Chapter 295 James and Jacob
Merlin narrowed his eyes slightly.
Because he knew the old man, and he was very familiar with him. They had known each other for a long time.
——The man locked in the birdcage by Titania was James Moriarty, Aiwass’s adoptive father.
Despite being caged, the old man looked quite healthy. He was dressed as if he was going to a banquet, and even his hair was neatly combed back and combed neatly.
In addition to the horizontal bars that allowed the bird to stand, there was also a chair for people to sit in. James sat down calmly, even crossing his legs, and looked at Merlin with a smile.
"...I heard you were missing for a long time, but I didn't expect you to be here."
Merlin said, "They all thought you had an accident in the Theocracy."
"I did go to the Theocracy. Partly to get some things, and partly to worship the giant tree."
James smiled and said, "I have great respect for the giant tree—it single-handedly carries an entire civilization and creates an entire race with its own flesh and blood. If the giant tree were more powerful, I'm sure it would choose to support the entire world."
"I'll take it seriously."
Merlin casually said, "How's your research going lately? You haven't summoned me in a while, so I guess everything is going well?"
"You could say that."
James chuckled and said, "But let's not talk about such boring things in front of His Majesty. What are you doing in the Fairy Kingdom?"
"Then you'll have to ask your child."
Merlin said bluntly: "While you were a guest here, I was not idle."
"Which child am I?"
James asked in return: "Son or daughter?"
"Of course it was that little fox from the Alexander family. Thanks to him, I discovered that Vivian was up to something again—she modified my Shadow of Avalon ritual. But she doesn't have that ability, so I suspect it might have been that guy Jacob who helped her modify it. As a 'Great Wizard,' he often uses rituals to borrow the power of other paths, and the apostle he met in the Path of Love was Vivian. So they are connected.
"But if it wasn't Jacob who did it... then the situation would be even more complicated. It's even possible that the Celestial Master and the Pillar God were involved. Although my skills aren't very good, it's not something an ordinary person can just change as they please."
Merlin pulled up his wide-brimmed hat and said seriously to James, who was also the Fairy Queen, "So I have to go to the Beheading Valley to see if Alexander has left anything else. But it's engraved by the Amber God, and I can't enter by normal means since I no longer have a physical body.
"So I have to borrow the Fairy Cave. If he left any rituals, there must be clues there."
"Shadow of Avalon..."
Titania, the Fairy Queen, asked with great interest, "Is that the ritual that resurrected Lancelot? How did Vivian change it? Was it fun?"
"I can't say."
Merlin shook his head cautiously. "But it definitely wasn't Lancelot who was resurrected. I'm not sure if it would be fun, but it would definitely be troublesome. So I'm stopping the ritual for now."
He was actually not sure whether the ceremony would bring down Shadow Tiansi as Aiwass said.
Merlin knew that there was no ritual that could pull the Celestials directly down to the material world. If the Celestials could be pulled down so easily, wouldn't they have been pulled down long ago?
Although Celestial Masters and Apostles can be reborn, this is a voluntary act. Usually, they "cut off and start over" in order to make further progress or change their path.
Merlin had some understanding of rituals, thanks to his half-demon status, which gave him some intuitive abilities beyond the Dao. However, he was not a professional ritualist... his primary path was the Path of Wisdom. He was only a dabbler in rituals—of course, at the level of an Apostle.
He analyzed it logically and felt that the ritual did have such an effect... but Merlin was not sure that this would be the final effect.
Normally, when Merlin encountered a ritual of uncertain effectiveness, he would let it run a lap first. But this ritual felt a bit dangerous, so he didn't dare try it - if he really dragged down someone he knew, it would be unlucky.
What on earth are Vivian and Jacob doing?
Is this something you can touch?
"I might actually know something about this."
James raised an eyebrow and said calmly, "When Aiwass's parents came to Glass Island, they brought a letter. The letter mentioned his father's research... It was sent by his brother."
"Whose brother?"
"Julio Alexander, Jacob's second son and Aiwass's father. A letter to Julio from his brother, Jacob's eldest son."
“…I don’t have much impression.”
"Well, Julio is just a young priest. Not even a bishop. It's normal that you don't have any impression of him."
James nodded and continued to explain to his old acquaintance, "His eldest son wasn't very well-known either. He later inherited Jacob's desire for the Tao, became a demonologist, and infiltrated the Noble Red. But he was later killed by Noble Red. It was because of this that Noble Red learned of Jacob's research."
“None of that either.”
Merlin shrugged, then smiled helplessly. "Just tell me, what did the letter say? What exactly was Jacob researching? I only know it seemed to be related to artificial humans...or it was Eileen who told me that he used the wrong means to achieve the ultimate goal of alchemy. And so, Jacob was cursed by the Sand Clock because of this."
"Jacob hid his identity because of his research. I was also at Lloyd's back then, and I had many encounters with him when I was young."
James narrowed his eyes and whispered, "He is indeed a genius. But geniuses can usually only be one step ahead, and those who are two steps ahead are crazy.
"He's more than two steps ahead—his research is truly taboo. Even soul cloning is merely a necessary component of his associative technology. I believe what he truly wants to do is create a god.
"That letter mentioned that he attempted to integrate fragments of the phantom demon into the human soul, creating people born with special characteristics."
"...Isn't that the Phantom Demon Egg?"
Merlin frowned. "What's the point?"
"I don't know. His death was so inexplicable that I actually suspect he's not dead... or maybe he's secretly become an apostle of some god. I'm not sure what he's going to do, but ruining all his plans is a sure thing."
James replied calmly, "According to his original plan, Aiwas Alexander should be handed over to Bishop Mathers by Julio, and Julia Heracross would eventually be adopted by the Bartons.
"So I intervened to a certain extent... and raised both Yulia and Aiwass in front of me. But I didn't expect that the two of them would get together on their own."
"Is this also why you suddenly faked your death?" Merlin asked back.
"Well, after coming into contact with the Noble Red, Aiwass suddenly became wary of me. He also inexplicably acquired some secret knowledge he shouldn't have, involving the Celestial Master and the Pillar God. I suspect he was influenced by Jacob and may have absorbed some of this knowledge in a dream."
James narrowed his eyes. "So I decided to give them some space... and see what would happen to them if I wasn't around. So I came to Her Majesty Titania and asked her to take me in for a while.
"Since you've been keeping an eye on Avalon, please tell me what they've been doing during this time."
(End of this chapter)
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