Chapter 143
Great Sin Card: Butterfly of Paradoxical Flames
As he made contact, a crimson magic circle, standing vertically, instantly formed.
The red crystal, two sizes larger than Eivass, was less than half the radius of the magic circle in height.
Under the projection of the magic circle, the silvery white sealing runes were instantly dispelled.
However, no blood overflowed from the red crystal. Instead, it cracked and disintegrated.
The moment the red crystal vessel dissolved, the magic circle whistled through the slumbering Yulia, appearing behind her.
In the large blank circular area in the center of the dark red magic circle, a complex, deep crimson butterfly pattern suddenly appeared. It was as if it had brought something out as it passed through Yulia’s body.
A pitch-black circular mark was branded onto the central circle, covering the butterfly.
Eivass subconsciously scooped up Yulia with one hand, while his other hand remained extended, maintaining the magic circle perpendicular to the ground.
The next moment, the magic circle began to collapse from its outermost ring.
It contracted ring by ring, until only the deep crimson ring about a person’s height remained in the center. The butterfly pattern inside was still subtly shifting, as if breathing.
Then, the ring suddenly contracted to its limit—and Eivass awoke from the hallucination.
The crimson chains retracted into Eivass’s body.
The butterfly ring, which had previously only appeared in the hallucination, now floated horizontally between the two, about a palm’s width in diameter.
And two new Tarot Cards were slowly printed from the void, one above and one below the ring. Red electrical sparks connected the two cards, like some kind of magnetic force drawing them closer.
The Sun card below, which should have depicted a naked child sitting on a white horse, bathed in brilliant golden sunlight, holding a flag of victory aloft.
But now, it had transformed into a brilliant, sacred golden sun, spinning like a vortex. Two little angels on either side held their hands high, singing praises to the sun, while the spinning golden flame streams of the sun were surrounded by the phantom images of the twelve constellations.
The Hanged Man, originally a saint, tied with hands behind his back and hung upside down from a tree. A halo appeared above his head; despite immense pain, he appeared serene.
The newly formed Hanged Man card was predominantly blue-green, balancing with the golden “Sun” card. One of his feet was hooked by a snake dangling from an ankh cross descending from the sun, and the other foot was pierced with a holy nail. Below his head was also a giant serpent, situated in a pitch-black abyss pit devoid of light.
The Hanged Man’s hands were freed, stretched as far as possible towards the lower left and lower right. His palms were also pierced with holy nails, all three emitting a faint glow.
Although he was hung upside down, with the bottomless abyss containing the giant serpent, his feet and hands formed a sacred arrow, pointing high towards the sun in the sky.
As the two cards gradually formed and moved closer to the center,
Yulia’s flame streams poured out incessantly, flowing into the butterfly magic circle in the middle.
Finally, as the two cards merged, they erupted in a brilliant radiance.
Yulia, with hollow eyes, also seemed to awaken from the hallucination.
She suddenly widened her eyes, as if about to say something.
But all her strength was drained, and she became incredibly fatigued, falling into a coma before she could utter a word.
Yulia tilted backward, and Lily immediately rushed over to hug her.
She placed her hand on Yulia’s neck, feeling a normal pulse… and a normal body temperature.
She nodded at Eivass with some joy.
“Success!”
Lily wanted to cheer, but was afraid of disturbing Eivass’s ritual.
“This is simply a miracle…”
the Shadow Demon muttered, “It’s a complete Great Sin ritual after all!”
Having witnessed the complete ritual, it felt as if it had gone mad.
Where did its Master learn about the Ritual of Great Sin?
A blasphemous ritual capable of sealing upper-tier Phantom Demons, and it actually worked…
“…Oh no.”
Wouldn’t it be the next one to be sealed?
The Shadow Demon fell into thought.
The three-in-one card had now become a deep crimson, transparent card like crystal. A butterfly pattern was outlined on it with black lines.
It seemed to have gained life, flying in the air on its own, and finally stopped rotating in front of Eivass.
Eivass extended his right hand, lightly tapping the card, and wrote his name.
The card then displayed its corresponding attributes:
[Great Sin: Butterfly of Paradoxical Flames (Sun, The Hanged Man)]
[Level: 28 (Infant)]
[Path of Devotion, Attribute: Fire]
This was the first Beast of Sin that Eivass had subdued.
As Eivass had expected, the Butterfly of Paradoxical Flames was not yet at a high level, and its personality was not violent. The personality of an infant-tier Phantom Demon was closely related to its host… after all, they had experienced the same events and shared memories.
In a sense, it was equivalent to Eivass’s other sister. Or rather, another personality of Yulia.
Perhaps because of this, Eivass’s sealing encountered no resistance.
Normally, Phantom Demons had to be beaten to the brink of death before they could be sealed. Eivass had even made contingency plans for the subsequent steps… but none of them were used.
He threw the Pokeball, and it was captured immediately.
No wonder that in the original history, the Butterfly of Paradoxical Flames, even when out of control and consuming Yulia’s soul and personality, had always maintained restraint when facing players…
This was a Phantom Demon of the Path of Devotion?
Following this, the card displayed its two uses.
