Chapter 1325
The Final Seclusion
The words of the Lord of Scales and Feathers weren’t exactly “spoilers.”
Because once Eivass obtained the Heavenly Envoy Fragment of the Flame Heavenly Envoy from Grey, he would immediately realize—
If Little Butterfly couldn’t use the Geometric Heavenly Envoy’s fragment, the Great Philosopher’s fragment, or the Flame Heavenly Envoy’s fragment, it meant Little Butterfly was a special case.
This was a situation impossible for any other Phantom Demon—if Heavenly Envoy fragments of the same race, same element, same Path, and even same origin couldn’t be used, then something was definitely wrong.
Eivass obtained “Illusory Blood” precisely because he possessed an element of the Path of Beauty within him. He indeed had no Path Adaptation for the Path of Beauty, yet even Master Janis believed Eivass had talent for the Path of Beauty, and the Pope considered Eivass a child of the Butterfly Heavenly Envoy… all of which hinted that Eivass’s soul contained the other half of the Butterfly Heavenly Envoy’s fragment.
Thinking about it now, the signs had been there all along…
The awakening of the “Power of Conflict” by the Butterfly of Blazing Flames was a premonition.
The Power of Conflict was the core of solar power, the “Core of the Sun” that the Horus people yearned for. Once this ability was acquired, all that was needed was a “Vessel” to achieve the feat of creating an artificial sun. Naturally, the sun was a Heavenly Envoy-level existence; and Heavenly Envoy fragments also required a vessel to exert their authority.
So, what was the most ancient artificial sun?
—It was the Eye of the Great Philosopher, Mith.
In other words, even if Eivass went through all sorts of hardships to obtain the Butterfly Heavenly Envoy’s fragment, he might not be able to use it!
Because Little Butterfly had already obtained a part of the Heavenly Envoy fragment!
Her original “evolution” had simply been interrupted.
…No wonder the Butterfly of Blazing Flames was the only Phantom Demon to inexplicably possess the “Priority Plus One” unique to superior Phantom Demons.
This “Priority Plus One” trait originated from “divinity.”
And at that time, she was only Third Tier, the lowest level even among all superior Phantom Demons.
Simultaneously, Little Butterfly possessed another special trait—she was the Phantom Demon among Eivass’s summons most sensitive to the Shepherd’s Method. Eivass easily strengthened her to a near-limit state; if not suppressed, she could inadvertently be pushed into an overdrive state where she couldn’t be normally summoned.
Yet, the same intensity of the Shepherd’s Method couldn’t even fully push the Fourth Tier Shadow Demon.
After that, the Shadow Demon had already been evolved by Eivass into a Night Demon and could no longer be normally summoned… and to maintain at least one summon he could use regularly, Eivass abandoned the idea of continuing to use the Shepherd’s Method on Little Butterfly.
Later on…
As a pure cannon fodder, the Butterfly of Blazing Flames, also a Phantom Demon on the offensive side, gradually became less agile than Helchin, who possessed extraordinary combat awareness. From then on, the Butterfly of Blazing Flames was primarily summoned to unleash nuclear explosions… and if Leah used a nuclear explosion, her destructive power was already sufficient. Further strengthening her would merely make the explosion range uncontrollable, so Eivass still did not use the Shepherd’s Method for additional enhancement on her.
After that, Eivass had already begun Heavenly Envoy battles. Phantom Demons who obtained Heavenly Envoy fragments were obviously stronger and were undoubtedly the main force. Thus, the once “extra-large cup” Butterfly of Blazing Flames slowly shrunk into a “medium cup” that was difficult to deploy.
“…So the answer was in the question itself.”
Eivass sighed.
Because when Eivass and the Butterfly of Blazing Flames were created, a complete fragment had already been used. That was why the Butterfly of Blazing Flames could possess the “Power of Conflict,” a rule-based ability normally only usable in the Heavenly Envoy domain… As the “energy core of the sun,” in Eivass’s understanding, it was essentially the law of nuclear fusion.
This was clearly not a power an ordinary Phantom Demon could possess.
Not to mention, this was unique; no other Phantom Demon had this ability.
In other words… the Butterfly of Blazing Flames fundamentally didn’t need the Butterfly Heavenly Envoy’s Heavenly Envoy fragment.
As long as Eivass persistently used the Shepherd’s Method on her, the Butterfly of Blazing Flames would naturally complete its evolution.
