Chapter 344
The Ring Heavenly Envoy’s Contractor
As the sun rose, the swamp, a forbidden area, emitted white mist like any other day.
But today was different.
The still swamp suddenly split open, revealing a narrow and clean passage.
Merlin, clad in a deep blue robe, stepped out slowly, holding his staff. He casually pointed his staff at the ground, and as he advanced, the clean, soft earth itself rose to form steps.
Only after Merlin had completely left the swamp did the swamp, which had parted like a living thing, close again. The temporarily constructed steps also dissolved, collapsing back into mud.
“…That fellow Jacob is really good at finding trouble for me.”
Merlin sighed and pushed up his monocle.
However, despite his words, he showed no sign of displeasure, looking instead very energetic and enthusiastic.
Yesterday, he had borrowed a passage from the Fairy Kingdom to reach Jacob’s workshop.
Just as he had predicted, Jacob had indeed placed his ritual workshop at the bottom of the swamp.
More precisely, it was located between the swamp’s bottom and the Fairy Kingdom. It existed neither in the Fairy Kingdom nor in the Material Realm, but within the depths of the Fey Grotto.
Of course, this place was not discovered by Jacob.
This “secret chamber” was actually carved out by Merlin himself years ago.
Large-scale rituals of this nature were designed to operate for hundreds of years. If placed in the Material Realm, besides the risk of corrosion and weathering, no matter how secure the defenses, there was always a chance of discovery, destruction, or tampering.
He didn’t place it in the Fairy Kingdom because Merlin knew the Fey too well.
They were full of curiosity and possessed a naive confidence of, “I don’t understand it, but I want to try.” If they discovered the ritual, they would inevitably tamper with it.
So, Merlin secretly carved out a interstice within the Fey Grotto and hid the array core there.
—If the Fey wanted to go to the Material Realm, they would simply pass through the door. Not many would stoop to check if the keyhole was intact upon entering.
Only humans attempting to reach the Fey Grotto from here, if they searched carefully while passing through the portal, could discover its existence.
Thus, by blocking humans from entering, the ritual would remain undiscovered.
Merlin then specifically created the swamp to bury the Fey Grotto.
Originally, it was just a deep pit—a dark, bottomless abyss. An Ordinary Person falling in might die instantly. However, if one panicked and used earth-attribute spells during the descent, they would fall directly into the Fairy Kingdom.
And since a purely material swamp wouldn’t deter the Fey—neither water nor mud could dampen their bodies—they wouldn’t realize anything was amiss and thus wouldn’t report any issues with the grotto to the Queen.
To prevent passersby from accidentally falling in, Merlin simply made it a swamp. This way, no one would trip and fall, indirectly preventing people from being charmed by the Fey Grotto and unknowingly wandering towards its entrance before falling in.
But back then, the swamp was just an ordinary swamp.
Jacob had clearly followed the Fey barrier to find this village, but was puzzled by his inability to find the Fey Grotto. He eventually discovered the swamp and successfully used magic to open the Fey Grotto’s gate.
However, unlike other humans, Jacob was the idler who would suddenly stop halfway through entering to examine the door’s lock.
Therefore, he naturally discovered Merlin’s hidden chamber and the ritual of the Shadow of Avalon within it.
The subsequent events were simple.
Jacob had been in contact with Viviane, and he had evidently learned the ritual’s true nature from her, leading him to attempt to modify it. He even changed Merlin’s ordinary swamp into a special material for creating Swamp Dwellers.
Regardless, the workshop was spacious and could hide many ritual array cores. Those who wanted to disrupt the ritual couldn’t find it from the outside; at best, they would stumble into the Fey Grotto while searching.
What he had obtained earlier was merely secondhand information. Both Eivass and James had provided him with vague details.
Upon seeing the array core with his own eyes and studying it carefully, Merlin finally understood the ritual’s effect:
Although the ritual was crude, it could indeed directly pull down a Shadow Heavenly Envoy.
Why could it achieve this?
Because the ritual itself contained Heavenly Envoy Power, and even Pillar God Power.
The ritual’s purpose was not merely to pull down the Shadow Heavenly Envoy. It aimed to bring her to the Material Realm, give her a physical body, bind her with the Power of Equilibrium, and then seal her within her mortal shell, killing her in the Material Realm… thereby usurping her Heavenly Envoy Fragment.
