Chapter 356
Sacred Entity Eivass
Not only that.
Besides Yeats’s reaction providing Eivass with some information, Merlin’s reaction carried even more.
From Eivass’s understanding of Merlin, he was an Apostle who enjoyed excitement and fun, which was why he liked to roam around the world.
Apostles could only exhibit their Sixth Tier, world-limited strength within their lord’s shrine. Most Apostles stayed in the Dream Realm, responsible only for responding to rituals. A few Apostles would be assigned by their lords to shrines to attend to followers’ requests. Only a very small number of Apostles would leave their shrines, usually to complete a mission.
—Because once an Apostle left a shrine, they would become very weak.
First, the Heavenly Envoy and Pillar God powers bestowed by their lord could no longer be used. Second, they would revert from a level far exceeding the world’s limit to the level they possessed upon entering the Material Realm, meaning at most, they would be High-Level Phantom Demons of peak Fifth Tier.
Furthermore, Pillar Gods generally would not allow their Apostles to interfere with the Material Realm. It was the Heavenly Envoy’s Apostles who liked to stir up trouble—Viviane, for example.
Although Apostles could teleport between their lords’ different shrines, they could not use this ability once they left a shrine. However, Merlin possessed teleportation skills himself, so he was not bound by this rule. Moreover, he was not an Apostle whose own strength was weak and who was merely recognized and promoted.
Merlin, as one of the few Apostles who dared to roam freely, had his own confidence.
Some Apostles did not possess great combat strength. After all, most Apostles were not Dream Realm creatures but promoted mortals. For example, some Apostles of the Path of Adaptation might have been doctors in their past lives; some Apostles of the Path of Balance might have been scholars or scientists before they died—the choice of Apostle was not related to their extraordinary strength in life, but only whether the corresponding Heavenly Envoy and Pillar God noticed them.
Their own ranks might not even reach Fifth Tier, or even Fourth Tier… In extreme cases, the possibility of mortal Apostles could not be excluded. Even with the racial template bonus of High-Level Phantom Demons, they would have many inconveniences. Even if the identity of Apostle deterred most people, it was not impossible for other Heavenly Envoy believers who already had a conflict with the corresponding Pillar God or Heavenly Envoy to deliberately provoke them.
But Merlin was different.
Before becoming the Great Philosopher’s Apostle, he was already a Half-Demon and a Fifth Tier Mage. In addition, he was a Fifth Tier Swordsman—a genuine peak expert of three Paths at Fifth Tier.
His original “Swordsman” of the Path of Power had become a Supervisor. And with the gift of the Silver Crown Dragon, he had been promoted to Arbitrator. In the game, Merlin was active in the Material Realm until the mid-to-late stages, occasionally appearing in main and side quests—he would also often organize mini-game events. Although Eivass was usually too lazy to play because the rewards were not high, his presence was quite strong.
Eivass remembered that the shop once sold Apostle-themed cosplay outfits, which were very expensive at one hundred and twenty each by outfit standards. The men’s outfit for the Path of Wisdom was Merlin’s. And the sales of Merlin’s outfit at the time were at least in the top three… it could be said that his popularity was very high.
Merlin would never turn a blind eye to the “freezing” of Eagle Cape Village. He would be very curious, investigating while rambling, but at this moment, he appeared as if he hadn’t seen anything;
And Eivass remembered that the Werewolf should be Viviane’s lapdog—because in that dungeon, he started reciting the love poems he wrote for Viviane, giving buffs to the players. And Merlin was somewhat of Viviane’s ex-boyfriend, although he had been attempted to be murdered by Viviane… but his current interaction with Yeats was too peaceful;
And the Holy Sword “Red-Hilted Sword” that materialized in his hand was once shattered and sealed by Merlin. Later, Bishop Mathers also entered the dungeon because he was controlled by this sword… and Merlin could not not recognize it, nor could he not recognize Bishop Mathers who held the Holy Sword, but Merlin said nothing when Eivass mentioned that Mathers knew Yeats.
