Chapter 1228
July 3rd, 7:03 AM
According to Ibn, games of this nature were prevalent in Anxi, with many benevolent rulers actively promoting them. Some city-states even hosted tournaments, offering substantial rewards and, in certain places, a chance for the winner to grant a “wish.” In regions where slaves were permitted to participate, prizes included freedom, property, and contracts for female slaves.
Only through direct engagement with these games could one truly grasp the depth to which “slavery” permeated Anxi’s cultural underpinnings. Every poem, every painting, every game served as a shackle for the mind. Breaking free from such a culture was no simple feat.
“5 times 2 times 3—30, that’s enough. I’ll bet three points.”
Ibn played the Carpet, Book, and Slave cards in succession, casually remarking, “Many Anxi people believe they must offer blood sacrifices to this arid desert, lest the sandstorms eventually engulf their hard-won oases.
This is also why cities destroyed by sandstorms attract them… they use this to explain why every city’s benevolent ruler holds sacrifices.”
As a true son of Anxi, Ibn was intimately familiar with these matters. He said, with a touch of sarcasm, “And similarly… it also signifies that being swallowed by that man-eating sand is not uncommon on this cursed land. Otherwise, the benevolent rulers wouldn’t use it as an excuse. One of their justifications is that Holy Spring City, a former royal capital, hasn’t experienced a single sandstorm in ten thousand years—and there’s been no intervention of extraordinary power. This inexplicable miraculous trait becomes the proof for the doctrine that ‘the desert is conscious and alive.'”
“Offering blood sacrifices… is it to appease the desert?”
Haina tossed the three gold coin cards back onto the table to reshuffle and slowly sat down, asking with a hint of doubt, “Isn’t it because the benevolent rulers need to trade with the Abyss Heavenly Envoy?”
“That’s a secret, Haina. Not everyone knows the name of the Abyss Heavenly Envoy. Most locals don’t even know what a sea is. You know… authority, to a large extent, stems from the protection of secrets,” Eivass, seated opposite her on the left, said leisurely. “If the slaves knew their water was actually provided by the Abyss Heavenly Envoy, and the benevolent rulers were merely middlemen working for the Abyss Heavenly Envoy, how could they continue to hold divine respect for them? It’s precisely because they believe this water comes from the benevolent ruler’s sacred blood that they hold such reverence. If they were to learn it was just a spell, what do you think the victorious rebel forces would do after capturing a benevolent ruler?”
“…Interrogate them for the spell?” Haina murmured, “And then… become the new benevolent rulers themselves?”
“Precisely,” Eivass replied. “That’s the only answer.”
The Anxi people never intended to abolish slavery themselves… even the rebels, they merely wished to enslave others instead. If they knew that the contract seal of a benevolent ruler could also be voluntarily transferred, why would they let go of a captured benevolent ruler? Essentially, these benevolent rulers were like protagonists with systems, capable of creating miracles… except this system was granted by the Abyss Heavenly Envoy, and its rewards were converted into water. For genuinely ambitious individuals, if they realized that being “qualified” to bestow extraordinary power could be stripped away, they would naturally attempt to do so. And in this desert filled with Transcendent beings, ambitious individuals were not few.
But at this moment, the sky, bathed in the morning sun, suddenly distorted violently—
Amidst the exclamations of passersby, the sky, already tinged red by the morning sun, instantly became even redder. It was as if a bucket of red paint had been spilled on a pristine white tiled floor, or like a mobile phone screen leaking…
“—The sky is injured?” The old Ritualist, Ibn, stared at the sky in astonishment and murmured, “Is the sky… bleeding?”
“No,” Eivass quickly discerned the truth. He immediately replied, “It’s not—it’s a new Heavenly Envoy!” As a Fifth Tier Priest-class profession, his extraordinary sensory abilities made him realize… this was a phenomenon indicating a major event in the Dream Realm!
