Chapter 1296
Great Sin: Fictional Don Quixote
How could Eivass ignore the pleas of others?
He remained silent, tossing out a small card and manifesting Don Quixote.
“—Your Knight, Don Quixote de La Mancha, answers your call to fight for you!”
A passionate and resonant voice rang out.
Hearing the familiar voice, a flicker of light seemed to ignite in the dim pupils of the Grey Heavenly Envoy.
Watching the handsome knight in silver armor appear, Autolycus’s gaze softened considerably.
“…Hercules.”
She gazed at her former close friend and student who had appeared, and couldn’t help but whisper.
—When she first met Hercules, the child was only twelve or thirteen years old.
At that time, he had just finished his foundational education from Chiron and was seeking out different mentors to learn special skills.
It was then that Autolycus taught Hercules the arts of close combat, disguise, and thievery.
At that time, Autolycus had already mastered some of the power of lies. She wanted to tease the white-haired, red-eyed youth, so she disguised herself as a cunning and lively boy.
Hercules, still a mortal, was of course unable to see through Autolycus’s disguise. Although he was learning disguise from Autolycus, he could not surpass his teacher.
She wandered around with the young and naive Hercules—stealing a cow from one house today, trampling on another’s field tomorrow. After causing trouble, she would imitate Hercules’s voice to call out to people, then quietly go into hiding and leave Hercules alone, wanting him to practice his lying skills.
But Hercules could never learn to lie, which always made her helpless and forced her to reveal herself to clean up his messes.
Those were the happiest times of Autolycus’s life.
Before that, and after that, there were never again such uninhibited and free times.
—But their time together only lasted for a brief two years.
It wasn’t until Hercules bid her farewell and went to his next mentor to learn archery that Autolycus suddenly realized… the past’s playful deception seemed to have no possibility of being revealed.
She had originally planned to let Hercules discover her disguise himself after he had fully mastered his skills. That would be when he graduated.
It was precisely because of this that Autolycus did not teach Hercules seriously. Because playing together was truly joyful, never had she been happier than at that moment.
However, even then, Autolycus realized one thing—
—Hercules was not an elf, he was a human.
Humans, a newly born race, possessed special learning talents but did not have their long lifespans.
His life was only a brief hundred years, or even half of that.
And she had wasted two precious years of his life—
It was because she failed to thoroughly teach Hercules that he never mastered the ability to see through lies, conspiracies, and disguises until the very end. Therefore, Hercules failed to recognize his partner, his teacher, for who she truly was.
Autolycus felt regret.
For the first time in her life, she realized what her specialty, “lies,” would ultimately bring.
But Autolycus was already a half-step Heavenly Envoy at the time, and Hercules was merely a new race at the Third Tier. They were together for only two years—in the lifespan of the long-lived, this was equivalent to humans spending half a month together.
Autolycus was unwilling to actively reveal her lies, yet worried that Hercules might be injured by others in the future without this lesson from her. She kept thinking about this, protecting Hercules from the shadows. She became many people by his side, but Hercules never recognized her.
It wasn’t until Crocus fell gravely ill that she returned home.
Unlike Autolycus, who was born a half-step Heavenly Envoy, Crocus did not even have the disposition to become an Extraordinary. If she died, it would mean complete annihilation. Her soul was so fragile that it was not even enough to become a Disciple.
It was then that Autolycus, with the help of her mother Haibasha, used the means of lies to seal Crocus in the Dream Realm, escaping inevitable death.
It was also because of this great feat that she achieved the position of Grey Heavenly Envoy.
She deceived the world into believing that a living person had died, thereby granting her eternal life.
And then, she heard something—
After several decades, Hercules was already married.
He was no longer the young boy of the past, but had become an arrogant monarch. He used the combat skills he learned from her to slay a male lion, marry, and have children, establishing Hrasal.
He was even undertaking twelve great deeds, intending to achieve Heavenly Envoy, and even Pillar God, through the supreme ritual, raising his kingdom to the heavens!
Therefore, when Hercules was about to embark on the Argo Expedition and seek power from Hermes, Autolycus begged her father to grant him the power to protect himself.
By then, Autolycus had already ascended to Grey Heavenly Envoy and could no longer return to the Material Realm.
Hermes was a wise man indeed.
Upon hearing his daughter’s plea, he immediately guessed the truth of the matter.
