Chapter 1137
Don Quixote is not a firecracker!
After defeating the Blood Heavenly Envoy—or, more accurately, defeating the Child of the Void along with the Blood Heavenly Envoy, thus resolving the crisis of the Blood Heavenly Envoy’s descent in another sense—Avos did not leave the Iris Kingdom immediately.
There was no particular reason for this.
It was simply that he didn’t want someone else to reap the rewards.
When the Blood Heavenly Envoy descended, they had killed all the Children of the Moon of the Iris Flower—though a portion had transformed into Mist Demons and survived—but the upper echelons of the “Healthy Party,” controlled by the Children of the Moon, were almost completely wiped out.
Even in the Iris Flower Kingdom, the existence of Children of the Moon could not be openly acknowledged.
After all, they were monsters that fed on human blood. Their existence could never be fully legitimate—to acknowledge their legitimacy would be to implicitly admit that humans had become their food.
Therefore, the Children of the Moon of the Iris Flower chose a different path: they controlled the media and the council, preventing news from leaking out and using social influence to manipulate the direction of investigations. This way, their identity as Children of the Moon could never be exposed. Even if exposed, it couldn’t be concretely proven, and even if proven, they could dismiss it as “fake news.”
However, the extinction of the Children of the Moon could no longer be concealed.
Previously, the general populace had not realized what had happened. But after so many days, with the “server-wide announcement” from the Hourglass, the death of the Blood Heavenly Envoy and the extinction of the Children of the Moon could no longer be hidden. When people realized this, public opinion exploded almost instantly—news had spread throughout the entire Iris Kingdom in less than a day.
TheIris Kingdom operated on a two-party system.
As the “Healthy Party” was forced to reveal that their entire leadership was composed of Children of the Moon and completely lost their political power to conceal this fact, it meant that the opposing “Giant Tree Party” had suddenly ascended.
They had done nothing, and their rival party had self-destructed!
Those in such positions were all shrewd individuals. Perhaps they wouldn’t dare to take direct action, but when an opportunity presented itself, it would be foolish not to seize it.
They immediately began to disseminate propaganda about the sins of the Children of the Moon, the unforgivable crimes they had committed, how many of their members had been assassinated or persecuted by the Children of the Moon, and the sacrifices they had made to combat them.
These statements were not entirely false. However, they hadn’t actually done anything particularly meaningful. They had not even dared to expose anyone as a Child of the Moon.
This was because the Children of the Moon were tightly united and would seek revenge for each other’s deaths. But they were not—and could never be. Whoever exposed another’s identity and angered the Healthy Party might be abandoned by the Giant Tree Party in the face of the Healthy Party’s unbridled retaliation.
When it came to fighting the Children of the Moon, you did nothing, but as soon as they died, you were the first to come out and claim credit.
What business is it of yours!
Since that was the case, Avos decided to stay a few more days.
To stir up trouble for them.
Avos believed he had always been patient, rarely killing entire families—of course, Children of the Moon didn’t count as people. He had no pressing matters to attend to at the moment. Although the Good Lord had invited him to visit the Ancient Kingdom of Anxi, there was no need to rush; going too quickly would seem eager.
While he had only served as Pope for a month, he was a legitimate Eternal Pope and a former leader still recognized by the Eternal Holy Kingdom. By protocol, the invitation should have come from their end, with the Pope proactively seeking an audience with Avos in the Holy Kingdom. Although it was an “invitation” for Avos to visit, this alone indicated a degree of arrogance on their part.
Avos could understand this.
The Ouroboros Ring ritual had only just begun, and the Wall of Balance had never been breached since its establishment.
The Sixth Tier of the Path of Devotion had always been present, passed down through generations. But the Sixth Tier of the Transcendent Path was a genuine rarity in four thousand years—the first in the world! Even in a game, achieving the top rank and being the first to clear a dungeon would lead to widespread fame on video sites, forums, and social media for days; it was even more so in the real world.
For the Good Lord, who already lived like an emperor and was constantly flattered, it would be strange if he didn’t become arrogant—if he remained humble, Avos would suspect he was planning something major.
He understood, but he didn’t want to indulge it. He would keep them waiting for a few days.
Meanwhile, with the information provided by Avos, Duke Aragon de Vendome began preemptively hunting down Extraordinarys on the Path of Love.
The reason was simple. High-Tier Extraordinarys on the Path of Love could generally only join the Healthy Party, or they would be persecuted—the method of persecution being simple: killed and resurrected by a Child of the Moon, they would automatically join the organization.
So, they had no choice.
The Old Duke had foreseen the future. If those Extraordinarys on the Path of Love had no possibility of breaking through their limits, then all the blame could be placed on the Healthy Party. The attacks from the Giant Tree Party and the fervor of the Eagle Eye organization would be impossible to stop.
But if these Extraordinarys on the Path of Love still had a chance to rise up, it meant that after reaching the Sixth Tier, they would likely retaliate immediately. At that point, the entire country could descend into chaos. This was because it was the Children of the Moon who needed the country to exist, while individual Extraordinarys were essentially indifferent—especially those on the Path of Love, who were driven by impulse and deeply cared about “love and hate.”
If they truly cared about power and the bigger picture, they would have entered the Path of Authority.
