Chapter 312 : Lucky Vivian
Chapter 312: Lucky Vivian
"Mr. Hellman, I’m ready."
Extreme Cold Secret Realm, beneath the canyon.
Gazing at Vivian, who was lying in a deep coma inside the ice crystal coffin, Janna took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, then calmly spoke to Hellman-Rose, who was setting up the ritual array beside her.
"This time, I’ll have to rely on you."
Seeing the dark circles under Hellman-Rose’s eyes from lack of rest, Janna nodded solemnly.
Just an hour earlier, when Janna arrived at Rose Manor, she did not meet Vivian immediately. Instead, she was blindfolded by Isis with a mental-isolation blindfold and brought directly into the underground chamber of the Rose Castle.
The moment Janna removed the blindfold, she saw Hellman-Rose standing beside the teleportation array, and—
Vivian, sleeping inside the crystal ice coffin.
At that instant, Janna roughly understood what was going on.
Clearly, Hellman-Rose didn’t want Vivian to know the truth about the "Blood Exchange Ritual", so before entering the Extreme Cold Secret Realm, he deliberately used the [Anesthetic Potion] to knock Vivian unconscious and placed her into the crystal ice coffin.
In fact, a month ago, after being asked countless times by Vivian about what the "surprise" was, Janna had also privately asked Hellman-Rose whether or not to tell Vivian about the [Blood Exchange Ritual].
After all, as the one directly involved in the [Blood Exchange Ritual], Vivian would find out sooner or later.
Rather than making it an "unknown surprise" whose nature was unclear, it might be better to inform Vivian in advance so she could mentally prepare.
However, Hellman-Rose’s answer to Janna’s suggestion had been extremely firm: keep it hidden. He hadn’t explained why, but Janna could roughly guess—it was because Hellman-Rose feared that Vivian would refuse to go through with the [Blood Exchange Ritual].
After all, the "ritual material" for this [Blood Exchange Ritual] was none other than Hellman-Rose’s own [Cochin Viper] bloodline—
Janna had actually read descriptions about the [Blood Exchange Ritual] for witch apprentices in the library.
Overall, the entire ritual was especially bloody and brutal.
Not only did the "blood exchanger" have to endure extreme pain, but the "prey" whose bloodline was extracted usually met a tragic end.
Fortunately, the prey ended up that way mainly because they resisted during the blood extraction, making the "exchange" process bloodier.
Hellman-Rose, however, was entirely willing. And with the power of a full-fledged witch as a safeguard, it shouldn’t be a situation that couldn’t be controlled.
At worst, it would result in a prolonged period of weakness and a shortened lifespan. Thinking of this, Janna couldn’t help but sigh lightly.
Though witches lived significantly longer than ordinary people, their lives weren’t infinite. Especially without mastering the [Primary Laws], no one could achieve immortality.
So when Janna learned that Hellman-Rose was willing to go to such lengths for Vivian, her first reaction was deep admiration.
After all, based on the gossip Janna usually heard from Richard-Eva or Soro-Flame, witch families—though bound by blood ties—often revered power above all else.
Especially for witch apprentices without outstanding talent, even direct relatives often showed little kindness, and in some cases, treated them with outright hostility.
That’s precisely why, when Janna saw Vivian, who had only a C-level innate talent, being nurtured with such dedication by the head of the Rose Family, she felt a profound envy, having never experienced familial love herself.
"Vivian’s greatest luck is being born into the Rose Family and having a father who loves her this much."
A cold wind blew, stirring the frost and snow across the ground.
Seeing that Hellman-Rose had finished setting up the ritual around Vivian’s crystal ice coffin, Janna thought for a moment and couldn’t help but say:
"Mr. Hellman, are you sure that, without Vivian knowing, she can endure the pain of the [Blood Exchange Ritual]?"
As a ritual modified from a curse, the [Blood Exchange Ritual] would rip apart the participant’s body, soul,
senses, and emotions throughout the process—leaving them in excruciating pain and risking failure with the slightest misstep.
"One of the advantages of the [Cochin Viper] bloodline is the ability to block the five senses and isolate pain—and besides, this is only a witch apprentice-level [Blood Exchange Ritual]. With Vivian’s current bloodline purity, there should be no issues."
Hearing Hellman-Rose’s explanation, Janna furrowed her brows.
She knew that one of the [Cochin Viper]’s innate advantages was immunity to pain—but that only applied to the physical body. The [Blood Exchange Ritual] would also attack the soul and emotions.
"But—"
"Don’t worry. Vivian is my daughter. I would never let anything happen to her."
As if reading Janna’s mind, Hellman-Rose, standing outside the ritual array, replied calmly. Then he took out a mithril dagger and gently cut a wound on his wrist.
"Miss Janna, I’ll be counting on you to fend off the surrounding death energy."
"No problem."
Watching the red blood flow steadily through the ritual array, Janna took a deep breath and cast [Hand of the Witch], evenly scattering several ice-blue seeds around the outer edge of the array.
"Awaken—"
With a resonant hum, the ritual array—now filled with blood—instantly lit up with a crimson glow, completely engulfing Vivian at its center.
Seeing this, Janna immediately activated the power of the [Growth Law Fragment].
"Grow—"
As green light surged from Janna’s palm, a large number of snow-colored lotuses quickly sprouted around the [Blood Exchange Ritual] array, growing more than two meters tall before finally stopping.
These lotuses, called "Tulans Snowlotus", typically grew in the snow-covered mountains of the Tulans witch gathering area. Janna had prepared them during her first visit to the Extreme Cold Secret Realm.
Their greatest function was to resist cold and freezing, while possessing tremendous vitality—making them ideal for repelling the surrounding death energy.
Although in the past, these snowlotuses had withered almost instantly in the most deathly corners of the Extreme Cold Secret Realm,
it was precisely that "instant" that gave Janna the opportunity to comprehend the power of withering.