Chapter 139: The Holy Grail? The Cup of Social Death
“Golden Dawn.”
Sylvia frowned slightly as she looked at the emblem of this ancient transcendence society.
Sylvia felt a subconscious aversion and repulsion towards this mysterious transcendence society, which perhaps harbored more than one ancient demigod.
After all, the misfortunes of her childhood were all caused by ancient gods, the path to godhood, and cults. Therefore, even though she had contained half of the authority of Twilight and the path to godhood was readily accessible to her, Sylvia still did not wish to become a god and chose the path of the throne instead.
Moreover, according to Isadorella’s previous description, everything in Ceylon might have some inexplicable connection to the Golden Dawn.
Although in this rewritten history, everything about Ceylon and the Borgia Family might have been fragmented and rewritten, the Golden Dawn, being composed primarily of legends and demigods, would naturally be able to discern the original appearance of the rewritten history.
“Golden Dawn, I wonder what they want by sending me this letter.”
Shaya also fell into thought, looking at the star-dusted letter.
He knew very little about the Golden Dawn, only that it was a mysterious organization that might be plotting something. Given its prestige and age, it was likely something high-end, like a behind-the-scenes manipulator.
However, he knew nothing about their attitude towards him, whether they were enemies or friends.
“Since they’ve sent a letter to my doorstep, ignoring it isn’t an option.”
“Running away from a problem won’t solve it, it only solves yourself.”
Shaya was never the type to sit idly by. When faced with potential threats and the unknown, he always preferred to take the initiative.
However, he wasn’t about to rashly open the envelope.
Given the age and mystery of the Golden Dawn, they even sent a legend to deliver a letter and a demigod to save someone. They might even present a holy relic similar to the “Seven Arrows of the Nail-Headed Book,” which could curse him as soon as he opened it.
Although he had an Undying Body and Sylvia was by his side, it was important to be cautious. It wouldn’t be good if he was silently marked with a tracking tag or something similar.
“Ultimately, I need to gather more information about them.”
“Not just the Golden Dawn’s objective, but also to correct the erroneous history. I also need to gather information about the Empire and Her Majesty the Empress. This current state of complete ignorance is really not good.”
Having an Undying Body didn’t mean being invincible. Rushing in blindly without any intelligence or preparation, in Shaya’s opinion, was no different from throwing away his life.
Originally, Shaya’s intelligence gathering had always been entrusted to the Imperial Military Intelligence Bureau or the Shadow Council.
Unfortunately, with the Empire in its current state, the Intelligence Bureau was likely useless.
As for the Shadow Council, the Queen of the Night’s previous inexplicable attitude towards him, coupled with some of Shaya’s speculations after escaping the Historical Echo of Escarnia, made him reluctant to engage with them.
“It’s not a good idea to always rely on other forces to collect information.”
“It’s more reassuring to rely on oneself for this kind of preparation work.”
Thinking this, Shaya’s mental power fell upon the bright blue light screen in his mind and the product information displayed within it.
***
[Knowledge Holy Grail]
[Rarity: Purple]
[Category: Holy Relic]
[Price: 170]
[Description: A forbidden item created at the inception of Arcana and Knowledge to replicate the “Black Cup.”]
[With “Holy Grail, O Holy Grail” as the activation incantation, it can answer any question posed by the questioner. However, it adheres to the principle of equivalent exchange, requiring the questioner to provide hidden knowledge of equal value, or to answer a question from the Holy Grail in the presence of a witness.]
[Remark: Holy Grail, O Holy Grail, I have a question. Where is the opposing jungler this round? If you can’t answer this question, I can only give you a score of 0 for this transaction.]
[You have purchased the “Knowledge Holy Grail,” consuming 170 Sands of Time. Current remaining Sands of Time: 40.]
[You have obtained the “Knowledge Holy Grail.”]
***
With a slight movement of Shaya’s thoughts.
The next moment, a small, pure white holy grail slowly emerged in his palm.
This was Shaya’s predetermined plan for exchanging Sands of Time.
With his current strength, his combat power alone was already sufficiently formidable.
Wearing the Black Knight mech made him a short-duration legend, not to mention his Undying Body and an unused mechanical construct.
If he were to use the Sands of Time solely for improving his strength, the benefits would not be significant due to diminishing returns.
Therefore, he only needed to reserve a portion of the Sands of Time for increasing proficiency and developing new skills. As for the rest, it was more cost-effective to spend it on exchanging for rule-based transcendent items or forbidden objects.
And a holy relic that could directly gather intelligence was undoubtedly the optimal choice.
A dim, radiant light emanated from the ancient mystery surrounding the holy grail.
Aerora’s expression remained unchanged. She was already accustomed to Shaya’s unconventional methods and was not surprised by anything strange he might pull out of his spatial pocket.
