Chapter 1110: The Great Sin: Holding the Holy Sword
When the illusion was shattered, Don Quixote, who was half-kneeling in front of Aiwass, did not break with it.
In the pitch-black environment, transparent white ripples appeared around Don Quixote.
He looked up and looked at Aiwass.
Her long jet-black hair was scattered like kelp, and her emerald green eyes were like wolf pupils.
Compared to the original "Knight of Barin," he had become significantly thinner. His features, which bore a 30% to 40% resemblance to Yulia's, were too thin to look particularly handsome. Instead, he possessed the cold, sharp aura of a serial killer.
"Great savior... your loyal knight has finally waited for you."
Don Quixote's voice was fanatical and crazy, but his eyes looked rational and sad.
For a moment, he couldn't tell which one was the real him... nor could he figure out whether he was pretending to be crazy.
"...Don Quixote..."
Aiwass murmured his name, and then, as if possessed by a magic trick, added the suffix of the name he had given himself to Don Quixote, as he watched him expectantly: "... de la Mancha."
Don Quixote's name could be understood as "Protector of La Mancha, Honorable Don Quixote," or "Sir Quixote." However, La Mancha, let alone the Shattering War, had ceased to exist by the middle of the Hellassar Empire.
This was the name of a fertile and peaceful rural area in the central region of the Helaer Empire during its early years. It's roughly similar in meaning to "Taoyuan Village" or "Xinghua Village."
The name "Quixote" means a kind of thigh armor used by knights, below which are knee pads and greaves.
Armor in this area was extremely important for mounted knights, as their thighs were less vulnerable to injury than those of infantry. However, a knight's thigh was exposed, and given the height of the horse, it was the area most vulnerable to direct attack by infantry. Therefore, it could be considered a "knight's necessity."
This name is undoubtedly a pseudonym. Its composition is too meaningful, like the name an author gives to a character in a novel... It always carries various metaphors and allusions, making it seem less casual.
Looking at the light that suddenly bloomed in Don Quixote's pupils, Aiwass suddenly felt as if he understood this man.
He wasn't just a fictional spirit dreaming of becoming a knight. Nor was he simply Hercules with no memories, or a phantom reconstructed from the soul of the Barin Knight.
He held unspeakable pain and passion in his heart—from the way he addressed Aiwass, it was clear he had his own will and story. It was just that he was actively indulging in the glory of a knight, using this method to cover up his own emptiness.
Rather than an ignorant spirit learning and imitating the Knights of the Round Table, he is more like Aiwass's father-in-law - Prince Albert, who tries his best to imitate the bard Yunus, which is also a kind of escape in which he indulges.
It's like a player who is stung by pain and wants to escape quietly in the game or various personal interests, forgetting everything by indulging in them.
Aiwass had also seen a similar person, the clown Lalo from Xingbi.
He was also a madman... but he loved the stars and was loyal to Valentine more than anyone else. Those sanctimonious, polite, and elegant nobles and scholars were nothing more than wolves in sheep's clothing. Instead, that mad clown was the most lucid and heartbroken person.
And for such a person, there's no need to pull him out of the farce he's fully aware of. That wouldn't be polite—nor would it make him look clever, like a transcendent being on the path of wisdom who has seen through all the illusions.
Aiwass lowered his gentle gaze, and his clear voice rang out in the void:
"I, Aiwas Moriarty, appoint you as the Protector of La Mancha.
"Although neither Avalon nor New Hellasl has this territory yet...but I promise you, this territory will soon be born...or rebuilt. It may not be very large, but it will be where my home is."
Aiwass looked at Don Quixote and said word by word: "I will live in the territory of La Mancha that you protect, Don Quixote."
Don Quixote looked at Aiwass, and his rational and sad eyes became brighter and hotter at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"...I will fight for you, my lord."
He didn't say much.
He was talkative and excited before, but now he became silent and taciturn.
And Aiwass reached forward and stretched out his hand——
"Don Quixote de la Mancha!"
Aiwass recited each word loudly, raised the two cards that materialized in his hand, and declared loudly: "I call out your name at this moment and brand you with greed!
"My life is your life, my fate is your fate—
"—Obey me, Phantom Demon of the Path of Authority!!"
