Selena clenched her fists suddenly, and the minute barbs on the metal wires directly pierced into her bionic skin. The intense pain transmitted through her receptors to her brain, making her entire body stiffen for a moment.
The system was still being reinstalled, and the basic system did not have the function to actively shut down the pain receptors.
Moreover, the power she could muster at the moment was not enough to break free from the electromagnetic handcuffs and the metal wires entwined by He Ao, so she temporarily gave up on that idea.
She had now realized that He Ao didn't seem to really intend to kill her.
······
He appeared to be a villain with principles.
And his principle was to abide by the law.
Selena always felt that there was something wrong with either the world or herself.
But she didn't have time to ponder these things now, as she watched He Ao start to set up the ritual items, preparing to make another effort, "Yezola···"
"What is not forbidden by law is permitted."
This time, He Ao didn't even lift his head, directly interrupting her.
······
Selena found she couldn't quite argue with him.
The other party, although seeming like a rational madman, appeared to have a more rigorous logic than her own.
Feeling that Selena had quieted down, He Ao breathed a sigh of relief.
She talked too much. If she spoke again, He Ao would have to consider using a tentacle to plug her mouth.
Previously, when Job and his team were setting up the ritual items, they were not very accurate in their placements; they were not professional at all, and such haphazard summoning greatly increased the risk of failure.
This was one of the reasons why He Ao had to step in and interrupt them.
At such a crucial juncture concerning the completion of the mission, it was better for him to handle it personally.
He Ao sketched a complete septagram on the outside of the ritual array and placed an old elementary school textbook, exercise books, fountain pens, a damaged backpack, a dry ink bottle, human skull fragments, and human finger bones, in clockwise order, at the seven points of the septagram.
The septagram, in the esoteric significance of this world, represents the pursuit of knowledge, the exploration of the unknown.
The seven items He Ao had placed -- the textbooks, exercise books, fountain pens, backpack, ink bottle representing 'student', skull fragments representing 'wisdom and thought', and finger bones representing 'writing and recording' -- when combined, symbolically signified a 'seeker of knowledge'.
In esotericism, the clockwise placement means positive and devout, while counterclockwise would mean negative and apostasy.
This ritual was to communicate with the God of Knowledge; the esoteric significance of the entire ritual could be summarized as: a devout seeker of knowledge.
This was the image most favored by the God of Knowledge and most likely to attract the deity's attention. If placed haphazardly as Job and his subordinates had done, it could fail to catch the God of Knowledge's eye or even attract the gaze of other, more insane and savage Evil Gods.
As all items were set in place, a pale white glow lit up again within the ritual array, and the summoning array, which was already painted inside the septagram, integrated sufficient sacrifices to offer flesh and strength for the Advent of the God of Knowledge's Offspring.
He Ao watched the array light up, took a step back, and casually shifted the metal box near the ritual to his rear.
The summoning ritual he had set up seemed to be much to the liking of the God of Knowledge, and before long, he felt a deep and majestic gaze cast from the endless void upon him.
And with this gaze came a boundless influx of knowledge.
Like water rushing into a shriveled balloon, this knowledge surged into his brain instantly. It was twisted and insane, relentlessly battering his thoughts. In that moment, due to the excessive information processing, his brain overheated from the energy consumption, creating wisps of smoke above his head.
Yet, while his brain was nearly burnt out from the overclocking, he didn't feel discomfort; instead, a sincere sense of comfort and joy arose from the bottom of his heart. That joy, filled with intense obsession and pleasure, even made him murmur to himself,
"I love studying; studying brings me joy."
"All things will fade, but the Truth is infinite,"
a solemn and compassionate voice like the sound of a grand bell echoed in He Ao's mind.
"All things will fade, but the Truth is infinite,"
followed by the chanting and prayers of countless people. He Ao's thoughts seemed to be drawn in by these voices, gradually merging with them.
After summoning the Offspring of the God of Knowledge, the priest would have the opportunity to merge with the body of the God of Knowledge, and thereby obtain eternal life.
Selena stared dully at He Ao's massive body, watching the smoke rising from his head, his tightly closed eyes, and the murmurs from his mouth, "I love to study."
This scene seemed somewhat comical, yet Selena could not muster even the slightest laugh.
Because the brilliance of the mighty Ritual Array was growing stronger, and the gaze that crossed through the void was becoming more pronounced.
Some mad knowledge even began to flow into her mind under the scrutiny of this gaze.
At that moment, she couldn't care less about the pain, twisting her body, hopping and jumping in an attempt to destroy the still-glowing Ritual Array.
He Ao had just effortlessly interrupted the ritual held by Job and the others; there must be a way to disrupt this Array, perhaps by disrupting the arrangement of the Sacrifices.
However, she had only taken a few steps when a giant tentacle stretched out, once again wrapping around her and suspending her behind it.
"Yezola! Wake up! This Evil God clearly intends to devour you!"
She struggled fiercely, not caring about the intense pain from the metal wires slicing through her skin, trying desperately to break free from He Ao's binds.
Although she didn't know much, the introductory materials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation recorded some cases of summoning rituals for the Evil God's Offspring—normal summonings would absolutely not affect the summoner. The only ritual that would affect the summoner was one particular kind—where the summoner themselves were one of the Sacrifices of the ritual.
However, He Ao seemed completely deaf to her shouting, simply looking down and mumbling like a fool.
The ritual was still taking effect.
In that pure white light, the vague outline of a huge, hefty book about two meters wide and three meters long began to emerge, floating in the center,
pure white light surged into its body, and an endless, profound aura of Qi escaped from it.
It seemed to be a compilation of all knowledge, the embodiment of the world's Truth.
Under the influx of those pure white lights, the Phantom Shadow of the book was rapidly solidifying.
As it became more solid, a concave arc gradually appeared on the book's cover.
Selena's armor progress bar had reached 80%, and in just over ten minutes, she would regain her strength.
But, quite obviously, the Phantom Shadow of the book was solidifying faster than she was recovering.
Time passed by bit by bit, and the book had almost reached a truly solid state, with the arc becoming more and more distinct—it was a tightly closed eye.
Selena watched the solidification of the Evil God's Offspring in despair, unable to think of any way to escape from here once the Evil God's Offspring truly manifested.
She couldn't even begin to imagine the damage this Evil God's Offspring could do, how many innocents would die at its hands.
And it was in her moment of despair that a crisp sound appeared in He Ao's mind.
[Ding——]
[Mission Completed]
In that instant, He Ao, as if he had lost his sanity, immersed in prayer, suddenly opened his eyes.