Chapter 1242
Ancient Phantom Demon Card
“Tarot card…”
Prodino carefully took the ancient card.
As a Horusian, he was naturally familiar with such divination tools. Although he wasn’t an astrologer or prophet who adapted to the Path, he could recall knowledge about Tarot cards without even accessing his internal database.
“The Sun card… Is this a prophecy of the Shepherd for himself?”
Prodino mused, “If it’s in its upright position, it signifies a successful and beautiful future. Just like the rising sun, it embodies joy, intensity, light, and elevation. It radiates enough power to dispel darkness and will only improve with the passage of [Time]. It represents hope, ideals, and optimism; it’s a rather good card.
“…But if it’s reversed, it foretells a setting sun on a downward path. Fatigue, exhaustion, decline, and despondency. The glory of the past is gone, and visible darkness lies not far in the future. Like an aging lion, about to be replaced by a younger one. I wonder if it’s upright or reversed…”
The upright and reversed positions of a Tarot card typically signify the “upward” versus “downward,” “forward” versus “backward,” and “inward” versus “outward” aspects of something within its concept.
It doesn’t necessarily indicate good or bad – just as reversed versions of the Sun and Chariot are unfavorable, while reversed versions of Death and The Devil are actually beneficial. This is because concepts like the Sun and Chariot lean towards positive interpretations, while The Devil and Death lean towards negative.
There are also cases like “The Tower,” where both upright and reversed positions are unfavorable. This is because The Tower signifies the collapse and destruction of the Tower of Babel, so the upright position means “destruction is imminent,” while the reversed position means “it is already or is being destroyed, but at least it’s almost over.”
“The Akashic Records do indeed contain information about the Shepherd,” Prodino stated thoughtfully, then replied, “His name has been completely erased by the White Punishment, but some things he did not directly touch have barely been preserved. It is precisely because of this that we can understand him indirectly. However, someone did leave behind a book called the ‘Shepherd’s Secret Manual,’ said to have been written by someone from the same era as the Shepherd.
“This is indeed an extremely rare antique. It’s likely the only personal item and the only relic of someone who underwent the White Punishment in history… The erased face on it should be the mark of the White Punishment. But… what is the use of this card?”
Prodino felt a little helpless, “It doesn’t seem to be of much help in my current situation.”
“This card holds a special power within it,” Ebn shook his head, refuting. “If you inject light-attributed mana into it, you can activate it. It once resisted the curse cast by Aimel Nour himself, and it also resisted the pursuit of forbidden magic. My mother used it to successfully escape this city.
“The name ‘Aimel Nour’ is an inheritance that existed before humanity was born and has been passed down to this day. As the most powerful Lord, one generation of ‘Aimel Nour’ was known as the Sorcerer King. He must have possessed a divine artifact similar to the Eternal Pope’s, capable of amplifying the power of specific Paths… and it even successfully resisted the Sorcerer King’s curse. I believe it might also be useful against the Descended Heavenly Envoy.”
It was clear that Ebn wasn’t entirely sure of the card’s specific usage either.
On the other hand, Aiwas, who was watching nearby, saw it clearly –
Undoubtedly, this Tarot card was a Phantom Demon Card.
“May I have a look?” Aiwas asked Prodino.
Prodino, who was in the process of entering and uploading relevant data, handed it over without hesitation. “I remember… you seem to have used a similar ability?” He couldn’t recall clearly, but he remembered Aiwas summoning powerful phantom demons using cards.
Aiwas nodded, frankly admitting, “The first Grimoire I ever read was the ‘Shepherd’s Secret Manual.'”
Upon hearing this, almost everyone present was stunned.
Zhu Tang and Haina were fine; they hadn’t heard of the Shepherd’s name nor understood his significance. However, both Prodino, nicknamed “Encyclopedia,” and Ebn, an Anxi person, knew of his existence.
“The Shepherd…?!” Old Ebn exclaimed.
Prodino was also astonished. “So the ‘Shepherd’s Secret Manual’ actually exists?” He quickly pressed, “Then… where is that book? Where is it?”
“…The version I saw was in Avalon language,” Aiwas felt a little embarrassed. “I already destroyed it. However, Avalon language is unlikely to be the original, so there should still be an original version.”
Saying this, he quickly took the Great Sin Card.
As expected – as it passed into his hands, no system panel popped up before his eyes. He now understood the existence of the system even more… it was the condensed divine essence of the knowledge and memories of past Serpent Tails. Things he hadn’t encountered in his previous eight reincarnations, the system wouldn’t recognize. If this weren’t his last reincarnation, the information he had come into contact with would become new entries in the next one.
