NOVEL NEXT Chapter 186 Because I Don't Want To
That wasn't even part of the current 1.0 storyline anymore!
The name of the 3.0 expansion is called "Shadow of Avalon," and this is also the first version where the Ring of Ouroboros ritual appeared.
The descent of the Fallen Celestial Marshal occurred outside the main plot. To be precise, this event took place in the trailer of version 3.0. However, the Shadowy Celestial Marshal of Avalon only descended after the main boss of version 3.0—that is, the Fallen Celestial Marshal that descended upon Star Antimony—was defeated.
The "someone" who once served as a puppet of Star Antimony and now independently summoned the Shadowy Celestial Marshal is Isabel (Doll).
—This is precisely the core of the conspiracy of the kingdom of Star Antimony, and the reason they dared to directly attack Avalon.
They used the most advanced crystallization of technology—employing Golemancy, Alchemy, Ritual Studies, and Necromancy—to create a replica of Princess Isabel, a puppet loyal to Star Antimony. She even possessed independent consciousness, capable of autonomous action without receiving orders.
Apart from the joints hidden under her clothes, she looked identical to Isabel in appearance.
Of course, there was a very big difference in personality between her and Isabel. Moreover, because of her low intelligence in autonomous mode, as long as the ministers were not out of their minds, they could easily tell she was just a puppet.
—But having a puppet as a decoy was enough.
Officially, Avalon was still controlled by the royal bloodline—even if she was not of the Path of Authority, that was still better than nothing. The ministers who had betrayed Avalon for Star Antimony could not be blamed. The hatred of the Avalonians would not be completely focused on the people of Star Antimony.
People would only think that Avalon had been defeated once, and therefore had signed a contract selling out their interests. They wouldn't suspect that their new queen was but a puppet of the people of Star Antimony.
It was precisely because Isabel, with the support and help of the Holy Nation, became famous for defeating the Fallen Celestial Marshal in version 3.0 that people began to wonder—if Isabel defeated the Fallen Celestial Marshal, then who was their queen?
It wasn't until the plot of version 3.2 that, having lost the control of the people of Star Antimony, the puppet was forced to start learning about Isabel's past. Eventually, the doll gradually awakened her own heart—or rather, she gradually went out of control. She truly began to believe she was Isabel.
Aiwass had forgotten the details of the plot in between. But in any case, in version 3.4, Miss Doll, the Puppet Queen, learned of the existence of the "Shadow of Avalon," and eventually, as Isabel, decided to sacrifice her brother John in an attempt to summon her ancestor, Lancelot I, to protect Avalon.
However, the summoning failed.
The summoning was doomed to fail.
Because before Merlin became an Angel Envoy, the ritual he had set up had already been modified by Vivian, the Lady of the Lake from the Path of Love, who was Lancelot's foster mother and Merlin's ex-lover.
After completing her great maternal venture, Vivian also smoothly ascended to the position of an Angel Envoy.
But she did not become an envoy of the Eternal Self, she became an envoy of the Shadowy Celestial Marshal instead.
According to the rules of the Path of Love, there is love between superiors and subordinates. So, she could be considered either the daughter or lover of the Shadowy Celestial Marshal, which also made Lancelot the Shadowy Celestial Marshal's grandson—and this is why he went on to train in the Shadow Nation, rather than becoming an envoy of the Silver-Crowned Dragon.
Vivian's original intention was probably to prevent Lancelot's revival.
Because everyone knew that once Lancelot was resurrected and died again, he would forever leave the Shadow Nation and become an envoy of the Silver-Crowned Dragon. But if his revival failed, he would stay in the Shadow Nation as a warrior forever.
Despite Lancelot's poor treatment of her, Vivian still loved him unilaterally.
As a foster mother and mentor, and also potentially as a lover.
Transcendents of the Path of Love always find it difficult to control their desires. Moreover, they tend to mix different desires together and misidentify them.
The reason for Lancelot's poor treatment of her after reaching adulthood was simple—because Vivian had not raised Lancelot as an orphan but had fallen in love with him as a baby, and then stole him directly from his parents' side.
But perhaps due to some tampering by the Serpent Celestial Marshal, or simply by chance, or it may be that the inspiration for the "Ring of Ouroboros" ritual came from this ritual... In any case, after being modified by Vivian, this ritual just happened to become the "Ring of Ouroboros."
And when she modified this ritual, the Serpent Celestial Marshal had not yet imparted this ritual to mankind.
Lancelot's still-living body just happened to become the "live sacrifice" needed for the Ring of Ouroboros ritual, and his close kindred connection with the Shadowy Celestial Marshal became the foundation of the ritual.
As for the spark of the ritual, it was the naive and pure desire in the heart of the Puppet Queen.
