When the plot-skips players into the game world

"""

"Hmph."

Aiwass's lips curled into a smug smile, "Let me show you the power of your master."

Seeing that the ritual site was mostly prepared, Aiwass said to Lily, "Go fetch Yulia, softly now, don't wake the others up."

"Right now?" Lily glanced at the time.

It was just past four in the morning, and the sun had not yet risen.

"Yes, it needs to be ready before the sunrise. Today is the new moon, the darkest night. It's also the day when The Sun's power is weakest."

Aiwass explained briefly.

"Alright, we will be back soon."

Lily nodded and disappeared into the shadows.

After Lily left, the Shadow Demon appeared anxious, "What exactly are you creating... that requires so much mana?"

"Have you ever heard of the Phantom Card?"

Aiwass asked in return.

"What is that?" The Shadow Demon had never heard of it.

"Oh, or maybe this," Aiwass said with a light laugh, "do you know the 'Sin Skill'?"

"...You mean the ritual used to extract my power before?"

The Shadow Demon had a deep impression of the [Ritual of Sins].

To this day, it had never seen anyone extract the power of an Upper-Level Demon so effortlessly.

"Yulia is a Phantom Demon Egg, you know that, right?"

"That's obvious,"

the Shadow Demon replied. "I was also reborn from a Phantom Demon Egg decades ago; I'm quite familiar with it."

All Phantoms hatched from Phantom Demon Eggs are not newly born Phantoms, but Phantoms that have been reborn after death.

"I know the secret of your Phantom kind's eternal life."

Aiwass nodded, "After your death, as long as your remains return to the Dream Realm, you can slowly revive by drawing on the energy of the Path, directly recovering. But if the death is too absolute, or if you're destroyed again during revival, your essence will drop into the Material Realm."

"Those infants who can't yet speak or know their names, if naturally resonant with a certain Path, can sense the embryonic state of a Phantom Demon."

"Phantom Demon Eggs" are essentially prodigies. Yulia, now only fifteen, is already familiar with collegiate-level knowledge.

But rather than saying becoming a Phantom Demon Egg increases one's gifts, it's more accurate that only true geniuses can become Phantom Demon Eggs.

"What I am going to do is extract the Phantom within Yulia,"

Aiwass answered, "That way Yulia won't have to worry about losing control."

"...I should remind you, Master. Extracting a Phantom from a Phantom Demon Egg will result in the immediate death of the Phantom Demon Egg."

"That's human technique,"

Aiwass affirmed. "But what I'm going to use is the Angel Envoy skill."

Just then, Lily quietly pushed the door open.

She explained softly, "We ran into Mr. Oswald on the way out, and it delayed us a bit."

At that moment, Lily's coat was draped over Yulia, who was still in her pajamas. Yulia was obviously not yet fully awake, standing there in a daze.

But she was very well-behaved, quiet, and calm.

"""

Yulia rubbed her eyes while looking around the room, which still bore remnants of the ritual with some fatigue.

Aiwass smiled and said, "Oswald must have heard some noise and come to check on the situation."

"Mr. Oswald is really amazing,"

Lily exclaimed, "I was in stealth mode, yet he saw me right away."

That was quite normal. Aiwass nodded.

His Elf Butler might possess the fifth Energy Level. The reason he said 'might' was because Oswald had never entered the core, so Aiwass was unaware of more detailed information about him.

These Guardian Spirits would serve and protect the Founding Families, and it was very likely a trade between the Holy Nation or the Candle Master and the Silver-Crowned Dragon.

After all, the ancestors of these Founding Families were related to ascending to the Seat of the Pillar God with the help of the Silver-Crowned Dragon. Many of them must have been sublimated into Angel Envoys of the Silver-Crowned Dragon—just like the "Gavin" he had just met.

It was quite normal for the Holy Nation to send someone to take care of these Angel Envoys' bloodlines in the Material Realm, at least to prevent them from dying out...

Even if the Angel Envoys had no connection to the Material Realm and no longer held any sentiment, for the people of the Material Realm, it was at least a proper and reasonable form of respect. Moreover, it was very likely the intention of the Candle Master.

—Although no one knew the name of the Silver-Crowned Dragon when he was human, Aiwass speculated that he most likely was named "Arthur."

After all, the founding monarch of Avalon was Lancelot, and the Founding Families were the initial Knights of the Round Table. With the existence of Merlin, Vivian, Mordred, and others, the legend of King Arthur was nearly complete, only lacking the protagonist King Arthur himself.

The human warrior that Aiwass had previously portrayed, the one with adaptability to the Path of Transcendence, was called "Arthur" by the Giant Chieftain—clearly the giant didn't recognize the Knight played by Barton, but he recognized "Arthur."

So Aiwass wondered... could this be the story of Arthur before he killed the White Dragon and became the Crowned Celestial Marshal of the Path of Strength?

Arthur, at that time, had the adaptability to both the Path of Strength and the Path of Transcendence.

The faith of the Elves was in the Candle Master. They were the only clear ally of the Avalonians at that time, taking part in the conquest of the Giants... Could this explain, in fact, that it was a divine war between the Candle Master and Supreme Heaven?

Or at least, this could be the Candle Master's retaliation for the despicable murder of his "Eternal Vanguard" by an envoy of Supreme Heaven.

From this perspective, the Silver-Crowned Dragon was very likely to have been supported to power by the Candle Master, which also explains the esteemed status of the church and Elves in Avalon, and why the Holy Nation and Avalon would become "eternal allies."

Aiwass suppressed his curiosity about Oswald.

"Come here, Yuli,"

He reached out to Yulia, patted the air invitingly, and opened his arms with a smile, signaling he wanted a hug.

It was then that Yulia, who was slowly coming to her senses, suddenly noticed Aiwass was not seated in his wheelchair.

She paused, then rushed over: "Brother, are your legs completely healed?"

Aiwass laughed happily, scooping her up and lifting her above his head before bringing her into his arms: "Does it look like your brother has any problems?"

He kissed Yulia's cheek gently and asked, "Are you still wearing the amulet, Yuli?"

"Except when taking a bath, I've been carrying it with me all the time,"

Yulia whispered in Aiwass's ear.

The girl laughed happily, nuzzling her cheek affectionately, her eyes curving into crescents: "This whole week, I've had no headaches or heart pain... The amulet is working!"

—In reality, it was the effect of the seal, something both of them were well aware of.

But Yulia preferred to believe it was the amulet's power. Because if that was the case, then she wouldn't hurt anymore afterward.

"That's good. It won't bother you again soon,"

Aiwass said with a smile, his forehead touching Yulia's burning one lightly: "Do you trust brother?"

"I always trust brother,"

The girl with the translucent white hair hugged Aiwass's neck with her arms and said earnestly.