—Just like the recording ability possessed by Naturalists, Dream Traveling Monks, and Dream Walker Apprentices!
However, as a top-tier Sin Scholar, Aiwas had already fully mastered this power. Without the system, he could read and analyze its essence through his own strength!
Aiwas gazed at the Tarot card.
The depiction of the Sun was a child sitting on a white horse, arms spread, singing praises to the sun. The child held a battle flag in hand, wearing a garland on his head. The sunflowers, however, did not look towards the sun but rather at the child – as if he were a light more intense than the sun itself.
The sun in the sky had a solemn and beautiful face, emitting twenty-one rays. Eleven of them were straight and infinite, while ten were twisted and short.
“…The sacred number eleven for hope, and the sacred number ten for void,” Aiwas murmured softly, closing his eyes.
As he gradually immersed his consciousness and mana into the card, it suddenly began to glow. The “antique,” which was originally as old as an old photograph, now emitted a uniform light like a heated iron ball. Golden radiance filled every inch of the card, and a system panel abruptly popped up before Aiwas.
It was as if an invisible brush of light were writing—words, accompanied by sparks, gradually appeared in stroke order.
[Enchantment: Crown of Thorns (Sun)]
[Discard: Light 11 or Dark 10]
[Action: Self]
[Effect: Reduce maximum HP by 21%. If HP is still full, grant self the ‘Crown of Thorns’ effect for 12 minutes; if the ‘Thorn Throne’ count is 3, the user immediately dies.]
A very simple and straightforward effect. When it manifested, it was so simple it stunned Aiwas for a moment—he hadn’t seen a Phantom Demon Card effect beyond a “little essay” in a long time.
However, contrasted with this was the effect of “Crown of Thorns.”
[Crown of Thorns: This status is considered a negative status, a curse, cannot be dispelled, and cannot be removed. Under this status, you are considered severely injured, HP and Mana cannot recover, cannot decrease, cannot accept any special statuses, cannot move, cannot cast spells, cannot blink or teleport, and cannot deal damage.]
[At the end of the effect, ‘Thorn Throne’ count +1]
“This is…” Aiwas took a sharp breath.
This Phantom Demon Card… was indeed somewhat useful, but also very troublesome. He himself definitely couldn’t use this card… not to mention that it overlapped with Little Butterfly, and the price was too high. It could indeed be used to save “Encyclopedia’s” life…
Unlike Aiwas’s Phantom Demon Cards and the extraordinary equipment of this era, it didn’t display as [Required: Light 11] but as [Discard: Light 11]—this was a special attribute typically found on some divine artifacts or cursed equipment.
Simply put, it didn’t deduct mana, but the maximum value of one’s own mana. It required permanently discarding eleven points of light-attributed mana, or ten points of dark-attributed mana…
And it didn’t require burning a fifth of one’s HP—but deducting a fifth of one’s max HP. Furthermore, it couldn’t be used when at low health; it only took effect when at full health.
Also, using this card for only the third time would result in instant death.
In other words, this card could only be safely used twice by one person. And by the second use, the person would essentially be crippled… so weak in vitality that combat would be difficult, let alone Ascension.
With such harsh conditions and such a tragic price paid, it naturally offered an extremely powerful effect.
That would be 12 minutes of invincibility! Not only was HP locked, but Mana was too—
Although this state of invincibility was somewhat crippled… Mana could not decrease, yet spells could not be cast; HP could not decrease, yet no damage could be dealt to others, nor could they move or teleport or be teleported.
This might resemble the “icebox” spell of a mage in an old MMO, a spell that could control oneself while granting temporary invincibility… but its enormous price clearly wasn’t meant for blocking damage.
What sensible person’s life-saving item would first cripple themselves and then turn them into a statue?
As for its use…
“Could it be… for sacrifice?” Aiwas’s heart stirred.
He suddenly realized that this was the Shepherd’s Phantom Demon Card. And the Shepherd at that time hadn’t mastered the Priest profession… meaning he didn’t have the Fire Worship Magic that could unconditionally heal himself.
Fire Worship Magic, though widely spread, was actually an extremely heaven-defying spell. With just prayer and mana consumption, one could heal oneself to a perfect state, its effects even nearing rejuvenation and eternal youth. Whether it was disabilities or curses, as long as enough mana was injected, one could heal oneself.
This spell was essentially a “welfare benefit” provided by the Candlemaster to the priests. To commend and support the priests’ devotion, the Candle Deer personally gave many benefits for their followers to heal themselves. If a priest had severe injuries, they might see an illusion of the Candlemaster licking themselves during Fire Worship.