Undoubtedly, this was a ritual belonging to the Transcendent Path.
“—This is definitely not that woman Viviane’s prank.”
Merlin realized this unfortunate truth.
Because as soon as he realized this, it meant he was caught in a Heavenly Envoy-level conspiracy.
But Merlin felt no fear.
He merely found it all very interesting—
He had missed out last time, but this time, he could finally join in the commotion.
The power fueling this ritual was provided by the Son of Father Snake, the Ouroboros… the Heavenly Envoy leader known as the Ring Heavenly Envoy. He was the second most powerful Great Existence in the Transcendent Path, second only to Father Snake.
The Ring Heavenly Envoy possessed the Authority of “Reincarnation, Rebirth, and Reaching the Infinite.” The essence of this ritual was not to forcibly pull down a Heavenly Envoy, but rather a reincarnation ritual that allowed the Heavenly Envoy to advance further. Because of this, it was difficult to resist.
—Merlin, of course, knew of this ritual.
In ancient times, a legendary Human Warrior, through a Transcendent ritual of dragon slaying and bathing in blood, usurped a Dragon’s body and sublimated into the Dream Realm. He eventually became a Crown Heavenly Envoy in the Dream Realm, continuously transcending his predecessors, growing stronger and stronger, until he reached the position of Heavenly Envoy leader of the Path of Power.
At this point, the Crown Heavenly Envoy encountered a dilemma.
He could no longer become stronger. He had already gathered all the Path Power obtainable from the Dream Realm, yet he was still a considerable distance from the Supreme Heaven. He needed to re-enter the Material Realm and gain additional new Path Power through “actions.”
However, unlike the Apostles who could interfere with the Material Realm, Heavenly Envoys who had obtained Authority could basically no longer enter the Material Realm… but the Ring Heavenly Envoy broke this common understanding.
The Ouroboros provided him with the ritual named “Ouroboros Ring” as a favor.
The Crown Heavenly Envoy, whose power had reached its limit, successfully transformed into a mortal. He dispersed his excess power, creating the “Knights of the Round Table”—these Knights were empowered by the dispersed power of the Crown Heavenly Envoy. Ultimately, they followed Arthur and achieved the Transcendent feat of defeating the Giant Kingdom with their mortal bodies.
Only then could he contend with and defeat the Supreme Heaven, becoming the new Lord of the Path, the Silver Crown Dragon.
Like the Ouroboros, he devoured himself for rebirth.
Devouring his entire self to achieve complete rebirth was essentially a form of “molting and renewal,” transforming into a stronger form, thus opening the possibility of further transcendence.
—Both the ritual he performed to usurp the Dragon’s body back then and the ritual he used to descend to the human world later were provided by this Ring Heavenly Envoy.
Even in the earliest Era… before he was the Crown Heavenly Envoy and before he defeated the Dragon, he was a contractor of the Ring Heavenly Envoy.
Merlin remembered Arthur telling him stories of that Era.
It seemed to be an Extraordinary Profession related to the concept of “molting.” This was also the fundamental basis for the Crown Heavenly Envoy to revert to a human body and grow stronger again.
But the Shadow Heavenly Envoy was different from the Crown Heavenly Envoy.
The Shadow Heavenly Envoy had no affinity with the Transcendent Path, nor did she wish to replace Hengwo.
If that Queen of the Shadow Realm were to descend into the male body of Lancelot I and be confined there, never allowed to return… that madwoman would surely go insane. The Gods of the Path of Love were far crazier than the Extraordinary of the Path of Love.
However, as far as Merlin knew, the Ring Heavenly Envoy and the Shadow Heavenly Envoy had no particular conflict. Furthermore, they rarely interacted.
So this was definitely not a personal vendetta.
—Then, there was only one possibility for reactivating this ancient ritual.
“Ring Heavenly Envoy, do you wish to… advance further?”
Merlin looked up at the sky.
His gaze was profound as he muttered, “Jacob… are you with Him? Are you also His contractor?”
In that case, what was Eivass’s role in your plan?
A pawn, a helper, a collaborator, a successor…
…Or perhaps, some kind of obstacle?