Although he was enraged by this, he still agreed to Autolycus’s request.
Thus, Hermes used all his Disciple power to assist the Flame Heavenly Envoy in forging the Golden Sword Marmydova—the Red-Hilted Sword in its complete form.
This sword was powerful and dangerous, just as Autolycus’s sister, Crocus, had said—
“—This sword is both a joke and a test.”
“…You probably don’t know who I am.”
Gazing at Don Quixote, Autolycus said softly, “I am your former friend.”
But unexpectedly.
The knight in silver armor, Don Quixote, after a moment of silence, spoke, “You are… Autolycus, the Grey Heavenly Envoy, aren’t you.”
Upon hearing this, the Grey Heavenly Envoy was visibly stunned.
He could not possibly know all these secrets!
Whether it was the true identity of the Grey Heavenly Envoy, or Autolycus’s face…
“I have not met you, but I have met Miss Crocus.”
Don Quixote said slowly, “I am not Hercules. I do not have his memories, his power, nor does his blood flow through me. I am Don Quixote, a fictional knight. A non-existent Heroic Spirit.
“But when I saw you, I felt a sense of familiarity. As if I had seen you somewhere before.”
The knight was shining with brilliance.
And Autolycus was disintegrating into countless firefly-like silver-grey light particles.
At this moment, the deer-headed giant seemed to become a backdrop, looking down at the two conversing.
“…I see.”
The Grey Heavenly Envoy remained silent for a long time, then sighed as if relieved.
At this point, she had dissolved into nothing more than a head. Her body, which had disintegrated after being struck by Paradise Lost, could no longer sustain her for long.
“The number twelve represents hope. Hercules’s former twelve trials were precisely seeking the light of hope.”
The Grey Heavenly Envoy whispered, “You are a non-existent knight… but how can I say that I truly existed?
“Hercules—no, Mr. Quixote.”
The Grey Heavenly Envoy smiled, “The fetus of doomsday will eventually be strangled by the umbilical cord of tomorrow… Yes, this is my prophecy, and my hope for doomsday. No matter what, I want to reach tomorrow… even if it costs me everything.
“If there is a chance, let us meet again the day after tomorrow. I hope… I can meet you again in my true form then. I hope that by then, I won’t have to lie anymore, won’t have to keep secrets. I hope that by then, we won’t have to spend those brief two years together…
“As for this fictional power, comparable to a Pillar God—I will entrust it to you for now. Please keep it safe for me… Mr. Knight.”
With that, the Grey Heavenly Envoy looked up at Eivass and revealed a genuine smile, “You must win, Eivass. We will take our leave first.”
Eivass nodded in silence.
Finally, the Grey Heavenly Envoy looked at Don Quixote, her gaze trembling for a moment, then narrowed slightly, revealing a smile.
“Then… nice to meet you, Mr. Quixote.”
“…Nice to meet you, Miss Autolycus.”
The Knight replied.
As soon as the words fell, the Grey Heavenly Envoy completely disintegrated into a sky of dust.
Endless grey dust blew in with the wind, engulfing Don Quixote.
The light on Don Quixote grew increasingly brilliant, and a light screen rose in Eivass’s eyes.
Mist-like characters, like ink seeping from paper, slowly appeared word by word.
[Great Sin: Fictional Don Quixote (Adjustment, The Chariot)]
[Level: 50 (Suppressed)]
[War Path, Attribute Light]
[Righteous Summoning · Twelve Trials (0/12)]
[Requirement: Light 5]
[Instant, Self, Replicate, Continuous Effect]
[Effect: Summons the spirit of Paladin Don Quixote. While Don Quixote exists, he bears all damage for all teammates; if this damage destroys Don Quixote, Don Quixote will be permanently destroyed, and Don Quixote will be permanently immune to this type of damage.]
[Effect: Upon reuse, resets Don Quixote in a permanently destroyed state. This effect can be used up to twelve times.]
[Inverse Summoning · Don Quixote]
[Requirement: Light 5]
[Maintenance: Light 5 * Daily]
[Action, Summon]
[Effect: Summons the Beast of Greed · Don Quixote to fight for you. Don Quixote is considered a summoned entity; in a non-combat state, the Beast of Greed · Don Quixote can transform into white mist and enter a following state; only one Beast of Sin can exist at a time.]
[Authority: Fictional · Distort Reality, Lies · Limited Wish Granting]
