Chapter 126
The King’s Troubles
When Lily woke up, it was as if she had performed magic; in an instant, the ropes binding her were undone.
This was the domain of her mystical art, “Thread Control.”
Because “binding” was one of the many secrets of spider silk. To Lily, threads and ropes were as controllable and reliable as extensions of her own limbs, causing no interference to herself.
This body was much stronger than her own, and thus her heartbeat was also more powerful.
In the pure darkness, she slipped into stealth without a sound. Lily stood in a corner of the room, with one eye slightly closed.
While distracted by the mission requirements appearing before her eyes, she used her other closed eye to sense her surroundings.
—Within her perception, the world around her turned black and white.
With every beat of Lily’s heart, clear white outlines appeared in the dark world she perceived, then they gradually faded and became clearer with the next heartbeat.
But not far from her, the fading speed of two human-shaped silhouettes was much slower.
In Lily’s “Spider Silk Perception” vision, it was as if a large amount of threads burst from the location of their hearts. The faint vibration of their heartbeats was mapped onto the ground, forming a web-like network. In just a few breaths, the human silhouettes were clearly outlined.
After they woke up and realized their predicament, their heartbeats suddenly sped up considerably. The most intuitive feeling was that the spider web mapped rhythmically on the ground became larger and the frequency increased slightly.
“Is anyone there?”
One of them couldn’t help but cry out, “Save me!”
The heartbeat of the other man suddenly slowed down.
A faint amber spiritual light flashed and disappeared from him, and the ropes binding him were partially petrified, losing their elasticity. He struggled free with force and shouted, “I’ll come and help you—Who are you?”
“I am the King… Who are you?”
“I am Antler.”
The man who had freed himself from the ropes with the Petrification Spell replied, “There should be another person in the room… Can you tell us your name?”
Lily coughed softly, signaling that she had heard them.
“So it’s that gentleman from Path Adaptation,” Antler immediately realized.
This was not good. Antler thought, after reading the mission requirements for this ritual.
None of the allies he had previously courted appeared by his side. Instead, this taciturn adapter, along with the Botanist who had little combat power, were with him.
The profession of Botanist was somewhat different from Alchemist in the traditional sense.
Although Alchemists were not good at combat, they could at least provide various potions… but the abilities of Botanists were all about germinating, enchanting, and controlling various plants. High-level Botanists could even awaken giant ancient trees and turn them into powerful treants.
If it were a forest environment, the “King’s” combat power would be very strong. But in such a confined space, the Botanist was basically useless.
And their appearing in the same place meant they were essentially temporary teammates.
The most crucial point was… since the King had appeared here, it meant that the most powerful “Alistair” would appear elsewhere.
Although a Fiend possessed by a Shadow Demon certainly did not have the same combat power as a Shadow Demon… even just a tenth of the Shadow Demon’s power in this ritual would be insurmountable for others.
—This was truly terrible.
Obtaining the Holy Lance would mark his location, and aiming for a victory by killing was even more difficult for him, a low-level Extraordinary of the Twilight Path.
Antler judged that Alistair, after seeing this mission requirement, would choose a killing victory. This meant he could obtain a large number of corpses—their goals were not in conflict.
His mission in this ritual was not difficult, including “Resurrecting the corpses into the Demonic Pot,” with each corpse worth 800 points. And if he could resurrect himself and survive until the end of the ritual, he would get 1500 points.
In addition, he had a “Close the Door” mission… petrifying the keyholes of some doors with the Petrification Spell, with each door worth 500 points. At this height, he could petrify but could not remove the petrification, meaning each door closing would compress the activity space of all ritual participants.
But this could also be a means of killing—after luring out the Giants by making noise, he could seize the opportunity to close the doors and seal them outside. And pre-sealed doors could also serve as traps.
If he had the chance to touch the Holy Lance, he could also petrify the Holy Lance to seal its power. Preventing the wielder of the Holy Lance from using its power to resist the Giants… thus gaining 1000 points. If the wielder of the Holy Lance died as a result, he could gain another 500 points.
Counting it up, he had a guaranteed five thousand points. Achieving victory through points was very easy.
Now, Antler was a seasoned Extraordinary.
