When the plot-skips players into the game world

Lars Graham, clad in a complex and delicate silk robe, slowly caressed his bone-carved staff.

It was a bone staff he had sculpted from the living spine of his student and refined into its current form.

Carved upon the staff were the twelve letters overflowing with adoration she had written to Lars, as well as the sonnet he had returned to her.

Starting from the top and ending at the bottom, there was not one character more, not one less.

The old man did not consider this to be an act of cruelty—without a doubt, this was art. Her soul still loved him, and that was the proof.

"Aledy, what do you think?"

The old man spoke.

Behind him stood a young girl about seventeen or eighteen years old, dressed in a white priest's robe.

She wore a white priest's robe, her body semi-transparent, with only her spine shining a brighter pure white. She looked much like a white jellyfish.

She tilted her head slightly, her lips moved as if uttering something.

She emitted no sound—those who return from the land of the dead have no voice.

But Lars nodded as if he had heard something.

"You're right," he said to himself. "That means there are four possibilities…"

"The first is that Aleister is indeed Croix. Her uncontrollable inclination towards the Path of Love led her to choose defection…"

After all, Avalon is not the Iris Flower.

Avalonians know next to nothing about shadow powers.

The most common shadow powers originate from the Path of Love. For instance, the Sons of the Moon, the witches, and those cursed by the witches' "Werewolf Transformation Skill" to become werewolves.

Transcendents from the Path of Transcendence as Shadow Demons, or those on the Path of Adaptation as bionic beings, are actually rather rare.

If the Supervisory Bureau suspects a Shadow Demon invasion, it's highly possible they jumped to conclusions. If they only detected traces of shadow powers, it could very well be Croix, who possesses the same power.

She never liked being an assassin. Now, working for the Hawkeye Organization, she had no other choice.

She once followed Lars to study sculpture. Yet after half a year of instruction from a fifth-energy-level teacher, she failed to grasp the basics… Lars concluded she lacked talent in this domain.

But Croix was proud. Unable to accept the fact she was talentless, she self-taught the Path of Adaptation—after all, her father and grandfather were skilled assassins. Sure enough, in just a few years, she reached the fourth energy level, and now she was close to touching the fifth.

Lars had warned her, though—her personality was unsuited for an assassin, despite her natural aptitude for Adaptation.

Croix's stubbornness had her ignore Lars's caution. Subsequently, Lars lost interest in advising her.

According to his experience and judgment, the Path truly compatible with Croix was the Path of Love.

Sensitivity, ferocity, impulsiveness, romance, narcissism, instinct… These were the keywords of the Path of Love.

However, they couldn't allow Croix to switch to the Path of Love—simply because the main adversary of the Hawkeye Organization were the Sons of the Moon from the Path of Love. The bodies of Transcendents from this Path would turn into Sons of the Moon upon their death.

It was akin to the Great Guardians or the Grand Justice of Avalon not permitting their descendants to become Demon Scholars.

Lars felt, Croix likely took unnecessary actions.

Sending Croix to assassinate Aiwass Moriarty was indeed the mission he assigned. But he believed his judgment to be correct. Aiwass would have been considerably drained upon returning from his knighting ceremony; all Croix needed to do was to smear the poison onto his lips and depart.

Yet considering Croix's personality, she might have instead applied the lipstick to her own lips, attempting to send him off with a kiss.

Such was her character.

As a Transcendent of the Path of Adaptation, she wouldn't succumb to the poison she concocted.

Given such a trait, she would certainly use it—even if the process was utterly redundant.

Perhaps at that moment, Croix's assassination attempt failed, and the two recognized each other.

Then, persuaded by Aiwass, she left the Hawkeye Organization and unilaterally severed ties with him… This was entirely possible. The imperious young lady could indeed make such a move.

This was also the most probable scenario.

After all, according to the reputation he investigated, Aiwass was indeed a promiscuous person.

For someone like Croix, proud and narcissistic, attuned to the Path of Love yet never having truly fallen in love, such manipulation would be effortless.

"But there is another possibility…" muttered Old Lars, "and that is she truly failed in her assassination and was done away with. However, Aiwass should have been incapable of resisting at the time, so she must have been murdered before the assassination attempt—perhaps killed by a Demon Scholar controlling a Shadow Demon, who then stole her appearance. Afterwards, the imposter chose to aid Aiwass, who mistook her identity."

Old Lars murmured softly, "But this possibility seems unlikely…"

As a member of the Hawkeye Organization, they had conducted research on Shadow Demons. It's true that Shadow Demons can take on another's appearance by devouring animals or humans, but this is limited to those that act independently.

They say Aleister was possessed by a Shadow Demon… but the Shadow Demon within a Demon can't do that, as it can't leave the host's body.

And those capable of contracting with Shadow Demons are few. Old Lars knew them all.

Besides, Avalon would not allow them to enter at will—unless someone went to great lengths to infiltrate successfully and risk exposure by the Eye of Avalon to devour Croix.

"And there's yet another possibility... that is, Aiwass is the real Aleister. Or in other words, he is the one possessed by a Shadow Demon."

In the end, there were only two witnesses to the incident—Aiwass and his little maid Lily.

