Chapter 382: Premonition of Shadow Demon's Evolution

The moment Ligeia's voice came in, David shuddered violently and his face showed obvious panic.

It was like when he was secretly playing games at home and suddenly heard his parents unlock the door with their keys. He was so panicked that he didn't know what to do. His butt almost left the chair because it was too high and he almost fell off.

Obviously, David subconsciously regarded what "Miss Aleister" said as a secret that could not be known to others.

Only when he turned around and saw that the person who came in was Ligeia did his frightened expression calm down a little.

Seeing David looking at her timidly, Ligeia's eyes suddenly became stern, and she started to curse: "You are so scared when you see me! Are you here to steal something or tease someone? Is this illegal?"

"No, I didn't..."

Ligeia's words frightened David so much that his eyes widened, and he hurriedly explained.

But before he could finish, Ligeia retorted, "If you don't have any, then stand still! What's the matter with you? Why are you so flustered? Do you act like a man?"

"……yes."

David opened his mouth to explain, but after opening his mouth, he lowered his head obediently and dejectedly.

"Speak louder, I can't hear you!"

"Yes!" David stood at attention and answered loudly.

"Go stand outside."

Ligeia said, shaking the long dress in her hand: "Or do you want to watch others change clothes here?"

“…No, I didn’t…”

David's momentum, which had just risen, deflated again.

He wanted to leave, but he was also a little reluctant. Seeing Ligeia was rare, so he hesitated and said indirectly, "Ms. Ligeia, I was introduced by Miss Aleister..."

Ligeia was so angry that she laughed: "Get out of here first!"

"……Why?"

David made a helpless and confused sound.

He knew it might not be a good idea to ask here, but didn't this just happen to be the case?

There's no one else here anyway. So what's the difference between asking here and asking somewhere else? And here I can prove that it was indeed Miss Aleister who introduced me... After all, Miss Aleister didn't explain or refute this after hearing this...

After all, his parents had never taught him such things, so David didn't quite understand. But he could understand simply obeying orders, so he obediently saluted the two people politely, said goodbye, and left.

After David left, Ligeia jumped to the seat David had taken before, waved her hands to loosen the restraints on Aleister, and threw her clothes on the table.

She said angrily, "What a fool, he's exactly like his father when he was a kid... Is it fun to tease him?"

“It’s quite fun.”

Aleister chuckled and stretched his wrists, which had become stiff from being tied up for so long. "Although he's a little silly, he's still a very upright person."

"You think highly of him?"

Ligeia asked in reply, "Did you even teach him the sevenfold sacrifice?"

"I just think he has the talent and is well-suited to the path of an ascended warlock. But I can't say exactly when he should embark on this path. But I've already introduced you to him, so please help keep an eye on him when the time comes."

It was completely different from when David and the Great Guardian were present.

At this moment, "Aleister" was not disguised at all, but was chatting with Ligeia directly in the tone of Aiwas.

——Because Ligeia is one of the very few people who knows the true identity of "Aleister".

After all, Aiwas's plan must be told to Ligeia to ensure that it proceeds smoothly without any trouble.

In front of the reporters, Ligeia silenced the Minister of the Navy, leaving him speechless - this was a necessary step for the plan to proceed smoothly.

It was impossible for Aiwass to place all his hopes for the success of his plan on the enemy's stupidity and unexpectedness.

If you want to block the opponent's possibility of counterattack, you must make the referee stand on your side.

However, Aiwass didn't use honorifics—although he knew Ligeia was Meg, Ligeia had completely sacrificed her old self, representing Meg, in the Sevenfold Sacrifice. Since Ligeia herself had already let go of the past, Aiwass would not deliberately bring it up again.

"Can you wear a skirt? Do you want me to help you?"

Ligeia asked casually, swinging her legs and the dragon's tail behind her.

"Not really, but it's not a big problem. Although I've never worn a skirt for anyone before..."

Aleister chuckled and responded, "But Miss Ligeia, your head... let's just leave it at that."

"Hey, you kid..."

Ligeia was somewhat helpless: "When I shed my skin next time, I must find a way to become taller."

As Aiwass studied how to wear the incredibly complex aristocratic dress given by the Twin Mirror after transforming into "Miss Bayard," he jokingly said, "I remember when I first gave you this body, weren't you very happy?"

"That's because I survived. Of course I'm happy, idiot."

Ligeia said frankly, "But now I feel a little bored. It's really too small, and it feels very inconvenient to move around."

"How long until your next molt?"

Aiwass asked.

Once a molting sorcerer begins shedding his skin, he cannot stop.

As contractors of the Huantiansi, they are constantly changing throughout their lives. Their lives and attitudes are unfixable.

"The next round of evolution will begin in three or four months, and at the latest, it can be delayed to six months. If there is no evolution after six months, the body's functions will begin to gradually weaken."

Ligeia said frankly, "The problem now is that I don't know what else besides my lifespan could possibly put me under the pressure of death... I can't possibly go looking for trouble with the Eternal Pope. If all else fails, I'll go out to sea and find a dragon."

"Anyway, being able to live this long in good health is already great. If I can find a way to complete one more molt, I can live another year. That's a huge profit."

Her words were so domineering that she even managed to comfort Aiwass.

This is probably the trouble with Ligeia's job change to the Ascension Warlock.

Currently, the "Transcendence" path has not yet been revised to the "Transmutation" path, so the Transcendence Warlock must also abide by the rules of the Transcendence path - that is, facing strong enemies. Only in this way can the restless flame of Transcendence in their hearts be extinguished.

