## Chapter 837
“It’s unfair, unfair!” Andrea exclaimed.
This was merely a misperception caused by preconceived notions!
Eivass and the Crown Princess both knew that the Blood Heavenly Envoy’s True Name was Cain, and that he was the son of the Banquet Master and Sasha, and in fact, the son of the Banquet Master and Hengwo… Therefore, they both subconsciously wondered if there were any logical or detailed inconsistencies here.
The Banquet Master was, in his original form, a dragon.
And dragons grew exceptionally slowly… Helchin’s son was a prime example.
Cain still appeared as a “youth” when he ascended, so how could he have grown so quickly in the Material Realm!
—But looking at Cain, surrounded by the adulation of the masses and bathed in countless lights, no one suspected he was fake! Coupled with Sister Sasha’s personal affirmation… Eivass had never considered that this “Cain” could be an imposter from the very beginning!
But if he were truly the Banquet Master’s son and the future Blood Heavenly Envoy, how could he have been instantly killed by a Fourth Tier Andrea!
…In other words, since “Cain” could indeed be killed with a single blow now, it meant that this operation was feasible!
So, what if the painting had a bug?
Then fix the bug!
That’s why it was called “Completing This Painting”!
Eivass suddenly had an epiphany.
However, he also instantly realized that he was a step too late.
Andrea, with her racial advantage as a Child of the Moon, could sense her own kind. And Cain, as the Blood Heavenly Envoy, the first Child of the Moon… his blood must be the purest, and Andrea couldn’t possibly not sense him.
In other words—
Andrea wasn’t approaching him to dance with the Blood Heavenly Envoy out of enthusiasm, but was planning to kill him during the closing curtsy!
If successful, it would be killing a scoundrel disguised as one of her own kind, disguised as an ancestor; if he were indeed the Blood Heavenly Envoy she couldn’t sense, then it wouldn’t be a loss!
Consider it an act of rebellion against an ancestor of the Children of the Moon, in accordance with Pomanach’s will!
—Was this great wisdom disguised as foolishness?
Or perhaps, precisely because she didn’t think too much, she gained the initiative… While Eivass was still organizing his thoughts, she had already charged forward and scored a point!
“What’s going on…”
“Why…”
The guests stopped dancing, but they didn’t flee in fear.
Instead, they pointed and gestured towards the stage, and the band’s rhythmic and fervent melody shifted to a suspenseful atmosphere.
“Everyone, listen to me!” Andrea called out loudly. “This person is not Zagrios’s child at all! Zagrios is a dragon, how could his offspring be so fragile?!”
“He’s my child, and Zagrios’s child—” Sasha cried out sadly from within the crowd.
Eivass’s eyes widened slightly.
Wait, wasn’t Zagrios your Master? Why could you call him by his name so casually?
—At that moment, fragments of recent memories surfaced in his mind.
Sasha had arrived here two days ago.
She claimed to be the lover of “Master Zagrios.” Her hair color, eye color, figure, height, and race were all different from the real Sister Sasha…
Eivass had subconsciously thought at the time, perhaps the painter had made a mistake.
But what if…
—She really wasn’t Sasha?
“Kill her, Your Highness the Princess,” Eivass said in a low voice. “Kill Sasha.”
Although the Crown Princess was still hesitant due to her lack of extensive occult and theological knowledge, her mind worked well. Looking at Andrea’s actions now, she had roughly guessed half of what was going on.
Therefore, when Eivass gave the order, she didn’t hesitate and acted.
Her pupils instantly flashed with a faint amber light, and her soul left her body! Her soul, transformed into black smoke, pierced through Sasha’s shell beside her. Sasha’s entire body crumbled and disintegrated as if turning into sand.
Since Andrea had stumbled upon the correct direction, to prevent her from gaining an early advantage, all Eivass could do was to snatch points from her!
Judging by her actions, the direction Andrea had chosen was likely [Madness and Slaughter].
That’s why she intended to kill that “Cain” as soon as she appeared. By throwing everything into chaos, she was heading in the right direction.
Eivass didn’t yet know how to guide this painting’s story towards “Funeral and Sacrifice”… So, just in case, he had to limit Andrea’s points first!
—For now, he would follow her lead and have the Crown Princess directly snatch “Sasha’s” head!
Undoubtedly, these two people were key figures in this scene. Sasha’s importance, even if not half, was at least a third. Through this method, Andrea would certainly not be able to obtain 100% of the contribution points!
“This person is not Sasha,” the Crown Princess Noel said proactively, before Eivass could even prompt her. “I’ve met Sasha, this isn’t her!”
“—You bastard!” Andrea was instantly enraged.
Clearly… After killing Cain, she had also realized the underlying mechanism of this Ascension Ritual. And she instantly realized what that woman was doing. After Sasha was killed first, even if this ending was achieved, she wouldn’t be able to get all the points! This meant that if someone in the other two paintings’ worlds obtained all the contribution points, her failure would have been determined in advance!
—Absolutely unacceptable! She was counting on finishing her own painting quickly so she could go after that Clown!