[Forward Summon: Flame Butterfly]
[Requirement: Fire 5]
[Maintenance: Fire 5 * per minute * per butterfly]
[Instant, Summon, Echo]
[Effect: Summons a Flame Butterfly of a different category. Flame Butterflies are considered summoned creatures. Once a target is locked, the Flame Butterfly will automatically pursue and self-destruct, causing an explosion/high temperature/healing/purification effect. The power increases with the level of “Great Sin: Butterfly of Paradoxical Flames.” Flame Butterflies will respawn in situ after being dispelled; they can be dismissed and respawned beside you at any time.]
[Reverse Summon: Butterfly of Paradoxical Flames]
[Requirement: Fire 5]
[Maintenance: Fire 5 * daily]
[Action, Summon, Recast]
[Effect: Summons the Beast of Sloth, Butterfly of Paradoxical Flames, to fight for you. The Butterfly of Paradoxical Flames is considered a summoned creature; in a non-combat state, the Beast of Sloth, Butterfly of Paradoxical Flames, can transform into a Flame Butterfly and enter follow mode; only one Beast of Sin can exist at a time.]
[Effect: Upon reuse, command the Butterfly of Paradoxical Flames to respawn or self-destruct.]
—This was the first Phantom Demon card with “Echo” and “Recast” that Eivass obtained!
Echo meant that this card could be used an infinite number of times per day, each time with the same effect, while Recast meant it could be used again to produce a different effect.
However, the forward and reverse positions of this card were considered “Sun” and “The Hanged Man” respectively, so each could be used once.
This meant Eivass could summon different types of fire butterflies at will according to his needs, as a means of attack. Since the forward summon could be used an infinite number of times, this was equivalent to Eivass obtaining a growth-type new skill—he could choose an effect from explosion/high temperature/healing/purification, and it seemed to be an area-of-effect skill!
Although each butterfly cost five mana, this was an instant spell.
This meant Eivass could instantly summon seven or eight butterflies, unleashing terrifying burst damage. And Eivass also gained a long-range healing ability—an ability that even Priests did not possess.
In addition, he could directly summon the Butterfly of Paradoxical Flames itself.
However, Eivass felt that the combat power of a third-tier Butterfly of Paradoxical Flames, without the enhancement of other cards, might not be very high for now. It still needed some “dog food.”
Unfortunately, Eivass currently had no “dog food,” so he could only spend his own life—his own flesh and blood was the “dog food.”
If the Shadow Demon could save some, it could squeeze some out!
Though he said that, the Shadow Demon still needed to be fed. Without feeding it, Eivass wouldn’t be able to seal it again.
Whether it was the little butterfly or the big butterfly, they were both considered summoned creatures.
Being considered summoned creatures meant that as long as they met the conditions, they could receive buffs from other cards at any time!
[Enchantment Card: Blade of Shadow] specifically required attachment to a weapon, so the Butterfly of Paradoxical Flames, lacking a weapon, could not use it for now. But if Eivass could later summon a Great Beast with its own weapon, he could also receive the buffs from the Blade of Shadow. And Eivass would not need to touch its weapon, just overlap the two cards.
For now, only [Spell Card: Shadow Cloak] could be used on the little butterfly.
If the Butterfly of Paradoxical Flames itself was controlled, Eivass could use it as a target for spellcasting, help it break free from control, and make it invisible—if needed.
However, the Butterfly of Paradoxical Flames could revive or self-destruct once, so it seemed unnecessary.
Logically, the reverse summon should also have a special effect.
That is, upon summoning, an area-of-effect or spiritual aura effect would immediately take effect upon landing. But since it was still in its infant stage, it had not yet acquired this keyword.
It was just a pity that Eivass was out of mana. He couldn’t summon the Butterfly of Paradoxical Flames immediately to see its specific effects.
When he woke up tomorrow, he would summon the little butterfly!
He still had some light-attribute mana left anyway, so he might as well feed it to the Shadow Demon. It had worked hard during the Advancement Ritual.
However, before that…
“I’ll use Illuminate Spell to treat Yulia first.”
Eivass looked at Yulia lying in Lily’s arms, a happy and relieved gentle smile on his face.
He gently stroked Yulia’s soft hair, feeling her normal body temperature. For a moment, he felt like crying.
Lily asked softly, “So, Miss Yulia has shaken off the Phantom Demon?”
“Ah… yes.”
Eivass replied softly, “Her fate, from now on, belongs only to herself.”
As he said this sentence, he himself was momentarily in a trance.
Memories of the past decade spent with Yulia surfaced, making his nose sting and his eyes well up for a moment.
But the tangible sense of changing predestined fate, held firmly in his hands, made Eivass tremble with excitement.
Yulia’s fate had truly been changed.
What Eivass had been worried about and concerned about for so long, turned out to be so simple and easy to do…
The feeling of saving others was truly wonderful. Especially those he cared about and was concerned for.
Eivass realized one thing with utmost clarity:
—I seem to be able to do more, I seem to be truly powerful.
I seem to…
be able to truly change the world.
Update complete!! The little butterfly has been sealed. Asking for votes at the end of the month!