It was for this reason that Aiwass recommended that David change his job before reaching the fourth level.

When you are weak enough, basically any change can be considered evolution.

This is called "you still have a lot of room for improvement."

"Three to four months to half a year..."

Aiwass thought for a moment, "Then don't worry. We might find another way when the time comes."

"I knew you were full of tricks."

Ligeia was not panicked at all, obviously knowing that Aiwass had a way.

He is so magical that he can rejuvenate himself, gain Sophia's recognition, and drag Avalon to a new life... Now that Aiwas dares to say it, she dares to believe it.

"How's things going with the Lord Admiral?"

Aiwass asked casually, "What did he confess?"

"He said everything he could say, and there was basically no resistance. He clearly understood the situation and wanted to seek leniency."

Ligeia scoffed. "Don't be fooled by those old men wielding swords and wearing armor, looking so imposing. They're actually cowards who've never seen bloodshed. Avalon has been peaceful for too long... When the Iris invaded, the navy had virtually no resistance. They were landed in less than ten days."

"Although the Ten Days' War is generally considered a victory for us domestically, in my opinion, we lost, and it was a crushing defeat. If I hadn't intervened at the end, it would have been Avalon's fastest defeat.

"—Avalon, an island nation less than a quarter the size of the Iris, was invaded by the enemy army on three fronts less than ten days after the war began. What kind of situation is this? If you ask me, this is the level of being dragged out and beheaded!"

Ligeia commented bluntly, "But precisely because we truly couldn't defeat them, we had to publicize it as a victory. We deliberately obfuscated the details. Because of this, it became their achievement."

"Sofia's governing style is one that prefers to plot everything in secret, changing the country as imperceptibly as flowing water. She almost always goes with the flow... As a result, when she was in power, these people were firmly under her control, and no one dared to resist her. But when her health declined, they all rose up and made trouble."

"...I thought you were the type who didn't like to get involved in this kind of thing." Aiwass was a little surprised.

"That's true. I really don't like to get involved because it's too troublesome to meddle with it."

Ligeia waved her hand with a look of weariness. "This kind of thing isn't something you can just identify as a problem. If you want to object, you have to propose a solution. Otherwise, you'll object, and so will others. In the end, nothing will be accomplished, and we'll just be arguing in the Round Table every day."

"In other words, if you object, this matter will fall into your hands. I have no interest in taking over their mess. Their treasures are great, but to me, they are just a pile of rotten meat."

As she spoke, she added with interest, "The letter you threw to him earlier is crucial. It can directly disrupt divination. If others want to predict through rituals or prophets, they can only get the result that 'the Minister of the Navy does have a private connection with Aleister'. I'm afraid they are now in chaos... How did you come up with this?"

"Essentially, the method for deceiving a fortune teller is to 'lie with the truth.' So-called prophecies are basically the same... Although the content will come true, it may not be in the direction the interpreter expected. Therefore, if it is reversed, it is a counter-divination."

Aiwass chuckled and said, "Simply put, it's magic."

"Oh, I didn't expect you were a magician."

Ligeia watched as "Miss Aleister" spoke with a proud and confident expression, yet her hands fumbled and fumbled with her several incomprehensible and complicated dresses. Finally, she couldn't help but laugh: "Forget it, forget it. I'll help you put it on... Your clumsiness is killing me."

Aiwass stopped resisting and sighed.

"...I don't know why Twin Mirror gave me such a complicated outfit."

Aiwass has tried it.

If the original body is switched to the Son of the Moon, his clothes will not change at all. The Son of the Moon, Aiwass, will wear the same clothes as the original body. When he becomes No. 14, he will wear the white dress he wore when Miss Bayard sucked his blood.

It's nothing.

But when Aiwass transformed into the "Bayard" posture for the first time, he was shocked.

——Because that was an unprecedented "dressed" Bayard.

It wasn't just dresses and necklaces—it was a whole new set of "outfits," including gloves, rings, bracelets, hairpins, hats, capes, and shawls. They were piled up to the point of looking unnatural, more like a clothes rack than a formal attire.

Even Shadow Demon himself felt a little confused.

It confirmed it repeatedly before slowly remembering that these were things it had used before.

Aiwass had to remove the extra jewelry and clothes and put them in storage so that "Miss Aleister" would not look too strange.

Aiwass used a simple ritual to confirm that these objects, sent out of thin air by the Twin Mirror, were indeed genuine, not mirror images that could be dispelled. However, none of them showed any signs of having been used or damaged by time.

It's as weird as a "brand new antique".

This makes it difficult for Aiwass to sell or give away.

The greatest significance of collecting these strange antiques is probably that they allow Shadow Demon to recall his childhood.

However, after receiving pastoral care from Aiwass for the past few days, Shadow Fiend seemed a little strange.

It had become noticeably less active over the past couple of days. Not only did it not chat with Aiwass or Lily when it had nothing to do, but even after receiving orders, it wasn't overly active or frantic.

He even looked "a little sleepy." After using Shadow Fiend to disguise himself as Aleister, Shadow Fiend had no comment on it, nor did he have any opinion on Aiwass's use of his body and identity.

It was like a cat curled up in bed in winter, stretching out its paws and touching the ground, only to be frozen and instantly retracting them. Then it returned to the warmth of the blanket and curled up with its hands in its arms.

—The cat withdrew one claw.

Although there was no evidence, Aiwass had a vague premonition from this unusual behavior.

This may be a sign of Shadow Fiend's evolution.

(End of this chapter)