If they both chose to perjure themselves, then the truth would be out of the question. If he truly had a Shadow Demon inside him, it could explain why Croix was discovered.

"Shadow Stealth" is an ability that is theoretically almost impossible for humans to acquire, even a secret of the Hawkeye Organization.

Simply achieving tier three Shadow Affinity is incredibly difficult. And even then, one would have just reached the threshold. The Hawkeye Organization was able to acquire this skill through generations of research, replicating the stealth ability of a Shadow Demon with simulated methods, followed by arduous learning to master it.

Even in Iris Flower, Shadow Stealth is Hawkeye Organization's trump card. In the entire Hawkeye Organization, now less than five people possess the ability of Shadow Stealth.

Even if she got close to another energy level four Transcendent, the first reaction would definitely be to assume she was hiding in the air—the thought of her being in the shadows would never cross their minds unless they had encountered such ability before.

Even if they guessed this possibility, damage of the Radiance or Shadow type would generally be needed to flush her out. Ordinary spells could not affect Croix hiding in the shadows, let alone lock onto her.

Previously, Old Lars had thought it was a coincidence.

After all, if someone guessed there was something in the shadows, it was indeed possible to be directly hit. Avalon's Priests wield the mana of light and fire, while the Legal Mage's Mana Pool attributes are light and wind—thus making safe Stealth in this area a bit more difficult than in Iris Flower.

However, since Aiwass could accurately describe Croix's appearance and identity... Then if Croix hadn't betrayed, it would mean that Aiwass had been able to see her from the start. Afterward, it was just him using Croix's name to make her take the blame.

If Aiwass had a Shadow Demon inside him, everything would then make sense.

The Hawkeye's Shadow Assassins, after all, were merely imitating the innate abilities of a Shadow Demon. To a real Shadow Demon, this would seem as foolish and laughable as a dog trying to imitate the bipedal gait of humans.

"Of course, there's another possibility... that the demon is not Aiwass, but his maid Lily."

Of the four possibilities, three would result in Croix's death, and one in her defection.

But there's one thing common to all four scenarios.

—The one with the power of the shadows would have to be living with Aiwass all the time. Otherwise, "she" could not have detected and thwarted Noble Red's assassination plan against Aiwass.

Was she really Croix?

Did Aiwass truly have a Shadow Demon inside him?

"Then let me try to find out myself..."

The Bone Sculptor muttered under his breath.

He didn't feel much emotion regarding Croix's death. As an assassin, dying during a mission was quite normal; especially since Croix had a tendency to be insubordinate and ignore commands and advice, making her a risk to the Hawkeye Organization itself.

Even if Croix wasn't dead, upon returning home this time, he would report and request that they place Croix under house arrest, forbidding her from going on missions again.

However, on the flip side, Croix was after all an expert nurtured meticulously by the organization. An elite assassin capable of assassinating an energy level four Transcendent.

Her death would cause a considerable loss to the organization.

—But if the demon was Aiwass or Lily, then that loss could be more than compensated for manifold.

The Hawkeye Organization had been researching Shadow Demons for a very long time, but they had never captured a real one. If they could capture a living Shadow Demon, the organization's strength would inevitably experience a substantial boost.

And if those old beings from Star Antimony personally came after him, they wouldn't be able to defeat him.

Despite being tormented by bone cancer, he was still an old Transcendent.

With him causing trouble, the other party wouldn't be able to hide anymore... In that case, it might even trigger a war between Avalon and Star Antimony. At the very least, it would reignite their hostility.

Furthermore, if Croix had truly betrayed the organization, he would have to capture his former student and take her back for execution.

In any case, he would have to make the trip.

And in any of the scenarios, at least he would be able to survive safely.

... At worst, his body ravaged by terminal disease, it wouldn't matter if he died.

"First, I'll stake out under Aiwass's dormitory. He will eventually return," whispered the old man, supporting his body with his cane and shakily standing up.

He was hunched over with his shoulders drawn in, his head bowed and knees bent. His legs were even thinner than a young girl's arms, making him look like a skeleton in a robe, with lumps of hard tumors protruding from his body.

The figure of the ghost girl "Aledy" vanished like an illusion, while Old Lars moved slowly to the corner of his workshop with the speed of a tortoise.

There stood a small statue, only half a person tall. It depicted a blond young man in his thirties, looking spirited and vigorous.

That was Prince Andrew.

He was Princess Isabel's brother, and the first in line to the throne designated by the current queen.

If he died, the only adult left eligible to ascend to the throne... would be just Isabel and her father, Prince Albert.

"Just to be cautious, to be on the safe side..." the old man whispered, "If I can't return this time... I at least need to complete the final task."

After all, he had been preparing for so long. From poisoning to curse, then poison again and another curse... Two nations, three organizations, a plan spanning over a decade, today would see its end.

He touched the statue with his hand and recited a cipher given by the leader. Slowly, many crimson cracks appeared on the statue, from which blood began to seep.

"Die, child."

The old man sighed, "You're the only one left. Once you're freed, so am I."

Upon his words, the statue's emerald eyes slowly shed two trails of blood tears.