Captain's cabin of the "Doe."
Within the spiritual wall, Silas burned the herbs in the metal pot to completion and dripped essential oil into the candle symbolizing himself. The air began to fill with a mysterious and ethereal strange scent.
He was going to attempt to summon a messenger.
So-called messengers are essentially creatures living in the spirit world. They are familiar with the spirit world's environment and can move freely within it. What Beyonders need to advance to mid-sequence to use, "spirit world traversal," is instinct for them, so naturally they can easily cross the barrier of distance and deliver letters.
Before the ritual began, Silas went over the messenger summoning incantation Klein had provided one more time in his mind.
Although he could also create his own incantation based on the ritual's principles, doing so might add unnecessary trouble. Better to directly use "proven methods" that had already been confirmed reliable.
The first section of the summoning incantation was fixed, and must include descriptions like "wandering in illusion" and "traveling in the upper realms" to point toward the spirit world. As for what the specific descriptions in the second and third sections were, that depended on the summoner's needs.
Regarding this part, Klein had specifically reminded Silas to pay attention to safety. Because spirit world creatures are unpredictable. Some have twisted personalities and harbor malice toward the living; some inherently carry toxins or curses and can harm people even without malicious intent. So when summoning, the description of the messenger in the incantation must be very clear and precise.
However, having been a Secrets Suppliant, Silas naturally didn't need to worry about controlling the ritual.
He stared at the burning candle, stepped back, then spoke loudly in ancient Hermes:
"I!"
"I summon in my name:"
"A spirit wandering in illusion, a friendly creature that can be commanded, a powerful existence with sufficient sense of responsibility."
The first two sections mimicked Klein's, while the third incantation was Silas's own creation. The incantation balanced the messenger's strength and character, eliminating worry about being attacked mid-delivery, and also ensuring the messenger would conscientiously deliver letters to the target's hands.
"Boom!"
As the incantation was spoken, the candle's flame instantly turned chilling green, and a peculiar existence, as if passing through a membrane, slowly burrowed into the real world. Its appearance resembled a giant serpent, except that membranous wings grew from its body.
It has wings, so it can probably fly... With such a large body, its strength should be guaranteed. Although it doesn't look as impressive as that lady with four heads, it's still pretty good.
Silas thought to himself, then spoke in a deep voice. "Are you willing to become my messenger?"
"Hiss, hiss..."
The giant serpent raised its head, flicking its tongue as it turned its head toward him, seemingly confirming the summoner's appearance.
However, the next instant, intense emotion suddenly surged in the serpent's vertical pupils, and then without hesitation it turned its head, rapidly beat its wings and burrowed into the void, disappearing from sight.
"Bang!"
The candlelight exploded and extinguished, leaving only a wisp of white smoke slowly rising.
"...Huh?"
Silas froze.
Everything happened too quickly, too unexpectedly. It took him a full second or two to comprehend the situation.
What just happened?
That spirit world creature ran away?
Why? Didn't I successfully summon it? Even if it doesn't want to be my messenger, it could refuse. We could part on good terms. There's no need to flee so violently!
Speechless, Silas walked to the altar, scanning left and right, finally confirming that the creature had truly left.
Since he could successfully summon a spirit world creature, it meant the ritual itself had no problems. Perhaps it was just that this particular creature was special and didn't want to be a messenger. Speculating this way, he lit the candle once more and recited the incantation again:
"I!"
"I summon in my name:"
"A spirit wandering in illusion, a friendly creature that can be commanded, a Beyonder willing to become a messenger."
Silas slightly modified the descriptive incantation. This way, the creature summoned would definitely be an existence willing to become a messenger, not someone who would flee directly like just now.
"Boom!"
The candle ignited with orange light, and an existence resembling a hunting dog quickly emerged. Its body was much smaller than the previous giant serpent. It had six legs, and upon entering reality, it immediately began happily running in circles, its ears flapping up and down, looking very energetic and joyful.
That works too. It looks pretty likable...
Silas seemed infected by its happiness and asked with a smile, "Are you willing to become my messenger?"
The phantom dog that had been running happily stopped and looked at Silas...
"Squeak!"
It let out a mournful cry, tucked its tail between its legs, its six legs slipping as its belly scraped the ground, fleeing desperately in the direction away from Silas, and just like that, it dove into the void in terror and vanished!
"This..."
Even if Silas was slow, by now he should have realized something was wrong. The creatures of the spirit world seemed to fear him, to reject him.
He felt puzzled by this.
In Tingen, he had also held rituals to summon spirit world creatures and successfully communicated with them. Something that could be accomplished as a Sequence 9 with the lowest spirituality, how could it not work now after becoming Sequence 4?
After this, Silas tried several more times. Although he attempted to modify the incantation to descriptions like "mentally resilient" and "willing to communicate with people," without exception, every spirit world creature summoned developed resistance to him. In the end, even after reciting the incantation, no existence was willing to respond anymore.
This can actually happen...
Silas ended the ritual both amused and exasperated.
Standing before the messy altar, he fell into thought.
Where did things go wrong?
Silas didn't think it was Klein's fault, deliberately providing him with an incorrect incantation or anything like that. Because having been a Secrets Suppliant, he could confirm that this ritual was reasonable in both process and incantation setup.
In other words, the problem might lie with himself.
In Tingen, Silas could communicate with spirit world creatures. In Backlund, after becoming a Shepherd, he had also communicated with Red Light Aiur Moria. Even recently, he had entered the spirit world due to the island's spatial turbulence, and there were no abnormalities...
So the problem arose after advancing to Sequence 4. Did some change occur in his body after becoming a Black Knight?
Silas thought of the shadow beneath him, thought of that tower rising from the sea surface.
Right, Red Light!
"Swish."
He quickly pulled out a substitution paper figure from his chest and placed it on the altar. Then he took out two more candles, lit them together with the previous one, and then sprinkled essential oil and other items. After completing the preparations, he opened his mouth and recited in ancient Hermes:
"I!"
"I pray in my name."
"I pray to communicate with 'the never-fading light of the spirit world, embodiment of endless knowledge, the Red of authority and will'..."
As the prayer was recited, Silas saw all three candle flames expand simultaneously, connecting into one piece, forming a light door.
A cold wind blew past, and all the items on the altar floated into the air. The paper figure had already swayed upright, dyed with rich, pure red light.
Red Light had descended.