Chapter 339: Aiwass's Excitement
The stranger guessed correctly, but also not correctly.
Because the person at the door now was not just one of the two people - but all of them.
After all, the losers didn't have to choose attributes or accept the soul enhancements from the Path's characteristics. They were immediately ejected after viewing the settlement screen, while the winners had to be detained by the Pillar God for another period of time.
The white-haired old earl rushed in quickly with a cane.
He seemed to be experiencing some somatic symptoms due to the failure of the promotion ceremony. Because just yesterday, he was walking briskly... but after the promotion ceremony, he was directly using crutches.
This is undoubtedly a symptom of a severely damaged soul.
But even with the cane, he walked as if he was racing a car—almost as if he would miss the train if he was even a little late, and rushed into the room.
He angrily ripped off the red lampshade covering the electric light, then endured the pain and used his immobilized foot to kick the offerings aside. It seemed that this pain made him feel comfortable.
Although he was not angry with the stranger, he could visibly feel his anger.
"Count Karl..."
The stranger walked over awkwardly and greeted him in a low voice.
"Call me General, Lieutenant Lore!"
The old man answered in a loud and powerful voice.
Along with his voice, another sound like the crackling of a campfire rang out.
His golden pupils blazed brightly, as if they were constantly burning with fire. And indeed, that was the truth—with just a thought, a newborn Balrog could rise from this old, decayed body.
Normally, he could suppress this impulse and maintain his social identity as a human being. But now that his soul was damaged, he only spoke a word, and the temperature in the room began to rise abnormally.
"That's all, old friend."
The middle-aged man who walked in leisurely with a black cane said calmly: “Don’t take it out on Albert, he didn’t do anything wrong.”
He looked to be in his early thirties, with a pair of scarlet eyes. His blond hair was neatly combed back into a slicked-back style. Even so, his hair looked very abundant.
"...Thank you, Your Highness."
Albert scratched his head and responded politely.
His naturally curly hair was a little messy from just waking up, and he was wearing black round-framed glasses, looking as introverted and shy as a young scholar who hadn't yet graduated from university.
Albert Lore, the genius necromancer codenamed "Stranger," was only in his early twenties, but he had already reached the fourth level. However, unlike mainstream necromancers, he didn't pursue the first level of the Path of Consecration, thereby ascending to the status of a Ghoul Herder, capable of effortlessly summoning countless skeletons. Instead, he chose to pursue the second level of the Path of Balance, ascending to a new transcendent profession: the Disaster Splicer.
The Dusk Path has a special characteristic that is different from other paths.
If one doesn't supplement their desire for advancement by taking on a part-time job, the increasingly powerful "stillness" of the Twilight Path will halt their advancement. Most transcendents on the Twilight Path will stop at the third energy level, and those who can reach the fourth energy level will always need to take on another path to obtain the basic power beyond the Twilight Path.
The Disaster Splicer needs to become a second-level alchemist to be promoted.
Compared to the Ghoul Herder, this is a promotion path closer to the Amber Craftsman.
If the Amber Craftsman is a master at manipulating souls, then the Disaster Splicer is someone who splices and transforms corpses. When Albert was first promoted, the first Spliced Corpse he created was a monster he created by combining four corpses, a Hooked Fiend, and a Deformed Limb Fiend—he called it an Abomination.
The reason this profession has only recently been discovered is that alchemists in the Star Antimony Kingdom hold an extremely high social status. Anyone who reaches the third level of energy is directly awarded the title of lord and possesses their own territory. Furthermore, a generous monthly grant is allocated to allow them to practice alchemy and recruit alchemy apprentices.
The Twilight Path is the opposite. Necromancers are usually forced to join the army, while Preservators are servants of Alchemists, responsible for extending the preservation of precious alchemical potions or rare alchemical materials.
As long as one can become an alchemist, no one will go down the path of twilight.
But Prince Heinrich, also the Count of Leipzig and the master of the city of knowledge, realized the potential of this profession and directly invested a large sum of money in Albert to support his research.
The first investment is 10,000 gold coins.
A third-level alchemist could only receive a monthly royal grant of 200 gold coins—equivalent to over 300 White Crown coins in neighboring Avalon. In other words, he had given Albert a massive investment of 15,000 White Crown coins on their first meeting.
The investment has yielded very good returns.
