Chapter 184
Only You Are Left
Lars Graham, clad in a meticulously detailed silken robe, slowly caressed his bone scepter. It was a scepter carved and processed from the spine of his own student, alive. The scepter was adorned with twelve love letters, overflowing with adoration, that she had written to Lars, and the sonnets he had gifted her in return, filling the space from top to bottom, not a word more, not a word less. The old man didn’t consider it any form of cruel act—undoubtedly, it was art. Her soul still loved him; that was the proof.
“Eledy, what do you think?” the old man asked. Behind him stood a young girl, about seventeen or eighteen, dressed in a white priest robe. She wore a white priest robe, her body semi-transparent, with only her spine appearing as a brighter pure white. She looked like a white jellyfish. She slightly lowered her head, her lips moving as if she were saying something. She emitted no sound—the dead returning from the realm of the dead were voiceless. But Lars seemed to hear something, nodding slightly.
“You are correct,” old Lars muttered to himself. “That is to say, there are four possibilities… The first is that Alistair is Chloe. Her uncontrollable tendency towards the Path of Love ultimately led her to defect…” Avalon was not Iris Flower, after all. Avalon people knew almost nothing of shadow power. The most common shadow power originated from the Path of Love. For instance, those Children of the Moon, witches, and those who were turned into werewolves by a witch’s “Wolf Transformation Curse.” Whether it was the shadow demons of the Transcendent Path or the life-forms of Path Adaptation, they were actually rarer types. The Inspection Bureau believed there was a shadow demon invasion, very likely because they were prejudiced. If they only found traces of shadow power, it could entirely be Chloe, who also possessed shadow power. She never liked being an assassin. Now, she was in the Eagle Eye organization only because she had no other choice. She had once studied sculpture under Lars. But under the tutelage of a Fifth Tier, she couldn’t even grasp the basics after studying for a full six months… Lars could only assume she lacked talent in that area.
Chloe was proud. She couldn’t tolerate the fact that she was useless, so she self-taught Path Adaptation—after all, her father and grandfather were excellent assassins. As expected, she reached Fourth Tier in just a few years, and now she was close to Fifth Tier. But Lars had also warned her—for although she had talent in the Path of Adaptation, her personality was completely unsuitable for being an assassin. However, Chloe was stubborn; she ignored Lars’s admonishment. So, Lars stopped bothering with her. Based on his experience and judgment, Chloe’s true compatible path was the Path of Love. Sentimental, wild, impulsive, romantic, narcissistic, instinctual… these were the keywords of the Path of Love. But they couldn’t let Chloe switch to the Path of Love—the reason was simple: the Eagle Eye organization primarily fought against the Children of the Moon of the Path of Love. And the extraordinary beings of the Path of Love, their corpses turned into newborn Children of the Moon after death. It was like how Avalon’s Grand Guardian or Grand Judge couldn’t let their descendants become Demon Scholars. Lars felt Chloe had likely done something unnecessary.
Entrusting Chloe with the mission to assassinate Eivass Moriarty was indeed his task. But he believed his judgment was correct. Eivass, returning from the investiture ceremony that day, must have been extremely tired. At that moment, Chloe only needed to smear poison on his lips and leave. But judging by Chloe’s personality, she might have smeared the lipstick on her own lips, attempting to send him off with a kiss. She did have that kind of personality. As an extraordinary being of the Path of Adaptation, she wouldn’t be killed by the poison she concocted. Since she had such a trait, she had to use it—even if the process was completely redundant. Perhaps it was at that moment, after their assassination attempt failed, they got to know each other. Then, persuaded by Eivass, she left the Eagle Eye organization and unilaterally cut off contact with him… this was entirely possible. That willful young lady could indeed do such a thing. This was also the greatest possibility. After all, based on the reputation he had investigated, Eivass was indeed such a scoundrel. Chloe, with her pride, narcissism, and adaptability of the Path of Love, yet having never truly experienced love, might have easily handled him.
“But there is another possibility… that she indeed failed the assassination and was killed by someone. But Eivass should not have had the ability to resist at the time, so she was killed before the assassination—for example, by a Demon Scholar controlling a shadow demon, who then stole her appearance. Then that person chose to help Eivass, and he mistook her identity.” Old Lars muttered in a low voice. “But this possibility is unlikely…” As a member of the Eagle Eye organization, they had researched shadow demons. Shadow demons could indeed obtain the appearance of animals or humans by devouring them, but this was limited to free-roaming shadow demons. It was said that Alistair was a fiend possessed by a shadow demon… but the shadow demon within the fiend did not have this ability, as the shadow demon could not leave the body at all. But there were only a few individuals who could contract shadow demons. Old Lars knew them all. Moreover, Avalon would not allow them to enter freely—unless someone went through immense hardship to infiltrate, and at the risk of being discovered by Avalon’s Eye, devoured Chloe.
