When the plot-skips players into the game world

The call from the Lohar Society was to notify Aiwass that the time of the attack had been set.

The time was Tuesday night and Wednesday early morning.

It was Monday afternoon now, meaning the attack time was tomorrow midnight.

Even the list and arrangement of attackers had been laid out by Lawyer York for Aiwass.

There were a total of four Demon Scholars, two of the third energy level and two of the second energy level. They each came with two Demon Dogs, one Whiplash Demon, and one Blade Demon.

This lineup... could only be described as quite classic.

The Whiplash Demon is a standard demon species, also nicknamed "Foreman" by the players. It acts as a buff machine for the demons, continuously strengthening all nearby demons, but it's quite fragile itself. It's usually protected by the sorcerer demons.

Demon Dogs are the second boss originally set for the Pelican Bar dungeon, man-made demons created by the Demon Scholars. They are roughly of the second energy level, their advantage being a high frequency of attacks, strong desire to attack, and fighting recklessly. Thus, it's best to take out the Demon Dogs instantly at the start, or else it will be quite troublesome if they cling and fight.

The only slightly more challenging one is the Blade Demon.

It is purely a melee demon and does not possess any fancy instant movement abilities. Nor does it have control skills or long-range attacks; it's simply very fast and highly skilled in swordsmanship—the Blade Demon is the type of criminal who, obsessed with swordplay, kills indiscriminately to test their blades, or those who challenge and brutally kill strong opponents and are then transformed into demons after death.

Being a demon directly transformed from a human soul, it also bears the Mark of Sin.

However, the Blade Demon is relatively weaker compared to other demons with the Mark of Sin and is easier to control. That's why it has not been classified as an Upper-Level Demon.

Over the years, with the development of the era, Blade Demons have rarely been born. The last batch of Blade Demons were born several hundred years ago.

Just looking at the Path abilities, Blade Demons are roughly equivalent to a third energy level melee Transcender. But their exquisite combat skills and rich battle experience elevate their threat level in direct combat by at least one energy level.

In the game, the Blade Demon is the only one among all the lower demons, even those encountered up to level forty, that knows the art of feinting. The intervals between its combo strikes are variable, and it can change tactics quickly—it possesses the combat intelligence to change tactics and find the landing spot upon seeing a roll action.

Moreover, it consciously aims for vulnerabilities. The Blade Demon can enchant its Weapon with various types of elemental damage, choosing the weakest resistance of its target to attack.

Because of this, rolling is almost ineffective against it, and parrying is also likely to fail. Its desire to chase and attack is very strong, and the player it targets can hardly distance themselves to receive healing from the Path of Devotion. The only downside is that it has a fixed hate target; once it has set its sights on someone, it will not switch targets.

When fighting the Blade Demon, the strategy is to bring control skills and focus fire to take it down quickly. The longer it drags on, the more likely things will go awry.

Then there are the four Demon Scholars, none of them high-level, all squishy, with no home-field advantage. But if you ignore them, their stand-and-cast ritual outputs can deal quite high damage.

Their whole lineup highlights an "every demon for itself" approach. A very classic NPC team composition, without any disruptive or protective demons, they just charge in at the start.

It's like changing homes at the beginning of the game.

Although they basically have no joint defense capabilities, because each demon is the type that "you'd better focus fire and take it down first," their combination can be a bit troublesome. Because when you take down anyone, the others can exert their strength.

Despite their being an easy kill with just one skill for the mighty, for Aiwass, who was publicly known as only a first-level Transcendent, this was almost a "dead end that one can't solve even if one knows about it."

"What happened to 'I can handle this myself'?"

Aiwass asked, "With this kind of lineup, how do you expect me to strategize?"

"Don't be angry, Mr. Moriarty..."

On the other end of the phone, York's voice was somewhat shaky as he chuckled awkwardly, seemingly mopping his sweat with a handkerchief: "That's why I couldn't reach you and was so anxious—we were afraid you'd accidentally get killed!

"But there was no other way. Vice Chairman Boka indeed only wanted to send a few second-level Demon Scholars to attack you. He gave two reasons, one was 'to keep the scale of the attack low to avoid triggering an overreaction from Avalon and to make the authorities underestimate us'; the other was about the Lohar Society internal affairs, saying 'The Association wants to deplete our strength by sending our people to their deaths, so we need to preserve our strength.'

"Isn't that good?"

Aiwass countered, "What he said makes sense, doesn't it?"

"Yes, I thought it made sense too... but the Chairman stopped him.

"The Chairman said your identity is delicate and critical, and that an attack on you is a big deal, regardless of the attackers' strength, and it can't alleviate Avalon's vigilance, so Mr. Boka's reasons don't hold; and since many people know you have joined the Lohar Society, if you were to face a full-blown assassination by the Demon Scholars at this time, it could actually serve as a smoke screen, causing Avalon's investigators to become confused and temporarily dissociating the Lohar Society from the Noble Red Society, buying us some time."