Following Aiwas's announcement, a dragon roar sounded in the distance.
A breath of frost dragon fell down, instantly freezing and solidifying Aiwass and Don Quixote who was half-kneeling on the ground.
A pure white magic circle wrapped in a circle of frost gradually sank into the ice surface and shone with a bright light.
——It was like wrapping a lamp with thick paper, and as it was gradually carved out with an invisible chisel, tiny beams of light seeped out from it.
An increasingly bright glow hatched from the ice.
Like life hatching from an egg—
After it was carved, the pure light array rose into the air.
As it gradually rose, like a 3D printer, it gradually thawed the frozen Aiwass and Don Quixote layer by layer. When it rose completely higher than Don Quixote, the ice on them completely dissipated.
When the light circle rose to its highest point, a majestic and ferocious lion head pattern emerged in its inner ring.
Then, the magic circle began to gradually collapse and shatter from the outermost circle, falling into the void and disintegrating into nothingness. In the end, only the white lion head ring, like a badge, remained.
Two brand new giant tarot cards were also slowly printed out from the void, one above and one below, with the front facing each other and appearing on the upper and lower sides.
The one below symbolizes Don Quixote himself.
--【justice】.
The goddess, wearing a crown and a red robe, holds a scale and a sword, and sits on a throne with two stone pillars behind her.
The goddess high above symbolizes the majesty of God—the scales represent fairness and measurement, and the sword represents decision and punishment. The two stone pillars represent tradition and law, the red robe symbolizes religious authority, and the crown symbolizes the authority of the king.
Obviously, the standard of "justice" comes from the definition of authoritarianism.
The card's face gradually shifted... the searing red gave way to a tranquil turquoise. The goddess no longer sat on the throne, but stood, blindfolded. She held a double-edged sword, atop a massive scale. The two ends of the scale were "Alpha" and "Omega," symbolizing the beginning and the end... and yet, they now stood in a delicate balance.
The original two simple stone pillars became complex spires, each flanked by light and darkness. The two stone pillars became four spires. At each end of the four spires were eight layers of light and darkness. Only after an extremely complex and dangerous balancing act did light and darkness achieve equilibrium.
When both the origin and the end point are placed on a scale, they are found to be in balance. This process, like an acrobat standing on a ball, requires constant focus and a tranquil mind.
[Justice] becomes [Adjustment].
Compared with the static and harsh "justice", the "adjustment" that constantly tends towards balance is undoubtedly dynamic and calm; compared with external, material authority, it turns to internal, spiritual definitions.
The card above represents the Silver Crown Dragon used to seal Don Quixote.
——It is a “chariot” that symbolizes victory and authority.
Originally, a warrior stood on a chariot, with two sphinxes, one black and one white, before him, corresponding to the two pillars on the Justice card. The chariot was surrounded by mountains, rivers, and city fortresses. It symbolized invincibility, conquest, and victory. It also represented the control of willpower over force—if the two oppositely colored lions couldn't move in the same direction, the chariot would be unable to move forward and might even be damaged.
And this kind of command is called authority.
——Authority is the control of power!
But at this moment, this card also changed—the two sphinxes became four cherubim, also two black and two white. And the directions they faced also changed from one to three... As the light and darkness became more complex, the situation also became more complex, corresponding to the complexity of the "Pillar" when "Justice" became "Adjustment."
Tradition symbolizes morality, and law symbolizes authority. However, as society develops, morality and authority can no longer solve all complex problems.
The warriors on the chariots were holding spears, showing their faces in a way that made them look glorious, and wearing laurel wreaths on their heads that symbolized triumph.
But in the new card, the warrior is clad in full-body armor, as solid as a can. He no longer stands to welcome glory, but sits securely in a chariot; he no longer holds a spear, but embraces a shield that resembles the Holy Grail—or perhaps a Holy Grail that resembles a shield.
He no longer needed material ropes and shackles, and four cherubim prostrated themselves before the chariot. The external victory achieved through material constraints...had become a "victory without battle," achieved through spiritual elevation, inner integration, and the adjustment of light and darkness.
Just like the situation of the Silver Crown Dragon at this moment.
