Chapter 374 Ritual: Centipede's Step

Did Aiwass really need to use the ritual to identify the suspect?

In fact, it is not necessary.

When he heard Captain Camus suggest "copying the documents", he had already identified the suspect in his mind.

The logic is very simple.

Because the document handed to Captain Camus was not a "top secret diplomatic letter" whose contents were unknown to everyone, but "substantial evidence" whose contents were already known to everyone. It was the letter they had originally intercepted from the spy.

In other words, this is the "core evidence that locks down Aleister's identity." And almost everyone knows this.

Even though Her Majesty the Queen had warned against spreading the news, the First Secretary to the Lord Admiral asked Captain Camus to make a copy...

This actually exposed the attitude of the Secretary of the Navy.

Simply put, the attitude Her Majesty has expressed to the Round Table is that she prefers to keep this matter under wraps. Therefore, the letter is very likely to have "accidentally disappeared" or "replaced." The disappearance or abandonment of this letter is exactly what the royal family wants.

In this situation, we are doing things impartially, following procedures, and just in case... It goes without saying who we are actually trying to cause trouble for.

Moreover, Captain Camus inadvertently mentioned that he was a "hunter".

This is another important detail.

If this matter gets out of hand and continues to ferment, what will eventually happen?

There is no doubt that Captain Camus will be held accountable as the sole person responsible.

He will definitely argue and explain that he really did not see anyone - he will repeatedly emphasize that as a "hunter", he did not see anyone passing by the stairs the whole time.

In other words, either the thief entered quietly through the window, took the things and left, or he was able to hide from the keen perception of the third-level hunter, force his way into his house and steal important things.

But things are lost. Once lost, they are lost.

Then no matter how he explains it, it can only lead to two public opinions:

First, these new generation of extraordinary people on the "non-authoritarian path" lack the necessary obedience and discipline and are unable to hold important positions.

Second, even hunters who had reached the third level were still useless, unable to even detect theft. The powers of those "other transcendents" outside of the "Authority, Devotion, and Balance" paths, encouraged under the "Sophia Policy," were not necessarily worthy of encouragement and development.

Thus, the Minister without Portfolio, authorized by Queen Sophia, would face head-on the new generation of military officers born from the "Sophia Policy." If Aiwass didn't attack, he would have to suffer the consequences in silence; if Aiwass attacked, they could turn the matter into a remnant of the "Sophia Policy" left behind during the Queen's road reforms.

If we work our way back from the perspective of the beneficiary, we will naturally know who is behind the scenes.

——It must be those knights on the path of authority.

Is it still necessary to use rituals to track the identity of the thief and then slowly investigate along the clues?

There is no need at all.

All we need to know is who is the mastermind behind the scenes. It doesn't matter who did it specifically.

Although Aiwass usually doesn't like reasoning, it doesn't mean he doesn't have this ability. He just prefers to use a more direct way to solve problems.

The reason why Aiwass became one of the few friends recognized by Sherlock was not just because he knew some miscellaneous knowledge that was not of immediate use... After all, erudition and intelligence are two different things.

But on the other hand, Aiwass needed to let others know that he used the ritual.

However, the quest is bound to fail.

Whoever stole the item must have done something to prevent divination, or else it had already been sold. Once it has changed hands too many times, it has been contaminated by too many people and the ritual of finding it will be difficult to find it.

Aiwass had no interest in being led around the city like a dog by clues, whether true or false, and being laughed at by others.

——Since the clues are likely to have been erased.

It would be better to just create the evidence yourself.

Aiwass took out the ritual materials from his backpack and began to prepare for the ceremony in front of Captain Camus.

A bottle of sabdariffa essential oil, a bottle of clary sage essential oil, a portion of kitten foot hair, snakeskin ointment, moth scale powder, as well as the snake venom ointment that Yulia had made and that Lily had not used in the battle, and Aiwass's blood infused with Lily's magic.

These are all materials that Aiwass collected, purchased or made last night.

The essential oils are fresh from the "King." Moth scale powder is a common ritual material... but finding kittens to shear is a bit tricky.

As for snake skin ointment, it is a very typical therapeutic ointment made for Taoism.

It requires descaled snake skin, slowly roasted over a low fire, and some hemostatic and muscle-strengthening herbs added, ultimately simmering into a bowl of thick black soup. It is then air-dried in a cool place, ground into a powder, and then mixed with sesame oil and honey to form a paste that can be stored for a long time.

Such plasters can be used to stop bleeding and promote tissue regeneration... Of course, their effectiveness is certainly not as strong as alchemical elixirs or witches' potions. Only transcendents attuned to the path can fully benefit from them. Adventurers and archaeologists traveling to remote areas far from towns often carry some.

Under Captain Camus's watchful eye, Aiwass dripped Lily's magical blood into the moth's phosphorus powder, gently shaking it to mix. He then soaked cat fur in styrax essential oil, mixed snakeskin ointment with snake venom, and added half a drop of clary sage essential oil to dissolve it.

So Aiwass got three tubes of liquid of different colors.

Dark brown, dark red, dark green.

Aiwass injected his dark magic power into them respectively, and then poured the three bottles of liquid in front of himself, allowing them to flow into three pools of liquid and gradually blend together.

He believed that Captain Camus must not understand the ceremony and materials.

Because what Aiwass was going to perform was not a hunting ritual at all.

Aiwass opened his lips slightly and said silently: "I respectfully invite Gray Sky Minister..."

"The Celestial Official who is neither true nor false, the Celestial Official who is voiceless and speechless—

"Let me be as light as a cat, as elusive as a moth, as vicious as a snake...

"Give me lies of blur and silence!"

As Aiwass chanted silently, the three pools of liquid in front of him gradually evaporated and mixed together in front of him.

Three clouds of smoke of different colors gathered together and eventually turned into a dull grayish-white color.

Aiwass took a deep breath of the smoke, then stared blankly ahead, as if lost in some kind of illusion. A layer of gray mist covered his pupils.

But in fact, Aiwass was not hallucinating.

This ritual, called "Centipede's Step," was recorded in Lily's tantric book. The most important ingredient was the "breath of lies," which could be Lily's blood, her magic power, or the illusory spider silk she created.

Its effect is simple but effective, which is to hide Aiwass from the dimension of prophecy and divination.

Aiwass will be distracted for a short time because he now needs to carefully weave his "false whereabouts".

For the duration of this ritual, prophecies and divinations of the fourth level and below will be interfered with.

If someone used the ritual to investigate Aiwass during the duration, they would see the "falsehoods" he was weaving. The more irrational the falsehoods were and the greater the difference between them and true logic, the shorter their duration would be.

From the moment Aiwass arrived at Captain Camus's study, his true whereabouts would be hidden.

The "lie" that Aiwass made up was very simple - that is, after Aiwass had gathered intelligence, he left and went home on his own.

Before he even reaches home, he is attacked, severely injured, and kidnapped by the shadowy figure called "Aleister."

In front of Captain Camus, Aiwass completed his ceremony.

"how?"

Seeing Aiwass open his eyes, the captain asked nervously and expectantly, "Did you find it?"

"Found it."

Aiwass sighed and spoke softly.

"What's wrong?"

The captain was a little nervous: "Is there any trouble?"

He had witnessed Aiwass's "divination" and could testify on Aiwass's behalf that his information was obtained through divination - he certainly wasn't lying, because he truly believed it. No one's lie detector could detect it.

"The Lord High Admiral."

Aiwass's mood was downcast, as if he felt betrayed. He replied softly, "The letter is with him. And he seems to be quite familiar with Miss Aleister."

(End of this chapter)