Chapter 5 Enchantment Card: Shadow Blade
Aiwass knew that he would definitely be able to participate in the investigation without even waiting for authorization from the Supervisory Bureau.
If nothing unexpected happens, he can also conduct an independent investigation - without being closely monitored by Supervisor Haina, he can directly participate in the investigation as an "assistant of the Supervisory Bureau."
On the one hand, it is the face of the adoptive father, and on the other hand, the Supervisory Bureau is bound by the rules of its superiors. It has always welcomed the help of outsiders. Since Mr. Sherlock, who now runs his own office, being hired and consulted by the Supervisory Bureau has even become a profession.
If the investigation is unsuccessful, it is because the hired detectives are incompetent, and at least they can avoid severe internal accountability; if everything goes well, it means that the guidance ideas proposed by the Supervisory Bureau are correct, and at least it can be regarded as an achievement and a stable share of benefits.
Although Haina is a genuine inspector, Aiwas knows the Inspection Bureau better than her.
Aiwass had his reasons for being so actively involved in the investigation of this matter.
——That is revenge and silencing.
The two versions of the story Aiwass had told the inspector were actually both false. Or rather, neither was entirely true.
He was indeed a participant in the ritual and did know the two demonologists.
But he was also a ritual sacrifice.
Because those two demonologists were actually Aiwass's "pen pals".
Aiwass had been fascinated by taboo knowledge since childhood. The more mysterious skills were forbidden by the Kingdom of Avalon, the more excited he became to study them.
For example, ritual magic from the Path of Transcendence, and preservation magic from the Path of Dusk.
The former is the basic ability of the Demonologist, and one of the professions extended from the latter is the Necromancer. From the name, it sounds like something bad.
This forbidden knowledge was only briefly outlined in his adoptive father's study. Possessing a forbidden book was a serious crime punishable by imprisonment, even in a knightly family. But after reading the overview, young Aiwass became even more eager.
He enthusiastically purchased some ritual materials, and without mastering any extraordinary knowledge or mysterious skills, he tried to perform the ritual based entirely on conjecture and imagination.
This will of course fail.
The core secret of this world is "knowledge".
The nine mystical skills corresponding to the nine great paths all require corresponding knowledge to master. Conversely, mastering this knowledge allows even a person of limited strength to gain extraordinary powers far beyond their actual abilities. Each piece of forbidden knowledge is practically the foundation of an entire school. Given this situation, it's impossible to buy reliable "skill books" on the market.
On Aiwas' sixteenth birthday, a secret society of demonologists, "Noble Red", suddenly contacted him.
Aiwass was very wary at first, but along with the letter, the other party sent him several handwritten copies of banned books, which contained contents about demonic knowledge and demonic rituals.
Although they were all small rituals that were no different from magic tricks—such as causing boils to form, healing minor wounds, making people drowsy, or simply bringing bad luck—they seemed useless, but they were truly extraordinary rituals!
After trying each one, Aiwass became very excited. They became pen pals, and they often exchanged knowledge about demonology. The other party also considered himself Aiwass's friend. They often talked about their love lives and daily trivialities.
At the beginning, Aiwass was still a little cautious.
However, two years passed quietly.
If they had intended to deceive him, Aiwass thought, they would have done so long ago. The value of the secret knowledge they had bestowed upon him was already quite high. Although Aiwass, having never been to the black market, had no idea how much this knowledge would fetch, even if the quality wasn't up to par, the quantity was still substantial.
——How could a scammer operate for so long and invest so much just to deceive one person?
This is neither reasonable nor rational, nor in the best interest of the individual.
So Aiwass gradually relaxed his guard and really treated this pen pal as a friend whom he had never met but with whom he got along very well.
A few days ago, the other party claimed that they had something to do in the capital and wanted to meet with Aiwass.
Aiwass believed the other party without hesitation and without any precautions.
——This was the lie he told the inspector. Because "Aiwass" was not abducted, but came there on his own initiative.
They were a man and a woman, both dressed in red and with shaved heads. The man looked to be in his forties or fifties, the woman in her twenties. Besides being mentor and apprentice, they were also lovers.
He enthusiastically treated his "two friends" to a meal, and then the middle-aged man said that he could let Aiwass see and even personally participate in the real devil summoning ceremony - Aiwass excitedly agreed.