That might not have been an illusion.
And the Shepherd clearly didn’t possess this skill—Aiwas remembered the Shepherd he saw in the illusion when he read the “Shepherd’s Secret Manual.” He didn’t recall if he saw the other’s face clearly, only that it was a gaunt man in a black robe. Beneath his black robe were many scars, and his body was severely malnourished… all evidence that he had fed himself to the phantom demons. He was already very weak. Though he didn’t look old, his body was as gaunt as an elder’s. His arms were as thin as sticks, skeletal, as if he’d fall with a touch. His thighs were less thick than a young person’s arm, and his skin had lost its elasticity, as if he had a serious illness.
Aiwas looked closely at the Phantom Demon Card again, confirming a detail.
—After activating the “Crown of Thorns” state, it wasn’t that damage couldn’t be dealt, but rather that HP and Mana wouldn’t decrease.
What did this imply?
It was suitable for use when activating the Art of Pasturing! After activating this card, use the Art of Pasturing to inflict a fatal injury on oneself. Then, one could feed the other with continuous HP and Mana.
Who would be most suited for this Phantom Demon Card that could only be used twice?
—It would naturally be the Fallen Heavenly Envoy! At that time, the Shepherd could already freely control Upper Demons like oceans, remaining unscathed even while being besieged by the entire Anxi—in terms of disaster, perhaps even Horus, the Church, Hrasal, and the Primordials were involved. When the Fallen Heavenly Envoy descended upon the world, he merely allowed demon legions to rampage and slaughter.
But the Shepherd… Aiwas himself knew how powerful the Art of Pasturing was. For phantom demons, the Art of Pasturing was like an extremely sumptuous feast for someone who had never eaten meat and was starving—it was a delicacy potent enough to cause death.
The reason the Art of Pasturing was so powerful and had a mind-charming ability… was that the essence of this Mystical Art was also a form of tail-shedding technique. It was actually a process of cutting off a part of oneself and feeding it to the other. Once one accepted Pasturing, it was equivalent to being assimilated by the Shepherd. For phantom demons like Little Crow and Little Butterfly who had been deeply pastured, even without signing a contract of fate with Aiwas and becoming his Beast of Sin, he could directly read their inner thoughts.
From this perspective, the Shepherd’s existence could even be considered a disaster for phantom demons.
If an incredibly fanatical demon legion existed, and if its phantom demons included not only regular demons but also other path phantom demons besides Apostles… and if the Shepherd could directly bestow powers far beyond their Paths upon mortal followers, ignoring their Path levels—it was normal for him to be feared while alive and hunted by all nations, and for his records to be completely erased after his death.
Such a powerful Shepherd should at least be a Fifth Tier expert.
…But here lies the problem.
If this card was meant to be used when pasturing the Fallen Heavenly Envoy, why did it appear here? If the Shepherd could indeed pasture the Fallen Heavenly Envoy with infinite life, mana, and suffering, wouldn’t that be equivalent to overwriting the Fallen Heavenly Envoy with his own existence?
—Would the Fallen Heavenly Envoy then lose control?
Yet, it appeared here intact, not collected or sealed by some Monarch.
There could only be one outcome.
“…Betrayal?” Aiwas murmured, then opened his eyes. “Or…”
Although he didn’t know what happened back then… it was obvious that when the Shepherd summoned the Fallen Heavenly Envoy, he didn’t use this card. Its presence here indicated that the leader of the “Sand Throat Cult” was once a follower of the Shepherd. By some means, he stole this card from the Shepherd, leading to the Shepherd’s failure in pasturing during the most critical summoning, resulting in the Fallen Heavenly Envoy losing control.
Or, as Aiwas had previously speculated… the Shepherd abandoned Pasturing before summoning the Fallen Heavenly Envoy, and subsequently chose to sacrifice himself to the Fallen Heavenly Envoy, thereby thwarting the Ring Heavenly Envoy’s plan to prevent himself from being devoured by them. In that case, this card was a gift to his follower.
His current presence here, holding this card—it was all because of Aiwas’s existence. He had once again disrupted the trajectory of fate. And when Aiwas looked at the card in his hand again, he was stunned.
Because the card was no longer the same as before—
It had transformed into the Sun card of the Thoth Tarot.
Just like all the Phantom Demon Cards Aiwas had processed before.
Did the Shepherd not need to change it into the Thoth Tarot when making Phantom Demon Cards?
…So, this wasn’t the normal situation??