Eivass turned abruptly, looking at the clock hanging in the expanded carriage room. Haina reacted a step faster and immediately announced the time, “Seven oh-three.”
“July 3rd, 7:03 AM… It’s a sacred day, a sacred hour!” Eivass vaguely sensed an aura of slaughter and heroism from the sky, judging, “It’s either the Heavenly Envoy of the War Path, or the Path of Devotion! From this feeling… it’s somewhat like a Heavenly Envoy of the War Path.”
Arthur ascended to the Pillar God position only a short while ago, and he’s already found his Heavenly Envoy? Could it be Morgan? But this feeling… does Morgan have such a masculine aura? Eivass felt his heart stir and touched the emerald gem embedded in his chest.
“Hmm, I’m here. No need to call me.” The Lord of Scales and Feathers appeared at the table opposite Eivass at some point, sitting next to Zhu Tang. It was as if he had been there from the very beginning, watching Eivass play chess, without any sense of incongruity. Before Eivass could ask, the Lord of Scales and Feathers looked at Eivass with his featureless face and let out a hearty laugh, “It’s your acquaintance.”
“…An acquaintance?”
“It’s Lancelot.” Without drawing it out, the Lord of Scales and Feathers stated directly, “He has chosen death.”
—Eivass knew that Lancelot I, as the first monarch of Avalon, was different from his queen, Guinevere. In reality, Lancelot had not died. He had, much like characters in classic online gaming novels—the ones involving helmets—projected his soul into the Shadow Realm of the Dream Realm. When his soul was projected into the Dream Realm, he was not actually dead. Because under Merlin’s modifications, his soul was no longer bound to his physical body but was split into two “long daggers”—the Holy Sword Arondight. Since Lancelot had not died, he wouldn’t enter the River of the Dream Realm and become a Disciple. It was more of a “soul projection”—his physical body had been destroyed, but it was fine if he didn’t return.
If the “Shadow of Avalon” ritual ran smoothly, Lancelot would be reborn in the Material Realm just before the Avalon royal family was about to become extinct. The flesh and blood of his descendants would be shaped into a new body through the power of vengeance, and then his soul would be recalled to the flesh through the resonance of the two Arondight daggers. Why must this ritual be performed only when on the brink of despair—because only then would it conform to the principle of “vengeance” and thus be “reported” to Scathach, the Shadow Queen, who was the Shadow Heavenly Envoy. Areas that could permit the souls of the living to reside were few, with the Shadow Realm being one of them. Therefore, he had no choice—every step of this ritual was interconnected.
—And for this very reason, if any part of it faltered, it would completely collapse. Just as the more complex the murder method, the easier it is to fall apart due to a single piece of evidence. The “Shadow of Avalon” ritual had collapsed for this reason.
Having completely lost the possibility of resurrection, Lancelot was like a wandering ghost. Now… had the bewildered Lancelot finally decided to sever his connection with the Material Realm instead of waiting for the “Shadow of Avalon” ritual to be repaired?
“Lancelot has been summoned by Arthur to become the first Heavenly Envoy of the War Path—the Knight Heavenly Envoy. —Heavenly Envoy of Knights, Heavenly Envoy of Loyalty! Knight Heavenly Envoy, Your Excellency Lancelot!” The Lord of Scales and Feathers declared Lancelot’s new title with playful exaggeration.
“…That should also be Seven, shouldn’t it?” Eivass frowned deeply. “Why is there also half of the Sacred Number Three?”
“Oh, this is the most interesting part.” The Lord of Scales and Feathers’ smile grew more pronounced. “Because Lancelot’s soul has wandered in the Shadow Realm for too long… his spirit was not pure enough, nor was his power strong enough. His purity was insufficient to immediately become a Heavenly Envoy after death. And his wife, Queen Guinevere, a Candlemaster Disciple, finally received news of Lancelot’s death. She offered her own soul, merging it with Lancelot’s soul. Therefore, the name of the true Knight Heavenly Envoy should now be Lancelot-Guinevere.”