Lawyer York tried his best to relay the words of the higher-ups: "The final vote showed... the supporters of the Chairman were clearly in the majority.

"Vice Chairman Boka's suggestion is that you might still want to find some help. And if all else fails, don't hold back... Preserving yourself is the primary goal."

Aiwass clicked his tongue, smacked his lips, and remained silent.
Continue reading stories on empire

This Chairman, he really had a way with words.

What he meant was to sacrifice Aiwass as a pawn.

If Aiwass, as an overt member of the Lohar Society, continued to suffer attacks from the Noble Red Society, it would prove that there wasn't such a close relationship between the two Associations.

The Lohar Society consisted of merchants.

Merchants aren't known for their convictions; they are more timid and prefer to protect themselves. Yet at the same time, they're attracted to more aggressive strategies with higher rewards.

Therefore, with what he said, from an objective point of view, others were unlikely to agree with Vice Chairman Boka's decision.

As the head of the Moriarty Family, Aiwass was indeed subject to attack that could provoke a full-on retaliatory strike from Avalon—and from this perspective, the Chairman directly negated Boka's "hero plan."

And compared to "conserving strength under the pressure of the Association" and "creating a counterintuitive scenario to demonstrate that the Lohar Society might be unrelated to the Noble Red," the former obviously had more stable but lower rewards.

He knew the other high-level members of the Lohar Society very well, which is why the reasons he provided were more persuasive than those of Vice Chairman Boka.

Wow, is the infighting this intense?

The friendly fire they inflicted upon each other was even greater than the damages caused by the Supervisory Bureau...

Aiwass was a bona fide member of the Lohar Society.

Wasn't the President worried at all that pushing Aiwass too far might backfire?

Aiwass narrowed his eyes, deep in thought.

...Unless he had already planned to withdraw from the Lohar Society. Since he didn't respond to Vice Chairman Boka's second question, it meant he intended to end his fence-sitting and firmly stand with the Noble Red Society.

On the other hand, the actions of the Noble Red Society were so bold, forcing them to attack Aiwass... They may very well have intended to let the officials deal with the Lohar Society for them.

It was no wonder that an organization on the Path of Transcendence engaged in such intense infighting.

They hadn't even secured Avalon, yet they had already started fighting over how to divide it.

It was precisely because Aiwass was so valuable that the President couldn't tolerate this. His so-called "contralogical" line of thought was essentially a smokescreen. What he really intended to do was to ensure he wouldn't get bitten back by the Lohar Society.

If Aiwass turned, then the Lohar Society would be dragged down by him, and he could jump over to the Noble Red; if Aiwass didn't turn, then this was him suppressing Vice Chairman Boka's faction. "A heretic is more detested than an unbeliever," as the saying goes; to the President, Vice Chairman Boka, who made it clear he was starting a faction, was the heretic in his eyes.

From this perspective, he wasn't exactly a pure Transcender.

This generation of "Lohar" had a strong sense of authority, consciously maintaining their own power.

This might be why he didn't firmly join the Noble Red at the beginning but still had one foot in the Lohar Society.

It was ludicrous. A merchant with ambition, with a desire for power...

But it was precisely because of such people that the alliance between the Lohar Society and the Noble Red had its flaws.

Like celebrating with champagne at halftime, huh?

Fine, I'll open a few more bottles for you.

"I understand... No holding back, right?"

Aiwass finally replied after a moment of silence, his response brief.

He then disregarded the incessant chatter of Lawyer York and hung up the phone, feigning anger.

But in reality, Aiwass wasn't angry at all.

Instead, he curled the corners of his lips upward, feeling pleased, "The opportunity has finally arrived."

"Is it that fake death plan we discussed earlier?"

Yulia, who had been holding her breath quietly at the side, asked.

She was somewhat worried, "Is it really okay?"

"Trust me, Yuli. I never act recklessly."

After some thought, Aiwass slightly modified the original plan, "I'll invite Princess Isabel over tomorrow and tell her about your intention to enroll—your grades are definitely sufficient, you just need to take an additional test.

"I'll have her come over in the afternoon, and you'll insist on following her to the palace, that way you won't be in danger. Yuli, you're so adorable, the princess will definitely like you."

"But what about the assassin at night?"

Yulia asked, her thoughts clear, "In the evening, shall I make a fuss to come back... and then be escorted by the palace guards?"

"No need."

Aiwass smiled gently, speaking softly, "I can handle it myself. Haven't you already given me your Little Butterfly? It will protect me for you."

"Shadow Demoness and I will as well."

Lily added from the side, "After this, we might disappear for a while. Miss Yulia, remember not to reveal any flaws."

Yulia nodded earnestly, "I will try my best."

——Not bad luck at all.

Aiwass narrowed his eyes like a fox, gazing out the window.

Had the President not been so greedy, his plan would have had some real loopholes.

And now, the last loophole in Aiwass's plan had been filled by the President himself, through his own greed and personal desire.

"Aleister... I should send my regards to Vice Chairman Boka for you."

He murmured softly, his lips curling up, his voice as smooth as if savoring candy.