Chapter 1155
Having Shed His Burden, He Also Lost His Dream
Those arrogant assassins, those shadows that seemed impossible to eradicate under the banner of the Iris nation, melted away like snow at the break of dawn.
These master assassins became the first members of the organization known as the “Watchers.”
The meaning behind this name was “those who secretly monitor and protect this nation.” Hence, they adopted the owl, a nocturnal rodent hunter, as their totem and symbol.
The newly formed Watchers were responsible for collecting evidence of crimes committed by important figures, or for secretly eliminating hidden dangers in extreme situations where individuals sought to cause public disruption. They also handled counter-espionage, lurking in the shadows and monitoring their colleagues in the underworld.
Precisely because they were Watchers, merely keeping watch from afar—meaning they did not interact with people’s daily lives—their status was roughly equivalent to the former Inspection Department of Avalon. However, they operated with greater secrecy and discretion, without public identities or locations. Only the Speaker could contact and command them.
They were not only responsible for apprehending all those assassins but also for destroying all evidence of the existence of the Eagle Eye organization. Now that the Eagle Eye’s reputation was utterly ruined, they had to completely sever any connection between the “Watchers” and “Eagle Eye.”
…Frankly, this process was quite troublesome.
Whether it was destroying evidence or apprehending fugitive assassins.
If Eivass himself had handled this matter, he would have been overwhelmed.
After all, if these assassins were determined to remain hidden, concealed within residential buildings or underground, it would take until August to capture even half of them. But with their own people handling it, the situation was much improved.
This was why Eivass accepted Speaker Pierre’s defection.
On one hand, Speaker Pierre was indeed an intelligent man. He offered no excuses or resistance, nor did he engage in any bargaining, readily accepting all of Eivass’s demands. This made Eivass realize that he possessed some capability. At the very least, he was more reliable and trustworthy than those fanatical Eagle Eye assassins.
He could see the situation clearly and knew how to choose. A person who understands basic power dynamics will not foolishly launch a rebellion—this usually stems not from malice, but from profound stupidity.
From the perspective of a pure Iris person, this might be considered treason. However, in reality, with extremist factions within Iris repeatedly attempting to provoke a full-scale war against an absolutely invincible enemy… this was merely cleaning up their mess.
On the other hand, Eivass indeed needed Speaker Pierre to govern Iris for him… or rather, for Yulia.
After all, the political landscape of Iris was entirely different from that of Avalon or Star Antinomy.
Despite their shared culture, the “Thirteen Uprisings” were not a complete farce. Although the Iris rebellions did not resolve fundamental issues, merely replacing one set of rulers with another, the continuous insurrections at least made them willing to actively seek solutions to their societal problems—they simply hadn’t found those solutions yet.
Eivass fully respected their political customs and had no intention of changing them. Therefore, he planned to leave someone who truly understood Iris to govern their country, and to integrate Iris into the new Hrasal Empire in an appropriate manner.
After all, the new Hrasal Empire built by Yulia was essentially a technocratic state. It inevitably suffered from issues such as a lack of democratic participation and insufficient self-correction capabilities. Eivass intended to delegate these issues to Iris, which did not fully belong to the new Hrasal.
Although this might lead to territorial disputes and internal strife in the future, future problems would be dealt with in the future.
“He who cannot keep the state safe from internal disorder, nor from external enemies, will surely perish.”
With the integration of Iris into the new Hrasal’s rule, the human nations west of the desert were essentially unified. Generally speaking, the new Hrasal would gradually transform into a stable continental nation. In such a scenario, leaving some room for dispute might not be a bad thing.
Retaining “backup plans” and “evidence for self-judgment” was also one of the strategies against the void.
Eivass was beginning to understand Ring Heavenly Envoy more and more.
As for the city requested by the Mist Demon, that was the easiest matter to resolve.
Now, the first Speaker of the Watchers, Pierre, and the first Queen of the Mist Demons, Lucia, were both Eivass’s people. They were essentially two departments within a single company. Their internal communication was highly efficient, and both held dictatorial power within their respective departments.
How they decided to negotiate was up to them. Eivass had completed his role of facilitating the connection; these matters were no longer his concern for the time being… After all, he couldn’t do everything himself; he didn’t need to personally decide on such minor issues.
Therefore, while a great purge was underway in Iris, Eivass had already returned to the Empire with Sherlock and Isabel. Arsen, on the other hand, remained in Iris. The phantom thief had finally revitalized himself and joined the Watchers. He decided to truly use his extraordinary power to protect this nation and judge evil, rather than being a mere “righteous thief who robbed the rich to help the poor.”
