Chapter 35
Another Possibility in History
After Elini spoke, the pitch-black, lightless space immediately took shape and was tinged with color.
It was a scene that Eivass was extremely familiar with—
This was the Law Enforcement Plaza, located at the intersection of the Lloyd District and the White Queen District. It was a place he passed by on his way to the Pelican Bar.
The sunset was slightly slanted in the sky, and the clouds were thick. The dim yellow light sprinkled on the gloomy streets, carrying a damp premonition of an approaching storm.
But Eivass quickly realized something was wrong.
This was a bustling area, yet there wasn’t a single person on the road. A deathly silence permeated the air.
This was not an illusion.
Because at this moment, time was still frozen.
The nine of them sat in the middle of the main road, surrounding a glowing hourglass.
Eivass observed that only the old man and Sherlock seemed completely unfazed. The others, including himself, were more or less astonished.
In the face of a sudden situation, everyone adopted a cautious attitude. The atmosphere turned silent the moment everyone chose to remain quiet.
“Apostle… is it a legendary Angel?”
After only a second or two, Cheese was the first to break the silence.
She murmured in a low voice, her tone filled with childish anticipation and yearning, “Did Sister Angel help us advance?”
“—Regrettably.”
Sherlock calmly interrupted the girl’s beautiful imagination and explained in a composed manner, “The essence of an Apostle is actually that of a Phantom Demon. They are merely willing to obey the Nine Pillar Gods and are responsible for assisting them in various rituals.”
“…They’re just servants who do small tasks for the Nine Pillar Gods.”
Coco, standing nearby, added in a gentle voice, “Don’t be afraid… They are only responsible for guiding us through the rituals; they do not personally judge or decide the content of the rituals.
“The Advancement Ritual is officially called the ‘Nine Pillars God Ceremony,’ a ritual to summon the Nine Pillar Gods. In theory, all nine Pillar Gods should be summoned. But there are too many low-level Extraordinarys like us, so how can the Pillar Gods have time to attend to us… Thus, they dispatch Apostles.
“Each of the nine Pillar Gods must send at least one Apostle. Since we are too weak at present, we can only attract one Apostle… The ritual can only commence once the Apostle arrives.”
“You don’t need to pay too much attention to the Apostle either,”
Sherlock suddenly interjected, “Lord Elini is an Apostle of the Path of Balance and strictly adheres to fairness. However, not every advancement will coincidentally be presided over by an Apostle of the Hourglass—if an Apostle from the Path of Love, Path of Wisdom, Path of Authority, or Transcendent Path presides over the ritual, they might maliciously show favoritism or deceive the ritual participants.
“But the greatest influence, in reality, lies with the compiler of this ritual—meaning the preferences and tendencies of the Pillar God.”
The Hourglass is another name for the Sandglass, a Pillar God of the Path of Balance. It is also the symbol stamped on Avalon’s copper coins.
Each kingdom has different restricted and forbidden Paths. Generally, these are related to Paths that oppose the mainstream ideology, and secondly, they involve political reasons.
For example, the Star Antimony Kingdom primarily promotes the Transcendent Path, Twilight Path, and Path of Balance, while the Iris Kingdom’s mainstream ideology is the Path of Beauty and Path of Love. They are adjacent to Avalon, and their relationships are not good.
Considering issues like cultural invasion and spy infiltration, the Paths in these three kingdoms are mutually opposed.
—But even so, with the Star Antimony Kingdom establishing itself through alchemy, Avalon and Iris have still not banned the Path of Balance.
On one hand, technology and alchemy cannot be abandoned. On the other hand, the Path of Balance, in principle, advocates for fairness, neutrality, and borderlessness—this consistent ‘fairness’ is a top-down principle.
“Generally speaking,” Sherlock glanced at the old man, who had remained silent throughout, and paused before continuing, “the host also has personal preferences—after all, without clear will, personality, and memory, they cannot be considered true Phantom Demons.
“Because of this, the host will choose Extraordinarys who slightly favor their own Path, or who might cause trouble for Paths they dislike.”