Even if Eivass used the “complete Shepherd’s Method” on the Butterfly of Blazing Flames, she could immediately transform into a Heavenly Envoy form!
That wasn’t the Butterfly Heavenly Envoy’s law, because the Butterfly Heavenly Envoy’s law had already returned upon His ascension. This was a new law, belonging to the Butterfly of Blazing Flames.
It might as well be called the “Nuclear Heavenly Envoy.”
That wasn’t the law of the Path of Beauty, but the law of the Path of Devotion.
It was the law of the sun!
Just like the starter Pokémon obtained from the professor—although the initial base stats seemed low, in reality, if slowly cultivated to their final form, their strength was quite solid. The “seemingly stronger Pokémon” seen in the wild were actually often inferior to the strength of these little cuties after completing their evolution.
“It’s a good thing, I suppose.”
Eivass breathed a sigh of relief.
This way, no one truly needed to be sacrificed.
He didn’t need to capture anyone for the Ouroboros Ring ritual, didn’t need to force someone to summon the Butterfly Heavenly Envoy, nor did he need to inexplicably pull down and kill the Butterfly Heavenly Envoy. The only sacrifice required was a small one from Eivass himself.
The Path Trait of [Dissolving Soul] unexpectedly could be used here…
Eivass’s soul would regenerate slowly—he only needed to feed his own soul to the Butterfly of Blazing Flames.
Letting the Butterfly of Blazing Flames absorb it… there wasn’t even any need to accumulate the amount equivalent to “an entire Eivass.” Just as Eivass could precisely separate a part of his soul, he could also feed the part belonging to the Butterfly Heavenly Envoy fragment to the Butterfly of Blazing Flames.
It was like distilling liquor, separating as much alcohol as possible.
Once Little Butterfly absorbed until Eivass could no longer use the Path Trait of “Illusory Blood,” the Butterfly of Blazing Flames would be completely perfected.
…Fortunately, he compromised early.
Without rigidly adhering to his own path for the sake of pride or stubbornness, but accepting help from others.
It was now July 11th, with twenty days left until the New Moon Ritual at the end of the month.
Although Eivass would inevitably be somewhat weakened, fortunately, the Butterfly of Blazing Flames only needed the part Eivass didn’t need… After resting for a few days at the end of the month, his condition would recover somewhat.
This was merely repaying a debt—
Once he clarified what he needed to do, Eivass decisively entered seclusion without wasting a moment.
No one knew what Eivass was doing, only that he was constantly practicing the Shepherd’s Method.
To prevent Isabel from feeling distressed by watching, Eivass even avoided Isabel during this time, spending his time alone with the Butterfly of Blazing Flames.
Because this time, to create more “wounds” for himself, thereby increasing more “channels” that the Butterfly of Blazing Flames could absorb from… Eivass didn’t even use Fire Worship Magic to heal himself and even used rituals to suppress his healing ability.
—This was a choice that went against intuition.
Normally, it seemed that after his health was fully restored, the next self-sacrifice would yield more life force, and the Shepherd’s Method would be more effective.
However, after integrating the Shepherd’s memories, Eivass knew this wasn’t the case—
The Shepherd wasn’t without the ability to heal himself.
He was indeed not a Priest, but other Paths also had some Healing Ability… for example, Apothecaries with Path Adaptation, Snake People priests, or the Sacrifice Arts of Forbidden Paths. He could entirely rely on others’ healing, and even Phantom Demons had plenty who could heal others…
It was that the Shepherd himself did not accept healing.
Because healing oneself easily would actually mean that the price of this pain had been secretly nullified. The price paid would not be as strong… deceiving oneself was meaningless.
Thus, this “devotion” of the Shepherd’s Method existed only in pain… but one could get used to pain.
So, one could only pursue increasingly profound pain and conduct increasingly cruel sacrifices—just like Eivass’s previous choice, and the idea of the Good Lord in Heaven City.
But now, Eivass realized… there was another way of thinking.
—That was to not heal oneself at all.
If he was on the verge of death, then offering just a few drops of blood would be incredibly precious.
It was like a person dying of thirst; if they were willing to offer the last sip of water from their flask for you—even if this water was mixed with sand and smelled bad—it would represent their pure heart of devotion.
Until July 26th.
Eivass finally ended his seclusion.
(End of this chapter)
