When the plot-skips players into the game world

Hearing the answer given by Aiwass, Yanis was clearly surprised.

"I see..."

Her emerald pupils dilated slightly as she murmured softly.

Isabel, standing beside her, nodded in delighted agreement, "I also love 'The Crystal Sea'."

In her understanding, 'The Crystal Sea' was Yanis's masterpiece and her favorite painting.

The fourteen-meter-long scroll was entirely created using "Demonic Painting" techniques. When viewed in the dark, one could even hear the sound of the tides.

When the candlelight was lit—just a bit of light, when shined upon the scroll, would illuminate the entire deep blue sea.

Light cast upon it would freeze the painted ocean into beautiful crystal with a creaking sound, and the temperature in the room would drop as a result.

Each time the angle and brightness of the light changed, the relief patterns that emerged from the crystallization would also transform. In the summer, as the angle of the sunlight slowly shifted, the Crystal Sea would undergo endless changes in real time.

These paintings had previously been collected in Professor Moriarty's art museum.

About six or seven years ago, as the Queen grew older and her body became more fragile, she couldn't withstand the heat of the summer, and the "Silvery Frost" created by alchemy was too cold. Hence, Aiwass's foster father, after obtaining the consent of Master Yanis, moved the painting to the Hall of Silver and Tin.

Once the curtain of this painting was unveiled, the cool air that emerged from within could make the entire palace as refreshing as autumn. It wouldn't be too cold, so as to avoid becoming bone-chillingly frigid.

In winter, just by covering it with a curtain, not a hint of cold air would leak out, and one could hear the peaceful sound of the tides when walking by.

In the summer, Isabel would sometimes go there and gaze at it foolishly, watching it for an entire day without getting tired. Initially not so interested in painting and sculpture, it was after seeing this painting that Isabel resolved to pursue the career path of a Prodigy, instead of that of a Songstress.

Her talents were actually all concentrated in singing, followed by dancing. But having been touched by the beauty in Yanis's paintings, she experienced something akin to 'Lulu's Magic Flute', a sight once seen that would engrave itself deeply in her heart, never to be forgotten.

However...

"I remember, the teacher seemed to have even better paintings?"

Isabel looked at Yanis, "Teacher previously told me about them. Those paintings involve the secrets of the Nine Pillar Gods, Celestial Marshals, and Angel Envoys, hiding the power of the Paths.

"It's a kind of miracle, different from the 'Gentle Miracle' of 'The Crystal Sea', a more intense miracle."

"...Ah, indeed there are,"

Yanis nodded, "Those were painted during my travels around the world. Some are related to the mortal wars of the Nine Pillar Gods; and some with another layer of possibility in history..."

Though she said this, her face did not convey any pride or arrogance.

Aiwass knew why.

—Because the names of the three paintings he had mentioned corresponded to the three special mechanics used by Yanis in her level 80 high-difficulty copy "Twin Towers of Morning and Dusk Palace."

The criteria of the Path of Beauty are harmony and art, flow and eternity; and once it involves the "solidification of beauty," it can easily lead to the belief that "all things will eventually perish," and hence to the Dusk Path, which advocates "preservation" and "solidification."

Yanis couldn't resist that impulse either.

But she had already embarked on the dual Path of Balance and Beauty and was powerless to pursue a third. Therefore, she could only control herself rationally, maintaining the balance of her spirit.

Painting is, after all, the art of turning a moment into eternity. While "Demonic Painting" is indeed magical and can store more information, it also loses the eternal beauty of that moment.

So, after reaching the limits of her painting journey, Yanis returned to her roots and began to pursue "the unchanging painting."

When she had previously conquered the Celestial Marshal of the first descent—belonging to the Path of Dusk, "Spirit Amber Celestial Marshal," she obtained its essence. But at that time, she didn't exchange it for the essence of the Path of Beauty's Celestial Marshal, nor did she entrust it to Transcendents of other Paths to be made into equipment.

She wanted to create a painting that exceeded her own limits. She sought external help to guide the direction in which she was moving.

As a result, Yanis ground it into powder using a special technique and made it into pigment. With expensive spiritual paints she procured through other means, she painted a static painting called "Skull in Amber."

The moment that painting was created, she gained immense power and directly surpassed her realm.

But the pity was, that power did not come from the Path of Beauty. Nor was it the power of the Path of Balance.

It was recognition from the Path of Dusk.

She was dragged into a non-human realm by the uncontrolled power of the Path, lost her physical body, and became a Phantom Demon.

The unbridled Master Yanis, taking her heart as the brush and the world as her canvas, recklessly and freely painted within the Material Realm. Her painting covered the entirety of her reclusive refuge, rewriting the whole world into a canvas. Anyone approaching the vicinity would be captured and enter her painted world.

It was with the assistance of Isabel who had grown up by that time that players were able to evade the capture of the material canvas and stealthily approach the Phantom Demon, Lord of Morning and Dusk, Master Yanis.

Aiwass was very impressed with this dungeon.

