum featured a fixing groove, making it effortless to stand the finger bone upright. The act of pouring the oil over it was surprisingly stress-relieving.

Wiping away the spilled oil from the tabletop, Daphne prepared to execute the final step.

She took a deep breath and extinguished the table’s sole source of light. Darkness instantly enveloped the entire room, and a wisp of smoke drifted lazily upwards into the shadows.

Her retinas struggled to adapt to the gloom; she couldn’t see her own hand before her face. Relying solely on instinct, Daphne struck the flintstones in her hand, and a pale blue spark erupted between them.

Adjusting her position, she struck them again. This time, the spark landed precisely on the oil-drenched finger bone, and a spectral blue flame immediately ignited at its tip.

The flame was eerie and emitted no heat, illuminating only a tiny area around it.

Daphne waited patiently for the finger bone to melt and shorten like a candle. For a full hour, until it had completely burned away, she remained seated at the table, her gaze unwavering.

A milky-white, gelatinous substance oozed over the candelabrum and even dripped onto the tabletop. The moment the spectral blue flame vanished, Daphne perceived a mass of pitch-black fire at the center of the candelabrum.

This was highly unusual.

Given that everything around her was cloaked in darkness, a black flame should have been utterly invisible.

The black flame in her vision intensified and expanded, devouring everything. Ultimately, it engulfed Daphne herself, who sat before the table. In the boundless darkness, she saw a shadow, with black light casting from behind it.

Her body gradually tilted and fell towards the ground, while the ground itself seemed to tilt and rise towards her. She was merging with her own shadow.

She was no longer herself.

Walking across a lightless, frozen wasteland, she felt a gaze descend upon her from the distant, mountain-like ice tomb where the Skeleton God was sealed within its throne.

It glanced her way.

She realized that the shadow was her, and she was the shadow. When endless night arrived, she would be omnipresent.

****

Awakening from the ritual-induced illusion, Daphne felt her head throb intensely, accompanied by a rhythmic buzzing sound.

There had been no black flame. The fire had simply extinguished after the finger bone burned away; everything after that was merely a vision granted by the ritual.

Daphne first relit the normal candle in the skull candelabrum to restore illumination to the room, and only then did she begin to examine her current state.

By all indications, the ritual seemed to be complete.

She could now discern the boundary between light and shadow more clearly than before, even sensing where she could hide to evade sight and illumination. This was evidently one of the changes brought by the Path of Night.

As her thoughts flickered, the screen promptly unfolded in her vision.

[Daphne – Female – Half-Blood (Succubus Physique)]

[No Profession]

[Death Lineage – Path of Night (Sequence 9) – Shadow Walker (Additional Faith)]

[Life 100%]

[No Mana]

[Skill: Shadow Sprint Lv1 (Shadow Walker)]

[Spells: Lightfire (Half-Blood Talent), Blood Disguise (Half-Blood Talent), Mage Hand (Half-Blood Talent), Pain Lash Lv1 (Shadow Walker)]

[Traits: Light-Dark Vision (Shadow Walker), Night Conservation Lv1 (Shadow Walker)]

A new skill, a new spell, and two new traits. The improvements gained from acquiring this faith were significant; Daphne had certainly made the right choice in coming here.