Chapter 1057
Salastro and The Fool’s Eulogy Grimoire
This was not Eivass trying to be cool when praying in this manner.
This was because the mechanism itself had a special rule—
—Stage Rules.
This was because Count Orléans had not truly tamed the Swan King’s will.
The Box of Nothingness had a subconscious judgment: skills related to “beauty”—such as dazzling special effects and flashy techniques—would receive better judgment.
This place was considered a stage!
—In other words, within the influence of the Box of Nothingness, stylishness could act as a special priority bonus!
The bats tried to fly, but a layer of white fog suddenly appeared before them.
Bats were supposed to be fearless of fog, but this fog made them lose their way. Their wings began to frost over, and they flew slower and slower. A bullet traced an arc in the air, shattering each bat into blood-red ice mist that merged into the cold white fog.
“Wake up, Sherlock, Arsen,” Eivass’s voice echoed faintly in the fog. “Don’t forget why we’re here.”
“—Damn it, my memory has been rewritten again!” Sherlock paused for a moment, then suddenly remembered.
At some point, he had inexplicably started to believe he was a guest. His hostility had vanished, and he felt a strong sense of goodwill toward the Orléans family, even wanting to reveal all his findings so they could quickly fix their loopholes.
This was absolutely not something Sherlock would do. Even when Edward was his only friend, and he realized Old Moriarty might be involved in Lloyd Society’s criminal activities, he had still wanted to continue his investigation.
He had always been this way: truth was greater than friendship.
…But now, he felt that “the Orléans family was greater than truth,” as if he had entered a dream at some unknown time and accepted all the circumstances.
The feeling of his thoughts being arbitrarily manipulated made him feel disgusted… Sherlock, in a rare display, became angry.
Arsen’s expression also stiffened, the pupils of his eyes flickering with the flames of anger. “When did… Oh, thank goodness you’re okay… No, why are you okay?”
“—When I saw Young Master Gaston, or more precisely, when I stepped through the door. They likely set up a dream-like defense in the Box of Nothingness beforehand, something like ‘those hostile to the Orléans family suddenly turn into friends upon crossing the threshold.'”
“When investigators believe that the only defenses set up by the Box of Nothingness are the ‘forgetfulness defense’ (people who know of the Box of Nothingness will periodically forget it) and the ‘scapegoat mechanism’ (investigations into the Orléans family will always lead to the Harlick family), they might let down their guard.”
Eivass’s voice sounded leisurely. “As for me…
“Well, just consider it as if I had seen all this in a dream. When I recalled this event, the rest came back to me.”
His impression was too profound.
Why was this dungeon called a pure mechanism-based dungeon?
Because all the monsters in this dungeon were green-named throughout, before the true body of the Box of Nothingness was exposed!
—Not only could they not be attacked, but they would even steal area-of-effect healing!
Only by completing the mechanism could one deal damage to the opponent, and if one accidentally overlapped positions, an area-of-effect heal might be directed at the boss.
According to the method of breaking through the “forgetting” and “scapegoat” mechanisms, as soon as Eivass realized this matter, this process would be automatically terminated. It was like realizing one was dreaming while dreaming.
“…What do we do now?” Sherlock’s gaze grew grim.
He gripped his staff tightly and took a deep breath of the cold, slightly bloody mist.
He was furious for the first time—yet even so, he found himself surprisingly calm. The icy flames did not burn away his rationality.
“Sing first, Arsen,” Eivass suddenly said.
“…Huh?” Arsen looked stunned. “But I can’t…”
“No, you can,” Eivass interrupted. “Grip your short sword and relax your body—let it sing.”
“How could this…”
Just as Arsen was about to say “this is impossible,” his body suddenly moved.
In his deep and resonant voice, he suddenly let out a faltering tenor:
“—Oh, Prince, please accept,
“The gift our Queen of the Night gives you.
“Even if you encounter the most severe disaster,
“This magic flute can protect you!”
He let out a sudden howl, startling Sherlock—Sherlock’s eyes widened as he looked in that direction, but the thick white fog obscured everything.
He had heard Isabel sing this part of the opera, and at the time, it had merely sounded pleasant. Although Arsen possessed the abilities of The Path of Beauty, he couldn’t sing at all… making him completely unsuitable for opera.
However, Arsen suddenly realized that he was currently shrouded in white fog, and no one could see him.
So, he gritted his teeth and, following his instincts, sang out with all his might:
“This flute will grant you immense power—
“It can change the sorrow of humans.
“It can make the mournful joyful,
“And the bachelor fall in love—though I’m not a bachelor myself.”
He even had time to add a quick interjection at extreme speed.
At this moment, a melodious tune sounded from the void.
—It was the sound originating from “Salastro,” the short sword hanging at Arsen’s waist!
It controlled Arsen’s body, making him sing an opera he couldn’t sing at all—yet the abilities of a Bard could still be triggered!
The dense fog before them suddenly had clear trajectories.
Every enemy target transformed into a successive red silhouette—Sherlock felt as if his spells could directly lock onto them!
—Bard: Pathfinding!
—Bard: Spell Anchor!
This was the true power of this short sword—
It could spontaneously draw a “most suitable for the current situation” random buff from all skills belonging to “Lulu’s Magic Flute,” and this ability, aside from occupying the casting bar, had no cost.
In other words, aside from Arsen’s mouth being occupied, he could use other skills without expending mana, and it could trigger musical effects.
And when Eivass indiscriminately enveloped everyone with the mist of disorientation that erased all sense of direction, it could only cast those two spells!
The abilities of a Bard randomly fluctuated within a large area, their effects depending on the expressiveness of the music. And this short sword came with its own conductor, meaning its random buffs would only fluctuate within the first third.
The magic bullet flew back to Eivass, condensing into a blood ball ten times larger than before.
Eivass summoned the Book of Law, and while checking his card deck, calmly said, “Make your move, Sherlock—unleash your anger.”
Sherlock’s gaze deepened, and he raised his staff.
A luminescent blue rune band suddenly condensed on his shoulder—it looked like a Clergy’s shoulder strap, except it was transparent, with only the outline and runes filled in with a deep blue.
The band rapidly extended.
And a spell, without casting, without channeling, without runes, condensed out of thin air in an instant!
—Chain Lightning!
The crackling electric net instantly converged at the tip of his staff, instantly spreading to the bodies of all the red figures within his sight, electrocuting them instantly!
This was The Fool’s Eulogy Grimoire!
At the cost of four times the mana consumption, one could obtain infinite instant spell casting; at the cost of four times the cooldown consumption, one could obtain infinite silent spell casting!
And among all spells, only “lightning”-type spells were the fastest.
Lightning spells cast using The Fool’s Eulogy Grimoire were so fast they were impossible to counter!