These clues converged in Eivass’s mind—
Viviane, Jacob, Merlin, Yeats, Mathers… and the Shadow Heavenly Envoy, the Swamp Dweller, the Book of Law, the Sacred Entity, and Haina, a fragment of Lancelot…
These “older generation” people seemed to have participated in something in the past. And this matter is closely related to his own past and future…
—One breakthrough was Yeats, who had left this “small group” but had future connections.
Putting aside the words he wanted to say for now, Eivass glanced back at the bound Giant and asked Merlin, “Lord Merlin, are you planning to send this Giant you captured back to Glass Island?”
—In the early days of Avalon’s founding, when Prince of Giants Wolfram was still a child, he was captured and sealed by Merlin.
And now that Wolfram had broken out of prison, there seemed to be no problem with Merlin returning to capture him.
But Merlin instead asked Eivass in return, “Do you want me to take him back?”
“If possible,” Eivass replied softly, “I naturally hope to resolve this problem by other means.”
“Such as?”
“I want to kill him myself.”
Eivass said righteously, “For revenge, for peace of mind, and for justice. I don’t want him to live, but I want the one who kills him to be me.”
—And experience.
Eivass added in his mind.
The Punisher Demon was directly pulverized by the Great Philosopher, completely drained of its origin power by Eivass, most likely making resurrection impossible. But the problem was that Eivass didn’t gain any experience.
He was not afraid of Noble Red—it was just the dog of the Star Antimony people. Eivass’s combat power now was completely different from the past. If they came to cause trouble, they would at most be experience gift packages for Eivass.
But it would be too much of a loss if he didn’t get the Giant Prince’s experience.
Although Eivass’s experience was overflowing now, no one knew how much experience High-Tier Divine Art would require. It was best to hoard it first.
But hearing Eivass’s statement, Merlin merely smiled knowingly. It seemed he heard an answer that satisfied him.
“It’s alright,” he generously yielded it to Eivass, “it was left for you. This is both a gift and a reward—the information you gave me is very important, it might prevent Avalon from a devastating disaster. You are right, the Shadow of Avalon ritual does have problems, I have already notified Little Sophia. She will no longer perform this ritual.”
…Huh?
Hearing this reply, Eivass was instead stunned.
Left for me…?
What did that mean?
How did you know I wanted to kill him myself?
Seeing Eivass’s expression become serious and cautious, Merlin merely pushed up his monocle and showed a natural and friendly elder brother-like smile, “No need to be too nervous—or rather, you no longer need to hide that secret. The seal left by Jacob will open for you, which is proof.
“—The greatest characteristic of a ‘Sacred Entity’ is the ability to become infinitely stronger by defeating powerful individuals. This is also the source power of the Transcendent Path.
“And the seal on the [Book of Law] can only be opened by a Sacred Entity. Because it is closely related to the Sacred Entity.”
At this point, Merlin looked at the pit emitting a faint purple light, and a sense of sadness inexplicably arose.
“…This is the Book of Law?”
Eivass looked at it, and Sherlock subconsciously walked up, standing alongside Eivass and Merlin, wanting to look into the pit.
It was not a book—or rather, it wasn’t a book yet.
It was a gem suspended in the air, emitting a faint, bright purple glow.
“I know of the existence of the [Book of Law], and I know what Jacob did. The Book of Law involves the Heavenly Envoy level… ordinary pages cannot contain this power.”
Merlin replied softly, “Only the power of [Dream] can contain it. And only voluntary ‘devotion’ can contain ‘Transcendence’ that can break through all shackles.”
“This is…”
Eivass looked at the flickering gem, the familiar feeling becoming even clearer.
It was as if it was calling out to him.
“You know her… You’ve met her too.”
Merlin stood behind Eivass and replied softly, “That’s why you saw me at that time, and that’s why you see me here now…
“—It is the remains of a newly hatched juvenile Succubus.
“Or to be more precise, it is ‘Daiya’.”
Updates complete!
My schedule is slowly being adjusted back—
