I, the wizard, the foolish Buddha

Although Roland's depictions of gods were always a bit off, his artistic attainments were at a master level.

Therefore, he could offer insightful critiques.

In his opinion, the Fatty's work had inherent problems, unrelated to Heraka. So he just needed to speak the truth.

Among those present, no one understood painting and sculpture better than him, except for the Fatty.

Thus, Roland's and the Fatty's words carried authority.

After the Fatty critiqued Roland's strange, abstract paintings, many ladies showed very odd expressions.

But as Roland critiqued the Fatty's paintings, everyone revealed extremely surprised expressions.

The Fatty turned his head stiffly to look at Roland, giving him a very venomous glare—Little brat, since you're playing these tricks with me, don't blame me for being ruthless later.

Roland was stunned by his glare and responded, "My Lord, why do you say that? I'm helping you!"

The Fatty grunted and turned his head away, ignoring Roland.

Roland looked at his own work, his expression gradually becoming strange.

He thought to himself, 'Is it that I've glimpsed the true Heraka, and others haven't seen it clearly? Or is what they see the real Heraka, and what I see is another god?'

Many ladies were also very puzzled by this question.

The three Holy Maidens and the Countess Windysha whispered to each other for a while.

One of the Holy Maidens asked, "Are you sure that after you and the Earl used these paintings for contemplation, the Lord of Withered Blood bestowed blessings upon you?"

The Countess said, "My dear husband has already stepped halfway into the divine kingdom. He's now contained in a jar; you all saw it at noon, didn't you?"

Many ladies couldn't help but become conflicted.

Some felt that using Roland as a sacrifice would be most accurate. Others believed that sacrificing 'Earl Duncan' (the Fatty) would be the most stable.

At this moment, everyone heard Roland make a final summary: "...In summary, my work and that of Earl Duncan are two extremes."

After a pause, Roland looked at the Fatty and said, "It seems that neither of us can convince the other."

The Fatty, Baron Duncan, suddenly trembled slightly, giving Roland a grateful look—So that's what you're planning, kid. I didn't expect you to be so calm and collected at such a young age. Your strategy is more thorough than mine; now, they won't act rashly against us.

Sure enough, after hearing Roland's words, many ladies were slightly stunned and began to discuss in low voices.

It must be said that Roland was very quick-witted. He could always see the essence of the problem—the most important thing in this sacrifice isn't finding the right person, but avoiding choosing the wrong one!

Now, Roland and Duncan were two extremes; one of them must be the most accurate person, and the other the most wrong.

For the sake of stability, it would definitely be more appropriate to use them two last.

Therefore, after Roland pointed out that 'we are two extremes,' they were safe.

Unless absolutely necessary, the Cultists of Withered Blood would never use them two to summon Heraka.

Roland breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

Originally, the two could have cooperated sincerely, but he had just offended that Lord, causing him to want to perish together with Roland.

He was terrified.

Now, the Withered Blood believers should temporarily not touch him.

But what to do next?

There were too many people here. The number of people who came yesterday was far more than imagined.

Just the Countess plus those three strange Holy Maidens were troublesome enough. There was also a large group of people in the adjacent hall. From their mental fluctuations, Roland sensed the auras of many quasi-Tier 2 wizards!

Roland's concern now wasn't whether he could escape from here.

He was worried that his senior apprentice sister would come looking for him in two hours.

She didn't know the situation here yet; coming here would be suicide!

Before entering this painting room, one couldn't sense the magic radiation here and in the main hall. She couldn't possibly know there were so many people here.

He absolutely couldn't wait for his senior apprentice sister to come; he had to find a way to leave first.

Roland couldn't help but give the Fatty a look—My Lord, you came early; do you have any plans?

Roland hoped that the Fatty could create some commotion later. As long as everyone's attention was drawn to him, Roland was confident that he could have his clone come over quietly.

The Fatty smiled back at Roland—Don't panic; they can only sacrifice a maximum of two people a day. As long as I can survive today, I'll have a way to get you out of here.

The Fatty had no confidence in dealing with those three Holy Maidens; the Countess alone was enough to give him a headache.

But these people couldn't watch him all the time. He had some special trump cards and had the confidence to escape.

Roland was overjoyed in his heart.

He didn't put all his bets on the Fatty. When disaster strikes, everyone flies away on their own. If he encountered trouble when escaping, the Fatty would only care about himself.

Taking him along was probably with the idea of having an extra cannon fodder. Or perhaps he was simply regarded as a portable 'biscuit,' to replenish blood and save lives at a critical moment.

However, as long as he could get through today, he could run away without the Fatty's help.

The Withered Blood wizards couldn't possibly keep so many people watching them all the time.