But after he had been busy for more than an hour setting up the ceremony, he suddenly realized something while looking at the ceremony table.
Doesn't summoning a demon require some expensive materials?
It was then that he suddenly realized that he had become a "voluntary sacrifice" by personally setting up the ceremony platform. At the same time, as a student at the Royal Law University Theological Seminary, Aiwass could become a priest before graduation.
Although he has not truly embarked on the path of becoming a transcendent, he has already taken the first step towards the path of [Devotion].
This was reflected on his profile card, indicating he already possessed a Level 1 Priest class. Once he had accumulated enough experience in the basic skill "Basic Prayer," Aiwass would be able to upgrade the Priest class to Level 2 and master the path trait of his first Path of Devotion.
He had, of course, happily shared this with his pen pals—even though "Priest" wasn't as interesting as "Demonologist," it was still an extraordinary profession after all. Being able to embark on the extraordinary path and possess extraordinary abilities was better than nothing at all.
More importantly, priests are also a respected profession in Avalon.
The path of dedication is symbolized by light, protection, and candles. This path involves dedicating oneself to others and ideals. Only by truly practicing this principle can one become stronger. Therefore, all professions that emanate from the path of dedication are exceptional, promising careers and gaining recognition.
Thus, as a "voluntary 'dedicated' believer", Aiwass became a sacrifice of extremely high standards.
It was only then that Aiwass, facing death, recalled his past life memories. He was able to identify the demon's species and successfully sign a contract with it.
He controlled the shadow demon to sneak attack and kill the stunned middle-aged man, the demon scholar who was his "mentor". But the woman who was his apprentice was still alive.
If she had run slower, she would have been killed by Aiwass; but if she dared to turn around and look back, she could have killed Aiwass in return.
Just a little bit.
Aiwass sighed.
——He was almost sacrificed and silenced by that man; and he was almost killed by that woman.
Betrayed, deceived, murdered.
True anger was reverberating within Aiwass, and he decided without hesitation to retaliate.
Not to mention, this woman is very likely to have seen Aiwass's letter.
This meant that if she were arrested, she might betray Aiwass - no, she would definitely betray herself.
The adoptive father's position is now unclear, but even if it is just for his own sake, he must kill her before the Supervisory Bureau catches her.
However, Aiwass also did not intend to reveal his identity as a demonologist in order to kill the other party.
He has a way.
Upon waking up yesterday, Aiwass's first reaction was to try a simple ritual unknown to the original "Aiwass," a ritual introduced later in the game. After using it to replenish his own life force, which had been drained as a sacrifice, Aiwass was virtually certain that the hidden knowledge he possessed was also useful in this world.
Aiwass's profession in the game is not a demonologist who "transcends" the Tao... but an enlightener who "dedicates" himself to the Tao.
It is a pure auxiliary profession that can greatly enhance the strength of teammates and has a small amount of healing and control capabilities.
But now, when he has to face those world-destroying crises alone, such a weak profession is not feasible.
Because the Enlightener cannot benefit from his own enhancements. In other words, most professions on the Path of Devotion cannot benefit from their own enhancements, protection, or healing skills.
However, Illuminator could be a part-time role. After all, Aiwass's official identity was that of a dedicated priest. He could prepare for the Illuminator class change in advance, as he was well-versed in the essential path traits required to advance to this profession.
In order to resolve those crises, his main job must be to have strong enough individual combat capabilities.
Considering that he can work part-time as an Enlightener, the answer is simple.
That is the 5.0 version of "Ewass", who advanced to the "Lord of the Beasts" after mastering the power of the phantom demon.
That is a later-stage profession after advancing again from the Scholar of Great Sin.
After defeating the immortal phantom demons, one can extract their essence and transform them into one's own summoned beasts, which are "big beasts" with six attributes.
Although only one "Big Beast" can be summoned at the same time, you can switch to the Big Beast that is most suitable for the current situation, and then use the support cards, equipment cards, and field cards made by drawing power from other "Big Beasts" to strengthen the current one.
And the most important thing is that this summoned beast is considered a "teammate".
Not only is its output far greater than the main body, but it can also absorb all types of BUFFs given by teammates.
In game terms, this profession has the highest chance of being cheated.
