Chapter 561: Ritual

Kai made his way to the bottom of the altar and stood in the middle of the circle.

"What am I going to do now?" Kai asked with a calm expression.

"The ritual is divided into four phases. The first phase is Preparation. In this phase, your body will be conditioned to suit the Crown Jewel's energy. This will be a phase where you will experience pain because it feels like your blood is sucked outside and getting an injection at the same time. The rate will be rapid, making it painful.

"However, it's not your blood flowing. Instead, it's your Magic Particles. Whatever you are experiencing in this situation, you still need to be awake because there is a big difference in what your body can do when you are asleep and awake.

"The Crown Jewel will do the entire process, so you don't need to care about it. What you need to focus on is to endure the pain.

"Also, the process will take a long time, so I will help you with everything you need. Even if it's too painful for you, you still need to eat, drink and do activities normally. This way, you don't need to adjust yourself in the next step because your body has been working normally.

"After that, the second step will be like what I said… Adjustment. However, we don't have enough time to do this, so we would like you to do that during the first phase. Of course, if you think you can't endure it anymore, you're free to fall unconscious. It's like a state of coma, but the Crown Jewel will be waking you up at the last second.

"And if your body is enduring that kind of pain when you are asleep, I'm sure what will happen to your body. You won't be able to move a muscle for a few months and therapy is needed.

"Then, we are moving to the third phase. This phase is called Assimilation. After gradually changing your Magic Particles in the first phase, your body will also gather the original Magic Particles that have been expelled from your body.

"These two will clash with each other for a while and the Crown Jewel will take over to stop the conflict, achieving balance in your body. Of course, this is a painful process. The record said it's like two small creatures flowing inside your blood while piercing through your flesh to kill each other.

"Last but not least, the Closing Process. The Crown Jewel is finally in your possession in this situation and you will need to try and make a connection between you and the Crown Jewel. You will adjust yourself to know how to borrow the power from the Crown Jewel and other things. That's all. If you are ready to do it, you can proceed by channeling your power into the Magic Circle.

"The Magic Circle will distribute your power and start absorbing your power a bit to maintain its power. I wish you luck." Arba finished her explanation and took a step back.

Kai closed his eyes and nodded. "Can I sit?"

"Make yourself comfortable."

Kai then sat down on the floor, closed his eyes, and started concentrating.

Even though he had prepared for this, confronting it head-on still made his heart racing. He didn't know what would happen if he started this magic circle. But this was something he needed to do.

Despite taking ten minutes to calm his heart and maintain his focus, Kai finally poured his power into the Magic Circle.

As Arba explained earlier, the Magic Circle started to absorb the power in his body. Yellow light coming from the Magic Circle began to shine.

But Kai didn't even open his eyes and kept continuing his task.

When the Magic Circle was glowing in every corner, the pillar started to light up, making its way to the Crown Jewel.

As if responding to the invasion of the Magic Power into its very core, the Crown Jewel released its power as well, inverting all the Magic Power backward. The glow turned green, matching the Crown Jewel's color.

With all the color changed, all that was left was for Kai to feel the energy.

Suddenly, he felt his body starting to heat up as if the room gradually became an oven.

What actually happened was the light in the Magic Circle began to change color rapidly from yellow to green to yellow to green again.

It kept changing between two colors back and forth as if the two colors clashed. This was the representation of the clash between the two powers.

Unfortunately, everything changed the moment the yellow's glow lost and disappeared.

The power of the Crown Jewel began to invade his body.

His fingertips started to feel that change. The intense heat his body experienced earlier was concentrated in his fingertips. It didn't stop there, Kai suddenly experienced something that jolted his mind as he couldn't help but scream.

"Argh!"

Kai opened his eyes and started gasping for air. He certainly wasn't prepared for that.

He instinctively raised his right hand but found nothing other than his normal hand. After that, the pain struck again.

"!!!" Kai gritted his teeth and endured it this time. The pain felt like someone hammering a nail on his palm. If it were to stop there, Kai would be able to maintain his calm, but he once again started screaming.

"Argh!"

The pain turned out to be spreading. From his palm to the fingertips as though his nails were being pulled by a mysterious force, then it started to move to his arms before making their way to his body, his heart, and his brain.

The pain was several times more painful than what he endured to control the Lion blood in his body and become a Zodiac.

But little did he know this torture was just started. The pain he experienced right now couldn't be compared to what he would experience later.

Luckily, Arba and Aston had prepared the robe for him. The cooling effect tried to prevent as much sweat as possible to avoid dehydration, while the electrocuting effect numbed his senses to lessen the pain.

This was the time Kai started his endless fight with the Crown Jewel. A fight that was filled with an endless scream.

"Argghh!!!"