Because in this dungeon, players would sometimes switch between reality and virtuality. In the real state, it was just a normal dungeon run. But during each special action, all players hit by her illusory brush would instantly change style and enter into the painting.

In "Pilgrimage to the Temple of Akpolis," players entered the Temple of Akpolis within the painting, and had a limited time to evade and assassinate the patrolling temple knights in a game resembling an overhead view stealth assassination gameplay, similar to the Commandos series; while in "Golden Dawn," it turned into a side-scrolling action game in which players kill the guards of Nephthys and then the final boss; in "Crystal Sea," players transformed into birds, becoming a flying game where they had to dodge various obstacles and attacks.

Three paintings, three completely different styles.

In each painting, players would hear Master Yanis's commentary on it. Meanwhile, players who remained in reality could take the opportunity to deal damage to her physical form. The three paintings would play in a loop. If Master Yanis was brought below half health before all three paintings were cleared, she would instantly enter a rage; and if players took too long in any one painting, resulting in Yanis running out of commentary, she would also enter a rage.

In these three looping phases, Yanis's desire to attack wasn't high, with simple mechanics to dodge and no regular attacks; and players could only use the mechanics and skills bestowed by the painting, so it didn't make much difference what profession they were once inside.

Therefore, to save time, it was common practice not to keep any healers or tanks, leaving only one or two damage dealers outside to dodge and slowly whittle away at her physical form, stopping when her health was nearly at the point for transition.

Only when all the temple knights in "Pilgrimage to the Temple of Akpolis" were killed, the boss's health bar in "Golden Dawn" was depleted, and all the aerial hoops in "Crystal Sea" had been flown through, the surviving players would be able to enter the fourth painting, "Skull in Amber," to face Yanis's true form, posing as a Celestial Marshal.

Players who died in a painting that had already closed would be forever left within that painting, meaning they couldn't be resurrected.

This meant that to possibly get through the fourth phase, at least one tank and one healer needed to survive. Aiwass's regular team back then just couldn't stop wiping... Even two months after the dungeon was released, they hardly ever entered the fourth stage with all eight players intact.

Aiwass had listened to Yanis's personal interpretation of these three paintings at least three hundred times—he hadn't really remembered the latter parts, but he had certainly memorized the beginning.

And this dungeon was precisely a must-run.

Not only because it dropped those three paintings, which could be hung up in a player's home domain; but it also dropped very good-looking clothes and a staff in the shape of a paintbrush.

Aiwass had led many new, cute players through this dungeon. Quite a few of them became his friends after he had brought them through it.

The female players in "Ring of Ouroboros" were quite combative, with many more playing PVP than PVE. However, precisely because of this, some good-looking cosmetics from difficult PVE dungeons required finding someone to lead the way.

Aiwass didn't play PVP much, but his friends list still included a large group of girls, half of whom he had met in this way.

The other half were there because he was eloquent and had an attractive voice, was humorous in conversation, and could sing—just chatting in the voice channel would often result in a friend request being sent his way. Explore more adventures at m,v l'e-m|p y r

His penchant for teasing Isabel and Lulu was not something that arose after coming to this world.

Even before Aiwass awakened his past life memories, he had a reputation for being somewhat frivolous.

This eloquence might just be an instinct in his soul.

Master Yanis asked Aiwass with some curiosity, "Since you like these three paintings the most... why don't you talk about your understanding of them?

"I'm interested in why you like them, and I assure you I won't let your words be in vain. If you speak substantively, I will give you something precious."

"Then I shall humbly share my thoughts, Master Yanis."

Aiwass smiled gently.

His words were humble, but his expression was calm and confident.

Of course, he had not seen these paintings, nor did he know what critiques this world's commentators might offer.

He hadn't even watched the interpretive videos made by players on the forums in his previous life—because he had grown sick of them.

—But Aiwass knew what Yanis's own evaluations of the paintings were.

After all, what one thinks of one's own paintings, one doesn't easily find incorrect, right?

"I remember, 'Pilgrimage to the Temple of Akpolis,' this painting was the first Demonic Painting you created shortly after embarking on the Path of Beauty."

Aiwass recited fluently, non-stop: "It depicts a temple atop a lofty peak within the Eternal Theocracy, where currently resides the envoy of the Lord of Scalefeather, Hippocrates.

"At that time, there were no professional legacies, and the ancient Transcendents often sought strength in vain. At the age of three hundred and eighty, Hippocrates realized that he had explored all the medical inheritances of the Eternal Theocracy. Therefore, he set out on foot to climb the mountain of another envoy of the Lord of Scalefeather, Akpolis, seeking medical knowledge from him.

"This Akpolis was one of the most powerful envoys of the Lord of Scalefeather yet was amiable to mortals. If anyone could climb this mountain and worship in his temple, he would appear and treat all those who came seeking healing equally. Besides, he often appeared and strolled through the most intense and bloody battlefields, healing those soldiers with a strong will to live.

"Some say that those soldiers who survived fatal wounds in good health did so because their desire to live earned them Akpolis's healing..."