Wanting to live on as a human, as "Isabel Du Lac"—
As a result, the ritual absorbed John's blood, the heart of the Puppet Queen, and Lancelot's body, becoming a top-tier "Ring of Ouroboros" ritual, directly dragging down the Shadowy Celestial Marshal.
—To be fair, the Shadowy Celestial Marshal must've also been baffled.
Because no Celestial Marshal would want to be dragged down by the Ring of Ouroboros—even though they could be reborn in the Dream Realm after being slain, if they died in the Material Realm, they would no longer be Celestial Marshals upon resurrection.
Phantom Demons, although they will be reborn after death, their "equipment" will be lost.
Ordinary Phantom Demons don't have any equipment, but Celestial Marshals are vested with Authority… that is, their Celestial Marshal Shards.
If you die in the Dream Realm, as long as the one who kills you isn't able to absorb your shard by chance, you can be resurrected in full state. But if you die in the Material Realm, it's as though that part of the shard has directly fallen into the void.
It's the dissolution of this part of Authority, the power node vacated by the takeover, that allows the Transcendent of this Path to break through the limit and advance further. It was only after the Shadowy Celestial Marshal died once in the Material Realm that the rare shadow powers were finally unlocked.
Now, without the puppet queen, it's hard to say whether Aiwass will be able to bring the Shadowy Celestial Marshal into being.
But he can be certain that Vivian has definitely altered the ritual. That is to say, no matter what, the one who descends will not be Lancelot. Perhaps the one who descends will be Vivian, or it might still be the Shadowy Celestial Marshal. The best possibility is his former brothers, the other Knights who became envoys of the Silver-Crowned Dragon, but the one who cannot possibly descend is Lancelot.
But then another troublesome issue arises.
That is, Aiwass is unable to stop the Queen from executing the ritual.
—Now that twenty members of the royal family are already dead, the ritual only needs one more to be completed. And then you, an outsider who has never heard of this ritual, suddenly jump out and say, "There's a problem with this ritual; stop it immediately?"
It's not something to even think about; he won't be able to persuade them.
Even knowing there's a problem, the old lady would definitely give it a try.
Because if Avalon lacks the protection of Lancelot, it will be very difficult to survive the painful period—indeed, Avalon without Lancelot was immediately steamrolled by Star Antimony.
But now, the world's energy level is simply too low. There are even very few people who can touch the upper limit.
To change all of this, we must wait for the major event of version 2.0… It's then that the rate of leveling up will suddenly increase.
If they actually pull the Shadowy Celestial Marshal out now, that would be the end of it—now is not the time, and the entire world can't even assemble a sixth energy level squad, with the Demon Incarnations of the Rose Cross Society all stuck at the upper limit of the fifth energy level.
Without reaching the sixth energy level, how could one possibly defeat a descending Celestial Marshal… You wouldn't even be able to break their defense if your priority isn't high enough.
That would mean Avalon dragging the whole world down with it.
…So, what if we look back? Is there any chance the ritual can be corrected?
Experience tales at empire
It's not impossible.
If Merlin is summoned, and told that there's something in his ritual that Vivian has changed… could he think of a way to change it back?
—It's like a one-off program he wrote when he left his job over four hundred years ago, without comments since it was meant to be one-off. Now the program is getting ready to run, and a bug has appeared. The hope now is that he can come back to the company to fix it.
…Aiwass thought about it and felt that the chances were not very high.
The best possibility might simply be to destroy the ritual. That wouldn't be difficult, after all, the foundation of the ritual is Lancelot's body.
Although Aiwass doesn't understand these complex rituals of apostle-level… if the problem is to be fundamentally solved, he just needs to kill Lancelot. Lancelot's body is the foundation of the ritual, and with his death, the ritual would automatically shut down.
After all, it's just a shell without a soul. Like a sixth energy level powerhouse trapped in an unwakeable Sleep, killing it would still be straightforward.
But in that case, there would be no turning back. He would have to prepare other means to counteract Star Antimony.
However, Her Majesty the Queen hardly ever considered that scenario.
This was not a plan arranged by Avalon after all, but a flexible countermeasure adopted in response to the plot against Star Antimony and the Iris Flower. It was already quite remarkable to come up with a way to hit back when completely passive, facing enemies on all fronts, and riddled with internal and external troubles. And now, with less than a year to go, if Aiwass asks for a complete redo...
Tsk, it's kinda giving him a toothache.
Aiwass suddenly felt that perhaps knowing too much is not such a good thing after all.
The result is, no matter what action he takes, it seems like it would lead to unforeseen circumstances.
…Logically speaking, just let the story unfold on its own. Let Avalon fall into ruin, let them flee, and the problem should be solved eventually… Let Avalon be broken and reborn from the flames.
But can he really do that?
Aiwass dismissed the thought without even thinking about it.
There's no complex reason.
—Because I don't want to.