A faint light streamed through the narrow, colorful high windows, making the dimness inside Morse Church slightly more visible.
Klein sat quietly on the first seat on the left side of the aisle, his top hat resting on his knee, his cane leaning against his leg, staring at the altar ahead.
There was no statue enshrined there, only a huge dark holy emblem with deep black as its base and sparkling dots clustering around exactly half of a crimson moon.
On the wall behind the emblem, holes were bored one after another, letting in sunlight from outside that condensed into pure, tiny points of light. They connected with the surrounding almost night-like environment, transforming into a sublime starry sky.
Whether it was the
He thought that such matters required caution, patience, and waiting; for the first ten minutes or so, Leonard and Keenley might come in at any time to remind him of certain precautions.
In the absolute silence, time flew by quickly. Klein suddenly came to his senses, took out a silver pocket watch with vine patterns, snapped it open, and looked at it.
"Twenty minutes have passed..." he muttered silently, placed the semi-top hat and the black silver-inlaid walking stick aside, rose, and walked to a relatively concealed corner near the altar.
He first faced the side of the altar, but as soon as he saw the huge dark holy emblem and the sacred sight like a projection of the night sky, he felt an inexplicable guilt and discomfort, so he turned around, back to the altar.
Then Klein removed the sealed artifact "3-0782" that he wore inside his black tailcoat, bent down, and placed this ancient-looking dark gold emblem on the floor.
Glancing at the abstract "Sun" symbol, Klein took out a short candle blended with sandalwood and placed it directly under the sealed artifact "3-0782".
This was the dual ritual method he had "learned" from the "Eternal Sun": use an object closely related to the deity to directly symbolize Him, and use a candle to represent oneself.
Taking a breath to calm his slightly tense mood, Klein took out the ritual items one by one: a carving knife, two thin gold sheets, "Sun" essential oil extracted from a mixture of black-edged, gold-edged, and white-edged suns, golden bergamot powder, and rosemary powder.
After doing all this, Klein skillfully used a ritual silver dagger to guide spiritual flow, circled around the crude "altar", and created an invisible, sealed wall.
He crouched down, set the dagger aside, extended his right hand, and, using spiritual friction, lit the candle representing himself.
In the flickering yellow light, Klein picked up the "Sun" essential oil and dripped a drop onto the flame.
Suddenly, an illusory mist spread, carrying a faint scent of sunshine.
After burning the golden bergamot and rosemary powder, Klein took the carving knife and gold sheets, stood up, stepped back, and recited in Ancient Hermetic: "Blood of the Eternal Sun."
"You are the Undying Light, the Embodiment of Order, the God of Contracts, the Guardian of Commerce."
...
"Undying Light, Embodiment of Order, God of Contracts, Guardian of Commerce" are part of the honorary titles of the "Eternal Sun". Without the prefix "Blood of the Eternal Sun", the ritual would require a response from the deity to continue, and if so, Klein suspected the "Eternal Sun" would recognize him as the insolent one who had stared directly at Him, and then Leonard and Keenley would come in only to see a pile of black ash.
Moreover, the ritual had to be conducted in Ancient Hermetic, a sacrificial language directly derived from nature. Only this unprotected but effective language could allow the incantation to bypass the "Eternal Sun" and be directed to the "Variant Sun Holy Emblem".
Meanwhile, because he was stealing the power of a deity, Klein could not divine in advance whether things would go smoothly, as he thought that would make him face the deity directly again. So he had to hold his breath and carefully recite the subsequent incantations: "I pray to You;"
"I pray You grant me power;"
"Grant me the power to complete the Sunfire Talisman."
"Blood of the Eternal Sun, please transfer your power to my talisman..."
"Golden bergamot, herb of the sun domain, please transfer your power to my talisman..."
...
As the incantation neared its end, Klein suddenly felt something light up before his eyes.
The ancient dark gold emblem burst into intense radiance, like a sun descending upon the earth.
Klein was instantly engulfed in extreme heat; his hair rapidly grew hot, as if about to ignite.
His feet felt like they were barefoot on yellow sand under noon sunlight, while his face and body were repeatedly scoured and polished by fierce winds blowing from all directions.
At that moment, he felt he must do something to channel and release that burning power, or else he would turn into a human candle.
Almost without thinking, Klein raised his hands, and while his thoughts were boiling like hot porridge, relying on the coordination of spirituality and the fierce wind, following instinctive memory and the guidance of the ritual, he began to carve symbolic symbols, corresponding spiritual numbers, magical marks, and ancient incantations on both sides of the gold sheets.
Outside the church, Leonard was standing in the shadow, avoiding the direct afternoon sunlight.
Suddenly, he noticed that the sunlight had become fierce, like the hottest days in early July.
He squinted, looking up at the sky, where the blue "curtain" had no clouds, no dust, so clear it was admirable.
"Strange weather," Keenley on the other side also noticed the change in sunlight.
Leonard was about to chuckle in response when he suddenly turned his head.
His brows slightly furrowed as he gazed appraisingly at the church.
"Fortunately, Roshan is not here, or she would complain that the sun darkened her skin," Leonard said, retracting his gaze with a smile.
The fierce sunlight lasted only a few minutes and gradually dimmed, everything returning to its original state.
Inside the church, Klein's carving knife was finishing the last stroke.
With the completion of the magical mark symbolizing "light", the spirituality on both sides of the gold sheet suddenly connected into a whole and concentrated into the innermost part of the metal.