Gargoyles are a classic creation of the Ambersmiths. Possessing a simulated soul, they can obey complex commands like soldiers. However, gargoyles are curse-driven, meaning a simple dispel spell can destroy a large area of these expensive gargoyles, while a cleansing ward cast by a priest can instantly disable them upon entering.
But as the "disaster splicer", Albert gave His Royal Highness a surprise.
He spliced a layer of flesh and blood, possessing independent consciousness, onto the gargoyles, using it to absorb external curses. He then covered the flesh and blood with a metal shell to protect it intact. In this way, the gargoyles' fear of dispelling and purification was resolved.
Because of his exceptional talent, Albert, a gifted necromancer, began to attract the attention of the royal family. Old nobles began to approach him...even the arrogant Count Karl took a different view of him.
"From what I know about you," Count Leipzig said with a smile, "you're not the type to be so happy just because you've been promoted. Did something good happen to you?"
"Yes, Your Highness!"
The stranger now had the opportunity to tell what he had encountered.
He excitedly recounted to his sponsor his encounter with Bashir Valentine during the promotion ceremony. Halfway through his speech, old Count Karl quietly came over and listened.
What puzzled the stranger was that, for some reason, the old man suddenly became angry as he listened. He snorted forcefully and quickly moved to the window on his crutches, seeming a little depressed.
"...I actually met that Majesty."
Count Leipzig's expression was a little subtle: "He actually goes to that kind of occasion..."
"I think it was only his friend who brought him here. That fellow called Pomponazzi—"
Although the other party was the medium through which he met Valentine I, Stranger was obviously dissatisfied with the person who brought Valentine I to the Crescent Moon Manor.
Valentine I is not the kind of guy who indulges in physical desires!
Count Leipzig coughed lightly and reminded him, "The 'Pomponazzi' you are talking about is the 'Red Prime Minister' in the early days of the founding of the country."
Valentine I was assisted by two unknown chancellors, the "Black Prime Minister" and the "Red Prime Minister", who were also the heroes who kept the Star Antimony running smoothly in the early days of the founding of the country.
“…Is it actually him?”
Albert was a little stunned.
He opened his mouth, was silent for a moment, and still said stubbornly, "Then he shouldn't have taken His Majesty to such a dangerous place..."
"I was transformed into the Child of the Moon by Mr. Pomponazzi. In that sense, he can also be considered my father."
Count Leipzig interrupted Albert again and reminded him softly.
"...I'm sorry, I got carried away."
Albert bowed his head and apologized without hesitation.
"It's nothing. It's a good thing that you can get inspiration."
Count Leipzig smiled graciously, "Even if your promotion isn't successful, it's definitely not a loss. You're already the deputy director of the Third Research Institute, and even if your Twilight Path can't reach the fifth level, His Majesty will never forget your achievements—after all, results are the proof of strength, not just the level of the path itself."
"You have contributed to the kingdom, and the kingdom will remember you. The Star Respect respects alchemists because they have brought change and development to the Star Respect, not because they possess extraordinary powers."
Despite the damage to his own soul, the Count of Leipzig felt no sorrow at all.
Instead, he spoke enthusiastically, "Besides, I also tried to recruit Miss Alai. If this recruitment is successful... maybe you can meet again in the future."
The other side.
Lily exchanged clothes with Aiwass, who had returned to his original form. But Haina still did not wake up.
So Lily began to tell Aiwass about her recruitment and the secret code left by the "Count of Leipzig".
She was a little worried: "I feel this is a bit dangerous, Master. Why don't we just not go?"
"No, of course I will."
Aiwass smiled and said, "It's a rare opportunity to disguise myself as 'Miss Aleister'... Of course I have to go."
"Then when are you going? You are a minister now, and people will stare at you if you go abroad."
"Of course it's time to follow my mentor on archaeological expeditions."
Aiwass said confidently, "When I was studying in the Theocracy, it made sense for me to go on a business trip with my advisor, right? I wasn't leaving Avalon, I was just going from the Theocracy to Starry Sky. Even if the Starry Sky people had long arms, they wouldn't dare to plant a nail in the Theocracy. How could anyone notice that I left the Theocracy?"
But Sherlock suddenly asked, "Do you know the Count of Leipzig?"
He keenly sensed the excitement hidden in Aiwass's heart after hearing the news.
Aiwass paused and gave him a smile.
"certainly."
Aiwass replied slowly, "He holds... the key to the next era."
(End of this chapter)
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