As long as he was locked in a prison later, he could leave.

Roland and the Fatty both breathed a sigh of relief; they each had their own plans, but they were both praying that they wouldn't be chosen first.

The other gentlemen, however, were still acting like fools, vying for favor and recommending themselves.

They puffed out their chests, elegantly displaying their demeanor, and participating in the ladies' discussions.

After these people inadvertently recommended themselves, the eyes of the three Holy Maidens gradually brightened, and they secretly selected two of them.

Roland and the Fatty knew they had escaped this calamity when they saw the way the Holy Maidens stared at those three people.

The two couldn't help but smile at each other.

Countess Windysha smiled and said, "You all have probably seen that many people are walking in the art gallery outside. At the end of the art gallery is the 'Windysha Chapel' within the Withered Blood Fortress.

To be honest, after the Withered Blood family obtained the Path of Truth of the Goddess Heraka, they built this chapel to facilitate the observation and description of the Goddess Heraka.

However, the statue of the goddess in the chapel has never been perfect.

The reason I specially invited everyone here today is actually to hope that you can help the Withered Blood Fortress create a statue of the Goddess Heraka, to help us study the Path of Truth of Heraka."

The Countess made up a bunch of nonsense, meaning that this work required three people, so others might have come for nothing.

However, she hoped that everyone could stay here for a few more days, with a bit of intention to have others assist the two main forces.

And whether they were used or not, they would be given a generous reward.

A gentleman smiled and said, "Honorable Countess, you notified us about the matter of the statue of Heraka in the Windysha Chapel long ago. We have all specially made time for this and have no problem staying here for as long as it takes."

Many gentlemen echoed his sentiment.

One of the gentlemen stated that Lord Roland's works were too different from everyone else's. He very bluntly stated that Roland might not be suitable to participate in this cooperation.

Many gentlemen echoed his sentiment.

It wasn't that they were deliberately making trouble, but the matter of the statue was related to the Path of Heraka, which was a very sensitive matter.

And Roland was a Black Abyss wizard!

He wasn't one of them!

Could they let this outsider learn all the results of everyone's hard work?

Although it was a foregone conclusion that Her Highness Catherine would bring Black Abyss wizards into the Twilight Council in the future, these traitors had to be guarded against!

If this kid was really powerful, then the nature of the problem would be that everyone was learning Heraka's mysticism from him.

The Twilight wizards would naturally be very happy for this double agent to leak the mysticism of the Black Abyss.

But the situation was now reversed!

Therefore, Roland no longer needed to stay here, did he?

Of course, they didn't say it so bluntly.

And in order to drive Roland away, some even directly said that a mudblood participating in sculpting the statue of Heraka was a desecration of this goddess!

This trash was not worthy!

This was using an excuse to say what was on their minds.

After hearing this, Roland really thanked these gentlemen's eighteen generations of ancestors in his heart.

He really hoped that the Countess would let him go because of this, but the Countess obviously wouldn't.

Sure enough, the Countess smiled and spoke well of Roland, 'retaining' Roland.

At this time, three quasi-Tier 2 wizards walked over from the adjacent main hall.

They asked the Countess if she had already selected the people, and the Countess took those two selected fools to the main hall with the three wizards.

Among the Withered Blood wizards in the room, the Countess, a Tier 2 early-stage powerhouse, was gone, leaving only the three Holy Maidens without eyelids, the Baroness, and a dozen female officials—or rather, priestesses.

The Fatty seemed very afraid of those three Holy Maidens. He gave Roland a look, telling him not to mess around.

Roland looked at the three Holy Maidens and couldn't help but think of the three high-level apprentices in the forbidden area.

He immediately understood the horror of these three guys. How could he dare to mess around.

Taking this opportunity, Roland wanted to see the situation in the main hall over there, but found that the door was closed.

He didn't dare to probe around with his divine sense over there, so he learned about the ritual in the adjacent main hall from the Fatty.

The Fatty didn't know what the Withered Blood wizards were going to do, but he seemed to have peeked at the magic array over there before, so he told Roland about it.

After listening, Roland suddenly understood.

It turned out to be a summoning magic array.

It could open dimensional doors.

Opening it twice a day was the limit.

Therefore, the Blood-Deprived Warlocks had only prepared two sets of torture instruments; any more would have been useless.

Thus, only two people could be sacrificed each day, one at a time.

Just at that moment, the Countess suddenly walked back from the main hall over there.

Just as Roland was feeling somewhat surprised, he heard the Countess say to the three Holy Virgins with a smile, "Have you made your choice?"

The three Holy Virgins communicated with each other for a while.

Seeing this scene, a gentleman put down his black tea, stood up, glanced at Roland, and said very bluntly, "Respected ladies, I have a thought—sculpting the statue of the goddess Heraka is a very sacred matter, and I don't think Baron Roland is suitable."

