Chapter 1242 Ancient Phantom Card
"Tarot cards..."
Prodino carefully took the ancient card.
As a Horus, he is naturally quite familiar with this divination tool.
Although he is not an astrologer or a prophet who is adapted to the Tao, he can directly speak of the knowledge related to Tarot cards without even calling up the database in his mind.
"The Sun card... Is this the Shepherd's prophecy about himself?"
Prodino pondered, "If it's upright, it signifies a successful and bright future. Just like the rising sun, it's joyful, blazing, bright, and uplifting. It radiates light powerful enough to dispel darkness, and as time progresses, it will only get better. It signifies hope, ideals, and optimism. It's a very good card."
"...But if it's reversed, it foreshadows the setting sun on its way down. Exhaustion, fatigue, decline, depression. The glory has become a thing of the past, and the future is not far from visible darkness. It's like an aging lion, about to be replaced by a younger one. I don't know if it's upright or reversed..."
The upright and reversed positions of Tarot cards usually mean the difference between "up" and "down", "forward" and "backward", "inside" and "outside" of this thing in this concept.
It does not necessarily indicate good or bad, just as the reversed Sun and Chariot is bad, while the reversed Death and Devil is good. This is because the concepts of the Sun and Chariot tend to be good, while the Devil and Death tend to be bad.
At the same time, there is also the situation of "Tower", which is not good whether it is in the upright or reversed position... Because the Tower represents the collapse and destruction of the Tower of Babel, the upright position means "it will be destroyed in the future", while the reversed position means "it has been or is being destroyed, but at least it is about to end."
"There is indeed information about the Shepherd in the Akashic Records."
Prodino thought for a moment, then replied, "His name has been completely obliterated by the White Punishment, but some things he didn't directly touch have been barely preserved. It's because of this that we can understand this person from a side perspective. However, someone did leave behind a copy of the Shepherd's Tantra, said to be from a contemporary of the Shepherd.
"This is indeed an extremely rare antique. It's probably the only personal belonging, the only relic, of someone who was subjected to the White Punishment in history... The face erased from it is probably a sign of the White Punishment. But... what use is this card?"
Prodino was somewhat helpless: "It seems that it is not of much help to my situation."
"This card contains special powers."
Ibn shook his head and denied it. "You can activate it by injecting light-attributed magic into it. It once resisted the curse cast by Aymar Nur himself and the pursuit of forbidden spells. My mother used it to successfully escape the city.
"The name 'Aymar Nur' existed before humanity, and it's a legacy that has been passed down to this day. As the most powerful benefactor, a generation of 'Aymar Nur' was once known as the Sorcerer King. He likely possessed a divine artifact similar to the Eternal Pope that could amplify the power of a specific path... and he even successfully resisted the Sorcerer King's curse. I imagine it might be of some use to the Incarnate Heavenly Official."
Obviously, Iben didn't quite understand how to use this card.
But Aiwass on the side saw it clearly——
There is no doubt that this Tarot card is the Phantom Card.
"Can you show me?"
Aiwass asked Prodino.
Upon hearing this, Prodino, who was in the process of uploading the relevant data, handed it to Aiwass without hesitation: "I remember... you seem to have used a similar ability?"
He didn't remember it clearly, but he remembered that Aiwass had indeed used cards to summon powerful phantoms.
Aiwass nodded and admitted very frankly, "The first tantric book I ever read was the Shepherd Tantra."
Upon hearing this, almost everyone present was stunned.
Zhu Tang and Haina were fine; they had never heard of the Shepherd's name, nor did they know his significance. But both Prodino, nicknamed "Encyclopedia," and Ibn, a Parthian, knew of his existence.
“Shepherd…?!”
exclaimed Old Eben.
Prodino was also stunned: "So the Shepherd Tantra really exists?"
He quickly asked, "Then...where is the book? Where is it?"
"...What I saw was the Avalonian version," Aiwass said, a little embarrassed. "I destroyed it. But the Avalonian version can't be the original, so there must be another original version."
As he said that, he quickly took the card of the great sin.
As expected - when he passed it over, no system panel popped up in front of him.
He now increasingly understood the existence of the system... it was a sacred essence condensed from the knowledge and memories of past serpent tails. What he hadn't seen in the past eight reincarnations, the system didn't recognize. If this wasn't his last reincarnation, then the information he had encountered would become new entries in the next one.