These were “morality” and “order,” things he had once disdained.
And now, these very things had become a haven that could bring him peace.
Eivass returned to Avalon, the land he was most familiar with. He intended to accompany Isabel on a tour of the entire country, to remember what it looked like now… so that he could return years later and see how it had changed.
However, Eivass did not expect an unexpected guest to find them.
“…Are you, Grand Mage Sin?”
Eivass looked at the old mage with a long white beard, greatly surprised.
He remembered this temporary teammate with whom he had explored the Sky-Piercing Tower.
Sin was not from Avalon, and Eivass and Isabel themselves didn’t even know their destination for that expedition. They were merely exploring to pass the time while waiting for Zhu Tang.
Under such circumstances, for Sin to find them was truly not easy.
“Yes, Cardinal…”
The old mage appeared somewhat nervous and uneasy.
He looked like a child who had done something wrong.
“Oh, I remember now.”
Eivass recalled that he had previously assigned a task to Sin.
He had given Sin the [Water Geometric Heavenly Envoy’s Dodecahedron] and asked him to exchange it for the [Fire Tetrahedron (Item)] from the master of the Sand Tower.
The master of the Sand Tower was the Archmage “Pelican” whom Eivass had met during an Ascension Ritual. Eivass greatly coveted the staff embedded with the Heavenly Envoy Fragment that the master held. If Sin could obtain it for Eivass, the [Water Geometric Heavenly Envoy’s Dodecahedron] would be Sin’s reward.
Although the fragment of a Geometric Heavenly Envoy was only one-fifth the size of a complete Heavenly Envoy fragment, it was still a Heavenly Envoy fragment, capable of evolving the Beast of Sin.
While Eivass was unsure if a Beast of Sin, once evolved, could revert and be re-equipped with other Heavenly Envoy fragments… the power of the [Fire Tetrahedron (Item)] could serve as a “backup fragment” for Little Butterfly Leah.
If the descended Heavenly Envoy turned out to be the Heavenly Candlemaster Envoy, not the Flame Heavenly Envoy or Xi Tian Si, this fragment could serve as an alternative option, a lower-tier substitute. After all, the Heavenly Candlemaster Envoy’s healing flame was not suitable for Leah… In fact, Xi Tian Si was only partially suitable.
If Leah equipped the Xi Tian Si Heavenly Envoy fragment, she would likely self-detonate from the start.
…It wasn’t impossible, but it wasn’t the optimal choice.
—But judging by the current situation, Sin had likely failed to obtain it.
“This… for you.”
Sin reluctantly and hesitantly handed the [Water Geometric Heavenly Envoy’s Dodecahedron], sealed within his staff, to Eivass.
When Eivass grasped the staff, he finally let out a sigh of relief, his entire body relaxing, and he seemed to age considerably.
It was as if he had shed a burden, and also lost a dream.
“What is it?”
Eivass asked curiously, “You didn’t get it?”
“…Yes.”
Sin was clearly somewhat ashamed.
“Aren’t you the Chief Grand Mage?”
“The person who stole the fragment was not stronger than me, sir!”
Sin’s voice grew louder, “He was old Sandros’s student… he devised a trick, making us all believe the [Fire Tetrahedron (Item)] was still in the tower. But in reality, he had already stolen the fragment long ago. I only recently managed to obtain Archmage Sandros’s relic staff… and then I realized it was a fake!
“Eight of us were deceived by him! It was only after I realized the staff was fake that I understood who had stolen the fragment…”
“Who was it?”
Eivass asked, “Where did he go?”
“His name is Hassan, known as ‘Fiery Fist Hassan.’ He has no left arm; it’s a prosthetic staff, allowing his left arm to fire flames.”
Sin replied immediately, “He is a dark-skinned Snake Person mage. He disappeared last month, and no one knows where he is… I believe he might have gone to the Ancient Kingdom of Anxi. Because he was a slave, and the new water war is about to begin.
“Sir, it’s not that I’m afraid to pursue Hassan into the Forbidden Desert. But I felt it necessary for you to know the truth of the matter, rather than thinking I violated our agreement and absconded with the treasure…”
The old mage said, gazing at the staff embedded with brilliant blue gems, and added with some sadness, “I did not complete your mission. Therefore, I chose to safely return the reward you had already given me. I waited here for a long time and finally encountered you.
“I have disappointed you, sir. I apologize.”