“There is still another possibility… that Eivass is the real Alistair. Or rather, he is the fiend possessed by a shadow demon.” After all, in this matter, there were only two witnesses—Eivass and his little maid, Lily. If they both chose to perjure themselves, the truth would be unknowable. If he had a shadow demon within him, then it would explain why Chloe was discovered. “Shadow Stealth” was a theoretically unobtainable ability by humans, even a secret of the Eagle Eye organization. This was because just needing Level 3 Shadow Affinity was extremely difficult. And even if obtained, it was only at the threshold. The Eagle Eye organization obtained this skill because their research over several generations allowed them to replicate the shadow demon’s stealth ability through simulation, and then required arduous study to master it. Even in Iris Flower, Shadow Stealth was the Eagle Eye organization’s trump card. Currently, fewer than five people in the entire Eagle Eye organization possessed Shadow Stealth. Even approaching other Fourth Tier powerhouses, they would definitely assume she was hiding in the air first—unless one had themselves encountered such an ability, how could they immediately think of her hiding in the shadows? Even if they guessed this possibility, it would generally take Divine Radiance or Shadow-type damage to force her out. Ordinary spells could not affect Chloe in the shadows, nor could they even lock onto her.
Old Lars had previously thought this was just a coincidence. After all, if they guessed there was something in the shadows, they could indeed directly force it out. Avalon’s priests possessed the mana of Light and Fire, and Law Masters had mana pools with attributes of Light and Wind—thus, the difficulty of safely sneaking here was higher than in Iris Flower. However, since Eivass could accurately report Chloe’s appearance and identity… then if Chloe had not betrayed them, it meant Eivass could see her from the very beginning. And later, he was just using Chloe’s name to shift the blame. If Eivass had a shadow demon within him, everything would be explained. The Eagle Eye’s shadow assassins were ultimately only imitating the shadow demon’s innate abilities. To a true shadow demon, it was like a dog learning to walk upright, foolish and ridiculous.
“Of course, there is another possibility… that the fiend is not Eivass. But his maid, Lily.” Out of the four possibilities, three involved Chloe’s death, and one involved her defection. But these four possibilities had one thing in common. —That the person who mastered shadow power must have lived with Eivass at the time. Otherwise, “she” could not have detected and prevented Noble Red’s assassination plan against Eivass.
Whether she was Chloe. Whether Eivass truly had a shadow demon within him.
“Then let me try it myself…” the bone sculpture muttered. He did not have much emotion regarding Chloe’s death. As an assassin, sacrificing oneself during a mission was very normal; especially since Chloe had a tendency to not follow orders or opinions, she was a danger to the Eagle Eye organization itself. Even if Chloe were not dead, upon returning to the country, he would report it and request that Chloe be placed under house arrest, forbidden from undertaking missions again. But conversely, Chloe was, after all, a powerhouse meticulously cultivated by the organization. An elite assassin capable of assassinating Fourth Tier extraordinary beings. Her death would bring considerable losses to the organization. —But if the fiend was Eivass or Lily, then these losses could be compensated manifold. The Eagle Eye organization had been researching shadow demons for a very long time, but they had never obtained a true shadow demon. If they could capture a shadow demon alive, the organization’s strength would undoubtedly increase significantly.
And if those old geezers from Star Antinomy had come personally, they wouldn’t be able to defeat him. Even though he was tormented by bone cancer, he was still a veteran extraordinary being. With him causing trouble, the other party would not be able to hide… In that case, it might even trigger a war between Avalon and Star Antinomy. At the very least, it would make them enemies again. Furthermore, if Chloe had truly betrayed the organization, he would have to arrest his former student and bring her back for execution. No matter what, he had to go. And no matter which situation it was, he could at least survive safely. …To take a step back, his body, tormented by a terminal illness, didn’t matter much even if he died.
“I’ll go stake out under Eivass’s dormitory first. He will return eventually,” the old man said in a low voice, supporting himself with his cane, and shakily stood up. He was hunched, his shoulders drawn in, his head bowed, and his legs bent. His legs were even thinner than the girl’s arm, and the whole person looked like a skeleton draped in a robe. Yet, one could see hard lumps protruding all over his body. The spectral form of the girl “Eledy” dissipated like a phantom, and old Lars slowly shuffled towards a corner of his workshop at a pace as slow as a turtle. There was a miniature statue, only half a person’s height. It depicted a spirited golden-haired youth, appearing to be in his thirties. That was Prince Andrew. He was Princess Isabel’s brother and the current first-in-line successor designated by the Queen. If he died, then the only adults left who could inherit the throne… would be Isabel and her father, Prince Albert.
“Just in case, to be cautious…” the old man said in a low voice. “If I don’t come back this time… at least complete the final mission.” After all, he had prepared for so long. From poisoning to curses, then poisoning again and curses again… two countries, three organizations, a plan spanning over ten years, today it was finally to be concluded. He reached out and caressed the statue, softly chanting the secret code given by the leader. Many scarlet cracks slowly appeared on the statue. Blood
slowly seeped from it.
“Die, child,” the old man sighed. “Only you are left. You are free, and I will be free too.” Hearing this, two streams of blood tears slowly flowed from the statue’s emerald green eyes.
This chapter is long, 3,500 characters… The second chapter is not yet finished, updates before 2 AM!
