Chapter 309 Ligeia's Killing Order
I witnessed with my own eyes how Aiwass easily sealed the fifth-level earthbound spirit into a small tarot card.
Sherlock, who was watching from the side, was extremely shocked.
One could even say he was stunned.
"...How on earth did you manage to do that?"
Sherlock was puzzled.
Because this completely violates Sherlock's common sense - on the path of transcendence, the suppression of the inferior by the superior is very obvious.
Many abilities become noticeably weaker if they cross one level, and become ineffective if they cross two. Those so-called cases of the weak defeating the strong are either due to the weaker party somehow circumventing the suppressed ability, or the weaker party actually possessing fragments or inheritance from the stronger party, becoming more powerful than the stronger party in a specific area.
But Aiwass's ceremony can be said to have nothing to do with the two.
——That is clearly a "ritual" that transcends the Tao!
I didn't see Aiwass use any power stronger than the earthbound spirit to suppress her... Aiwass did pray to Amber, but it couldn't be that Amber would come to help him personally!
Even if the earthbound spirit left voluntarily, it would be almost impossible to have such perfect containment power.
All her presence and power were contained within this small, ordinary card, without a single leak. This was an incomparably perfect seal—the power of the Path of Wisdom allowed Sherlock to keenly analyze that as long as Aiwass did not actively remove the complex seal on this card, the Earthbound Spirit would never escape.
Judging from Aiwas's proficiency, this is obviously not his first time.
"How many of these cards did you get?"
Sherlock couldn't help but ask.
Aiwass said with a smile: "It's a secret. And it's not about getting it, but making it."
——As long as Sherlock doesn't know that he only has four cards, he will look extremely tall and mysterious.
"Just like I gave you the Mithra Worshiper's job change ritual. You also said that I have a connection with the Path of Wisdom. But I know this ritual, but I don't use it on myself... That's because I have better career options."
Aiwass said seriously, "Haven't you been curious about my profession beyond the Tao for a long time? Scholar of Great Sin—that's my profession."
Although Aiwass is not yet, he can get a loan.
Anyway, I just need to advance twice more.
"...Scholar of the Great Sin, sounds a lot like Demonologist. But it's different."
Sherlock murmured, "You don't have a natal demon, but you gain the ability to create cards. That card is the Death from the Tarot deck. Based on this reasoning, I'm afraid you can only have 22 such cards... Summoning 22 phantom minions that you captured yourself? This profession's upper limit is quite powerful..."
Although he couldn't see the attributes of the [Follower Card: Earthbound Spirit], based on the previous conversation between Aiwass and the Earthbound Spirit Alice, he could probably guess that Aiwass wanted to take the Earthbound Spirit away. And seeing his smug look now, he knew he had definitely succeeded.
But Sherlock was relieved when he heard that Aiwass was not a demonologist.
He now has become more and more accepting of Aiwass.
When investigating Edward earlier, Sherlock didn't feel the thrill of gradually approaching the truth. Instead, he felt an inexplicable irritation... as if something was instinctively warning him to stay as far away from the truth as possible.
At that time, Sherlock relied entirely on his unyielding faith and rebellious mentality - the more uncomfortable I feel, the more I must get this done - and finally he forced out the Moriarty family's dark history and criminal evidence.
But he was not happy at that time.
That emotion, Sherlock believes, is called regret.
Now, he was unwilling to investigate Aiwass any further. However, the Queen had been kind to him, and his family had been loyal to Avalon for generations. It was his duty to ensure Aiwass didn't become the next Minister Droste... and now, he finally had a conclusion that convinced him and could be presented to the Queen.
When Aiwass was preparing the materials for the ceremony, he did not avoid Sherlock at all, and even stayed with him during the process of collecting the swamp extract.
Sherlock saw clearly that Aiwass did not use any human materials throughout the process.
——Compared to the evil and corrupt demonologists and the dangerous and mysterious ritual wizards, it seems that the Sin Scholar is a cleaner profession on the path to transcendence.
Compared to this, capturing the phantom demon is not a difficult task.
"Next time," Sherlock reached out and pressed the newsboy cap he was wearing, and said softly, "I mean in the future - if you need anything, you can always come to me. I can help you capture the... undead you want? Or I can also help you investigate the information you want."
He wasn't sure what Aiwass's range was. He could only judge by the results, and Aiwass could at least capture the undead.
Aiwass's eyes lit up: "That would be great."
He did not refuse at all, but agreed happily.
Rather, this is why he shared the secret with Sherlock.
Although Aiwass occasionally appeared smarter than Sherlock due to his superior vision and intelligence, he was still aware of his own limitations. When it came to analyzing existing intelligence, he was far inferior to Sherlock.
Furthermore, Sherlock will continue to improve his wisdom, and his brain will become more and more powerful...