He understood a principle very well: the mission itself was a hint.
—Considering this mission, the resurrection in the Demonic Pot should only be possible once. And anyone could use it, not just the Giants. The mission of escaping the houses awarded so many points, indicating it must be very difficult and extremely troublesome.
Considering the one-hour time limit, it might be insufficient. If his temporary teammates were more reliable, he might be able to think a little, but what he could do now was to restrict others and prevent them from escaping.
And this was also very simple.
He just needed to find and seal the main doors—by ensuring others could not escape, they would not gain these two thousand points and surpass him.
To achieve this condition…
Seeing Antler’s prolonged hesitation in undoing his ropes, the King gradually understood.
After a brief period of thought, he suddenly spoke, breaking the stalemate: “Then kill me.”
The King’s words drew the gazes of the other two.
Antler asked with feigned concern, “Is that okay?”
Hypocritical, Lily scoffed inwardly.
However, the King was resigned: “To be honest, I never intended to ascend.
“If it were a ritual venue in a forest environment, perhaps I could have tried. But in this kind of environment, I think it’s better to give up directly. This ritual is a New Moon Ritual, and without sufficient strength, it’s impossible for me to ascend.
“Since you are my major client—I want to give you my opportunity.”
—His words were sincere. Antler’s rich experience immediately discerned the King’s true attitude.
When someone voluntarily withdrew, Antler immediately felt relieved. This way, the stalemate could be broken.
Instead, Antler squatted down, fumbling his way forward, and then removed the King’s ropes, allowing him to sit up in a more comfortable position.
Then, Antler asked, “You don’t plan to ascend, why did you participate in the Ascension Ritual?”
“I came to sell goods; business hasn’t been good lately.”
The King sat up and said frankly, “Anyway, this stage of Ascension Ritual doesn’t kill people; at most, it’s half a month of weakness. And those who participate in the ritual are all Extraordinarys around me, and they are all only First Tier… I never expected to be dragged to Avalon twice recently.
“It can only be said that Star Antinomy has been too chaotic lately, and they can’t even gather a group for Ascension.”
“What’s wrong with Star Antinomy lately?” Antler asked with concern.
“The Rose Cross Society and the Royal Alchemical Association are clashing. The Necromancers are not mediating this time; instead, they are watching the excitement from the sidelines. As a result, the situation escalated. Two months ago, a very famous Alchemist was cursed to death. Now the Demon Scholars are being attacked fiercely by the newspapers, but the Rose Cross side hasn’t made any moves.”
The King sighed and complained, “I don’t know why, but the price of finished Alchemical potions has clearly risen recently, while the price of materials has been falling. I feel like a war might be coming. This is also why I came to the Ascension Ritual to sell goods.
“Several alchemy workshops that previously bought materials from me have been constantly asking me for discounts, otherwise they refuse to buy from me. How can I indulge them—this is not that watered-down, substandard material; every tube of essential oil is full!
“—But it seems they have colluded. The result is that all workshops are refusing to buy from me, pressing the price down to seventy percent of the purchase price—to be honest, Mr. Antler. The seventy percent discount I gave you was the wholesale price I gave them before. He wants me to give him seventy percent of seventy percent, then I really won’t make any money. I don’t want to be a laborer for those Alchemists.”
The King shook his head: “If I could have ascended to the Third Tier a few years earlier, it might have been better. Third Tier Botanists can also perform alchemy, so I could sell finished products myself. But in previous years, I was busy making money… incense, essential oils, perfumes, seeds, I made money for several years.
“It’s beyond that now. I’m old, and I have a wife and daughter to support… I no longer have the energy to re-research alchemy. It’s better to go to the Ascension Ritual and sell some goods.”
He said this, then took Antler’s hand and earnestly said, “I’ll give you my Ascension opportunity this time. Whether it’s kill counts or my corpse, you can use it as you please… Please remember our orders!”
“Don’t worry,”
Antler nodded, a majestic aura emanating from him: “I am someone important in Avalon, and I won’t go back on my word. When I return, I will immediately send a deposit to your address—the deposit is half, you can receive the payment before production, and then ship in two batches. This way, you definitely won’t lose out… How about it?”
“You are truly a good person!”
The King thanked him.
