Chapter 74: The Pre-determined Script

On the stage, the nuns’ hymn gradually reached its climax.

At the center of the stage, the massive White Crystal symbolizing the White Church radiated a gentle and warm light.

The warmth from this light seemed to dispel the chill brought by the night wind.

The crowd was lost in this sacred glow and melody, temporarily forgetting their troubles, and also the approaching storm.

Litt watched the performance on stage, though calling it a performance was perhaps inaccurate—it felt more like a prayer.

Even many of the White Church’s followers below the stage unconsciously clasped their hands in prayer.

Seeing this, Litt imitated them, offering a perfunctory prayer, her face still adorned with that nearly perfect, gentle smile.

Yet even as the smile hung on her lips, her attention was fixed on the small fishing boat.

Calm… an eerily unnatural calm.

All eyes were on the stage; it was as if no one cared about that shabby boat, as if everything was simply Litt’s overactive imagination.

But just as everyone’s attention was focused on the stage, Litt suddenly sensed a faint ripple of magical power, subtle as a pebble dropped into a deep pond, sinking into that little boat.

This ripple wasn’t a sustained spellcasting, but more like the flick of a switch, instantly activated.

At that instant, beneath the hull, in a place where traces had previously been erased, several deep purple vein-like markings suddenly lit up.

These markings weren’t obvious in the dim light, yet they exuded a sickeningly sinister aura.

This must be the Sacrificial Ritual Baphiste had spoken of?

Litt froze.

The Sacrificial Ritual had been activated, but from the beginning of the festival until now, she hadn’t seen anyone board that small boat.

There was an array, yes, but what about the sacrifice?

An array without a sacrifice—isn’t that just fishing for nothing?

Litt was starting to get it, but the surrounding crowd still hadn’t noticed anything unusual about the boat.

Just as Litt was pondering what to do next, apart from the deep purple glow, another color appeared atop the boat.

Soon, an extremely complex, multi-layered geometric three-dimensional array manifested, hovering above the hull.

The moment she saw this array, Litt’s pupils contracted sharply.

A Teleportation Array?!

And as the Teleportation Array appeared, the Sacrificial Array beneath the boat was fully activated as well, a more twisted, ominous array enveloping the entire vessel.

Almost simultaneously, at the exact instant both arrays shone, there was a dull “thud”—and a petite figure materialized out of thin air, tossed like a rag doll, landing heavily on the boat.

Even from a distance, Litt saw clearly who it was.

It was the long-missing Tessaia.

She was unconscious, lying motionless on the swaying boat.

A sharp pain stabbed Litt’s mind as images in her memory grew clear.

In the midst of a storm, on that unsteady boat, it had been Litt and Tessaia.

This must be the scene from the original script, where Litt, in order to save Tessaia, had no choice but to risk her life and board the boat.

But the situation now was definitely different from the original script.

She had taken the real Litt’s place, but she didn’t possess the same kindness as the original Litt.

The choice to save or not was now hers alone.

At this moment, some people in the crowd finally noticed the strange happenings on the distant boat, and saw the unconscious Tessaia lying there.

But because Tessaia was a demon, they only whispered among themselves, and not a single one chose to step forward and rescue her.

Observing the people around her, Litt mused to herself.

To risk one’s life—was it really necessary?

“Boom!”

Raindrops, large as beans, began to fall, first sparsely, then in a steady torrent, thunder rumbling again and again.

On stage, the Holy Father wiped sweat from his brow at the sight.

“Uh… seems we miscalculated.”

The sudden arrival of the storm had caught everyone off guard.

The howling wind seemed poised to overturn the small boat at any moment.

If not for the rope tethering it, the boat would probably have already been swept out to sea.

Confronted by the evil-looking array and the sweeping storm, no one present dared approach the boat to rescue anyone.

Their reactions were almost identical to those depicted in the script.

No…?

Did she… forget something?

As Litt was considering whether to save Tessaia, she suddenly froze.

The script…

Right, this wasn’t truly reality, but rather a “dropped out of the team” genre novel.

Since this was a preordained script, how could they possibly write the heroine’s death into it?

If they really did that, the readers would demand the author’s head!

Which meant, Red must already be on the way.

Her memories of the script didn’t provide the next scene, but Litt had every reason to believe that in the next part, Red would surely appear to save the day.

Would she choose to trust that Red would come, or play it safe and protect herself?

Litt took a deep breath.

Amid the stunned stares of the crowd, she walked into the storm.

“Litt, what are you doing?!”

The Holy Father behind her tried to grab her, but she slipped away with a quick turn.

She then turned back, wearing the same pure and kind smile as always, and said to everyone,

“The Lord embraces all things. Having received the Lord’s teachings, I cannot simply stand by and do nothing.”

With that, Litt dashed toward the small boat as fast as she could.

From what she remembered of the script, Red only showed up to save the day after the original Litt boarded the boat.

So the first thing she needed to do was completely destroy the Sacrificial Array that was currently in operation.

The moment Litt rushed out, the church personnel of Night Bright Town were thrown into chaos.

They scrambled to light the White Flame Torch, symbolizing the Holy Light’s protection, its white blaze flickering wildly in the gale.

But compared to Litt, their movements were far too slow.

By the time they reached the shore, Litt had already climbed onto the swaying boat.

She took out the False Codex, chanting an obscure incantation, while placing one hand on the core of the Sacrificial Ritual that had risen above the surface.

As her chant ended, a surge of pure, cleansing Holy Light erupted, instantly shattering the Sacrificial Array.

With the array destroyed, the unconscious Tessaia finally woke up.

Though the girl was normally brave, she had never seen such a violent storm before, and immediately panicked and burst into tears.

“It’s alright, let’s get back to shore first.”

Litt hadn’t expected the plan to go so smoothly.

Just as she was about to take Tessaia back to shore—

“Snap!”

The taut rope finally reached its limit, unable to withstand the strain of the storm, and snapped on the spot.