The smarter and more capable his secretary is, the easier it will be for Aiwas.
But before leaving, Aiwass still reminded Sherlock to try not to tell other people about his occupation - Sherlock understood that "try" meant that he could tell others, but not say anything carelessly.
This is probably why Aiwass did not avoid the Griffin Liz the whole time.
Although Liz couldn't speak yet, she would soon be fully grown, and by then, Haena would surely know everything she knew.
After capturing Alice, Aiwass took Sherlock and flew back to Eagle Point Village on Liz.
He originally thought that he would have to walk the road to the village again and would have to wait until dusk to enter the village...but he found that he could actually fly directly back to the village.
They made no delay on the journey and it was just noon when they flew back.
"Maybe it's because some villagers invited us to stay overnight, or simply because some villagers accepted us," Sherlock analyzed softly, "so we were recognized as one of our own.
"That's more normal. Otherwise, it's difficult for messengers to deliver letters here—they always arrive at dusk, which always makes it noticeable, and it's easy to run into the Wild Hunt. The same goes for Haena. She obviously didn't return home at dusk, otherwise she wouldn't have bought a train ticket that arrived in the early morning."
"That's right."
Aiwass agreed.
The materials for the New Moon Ritual are much harder to gather than those for the Full Moon Ritual. Although substitutions are possible, they are not something that can be found randomly.
The standard New Moon ritual requires a live seagull, the heart of a deer that died today, a miniature wax figure of a philosopher, a snake, a handful of black salt, a horse's penis, a well-fed mouse, an oyster, and a mirror.
Petrels could be replaced with pigeons or sparrows, as long as they could fly; oysters could be replaced with pearl oysters or other shellfish. Dried horse penises could also be used; snakes didn't have to be alive, but they had to be soft... So Aiwass bought a few, soaked them in wine, and brought them along.
The hardest thing to find is undoubtedly the deer heart.
But there was a substitute for a deer heart: a lamb's heart. Lily and Haena had gone to Bagpipe Town to buy a sheep—and catch some mice, since there weren't any in Eagle Point. As it turned out, Aiwass returned even faster than them.
Before they returned, Aiwass and Sherlock began to draw the magic circle needed for the promotion ceremony in the room on the second floor of Haina's house.
Three people will advance in this New Moon Ceremony - Aiwass and Lily are from the second to the third, while Haina is from the third to the fourth.
Going from level three to level four means upgrading one's profession. Haina has to switch from an inspector to an arbitrator.
Aiwass also tried to dissuade Haina, asking her to wait for them. Anyway, they couldn't wait too long...
However, Haina said helplessly that this was her teacher's intention.
Ligeia required her to go through a new moon ceremony alone before she could be officially considered to have passed the test. Before this, Haena had only gone through the full moon ceremony and had never experienced the new moon ceremony.
But Ligeia believed that the difficulties Haena would face were far more dangerous and unexpected. She would need to be able to face and resolve unexpected challenges head-on, and she would also have to survive the fierce battles of wits and courage between people.
At that time, Haina didn't quite understand what she would have to do in the future to be more dangerous than the three-to-four New Moon Ritual... But now she has gradually understood.
——If Haina is the successor of the "Great Arbitrator", then she does need to have such qualities.
If she can't even protect herself, wouldn't she be so nervous that her stomach would hurt when she tries to protect a country?
In the face of such a responsibility, relying solely on oneself to advance from the Crescent Moon Field to the fourth energy level... seems to be nothing at all.
Haina needs stronger, much stronger personal abilities than this.
Originally, Aiwass thought that this might be difficult.
But when Aiwass realized that Haina was the future leader of the Hyena Gang and even had a small fragment of Lancelot I's soul within her… he felt that Haina might be able to do it. Old Meg's vision was indeed sharp, and it was obvious.
Haina has that kind of talent, but she lacks the pressure to bring out her talent.
This time, she was alone facing the New Moon Ritual, which she had never experienced before, and this pressure put her under. The punishment of the New Moon Ritual was usually one level higher than that of the Full Moon Ritual. The price of "death" could frequently occur from the third to the fourth level, and the lightest price was damage to the soul and inability to advance to the fifth energy level in the future.
——In other words, Ligeia asked Haina to kill people.
It wasn't for justice, for the Queen, for Avalon, or in the name of law and protection. There was no excuse to shirk responsibility. Instead, it was for his own growth and his own interests. In the New Moon Ritual without a partner, he mercilessly killed others - and killed as many people as possible.
The future great arbitrator must not be a soft-hearted and indecisive person.
She must be ruthless, iron-fisted and cold-blooded enough to suppress internal and external troubles.
Aiwass is looking forward to it.
When the sun rises tomorrow, Haina, who survives this promotion ceremony... will have grown so much.
(End of this chapter)
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