These individuals were like Uchihas, prone to producing an unfathomable and supremely powerful madman at any moment.
While waiting for the Giant Tree Party to cause trouble, Avos began to organize his cards with peace of mind and stayed with Isabel at the Vendome Family’s estate for a few days.
He registered the newly evolved Alistair and Don Quixote into the Book of Law. Previously, to facilitate the instant summoning of Don Quixote during the battle against the Blood Heavenly Envoy, Avos had not registered him, just as the Shadow Cloak had never been registered.
Casting spells by taking out a book was similar in time to taking out a card, but the level of concealment differed.
With this, only four cards remained unregistered in the Book of Law.
—The Magician, The Empress, The Hermit, The Tower.
The Book of Law’s charge finally reached (17/21).
Don Quixote, who had been registered, and Alistair, who had completed her evolution, also gained new abilities due to the divine properties of the Book of Law.
These were called “Formal Entry” abilities.
Just as the Night Demon’s Formal Entry could apply curse vulnerability to everyone, and the King of the Wild Hunt’s Formal Entry could summon “Helchin’s Retainers” for a charge, the Butterfly’s “Formal Entry” required death first. Upon entering formally from the ashes as the Unburnable Butterfly, it could deal massive damage to all burning enemies.
Alistair’s original Formal Entry ability had little significance—it was an ability of the Blood Angel, allowing her to heal Avos, the summoner, upon entry. This was a unique “self-healing ability” of the Children of the Moon, but it was completely useless to Avos.
However, after obtaining a Heavenly Envoy Fragment, this ability evolved.
From healing Avos, it transformed into “instantly healing and enraging all nearby allies.” The Night Demon’s curse vulnerability remained unchanged, except that the vulnerability level increased from LV4 to LV7. This meant that beings below the Seventh Tier could not be immune to curses, and a First Tier curse could take effect on a Seventh Tier Extraordinary, with its effects also significantly enhanced.
These could only be considered somewhat useful, but not exceptionally so. To Avos now, they were mere additions. For the Beast of Sin, which already possessed a Heavenly Envoy Fragment, these abilities were less effective than its Authority.
However, Don Quixote’s Formal Entry ability proved surprisingly practical—
【Effect: Every time the Holy Sword Substitute enters and leaves, it leaves behind a phantom to block damage for teammates.】
Avos tested this ability thoroughly.
Its true effect was better than its literal description—simply put, it allowed for the simultaneous summoning of two Don Quixotes. One phantom would block damage, while the other could switch its sword to an axe and attack. The phantom blocking damage could not withstand much damage and could not receive healing. Once it took damage, it would disappear. However, it at least allowed Don Quixote to retain some combat effectiveness.
The divine sword Clarent’s auxiliary ability was quite powerful, granting a 50% damage increase to those struck.
However, when Don Quixote was summoned, it was often to resist damage rather than to unleash burst attacks. And if he used his active effect to create absolute defense, he would self-destruct, still unable to achieve that considerable damage amplification state.
But now, things were different.
Don Quixote could leave behind a phantom of light upon entering and exiting, blocking damage. If he successfully blocked damage with the Holy Sword, he would not be injured and thus would not break. If he failed to block a blow, it would explode.
As long as the phantom existed, Don Quixote himself could switch to an axe for output or switch to a sword for support. This at least meant he wouldn’t explode upon landing and become a “firecracker fodder,” significantly increasing his practical utility.
Indeed, this was the case—ever since Don Quixote and Alistair appeared, Avos had rarely summoned the King of the Wild Hunt.
Alistair was faster than the King of the Wild Hunt, and as a frontal tank that resisted damage and dealt damage, Don Quixote was more effective. In terms of pure damage, both were weaker than the King of the Wild Hunt. However, Avos was not lacking in damage. After all, if he truly needed damage, why wouldn’t he summon the Butterfly?
In terms of sheer damage, Viness and Alistair, who had obtained Heavenly Envoy Fragments and completed their sublimation, were not as potent as the un-sublimated Little Butterfly.
Avos had also rarely used the King of the Wild Hunt’s positive-position summoning effect—transforming himself into an incorporeal form to infiltrate the spirit realm, unable to deal damage to the material realm or be targeted or damaged by most material realm attacks. As for the subsequent, negligible lifesteal effect, it was unimportant to Avos, who was not lacking in recovery.
Because when Avos fought high-difficulty enemies, it was essentially a team battle, and before Don Quixote’s appearance, he himself was often the defender. He couldn’t escape. If he hid in the spirit realm, his teammates would suffer. Now he could escape, but Don Quixote’s defensive capabilities were quite reliable, resulting in no need to escape.
This active skill was not very useful.
He would have to optimize this skill with a Heavenly Envoy Fragment—just as Alistair, after equipping a Heavenly Envoy Fragment, transformed from “Blood Sanctifier,” who could freely manipulate blood like the Moon Spirit Mycelium, into “Blood Baptism,” who could animate the dead. It couldn’t be said whether it was stronger or weaker, as it was an entirely different type of ability.
“A wind-attributed Heavenly Envoy…”
Avos murmured, lost in thought.
As Avos pondered, the situation in the Iris Kingdom began to deteriorate as he had predicted.
The first to act out was the Eagle Eye organization.
