Chapter 359: The Cause and Effect
Merlin adjusted his monocle. A cerulean ring materialized before his eyes, followed by a radiating, fluidly unfolding Assist Array and shimmering runes, making the scene resemble a virtual interface. He intently focused on the Grimoire in Eivass’s hand, gazing for a while before his brow furrowed slightly, a hint of confusion clouding his expression.
“What is a Grimoire of Great Sin?”
As an Apostle of the Path of Wisdom, Merlin naturally possessed the ability to appraise extraordinary items. In fact, during the Round Table era, Merlin had been Avalon’s finest Appraiser. He could discern the item’s effects, yet he was unfamiliar with the terms “Illusion Card” and “Great Sin Card.”
“Could this be the inheritance brought by a Divine Entity?”
“Eivass,” Merlin asked cautiously, “did you just… see anything peculiar?”
“Peculiar?”
“What I previously mentioned as a ‘Divine Entity.’ It could be a snake, a ring, or perhaps a wisp of smoke, or a demon. The will residing within the Succubus’s Remains.” Merlin provided a more precise answer. “Do you recall anything?”
Although Merlin maintained an air of inscrutable knowledge before Eivass, he actually knew very little. He himself was surprised by this summoning of Fate. His initial motive for coming to Beheading Valley was merely to inspect the Shadow of Avalon Ritual. This information he only obtained after encountering Eivass in a dream.
Upon inspection, he discovered that Jacob had not only altered the ritual he left behind but had also left something else. Merlin had even spotted Viviane nearby. She wasn’t an Apostle out for a stroll like himself, but had directly abandoned the power of the Path of Love and reincarnated as a mortal.
This unusual action startled Merlin, as Viviane was certainly not the type to put herself in a passive position. While her actions often appeared mad and extreme, she always maintained her rationality. Viviane was the kind of person who was exceptionally clear about her goals, ruthless towards others and herself. Despite her many reckless acts, they were never driven by emotion but by self-interest. Her madness primarily manifested in the speed of her “abandonment.”
Most people tend to cling to what they already possess. When faced with problems, they generally attempt to resolve them within their capacity. Even if an item is not immediately useful, they won’t discard it outright but will keep it to see if it can be used later. Viviane, however, was different.
She genuinely fell in love with Merlin, investing passionate feelings. After achieving her objective with Merlin, she coolly severed their connection and sealed Merlin within a tree. She also cared for Lancelot like a mother, ascending to the rank of Apostle through this Great Deed. Upon completing her objective, she decisively cut ties with Lancelot and never saw him again. She was constantly pursuing more, exchanging less for more. And she always found more.
Yet now, she had unhesitatingly abandoned her status and power as an Apostle, fleeing directly into the Material Realm. Such an action could only be described as fleeing, as her reincarnation had clearly not received the permission of the Shadow Heavenly Envoy. In other words, she had even forsaken everything she had up to that point, becoming a mortal once more.
This made Merlin extremely uneasy. Following this lead, he found the Remains of the Succubus left during Eivass’s Ascension Ritual, discovered Jacob’s Book of Law and seal, and from it, obtained knowledge of the Ouroboros Ring Ritual. Finally, with information provided by Yeats, that disloyal Werewolf of uncertain allegiance, Merlin finally got a complete picture of the entire affair, just ten minutes ahead of Eivass. But that was all he knew.
Faced with Merlin’s inquiry, Eivass’s heart stirred. He suddenly realized this might be a good opportunity.
Previously, Eivass couldn’t disclose any secrets he knew, whether it was the promotion method of the Sin Scholar or anything else. This was because he lacked a credible source of information. He hadn’t known any Extraordinary individuals before, and the only knowledge he had about the extraordinary world came from his foster father James’s study. However, Eivass had produced the ritual for Meg’s reincarnation and enabled Sherlock to obtain a new profession he himself had never heard of. Both Meg and Sherlock were undoubtedly filled with doubts about Eivass, but Meg leaned towards pragmatism and didn’t dwell on what she couldn’t understand. Sherlock had already resolved not to argue with Eivass, but that couldn’t continue indefinitely.
And now was an excellent opportunity!
“I did see something,” Eivass said, his expression solemn. “I saw the past, where Grandfather was conversing with a mysterious entity. That entity bestowed upon Grandfather some special knowledge—including some rituals I had never seen before… In addition, it displayed some future information.”
“Future?” Merlin wasn’t interested in rituals, but upon hearing “future,” he repeated the word. After a moment of thought, he nodded. “Oh, that’s reasonable—do you recall what it said?”
“It didn’t say much, and it was all riddles, like a Prophet’s prophecy… But ever since then, a flood of knowledge rushed through my mind. It flickered past, and then almost completely disappeared, leaving only vague impressions.” Eivass said seriously, “But I feel that as long as I meet a certain condition, I can recall it!”
Every word he spoke was true. Even if Merlin were to use a lie detector, it would only register “truth.” However, with Eivass’s clever rephrasing, it sounded as if what he saw was not ritual knowledge but fragments of the future.
He continued, “For example, that Divine entity said… ‘The chosen Apostles and Priests of the Pillars are the Priests of the Great Beast.’ I believe the meaning of this sentence is…”
Eivass paused. Merlin looked at him with curiosity, but Eivass’s expression suddenly changed, and he looked up at the sky. He had merely picked a familiar sentence to try and fool Merlin. But as Eivass spoke, he suddenly understood the meaning of the sentence! In that very instant, Eivass understood something.
In the game, the original “Eivass” was the discoverer of the Sin Scholar profession. Similarly, he was also the first Lord of the Great Beast. Jacob and that “Divine Entity” left this sentence when Eivass hadn’t even been born yet. In other words, even if Eivass had transmigrated from birth and simply hadn’t awakened his memories, he wouldn’t have altered the world of more than a decade ago before his transmigration. This meant that even according to the original storyline, Jacob must have left this book here!
So when did Eivass obtain the Sin Scholar promotion profession? Because Eivass was unaware of that plot point, he could only infer what had happened from subsequent lore. At that time, Avalon was gone, and his foster father James had also disappeared. It wasn’t until the Fallen Heavenly Envoy descended that “Eivass,” unwilling to use humans as ritual materials, was still a low-level Demon Scholar who had just reached level thirty. He followed players around, unable to obtain anything significant. And the Fallen Heavenly Envoy was still alive then. This meant that “Eivass” could only have been promoted after players and Isabel defeated the Fallen Heavenly Envoy. By then, Avalon had already become the Shadow Realm. Judging by Haina’s transformation into a “Hyena,” Eagle Cape Village had likely ceased to exist.
In other words, the original “Eivass” was promoted to Sin Scholar only after the events in the Church and Star Antinomy concluded, and he returned to Avalon with the players. It was highly likely that Eivass obtained the Book of Law at that time, enabling him to produce the promotion route from Sin Scholar to Lord of the Great Beast out of thin air!
[Ye shall know, the chosen Apostles and Priests of the Pillars are the Priests of the Great Beast.]
[Constrain the Words of Great Sin!]
The words of the Divine entity echoed in Eivass’s mind. Great Beast, Great Sin. …It made sense that the Grimoire he obtained was the unique weapon of a Sin Scholar, a profession that didn’t even exist in the current version. Eivass hadn’t thought much of it when he obtained it, but now he finally realized—the cause and effect were reversed!
The original Eivass obtained this book, and then he obtained these two professions!