Because the cards only provide noble mechanical buffs - such as triple speed, armor penetration, poison, burn, dodge, and spell penetration - but no damage-increasing buffs. This is precisely because the various damage-increasing buffs of the most mainstream support, Radiant, will not be diluted.
Although after summoning the "big beast", the main body will not be able to benefit from the attack BUFF, so the output of the main body will be somewhat weak.
However, during the burst cycle, the Lord of the Great Beast can briefly merge the summoned and strengthened "Great Beast" with himself, thereby bursting out extremely powerful strength.
By combining the Illuminator with the Great Beast Master, Aiwass can enhance his summoned beasts as "teammates." This doesn't sacrifice the social benefits of being a cleric, and he can also switch between summoned beasts to counter different enemies, giving him a very high ceiling.
In the worst-case scenario, you are the only one who can fight against the BOSS - then this professional combination may not have the highest burst under ideal conditions, but it must have the strongest comprehensive performance and adaptability.
The ability to extract the power of phantoms and use tarot cards as materials to create phantom cards comes from the previous profession, the Scholar of the Great Sin.
After thoroughly studying and analyzing a demon, a Sinner can gain knowledge of the corresponding rituals—specifically, which cards the demon can be used to create, what materials and rituals are required. Once this knowledge is known, even a demonologist can begin crafting them in advance.
The most important prerequisite for advancing to the Lord of the Great Beasts is to use the ability of the Great Sin Scholar to create six blank cards with different attributes, and seal six phantom demons with corresponding attributes respectively.
Then repeatedly defeat phantoms with the same attributes as experience materials to fill up the levels of these six phantoms.
According to Aiwas's memory, there was a high-level phantom demon with fire attribute in Yulia's body.
It was because of feeding that phantom demon that her body became so weak.
Once the phantom fully matured, it would kill Yulia. To save her, they had to confront the juvenile phantom directly; and phantoms were immortal... meaning conventional means were incapable of saving Yulia. At best, they could only delay the phantom's awakening and loss of control.
The "Lord of the Beasts" is different.
If Aiwass can successfully create a "blank card" with a capacity large enough to accommodate the phantom demon in Yulia's body, he can directly extract the consciousness of the phantom demon in Yulia's body.
In this way, not only can Yulia survive, but the advancement materials for the Lord of the Beasts can also be prepared in advance!
And Yulia can also obtain the remaining energy of the phantom demon by the way - making this unstable and dangerous power stable and growable, thus embarking on the path of a transcendent!
The basis of all this is that the card-making ritual in Aiwass's memory is reliable and feasible.
He had experimented with other rituals before, and the ritual knowledge in the game was indeed useful!
However, the creation of Phantom Demon Cards requires additional verification, as the Sin Scholar is a profession that only appeared after the advent of the Fallen Angels.
Now that it's two versions ahead of schedule, Aiwass is not sure whether the ritual can be run yet.
So he needed to experiment.
As long as Aiwas can successfully create any phantom card as a demonologist, it can be directly confirmed that this system is still usable at present!
This way, he could gain another power that had nothing to do with demonologists.
His own revenge and silencing actions will go smoothly.
Yulia is saved!
Even the destruction of Avalon is not irreversible—
——As long as he can successfully make his first card.
Aiwass was still too weak. The only transcendent being close to a higher-level phantom demon that he controlled was the Shadow Demon.
The only card that can be made by drawing Shadow Fiend is "Moon".
To create a "Moon Card", no matter how strong the power sealed in this card is, it requires a nail from the forehead of a criminal who was being torn apart by a chariot, and three ancient ropes from the gallows as materials.
Aiwass sat solemnly at his desk and took out a slightly blackened tarot card from the jade box.
These tarot cards were among a large number of unused mystical items that Aiwas had purchased during his earlier years of fanatical worship of various rituals. However, they could now be used to create the Great Beast Lord's Phantom Card.
The tarot card depicted a moon flanked by two towers. Beneath the moon stood a wolf and a dog, both barking furiously at it. In the center, at the very bottom, a lobster emerged from a river, looking up at the sky in bewilderment.
This is the Moon. In Tarot readings, the Moon card symbolizes confusion, distress, and anxiety.