He once transformed into the human warrior Arthur, conquered the kingdom of giants, and then conquered the High Heavens, and transformed into the new pillar god, the Silver Crown Dragon.
But at this moment, the Silver Crown Dragon no longer needs to achieve material victory... He now needs spiritual unity and inner harmony.
Finally, as the two cards gradually formed and became clear, they slowly moved closer to the center.
The moment the two cards were closely combined together, it suddenly burst out with a cold glow.
As the illusion shattered, Aiwass opened his eyes.
The holy sword Clarent beside him had disappeared.
In front of him, a pure white transparent card was slowly spinning in the air. On it was a pattern of a lion's head outlined in metallic silver-gray.
Aiwass stretched out his hand and wrote his name fluently with his right index finger.
Its properties also emerged after the violent vibration:
[Major Sin: Holy Sword Holder (Adjustment, Chariot)]
[Level: 50 (Suppressed)]
[Path of Authority, Light Attribute]
【Upright Summoning: Nothingness】
[Required: Light 5]
【Immediate, forward, effective immediately】
[Effect: Summons the spirit of the Paladin Don Quixote, who sacrifices himself to transform into a giant light shield, protecting all allies behind him from all attacks from the front.]
[Reversed Summoning: Holy Sword Holding]
[Required: Light 5]
【Maintenance: Light 5*Daily】
Action, Summon
[Effect: Summons the Beast of Greed, the Holy Sword Holder, to fight for you. The Holy Sword Holder is considered a summoned creature. When not in combat, the Beast of Greed, the Holy Sword Holder can transform into the Holy Sword Clarent and enter a follower state. Only one Sin Beast can exist at a time.]
"...holding the holy sword, leaving nothing behind..."
Aiwass gently stroked the cold card surface with his index finger and murmured softly.
Of all his Sin Beasts... maybe even of all his Phantom Demon cards, this one has the simplest card description.
Purely numerical values, no mechanics whatsoever. Or rather, the mechanics weren't even written on the card itself... After all, Aiwass had no idea how thick the light shield was, or what additional properties it had. There was nothing written on it at all.
But even if it's just a particularly thick shield... As a group protective light shield that can be summoned instantly just by showing the card face, it is a very practical ability for Aiwass.
After all, Aiwass wasn't lacking in attack power and healing abilities. The instantaneous summoning of a shield was incredibly useful to Aiwass—if he had had it when he faced the Fallen Angels, he wouldn't have had to face them with such fear.
But why...
This skill that can protect allies from damage is called "Nothing"?
Why did he call himself "Holy Sword Holder"?
Aiwass remembered that Bishop Mathers, who was originally possessed by the spirit in the red-handled sword, should be called the "Holy Sword Guardian".
...Is it because Bishop Mathers is guarding the Red-Handled Sword, but Don Quixote does not have the Holy Sword Clarent now?
Shelter also comes from the charity of others...
Don Quixote clearly distinguished between what belonged to others and what belonged to him, which is why he simply called himself "the bearer of the holy sword." This meant that the sword was not his, and he himself was "a penniless person."
He also lost the last thing that belonged to him.
Aiwass' heart was touched and his lips were slightly pursed.
"...Let me see you, Don Quixote."
He murmured softly and showed the cards in his hand.
Under the gaze of Isabel and the others, a knight in silver-white armor appeared in front of Aiwass in a brilliant glow.
He wore a majestic and handsome, fully visored silver-white helmet, and his every ounce of form resembled the most glorious and sacred knight—his dragon-scale armor was covered in golden runes, and his every movement radiated a fiery glow. Behind his head even lay a white halo, like thorns—a white circle with white spikes in eight directions.
To anyone who saw it, this was a noble and honorable Paladin.
The holy sword Clarente in his hand was also fully awakened. The huge sword, as thick as a door panel, could be used normally for Don Quixote.
When he appeared, he was half-kneeling on the ground, with his right hand on his chest and his head lowered.
"Your knight, Don Quixote de la Manche, has come to answer the call—
“—Fight for you!”
As the knight raised his head, a fanatical and loud voice rang out at the same time!
Update completed meow!
Two in one today!
Still not asleep, sad...
(End of this chapter)
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