Sylvia, on the other hand, looked at the holy grail with some surprise, light golden text appearing in the void.
“The Knowledge Holy Grail?”
Shaya looked at the witch by his side. “Sylvia, do you recognize it?”
Sylvia’s body trembled slightly. Although she had heard this affectionate nickname many times in her lemon cat form, this was the first time Shaya had called her that directly.
However, she quickly and carefully suppressed the joy in her heart, flicked her azure silver long hair, and nodded.
“It’s some information I discovered when tracing the river of time after achieving the throne.”
“In the old era, shrouded in historical fog, there was once a holy relic called the Black Cup.”
“Its origin is untraceable, but it is said to be the ultimate wishing machine capable of granting any wish of the wish-fulfiller.”
“However, after being corrupted by an ancient being from the star-filled sky, the Black Cup mutated. Although it could still grant wishes, the method of granting them would be distorted to varying degrees.”
“For example, if I wished to become the strongest in a village, perhaps the wish would be granted not by making me stronger, but by corrupting all those stronger than me into black mud and death.”
Sylvia’s gaze lingered on the pure white holy grail.
“The original Black Cup soon disappeared into the dust of history, becoming difficult to find. But in later generations, countless powerful individuals tried to imitate that holy grail, creating a miracle item that could grant all wishes, but most of them ended in failure.”
“And the most successful imitation was the Knowledge Holy Grail.”
“The Knowledge Holy Grail does not possess the omnipotent power of the original Black Cup to grant any wish; it can only answer the questioner’s question, but its side effects have been greatly reduced.”
“In a sense, ‘omniscience’ that knows the principles of existence of all things implies a certain degree of ‘omnipotence’.”
“It is said to be a holy relic left behind by the Eight Pages mage who first established the Black Tower, at the dawn of the mage profession when the spark of arcane knowledge had just ignited.”
“Born from the soul crystals of more than ten primordial sages who pioneered arcane arts, its significance is more than just a holy relic.”
“It is the embodiment of the original mages’ desire for truth, their pursuit of arcane knowledge, and their yearning for the rules of the world.”
The light golden text slowly paused.
“However, like countless buried histories, this holy relic should also have been buried in lost history, making it difficult to find.”
“Moreover, the activation incantation for the Knowledge Holy Grail has been forgotten.”
“Even if one obtains the Knowledge Holy Grail now, without knowing the incantation, it cannot be activated… I remember Shaya’s teacher is one of the Eight Pages of the Black Tower. I wonder if the Black Tower still has any records.”
Shaya casually replied, “Oh, the incantation should be ‘Holy Grail, O Holy Grail’.”
From Sylvia’s words, Shaya verified a guess.
That is, these transcendent items and holy relics in the Sands of Time mall were items that once existed in the Western Continent but were lost in past history for some reason, rather than being original creations of the system.
In this way, the existence of the system was not entirely without origin.
Meanwhile.
Instantly.
Sylvia’s gaze locked onto the pure white Knowledge Holy Grail.
She didn’t care how Shaya obtained the Knowledge Holy Grail, nor how Shaya knew the activation incantation for the holy grail.
Since it was Shaya’s secret, she would help him keep it. Sylvia didn’t want to be disliked by Shaya for prying.
But—
Her gaze sharpened slightly.
Since she knew the activation incantation for the Knowledge Holy Grail.
At this very moment, Sylvia did have a question she desperately wanted confirmed.
The next instant.
“Holy Grail, O Holy Grail, is Shaya still a virgin?”
“Holy Grail, O Holy Grail, has Shaya exchanged bodily fluids with any other woman besides me?”
Light golden text, along with Aerora’s clear and cold voice, appeared at the same time.
The air seemed to solidify for an instant.
The next moment.
The pure white Knowledge Holy Grail suddenly emitted a dazzling light.
Then.
“He is a virgin.”
“No.”
Two short lines of text appeared on the surface of the Knowledge Holy Grail.
After a moment of pause, the holy grail seemed to have discovered something, and its light began to flicker.
“The contractor of the Anchor of Storms… and a throne-level expert of the new era, only asked such two indistinguishable questions!”
The Knowledge Holy Grail seemed to become excited, even the speed of its font writing accelerated.
Next, another line of text appeared.
“First respondent.”
The Knowledge Holy Grail drew an arrow towards Sylvia.
It swayed slightly with delight, and then new text appeared.
“Please answer…”
“What did you do in the secret room of the third room on the left turn in the corridor of the sixth floor of the castle, in the third dimensional interlayer of the White Tower’s affiliated Netherworld?”
Upon seeing this question.
The Azure Silver Witch’s face instantly became extremely stiff.
