Chapter 1003
Shadow Hunter Beast (Request for Monthly Passes!)
Although it had been four months since Eivass became the “Pope of Humanity,” Arsen still didn’t know what the Pope looked like.
Even though the news of Eivass becoming Pope hadn’t reached the Iris people with photos immediately due to Alice de Harcourt’s arrest and investigation, the scene of Eivass resisting the Fallen Heavenly Envoy had been briefly live-streamed to the Iris people. Although only the parts of the city near Star Antimony saw this, it was enough for people to take photos and circulate them widely.
He had only heard from others that His Majesty the Pope looked almost identical to the Fallen Heavenly Envoy—this was actually the most significant point of public interest. After all, this point could easily lead to wild speculation.
Arsen hadn’t gone out of his way to see him purely for personal reasons—he wasn’t interested in such high-and-mighty figures. He neither admired nor hated them. They were people completely unrelated to his life, career, and ideals. He didn’t like joining in on such excitement.
At least until he truly met Eivass, Arsen couldn’t have imagined that this true big shot could be so gentle, rational, and down-to-earth… This was absolutely unimaginable in the Iris people.
—It was precisely because he was now considered a Duke’s son-in-law that he knew how important figures treated commoners without status.
And after seeing Eivass’s face clearly, Arsen’s eyes widened instantly.
His pupils trembled!
Although there was a slight difference in appearance, and strange giant antlers on his head, there was no doubt—that platinum blonde long hair was the most prominent characteristic of the Vendome Family!
They were extremely proud of their “golden radiance” and “sun-like” platinum blonde hair.
It was said to be proof of the divine blood flowing in their ancestors.
Those hair and eye colors that were clearly different from ordinary people and too dazzling were basically proof of divine blood. The royal family of the Hrasal Empire in the past was also like this.
As for Eivass’s appearance, it was even more astonishing—
Arsen had seen portraits of every head of the Vendome Family. Unlike nobles of other families, their appearances were quite stable. They all resembled each other by seven or eight parts, and portraits from their twenties, when placed together, looked like brothers and sisters.
—And Eivass’s appearance was almost identical to an ancestor of the Vendome Family whose name had been erased!
It was said that ancestor was a sinner of the Vendome Family. Because of his existence, the Vendome Family bore tens of thousands of blood debts… From then on, they changed their surname. Before that, the Vendome Family did not have the surname Vendome.
But at the same time, this patriarch was also the pride of the Vendome Family.
—It was said that he once challenged a god.
It was also said that the god he challenged was closely related to the downfall of the Hrasal Empire.
His identity was already an unspeakable secret. Even though Arsen’s surname had changed to Vendome, he was still not qualified to seek details. Only the successive family heads could know about this…
And what Sherlock said to the Duke was said to be related to this.
At that time, Arsen couldn’t understand why Sherlock, upon his arrival at the Vendome Family, could reveal secrets that would awe the Duke. Now he finally understood… It was because Sherlock had seen the portraits of the Vendome Family.
Especially that only nameless portrait!
Sherlock immediately realized that this matter was related to Eivass. Thus, he obtained information that Arsen did not know… Their information gap had already appeared at that time.
“…What, is it,” Eivass said with some surprise, “you haven’t seen me? I thought I was quite famous.”
“Um… how should I put it…”
Arsen’s expression was troubled.
He didn’t know what to say.
By Arsen’s personality, he had always disdained information about those “big shots”—after all, most Iris people were like this. They were passionate about deconstructing those big shots, using all sorts of gossip and political jokes to make them less mysterious and great, thereby indirectly making themselves great as well.
For every person who praised the great and pioneering nature of the Human Pope, there was another who opposed it.
Especially since the “Pope’s” authority came from the Elven Church, which the Iris people dared not offend, this gave them more excuse—the Pope’s glory was not “human glory” at all, but rather worship of the elves. Thus, those Iris people who disliked elves also came to dislike Eivass.
Yes, dislike of elves—
This was related to the nobles of the Iris people.
The nobles of the Iris people always considered themselves the legitimate heirs of the Hrasal Empire, and therefore had a great reverence for Elven culture. All nobles had to learn the Elven Language, and this was even more prioritized than learning the Iris language.
After the people revolted against the rule of the nobles, they decided to overthrow everything that the nobles esteemed—the nobles liked traditional and solemn architecture, so they insisted on making it lively and light; the nobles revered Elven-style crafts, so people opposed these crafts; the nobles liked traditional operas, so they encouraged new operas; the nobles liked elegant and slow dances, so they insisted on encouraging dances that broke free from form and were novel to the point of being avant-garde; the nobles liked floor-length dresses, and now skirts were popular…
Elven culture was one of them.
However, they dared not smash the buildings that truly belonged to the elves. Therefore, they merely kept their distance and denounced the craftsmen who “worshipped Elven culture and built buildings in an Elven style.”
After all, the rebellion of the Iris people was not because they had any ideology or proposals, but simply because it was “the trend” and “everyone else was doing it.” They did not understand the true meaning of rebellion, because they had never initiated rebellion “at the moment it was truly necessary”—rebellion that was too early and too successful had instead made them accustomed to the logic that they could get benefits by just making a fuss, and thus gradually regarded it as a form of entertainment, an art.
And as a pure-blooded Iris person, Arsen was actually no exception.
“…So, you mean the Iris people resisted me by treating me as a lofty, inaccessible figure?”