The creators of the Tarot deck came from the prophets of the Adaptive Path. They looked down on astrologers, who also belonged to the Adaptive Path, and compared them to dogs barking at the moon. This was because all prophets agreed that the future could never be accurately predicted, while astrologers sought to create a "grand unified chart" that was complex and accurate enough to predict the future.
This behavior was ridiculous to the prophets. It was like a dog barking at the moon, trying to figure out what it meant. But it only exposed their ignorance and fearlessness.
Aiwass held his breath and became extremely cautious.
Because he had smeared mercury on the "Moon" on that tarot card, he used it as a medium to inject three points of his own dark attribute magic power yesterday.
Now, the maximum capacity of Aiwas's dark mana pool is only three points.
Even the most basic, weakest card requires at least five points. Regardless of how powerful the card, the other materials used are the same; the only difference is the amount of gemstone powder.
...Although such a weak card would be a waste of materials to create, at least it was important to succeed once to verify its feasibility.
At the very least, it's a reusable magic scroll. Once a card is crafted, it only requires one-tenth of the mana to activate it; anything less than one is considered zero. The only restriction is that only one card from the same tarot deck can be used per day. This means that if Aiwass uses this Moon card, he can't use any other Moon cards that day.
But it doesn't matter.
When they were no longer needed, they could be sold or given away—a portable spell scroll that required no mana to cast and automatically recharged daily would surely fetch a good price. From that perspective, these ritual materials weren't wasted.
Aiwass had already poured three points of his dark mana into the card yesterday. Because of this, the card had a slightly darkened appearance. This wasn't an illusion; it was actually absorbing the surrounding light. If held in sunlight, the effect would be even more noticeable compared to the surrounding objects.
Now, Aiwas's mana pool is full again.
He gently touched the mercury-coated moon again, slowly injecting all three points of his dark mana into it. A card crafted with six mana points would be slightly stronger than one crafted with five.
“What a pity…”
Aiwass sighed softly, "Let's make one first. I'll wait until I have more mana to make the materials for the remaining three."
Once the card reaches the minimum mana of five, the ritual is activated immediately. If crafting isn't done immediately, it will be scrapped after an hour. Otherwise, Aiwass could even accumulate mana day by day, potentially for ten days. Craft the "Site Card: Shadow Vault," which requires thirty mana to craft.
He could actually inject a little more mana today and start crafting with seven mana points tomorrow.
But with 5 to 10 mana points, the only item produced was the weakest "Enchantment Card: Shadow Blade." Stocking up a little more wouldn't make a difference... so it would be better to grab another day.
Thinking of this, he used a hammer to hammer the rusty nail into the Tarot card.
There was a creaking sound, and the card made a strange, sour sound. It was as if Aiwass had not hammered the card, but hammered it into someone's skull.
Then, he looped the three ropes into a loop and looped them toward the nail from three angles. He then used ordinary nails to nail the other three ends of the ropes to the three "Sword" cards.
The next moment, the rope suddenly inflated and expanded. Although it was just a nail hanging on it, it was like a noose around someone's neck. The three ropes suddenly turned into a ring instead of a "V".
Aiwass then evenly sprinkled the pre-ground black pearl powder onto the tarot cards. The "Moon" card belongs to the realm of the "Love" path. Black pearls are the guardian gems of the "Love" path, attracting the attention of the pillar deity of the "Eternal Self."
Just looking at it, even just a glance - is enough to give the card a soul.
After finishing what he had to do, Aiwass stayed there calmly without moving.
The shadow beneath him was like wisps of smoke, rising and merging into the card. The picture on the tarot card kept changing, as if another artist was making corrections.
When the scene changed, the nail slowly melted, transforming into a new "moon." Two of the three ropes merged into two new "black towers," transforming into two dog-headed men holding scepters. The remaining rope replaced the lobster and became a black scarab.
The card automatically floated up and flew into Aiwas's hands.
The attributes of the card automatically appeared in his eyes:
[Enchantment: Shadow Blade (Moon)]
[Necessary: Dark 0]
【Instant, contact, effective immediately】
[Effect: Temporarily grants the target "weapon" the attributes of shadow, cutting, and erosion, treating it as a supernatural weapon. Lasts for one minute (+20%)]
Done.
Aiwass thought.
Today is also an update of 10,000 words, please keep reading!
(End of this chapter)
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