This is Chapter 207: You had your chance, but you failed.
Although Isabel is not needed for this operation, as the teleportation point, she must be informed of the details. Meg brought Janis’s magic painting with her when she met Eivass in the afternoon. To ensure Lily’s safety, Lily had already been teleported to the Silver and Tin Hall through the magic painting at that time. Otherwise, the bone sculpture might have killed Lily before Eivass.
It was from then on that Meg realized that something was bound to happen tonight. It was precisely because Janis must have known that she had made arrangements in advance. Unlike her external appearance, Meg’s thoughts were rational and calm. She simply didn’t express the thoughts in her heart. Therefore, even though Eivass had told her the method of transferring to the lost profession of “Ascencist” and all the taboos, and explained the ritual called “Mutilation Ritual” in detail, she did not immediately transfer. This was because she was unsure what she would become after transferring, and tonight she had to ensure that the enemy was killed.
As for the curse, spies, and Noble Red matters, they could be put aside for now. Meg had confirmed through her own means that Eivass had not lied and had not omitted anything. Meg did not want to force an Ascension. She knew herself that this Ascension was almost certain to fail.
—But she had no other choice. Even if she died in the Dream Realm and her soul shattered, it would be better than slowly aging to death in bed… that posture would be too ugly.
Moreover, her age was a factor. Her many years of research experience in Occult allowed her to confirm that the ritual was entirely feasible after hearing it only once. She could even improve the ritual based on her own experience—and she was confident that she could complete the “Mutilation Ritual” in just one attempt. It was simply a matter of signing a contract with a Heavenly Envoy to obtain the possibility of mutilation, and then borrowing the power of the Butterfly Heavenly Envoy through the ritual. The process of signing a contract with a Heavenly Envoy was not dangerous, and the reward for borrowing power from the Butterfly Heavenly Envoy was paid by the Ring Heavenly Envoy.
After completing the preliminary preparations, the only thing that truly needed serious attention was the Mutilation Ritual itself. Just as a worm transforms into a cocoon and then into a butterfly; shedding its old body to gain a stronger one… there were only two points to pay attention to: first, the “determination to surpass one’s past self,” and second, the ability to endure intense pain.
To speak of it, Meg had actually completed the “Mutilation Ritual” long ago. She just didn’t know that it was a ritual at the time. Meg’s husband in those days was a powerful adventurer. He was an unrestrained foreign swordsman, nearly twenty years older than Meg at the time, and had already traveled through eight countries. Meg was only twenty-five years old when they got married… She had followed him on his travels three years prior, when she had just graduated from the Royal Law University at the age of twenty-two, and had gradually grown stronger herself.
Their wedding was not a wedding blessed by relatives and friends in the usual sense—it was a ritual performed before challenging a dragon. The wedding took place at an adventurer’s camp in the wilderness, with only their teammates in attendance. The reason was simple: the adventurer’s journey was a challenge to dragons. And with the dragon right in front of them, if they missed this opportunity, he didn’t know if there would be another. He had prepared himself for death, but he didn’t want to die unmarried. So, he eventually married Meg, who was devoted to him… it was more like a joke than a formal wedding. She didn’t even wear a wedding dress, and the priest who married them was an illegal priest within the adventuring party.
But to Meg, she was undoubtedly married. When she finally waited at the camp and learned from the only surviving thief of the Path Adaptation that her husband had not returned… she had already decided that one day she would avenge him. For twenty years, she never forgot the past. She used every means possible to increase her strength. Twenty years later, her age was the same as her husband’s past. And she encountered that dragon again. This time, she personally killed the dragon and bathed in its dragon blood—that was her husband’s wish. He was a Fiend of the Transcendent Path; if he could successfully bathe in dragon blood, he could gain enough power from this transcendence, and even potentially acquire dragon blood.
However, at the time, as a practitioner of the Path of Authority, Meg’s body could not absorb dragon blood. The ritual only brought her immense pain, her flesh and bones melting away, without any benefit. As she lay dying, the Silver Crown Dragon personally bestowed a blessing. “—The brave will be rewarded, the loyal will be rewarded, and the strong will become stronger than others.” The thundering voice of the Silver Crown Dragon echoed in her mind. The Pillar God granted her a more powerful law magic than ordinary people. She named this unique power the Dragon Blood Edict, to commemorate the motive behind her gaining the edict.
If only she had known about the Mutilation Ritual back then… Standing before the shattered statue, Meg shook her head slightly, dispersing the distracting thoughts that arose in her mind. There were no “if onlys.” If she had correctly benefited from the ritual back then, she would not have received compensation from the Silver Crown Dragon. At that time, she would not have had so much desire for transcendence, and perhaps would not have been recognized by the Ring Heavenly Envoy.