Therefore, Andrea didn’t hesitate— she slightly flicked her fingers, and blood gathered… In the blink of an eye, it rose from the ground like a crescent moon! It was a sword mountain of blood, rising like a mountain range, like a spine, instantly piercing through the guests in a straight line! Accompanied by continuous screams, severed limbs and broken bodies soaked in blood scattered everywhere. The carpet, originally like a red velvet cake, was instantly stained with a dark red crack. Her reasoning was simple. By killing everyone here, she could quickly end this painting! The time limit for this ritual was three hours— she remembered clearly. It took ten minutes from the start to choosing the answer, and another ten minutes from choosing the answer to returning. She could choose an answer three times per hour, for a total of three hours, making it a total of nine choices. This number also matched the “choose one of three” victory condition! In other words, if she wanted to kill that Clown Laro, and that Archmage… and that little girl who loved to stir up trouble, she had to finish this painting in the first few rounds as quickly as possible! This way, she would have more time to descend and interfere with others’ paintings— conversely, if she “jumped out” of here directly, she would be in a situation where “she didn’t understand that painting,” and it was possible that the other party had already gained the initiative, making it easy to fail to complete a single painting, thus failing the main quest and losing. In terms of points, the total points for “The Tower of Merriment” were only 3000. It was the lowest among the three paintings, half of the third painting. And points were equivalent to difficulty— at least, the difficulty recognized by the Host. Therefore, Andrea directly concluded that this was the simplest painting. She had to complete it within three choices at most! So, how could she complete it with the greatest speed? The answer was, to complete “Friends Who No Longer Laugh”! By killing everyone, they naturally wouldn’t be able to laugh anymore! In other words, what she had to do was to kill everyone present— all these fabricated souls, and the Ascenders mixed among them! “Let this painting turn into a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood—” Andrea said, filled with killing intent. “Crown Princess… is it? My father killed your father, so let me kill you!” She no longer disguised herself, but directly revealed her identity. Then Andrea raised her right hand, and blood continuously drew from her own body, condensing into a ball of blood. That ball of blood flew directly towards the crowd— it condensed and contracted in the air, turning into a white ball of light. That was a “Fireball” capable of destroying a house! But Andrea was clearly not a mage, so this was a Fireball mimicked with blood magic! Noel subconsciously looked at Eivass, who was closing his eyes and praying. She wanted to know what she should do next. Should she continue to compete for points with Andrea, killing all the guests first… or stop her first? At this moment, Eivass suddenly opened his eyes. He suddenly raised his left hand, fingers spread open. Above his head, pure white thorns of light flashed and disappeared like illusory bubbles. Nine beams of light of different colors bloomed out of thin air before him! That was precisely the defensive divine art the Eternal Pope used to resist the Light Spear of the Perfect Being! —Boom! The Fireball, capable of instantly collapsing a building, could not break through the protective light barrier at all, not even a ripple appeared! —That was [Nine Pillar Gods’ Shelter]! Normally, for a divine art of this level, an ordinary Archbishop would need a complex divine art ritual to invoke the corresponding power. It would take a Cardinal to complete the prayer in a short period, and he could add all the effects of the High-Tier Divine Arts he mastered. But for Eivass, who was currently wearing the Supreme Holy Crown… although the Supreme Holy Crown was not brought into the Ascension Ritual, he was still a “qualified” temporary Pope, and only needed to communicate with the Nine Pillar Gods to receive an immediate response. His casting speed was much faster than an ordinary priest! Although Eivass’s body currently had no Path Crystallization adapted to a Path, preventing him from using the High-Tier Divine Arts of the Lord of Scales and Feathers. —But I’m not a piece of trash who can’t do anything besides High-Tier Divine Arts and Alistair! Eivass thought. He was, after all, the second Ascender to enter the waiting hall by his own power! Now, relying solely on his abilities as a priest, he was still enough to defeat Andrea! “—Grant me the fire that petrifies, Amber!” Eivass chanted rapidly. The light barrier suspended before him suddenly turned dim yellow. Five or six prayer phrases praising amber flashed rapidly from the light barrier in a deeper amber color. The light barrier contracted and deformed, transforming into a diamond-shaped small shield with an eye in the center, suspended before Eivass. The next moment, a beam of dim yellow flame shot out from the eye! A pair of blood wings suddenly appeared behind Andrea, and she rapidly changed direction in the air! But at this moment, a gust of black wind pierced through the petrifying fire and lunged directly at Andrea! “Scram!” Andrea roared, and the blood gathered in her right hand transformed into a beam of lightning flashing with white light. But just as she was about to aim and shoot the soul-purifying lightning, Eivass’s voice rang out again: “—Grant her the night, Hengwo!” The next moment, Andrea’s vision went black. How could it be so fast?! She subconsciously felt that this Archbishop was not right. But after a moment of hesitation, Andrea knew she had to make a decision— so she directly shot the lightning forward! The leaping white lightning transformed into a cone before her, while with her other hand, she gathered crackling chain lightning, intending to throw this auto-targeting spell directly at the crowd! The dark power that could decompose everything did not strike her immediately. But the still-sweeping petrifying fire had swept over her! —Why could he pray to two Pillar Gods simultaneously?! This was Andrea’s last thought before being petrified. (End of this chapter)