Many gentlemen echoed his sentiment.

In order to drive Roland away, some even directly said that a mudblood participating in sculpting the statue of Heraka was a desecration of the goddess!

The Countess smiled and spoke kindly on Roland's behalf, 'persuading' Roland to stay.

While these people were discussing over there, Roland was completely dumbfounded.

He felt like he had traveled through time and returned to two minutes ago.

He asked cautiously, "Everyone, wasn't this matter already decided? Why do we need to discuss it again?"

As soon as these words came out, the hall fell silent for a moment.

Then, everyone looked at Roland with strange eyes, as if they were looking at a madman.

Obviously, there was one more reason not to choose Roland—this guy had mental problems!

A chosen gentleman smiled and said, "The Black Abyss Warlock lives up to his reputation."

After speaking, he and his companions followed the Countess away.

Only about two minutes passed.

The Countess came back again.

"Sisters, have you chosen someone?" the Countess asked with a smile.

The three Holy Virgins communicated with each other for a while.

Then, the gentleman who had already made two blunt remarks before, once again put down his black tea and stood up.

He glanced at Roland and then said very bluntly, "Respected ladies—"

"Wait a minute!" Roland suddenly stood up, reaching out to interrupt the discussion.

He stood up and said, "Everyone, sculpting the statue of Heraka involves the Blood-Deprived Family's secrets. As a Black Abyss Warlock, I may not be suitable to participate in this matter. So I hope to withdraw."

The gentlemen's eyes lit up slightly, giving Roland a look—you're a sensible kid.

Seeing that the Countess was about to speak, Roland waved his hand to interrupt, "Madam, I know that you trust me very much because of Her Highness Catherine.

But I am, after all, an outsider, and my origins are very humble.

In addition, there are some problems with my description of the goddess Heraka, so if I participate in the sculpture, there may be unexpected problems.

However, I won't be leaving these next few days, after all, I will be staying with Her Highness Catherine in Blood-Deprived Castle these next few days.

If you need anything, I am always at your service."

These words sounded like polite remarks, and the gentlemen did not think that the Countess would need his services later, after all, they were enough.

The Countess smiled and said, "Thank you for Baron Roland's support.

However, for the time being, please do not leave, you and the other unselected gentlemen.

Later, after I take the two selected gentlemen to visit the church, let's discuss it together and brainstorm."

The gentlemen all nodded, they didn't want Roland to participate in the sculpture, but they wanted to learn about Heraka in the eyes of the Black Abyss Warlocks from Roland.

Roland said, "I am willing to serve you, but I have a small request.

I don't want any reward, but I hope to follow the gentlemen to visit the church."

Roland had to go and take a look, four people had been lost in less than five minutes!

Had these four people been sacrificed, where had they gone?!

These guys were obviously suffering from amnesia!

So there must be a problem next door!

There were only eight people in total.

Now that four people had been lost, only four were left!

Now, the Countess was back to find people again, and if she lost these two people again, and then came back to find more, Roland would be next!

So he wanted to go next door to see what was going on, how the people were being lost, and find a way to help the Countess complete today's sacrifice!

The door of the gallery was always open for everyone to see, and just now the Blood-Deprived Warlocks had transported Baron Blood-Deprived's statue to the church in a big way.

So, Roland was sure that the Blood-Deprived Warlocks were not afraid of everyone going over to take a look.

Therefore, he made the request to visit.

But after he finished speaking, everyone showed a hesitant expression.

The gentlemen hesitated because they did not trust Roland, an outsider.

As for the Countess, she sized up Roland with a strange expression, wondering if this guy's cognition had not been distorted by the Holy Virgins.

But… how was that possible?

At this time, the big fat man laughed and interjected, "Countess Wendisha, I remember that Wendisha Church is open to the public.

I think the gentlemen and Baron Roland have been curious about the artistic crystallization in Wendisha Church for a long time.

Even if Baron Roland hadn't mentioned this matter just now, I was planning to go and take a look."

In his words, the big fat man intentionally or unintentionally looked at the small notebook in his hand.

There were many sketches on it.

It seemed that he had been sketching while chatting just now.

There were clearly eight gentlemen in the sketches, but there were only four people present.

The fat man was sure that there were only four gentlemen this time.

Why did he draw eight people?

And why were there four extra empty seats around?!

The fat man didn't know what was going on, but he was very panicked now.

Now, Roland didn't plan to sit still and wait for death, and proposed to go over and take a look.

So the big fat man cooperated and gave Roland an assist, saying that he wanted to go and take a look together.

The Countess smiled and said, "Then everyone, let's visit together."