The glowing hourglass finally made a sound upon hearing this:
[You don’t need to worry too much, everyone.]
[After all, this is theoretically a ritual jointly overseen by the Nine Pillar Gods, so it won’t be too excessive.]
[We are not the examiners, nor are we the question setters; we are merely invigilators. We are here to witness this ritual and ensure no one cheats. Appeasing us is also useless. Even verbal attacks are inconsequential—of course, although I don’t care, what this enthusiastic ‘Detective’ said is also correct; I also advise you not to attack the Apostles of other Paths.]
Elini’s voice was gentle, and she did not at all interrupt Sherlock or offer any rebuttal. She was clearly the kind of person with a very good temper.
[Then, everyone, according to tradition—during the first Advancement Ritual, I will provide you with an explanation.]
[This time, three of the advancing individuals possess multiple Paths, but please note: During the Advancement Ritual, only the abilities of the advanced Path and extraordinary items of the corresponding Path that you have personally crafted are permitted.]
[—Everything you encounter in the Dream Realm is related to the true history of the Material Realm but is different.]
[Perhaps a ritual summoning a higher being, an assassination of a prominent figure, or a regional war could change the world. Or perhaps the world has already been changed, but no one can remember the original history.]
[And during the Advancement Ritual, you will witness ‘another possibility in history’ deduced by the Nine Pillar Gods.]
[The dreams you use for each advancement will only be used once. Their content is fictional and will differ from the developments in reality.]
[Therefore, under the gaze of the Nine Pillar Gods, you must solve puzzles, search for items, defeat enemies, or survive, proving your abilities.]
[The time limit for this ritual is four hours, with a one-to-one ratio to reality.]
[You will play the role of a character within the venue and complete your mission. Corresponding points will be awarded for each completed objective.]
[Because this ritual is a Full Moon Ritual, cooperation is permitted and cooperation points will be calculated: cooperators will receive an additional 10%-50% of the points earned by the aided party, depending on their contribution and benefits.]
[However, you cannot cooperate with the opposing Path you have chosen for this ritual, otherwise, you will have your points deducted by 50%-100% of the points earned by the aided party.]
[Note: Helping the opposing Path without discovering their identity will still result in point deductions; however, if you fail to recognize and directly state the correct identity of the cooperating Path, the act of helping will not earn you any points. After the ritual is completed, the three individuals with the lowest scores will be eliminated.]
[In this ritual, all sentient beings other than the ritual participants do not possess complete intelligence and souls; they are all artificially created by ‘Amber.’ Therefore, actions such as killing, healing, or sacrifice will not trigger oaths, taboos, agreements, or curses.]
[The difficulty of this ritual is ‘Safe.’ Any injury or death during the ritual will not affect the health of your physical body in the Material Realm, and failure to advance will not cause weakness or harm to your soul.]
[Further Announcement: The dream for this ritual is constructed by ‘Amber,’ and the tasks, character arrangements, point allocation, and deduction details are the responsibility of the ‘Lord of Scales and Feathers.’ This has no relation whatsoever to the ritual’s witness— myself.]
After speaking continuously without pause, Elini finally paused after issuing the disclaimer.
[Does anyone still have any questions? The new host for the next advancement will not explain this much to you.]
No one uttered a sound, creating a situation akin to a teacher asking in class, “Does anyone still not understand?” It was utterly silent.
Elini was not surprised by this.
She added as a friendly reminder:
[This ritual is very simple and the process is not long, so don’t be nervous, and you don’t necessarily have to find teammates. If you still have any questions, you can ask your guide after you wake up.]
[Remember, everything you see in this ritual is fictional. Do not treat everything you see here as real historical events—]
As she said this, the sand in the hourglass ran out.
As the hourglass slowly flipped over, Apostle Elini uttered her final words:
[In 1884, a shocking serial murder case occurred in the capital of the Avalon Kingdom…]
As the hourglass completely turned over, Eivass suddenly felt a strong sense of dizziness.
The world before his eyes remained still, but the nine people sitting in their chairs vanished as if ripples in water.
