Chapter 345
Cursed Eivass
The materials for crafting the “Wheel of Fortune” card were not easy to find. To save time, Eivass directly mobilized his three partners to help him search. Although not as demanding as the “Moon” card, it was still a bit troublesome—but at least it was only troublesome. A total of four owl feathers, three Gryphon feathers, the shackles and keys of a wise prisoner, bandages or gauze used by someone who had suffered a fatal injury and survived, and a small amount of sapphire powder were needed.
The first two items were easy to find. Although owls were rare, they were not extraordinary creatures. Eivass had commissioned Gryphon Lizzy to catch one the previous night. Gryphon feathers were even closer at hand. The main difficulty lay in the latter two materials. The “Wheel of Fortune” card symbolized change, fate, and irresistible forces… The Thoth Tarot version of the Wheel of Fortune added the meaning of “twisting fate with one’s own will.” This meant not passively accepting what happened, but actively turning the Wheel of Fortune, demonstrating one’s will, and changing one’s destiny—which required sufficient wisdom, learning, and reading. By turning the lower part of the Wheel of Fortune, one could influence the higher levels, ultimately changing the entire wheel. It was a Tarot card belonging to the Path of Wisdom.
The essence of the third material was “a cage broken by a bound wise person;” the fourth was “proof of fate being twisted by someone who faced the God of Death with strong willpower.” Both items were difficult to find. It wasn’t just about rarity… It was also easy to be deceived and buy the wrong materials because no one paid attention to such things. For example, hospitals wouldn’t know which patients who suffered fatal injuries would survive, so their medical waste would likely be thrown away together. In such a situation, how could one find a specific roll of bandages? Moreover, if it was contaminated with another person’s blood or medicine, its pure symbolic meaning might be polluted. The same applied to the shackles used by a wise prisoner—how wise did a person have to be to be considered wise? Might their shackles have been lost or replaced? Might other people have used these shackles afterward… perhaps a fool used them, thus contaminating their concept?
They spent considerable effort finding these two materials. A substitute for “proof of the tenacious will of a person who reversed death” was found—Haina found it. It was a bullet collected by one of her former teachers in Windpipe Town. This bullet was removed from his own body. He had been kidnapped and held hostage by a criminal and, unwilling to give up, tried to escape. As expected, he was discovered by the kidnapper at a critical moment. The kidnapper was cornered by the authorities and in a hurry to escape, so he couldn’t recapture the hostage. However, he was unwilling to let the hostage escape, so he shot him three times from a distance. His marksmanship was average, but he was very lucky that day. At a distance of at least thirty to forty meters, all three shots hit. One hit his butt, another his thigh. The third shot hit his chest directly. The bullet, at a very coincidental angle, lodged between the teacher’s heart and lungs but still pierced an artery, nearly causing death. Fortunately, a priest was present and managed to save him. However, the priest’s Illuminate Spell could not directly remove the bullet. Later, surgery was performed to remove it—and he nearly died again. Thus, he kept this bullet as “proof of his good luck,” often bragging about it to his students.
Purchasing it was quite difficult, but luckily, Haina handled it. Seeing her former student’s success, the now elderly teacher was overjoyed. Upon hearing that Haina needed it, he even wanted to give her the bullet directly… It was Eivass who insisted on paying and bought it.
As for the other material, they had no idea where to find it. So, the decisive Haina proposed a very mischievous but effective solution. She had Eivass report Sherlock for breaking the law, summoning nearby Inspection Bureau personnel to arrest the “newsboy.” The handcuffed young Sherlock was utterly confused. Then, Haina openly appeared, using the excuse that Sherlock was involved in another major case, to “personally escort him to Glass Island.” Since his crime was not directly expunged, the incident would still be recorded—thus, these handcuffs could be considered “shackles of a wise prisoner.” After all, the prisoner’s name would certainly not be Sherlock Hermes, but a name Sherlock casually made up… He was currently using a child’s identity, and this identity would cease to exist once he advanced further.
“…Setting aside other things,” Eivass said after expressing his gratitude, giving Haina a very high review, “Haina, your ability to get things done has indeed improved. I didn’t expect at all that you would be the one to help me find these last two materials…”
“There’s no other way,” Haina said with a helpless smile. “In that dream, I had to do everything. Thinking too much leads to doing certain things.” She was once the type of person who obeyed orders without question. It was a happy life for those who didn’t need to think or take responsibility. There was no pressure, and no need to worry about paying a price for making a mistake. But in emergencies, if she had to step up… she was not the kind of person to abandon everything and run away. Over time, she had honed her skills.
Afterward, Eivass and the others quickly used the “villager passage” to return to Eagle Cape Village by Gryphon. When Eivass completed the preliminary stages of card crafting, he preserved it with sapphire powder. Unknowingly, the afternoon had turned into twilight. Eivass clearly felt a sense of crisis. An undisguised killing intent enveloped him, and an ominous curse subtly locked onto him. They had originally been unsure when the Punisher Demon would arrive, but now there was no need to guess.
“I’m afraid it’s that Prince of Giants,” Eivass informed the others in advance, which also put them under immense pressure. Having finished crafting the card, Eivass first summoned the Butterfly of Ignorance and Flame in his true form, transforming it into its follower state… Then he began to draw the Ritual Array. Most protective rituals would likely be useless against the Punisher Demon. Its high rank gave it too much penetration. Similarly, curses were basically ineffective against it. Ritual spells were even less useful. However, pure enhancement rituals were viable. Eivass used the freshly collected ritual materials to simply bestow Blessing Spell upon the few of them. This would make them luckier in all aspects; although the increase was not large, it was universally applicable. Eivass had barely used the “Blessing” Sacred Skill since mastering it. After all, his fights were either overwhelming victories, required external assistance, or were surprise attacks… This was his first true scheduled fight. He was a bit nervous.
Eivass also took out the potions prepared by Yulia. He kept one bottle of Vitality Potion and gave the rest to Haina. He also gave Haina the Feather Fall Potion, the Petrified Potion to Sherlock, and the Snake Venom Ointment to Lily. The Red-Hilted Sword was also taken out by Eivass. Its illusion effect would last until the next sunset. Therefore, it had to be activated after the sun had set to last the longest. After making all the preparations, Eivass frowned slightly. He felt the discomfort on his body growing stronger. It felt like a scythe scraping his scalp, or a speeding truck passing by—although there was no pain, a cold sweat broke out on his back. He had a bad premonition. He seemed to hear a drumbeat in his ears, and the pressure in his chest grew stronger. Eivass realized it was a scrutinizing gaze—something was watching him. “The situation has changed,” Eivass said suddenly with a solemn expression. “They seem to intend to curse me to death before we even enter Eagle Cape Village.”