——Just like the input ability mastered by naturalists, dream monks and dream walker apprentices!
However, as a top-level scholar of great sin, Aiwas has already mastered this power thoroughly.
Without the need for a system, he can read and analyze its essence with his own strength!
Aiwass looked at the tarot card.
The picture of the sun shows a child sitting on a white horse, with arms outstretched, praising the sun.
The child held a battle flag in his hand and wore a wreath on his head. But the sunflowers did not look at the sun, but instead looked at the child - as if he were a light more blazing than the sun.
The sun in the sky has a solemn and beautiful face, and it emits twenty-one rays of light, eleven of which are straight and infinite, and ten are twisted and short.
“… Is the Holy Eleven a miracle, and the Holy Ten a nothingness?”
Aiwass murmured softly and closed his eyes.
As he gradually immersed his consciousness and mana into the card, it suddenly began to glow.
The "antique," once as old as an old photograph, now radiated a uniform glow like a heated iron ball. A golden glow filled every inch of the card, and the system panel suddenly popped up in front of Aiwass.
It was as if an invisible pen of light was writing - one word after another gradually emerged in the order of strokes, accompanied by sparks.
[Enchantment: Crown of Thorns (Sun)]
【Discard: Light 11 or Dark 10】
Action, Self
[Effect: Reduces the user's maximum health by 21%. If health remains at full value, the user gains the "Crown of Thorns" effect for 12 minutes. If the "Throne of Thorns" count reaches 3, the user dies immediately.]
Very simple and unpretentious effect.
When it condensed, it was so simple that even Aiwas was stunned for a moment - he hadn't seen the effect of the phantom card other than the small composition for a long time.
However, the opposite is the effect of the "crown of thorns".
Crown of Thorns: This state is considered a negative state and curse, and cannot be dispelled or removed. This state is considered severely injured, and health and mana cannot be restored or reduced. The player cannot receive any special states, move, cast spells, flash or teleport, or deal damage.
[When the effect ends, "Throne of Thorns" count +1]
"This is……"
Aiwass gasped.
This phantom card... is indeed somewhat useful, but it is also very troublesome.
He certainly couldn't use this card himself... not to mention that it overlapped with the Little Butterfly, and the price was too high. He could certainly use it to save Encyclopedia...
It is not like Aiwass's phantom card and the extraordinary equipment of this era, which is displayed as [Necessary: Light 11], but [Discarded: Light 11] - this is a special entry that usually appears on some artifacts or cursed equipment.
Simply put, it doesn't deduct mana, but the maximum mana of the player. To permanently discard 11 points of light mana, or 10 points of dark mana...
And what it requires is not to burn off one-fifth of the HP - but to deduct one-fifth of the HP limit. And it cannot be used when the HP is low, it must be used when the HP is full to be effective.
At the same time, if this card is used for the third time, sudden death will occur.
In other words, this card can only be used safely twice by a person. And by the second use, the person is essentially ruined... With their vitality weakened to this extent, not only would fighting be difficult, even advancement would be difficult.
Such harsh conditions and such a terrible price naturally have extremely powerful effects.
That’s 12 minutes of invincibility!
Not only does it lock health, it also locks mana——
Although this invincible state is quite disabled...
Mana cannot be reduced, but spells cannot be cast; health cannot be reduced, but damage cannot be caused to others, and one cannot move, teleport, or be teleported.
Although this looks a bit like the "refrigerator" of the mage in the old MMO game, the kind of spell that can control oneself and make oneself temporarily invincible...but its huge cost is obviously not used to block damage.
Whose good guy's life-saving props come up and first chop himself into serious injuries and then fix himself into a stake!
As for its use...
"Could it be... a sacrifice?"
Aiwass's heart moved.
He suddenly realized that this was the Priest's Phantom Card. At the time, the Priest hadn't mastered the Priest profession... meaning, he didn't have the Fire Sacrifice technique that could unconditionally heal himself.
While widely practiced, the Fire Worship technique is actually a spell of extraordinary power. Simply by praying and expending mana, one can heal oneself to a state of perfection, even achieving effects close to rejuvenation and eternal youth. Whether it's a disability or a curse, injecting enough mana can heal one...
This spell is actually a "welfare subsidy" given by the candlestick priest to the priests.