“Madam Meg… the enemy has surely been defeated this time,” the Grand Guardian said with a sigh of relief. “What do we do next?”
Meg pulled herself out of her nostalgic memories and chuckled heartily, “What else can we do? Quickly record this—say that Master Lars Graham from the Iris people was actually an assassin who intended to assassinate an important figure and was arrested by me on the spot! Then he tried to fight back, intending to destroy the entire Glass Island at the cost of his life. Afterwards, I counteracted his spell and chopped him into meat paste with a few strokes! All the evidence is ready, Master Janis is the witness… and now we write to the Church to condemn the Iris people.”
“…Is that alright?” The Grand Guardian asked worriedly, “Are you handling everything? Aren’t you going to… Ascend?” Provoking the hostility of the Iris people would only lower the success rate.
“Hmph,” Meg merely sneered, “Sherlock and Eivass, don’t those two like to fake their deaths? This is an Avalon tradition… Strictly speaking, Lancelot I is also faking his death. Since they are so eager for me to die, I’ll fake my death once.” Perhaps after tonight, when the sun rises, “Meg” would no longer exist. Thinking of this, another idea surfaced in Meg’s mind. Perhaps perishing with “Lars Graham” was also a good ending for “Meg”…
On the other side, Lily and Isabel were fully clothed, gathered around Eivass’s bed. Strictly speaking, this was Isabel’s bed, but Janis had teleported Eivass there. Her teleportation was flawless and exceptionally smooth. Eivass didn’t even realize he had been silently teleported, his sleep undisturbed. Because Meg had said that almost everyone was present, he didn’t need to worry about anything and just needed to sleep soundly. If she had told others this, he might have been too nervous to sleep. However, Eivass chose to trust Meg completely.
Not to mention, this painting foreshadowed Janis’s involvement. —If even Meg and Janis are not trusted in Avalon, then there is no one else to trust. Now that the Grand Guardian, Janis, and Meg are all alive… even in the future war of national destruction, Avalon would not be able to muster so many high-end combatants. At that time, Avalon would only have two remaining at most. One was the Grand Judge, whom Eivass did not know well, and the other was the old man who served as Grand Judge before Queen Sophia ascended the throne. What was there to fear? Let alone Noble Red, even if Rose Cross came, they could absolutely protect him—if he could be woken up, then it would be their carelessness or underestimation.
Thus, even though Eivass didn’t know who attacked him tonight, he slept very peacefully. This was the first time Isabel had seen a man of the opposite sex sleeping. It was also the first time she had seen Eivass with such a serene and unguarded expression. She quietly approached Eivass, wanting to touch his face. But her heart was pounding so fast—thump, thump, thump, making her feel like her heart was about to leap out.
She nervously turned and clasped Lily’s hand, while also wiping the sweat from her palms. Lily mouthed: Should I go wake up Young Master? —No! Isabel shook her head vigorously. Such a fun and rare opportunity, if missed, there might not be a next time! She hesitated, then finally reached out and gently touched Eivass’s face. …Huh? Eivass didn’t wake up? Isabel was somewhat surprised. The last time she saw Eivass napping, she noticed that he slept very lightly. As soon as she and Lily approached, Eivass woke up. If not for his even breathing, it would have seemed as if he hadn’t slept at all. And now, Eivass was sleeping unusually soundly…
So, Isabel carefully sat by the bedside. After doing so, she waited for a while longer. Seeing that Eivass didn’t wake up even when the bed shook slightly, she quietly placed her hand on the other side of Eivass’s body. She slowly leaned down, wanting to kiss Eivass’s forehead. But as she lowered her head, she suddenly found that her long hair, due to gravity, naturally fell and brushed against Eivass’s face. Eivass reflexively frowned slightly, startling Isabel.
Her body immediately recoiled, and because of that, the bed shook noticeably. This time, Eivass truly woke up. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw Isabel sitting by the bed with a flushed face. Eivass, still a bit groggy, stared for a while. …Oh, I’m not awake yet. I’ll sleep more. He had this thought, turned over, and closed his eyes again. Eivass tightly hugged the blanket Isabel had been using close to him, curling up on his side. Isabel, somewhat flustered, stood up, went to Lily, and the two of them retreated a good distance.
—Did he wake up? He just opened his eyes?? —No, that’s how Young Master sleeps. Today’s sleep is considered deep. Normally, you might wake him up just by sitting down… The two whispered to each other. Behind them, in the painting, there was now a Janis shaking his head and sighing slightly. You had your chance, but you failed… Updating early, meow!