Eivass was very surprised, and couldn’t help but laugh: “No wonder there are so many operas and plays about me… Sherlock mentioned this in a letter he sent me earlier. He said people admired me greatly and made many operas about me.
“I was actually wondering about something at the time—if they respected me enough, shouldn’t they be afraid to touch such topics? After all, adaptation is not random fabrication, let alone with plots involving explicit lyrics… Where did they get the guts.”
Now Eivass finally knew.
This was actually the cultural resistance of the Iris people, which was cowardly and enduring—it was like “Soviet jokes” or “French jokes,” and the purpose was to gradually deconstruct the Pope’s authority through this method.
What Sherlock wrote in his letter was actually sarcasm!
Eivass had to lament that after Sherlock’s trip to the Iris people, his sarcasm skills had truly improved significantly…
“You’re not angry?”
Arsen was surprised to see Eivass laughing happily.
Based on his understanding of big shots, at this time, even if they were well-mannered and didn’t show their displeasure, they would still feel obvious displeasure and silence. Who would be happy about being satirized, unless they were a clown?
But Eivass was unconcerned: “Their mouths are their own; can I stop them from talking?”
“…You actually can.”
Arsen hesitated, but still said in a low voice.
The Iris people did not have the censorship of speech and works like Avalon; they always adopted a more direct and thorough approach—if anyone dared to gossip, they would be caught, skinned, their blood drained, and hung outside. Within a few days, it would be quiet.
Since they couldn’t eliminate speech, they directly eliminated the carriers of speech.
At this point, the Iris people fell silent.
Hearing this, the smile on Eivass’s face gradually faded.
He prepared for the prayer ritual directed at Madam Morgan and sighed helplessly: “Perhaps it is for this reason that the Iris people, so ‘rich in rebellious spirit,’ have not been favored by the Ascended Heavenly Envoy.
“Their actions have entered the domain of The Path of Beauty. They regard rebellion as performance art, and in the end, they will gain nothing. It is merely a waste of life…”
The fusion of beauty and transcendence was also the path of the void.
But just as Eivass was preparing for the prayer ritual, Arsen’s eyes suddenly widened.
“Be careful!”
He shouted and suddenly extended his right hand towards Eivass—
—Castling!
The two of them instantly swapped positions.
And then, Arsen’s body was silently cut in half by a giant pair of pincers!
The pincers made no sound, there was nothing behind them, and they cast no shadow. If Arsen hadn’t happened to meet Eivass’s gaze at that moment, and lightning had flashed in the sky, he would not have noticed that something was sneak-attacking Eivass!
However, Arsen did not die—his coat was cleanly cut into two pieces, and he, wearing a shirt, rolled out from the shadows and grabbed Eivass, fleeing outwards.
—Clothes Substitute!
This was also one of Arsen’s “phantom thief tricks.”
No matter what kind of injury he suffered, as long as he had time to use this move, he could use “a piece of clothing” as a substitute to escape safely. The strength of this ability lay in the fact that he “only moved himself” and did not interact with the opponent’s abilities, thus ignoring the energy level suppression of most extraordinary skills.
As long as he could react in time, the more clothes he had on his body, the more lives he had!
When he was still a young phantom thief, he escaped using this very move!
“—Don’t run.”
Eivass said calmly, “It’s useless—close your eyes.”
With that, Eivass broke free from Arsen’s hand and raised the other hand high.
The next moment, an incredibly brilliant radiance lit up in his hand!
Arsen didn’t react to Eivass’s words—or rather, he hadn’t formed the habit of unconditionally following Eivass’s orders.
Therefore, in an instant, Arsen’s head buzzed from the brightness. He felt intense dizziness accompanied by tinnitus, making him stagger. A strong urge to vomit made him lose strength and fall to his knees. For Arsen, who had extremely keen senses, this was as damaging as highly stimulating gas to a dog’s sensitive sense of smell.
But fortunately, the unknown enemy also let out a scream—that was probably a scream, because it made a “squeak” sound like a cigarette butt roasting a cockroach, and then disappeared.
“Don’t run.”
Eivass said slowly, “Running is useless.
“That’s a Seventh Tier Shadow Hunter Beast. They live by devouring the shadows of other phantom demons. Once their shadows are stripped away, they become dull and lose their dreams. These things can appear arbitrarily in people’s blind spots… You still dare to run? Where do you think you’re going? Are you tired of living?”
“…Has it, has it already left?”
Arsen asked hoarsely, gagging, “Do I still need to… close my eyes?”
“No need,” Eivass replied and comforted, “Don’t be too scared. I came to the Shadow Realm precisely because I am familiar with the phantom demons here…”
Before he finished speaking, another lightning bolt struck.
From Arsen’s momentary fearful eyes, Eivass realized the enemy’s approach.
This was also why he didn’t let Arsen close his eyes.
Because by himself, he was not enough to discern if there was a Shadow Hunter Beast behind him.
“—Viness!”
Eivass called out loudly.
Heavy blood rain poured down.
A chilling, dark purple aura of corruption seeped out.
“…Not calling Alain anymore?”
Miss Night Demon’s displeased voice came, “I thought you were going to keep her with you all the time… You don’t even need to call me.”
The next moment, countless dark purple chains covered in corrupted runes stretched out, tightly binding the three Shadow Hunter Beasts behind Eivass!
—This was the authority of the Fallen Heavenly Envoy, [Bound by Sin]!
Although Viness was only Sixth Tier, she easily restrained three Seventh Tier phantom demons!
(End of chapter)