In order to appreciate and support the priests' dedication, the Candle Deer personally gave up many benefits to heal his followers. If the priest was seriously injured, he would see the Candle Master licking him during the fire sacrifice.
Maybe it wasn't an illusion.
But the shepherd obviously did not have this skill - Aiwass still remembered the shepherd he saw in the vision when he was reading the Shepherd Tantra.
He couldn't remember if he had seen the man's face clearly, but he remembered a thin man in a black robe. His robe was covered in scars, and his body was severely malnourished...all evidence of him feeding himself to the phantom demons.
He was already very frail. Although he didn't look very old, he had the skinny body of an old man.
His arms were as thin as sticks and looked like a skeleton, as if he would fall down if touched. His thighs were not even as thick as a young man's arms, and his skin had lost its elasticity, as if he had suffered a serious illness.
Aiwass looked at the phantom card carefully again and confirmed a detail.
——After activating the "Crown of Thorns" state, it is not that you cannot be harmed, but that your health and mana will not decrease.
what does that mean?
It is suitable for use when starting the art of pastoral care!
After activating this card, you can use the Shepherding Technique to inflict fatal damage to the opponent, and then feed the opponent with a constant supply of vitality and mana.
Who is the best match for this phantom card that can only be used twice?
——Of course it’s the Fallen Angels!
By then, the Shepherd was already able to manipulate a sea of higher-level demons at will, and remained unscathed even when surrounded by the entire Parthian Empire. Judging from the extent of the disaster, it's possible that even Horus, the Theocracy, Herasil, and Taichu were involved.
When the Fallen Angels came to the world, they simply allowed the demon army to burn, kill and plunder everywhere.
And the shepherd...
Aiwass himself knew how powerful the Shepherd Art was. To the Phantom Demons, the Shepherd Art was like giving a hearty meal to a starving person who had never eaten meat before—a delicacy so delicious it could cause sudden death.
The reason why the art of shepherding is so powerful and has the ability to charm people... is because the essence of this mysterious skill is also a tail-cutting technique.
He had essentially cut out a portion of his essence and fed it to the other. Once nurtured, one was effectively being assimilated by the shepherd. Even if they hadn't signed a fateful contract with Aiwass and become his sinful beasts, he could still directly read their inner thoughts.
From this perspective, the existence of the shepherd can even be considered a disaster for the phantom demon.
What if there existed an incredibly fanatical demon army, whose phantoms included far more than just demons, but also phantoms of other paths, including apostles... and the shepherds could simply ignore their path level and grant their mortal followers powers far beyond their own...
He was feared and wanted by all nations when he was alive, so it was normal that his records were completely erased after his death.
Such a powerful shepherd should be at least a fifth-level strongman.
...But here comes the problem.
If this card is used to shepherd the Fallen Angels, why does it appear here?
If the Shepherd can really shepherd the Fallen Angel with infinite life, mana and pain, wouldn't that be equivalent to directly covering up the Fallen Angel with his own existence?
——If that happens, will the Fallen Angels lose control again?
But it appeared here intact, instead of being collected or sealed by a monarch.
Then there is only one result.
"…betrayal?"
Aiwass murmured softly and opened his eyes: "Or..."
Although it's unknown what happened at the time... but it's clear that the Pastor didn't use this card when he summoned the Fallen Angel. It appears here because the leader of the "Sandthroat Sect" was once one of the Pastor's followers.
It is unknown what means he used to steal this card from the Pastor, which led to the Pastor's failure in the most critical summoning and the Fallen Angel losing control.
Or maybe it was just as Aiwass had speculated before... The Shepherd gave up on pastoring before summoning the Fallen Angels, and then chose to sacrifice himself to the Fallen Angels, thereby destroying the Ring Angels' plan and preventing himself from being devoured by the Ring Angels.
In that case, this card is a gift from him to his followers.
The reason he can be here and get this card is precisely because of Aiwass.
He once again disrupted the trajectory of fate.
But when Aiwass looked at the cards in his hand again, he was stunned.
Because that card is no longer what it used to be—
It became the Sun card of the Thoth Tarot.
Just like all the phantom cards that Aiwass had processed before.
When the shepherd makes the phantom card, doesn't he need to change it to Thoth Tarot?
...So, this isn't a normal situation?
Update! Two in one!
(End of this chapter)
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