Chapter 666
Ring Heavenly Envoy’s Overt Conspiracy
Eivass could roughly guess the thinking of the Lord of Scales and Feathers.
If Eivass’s existence itself represented variables…
Then this explained why the plans laid out by his foster father, James, and grandfather, Jacob, all failed due to unpredictable variables.
It wasn’t just them, either.
From the Lloyd Society, Noble Red, to the Rose Cross represented by the Succubus… when these plans, which had been in motion for many years, reached a point where contact with Eivass was necessary, variables would suddenly appear.
From what he saw now, if Eivass made everything certain become uncertain… then the best way to utilize him would not be to try and control Eivass.
Instead, it would be to use Eivass to first eliminate the “worst” option and prune away that possibility for the future.
Afterward, no matter how random things became, they would at least not become the worst possible outcome. Having a Fallen Heavenly Envoy become a Pillar God was something no one wanted to see—no one wished for another Supreme Heaven to appear in this World.
If the original “Transcendence” turned into “Fall,” the entire World would likely turn to chaos and darkness.
However…
“This doesn’t seem to require me,” Eivass said sincerely. “The Ring Heavenly Envoy… He has another plan.”
Although saying this made Eivass feel a bit strange—it was like praising himself with an alternate account. Yet, the Ouroboros Ring was indeed a Ritual prepared by the Ring Heavenly Envoy.
And Eivass believed the Lord of Scales and Feathers definitely knew about this.
As expected.
The Lord of Scales and Feathers merely smiled and said, “Are you talking about the ‘Ouroboros Ring’ Ritual? Indeed… He even prepared the ‘Ouroboros Chronicle’ on Star Antinomy, waiting for them to take the bait.
“He disguised this Ritual. Those people would only think that they could seize the power of a Heavenly Envoy through this Ritual and ascend to the Sixth Tier, bypassing the Ascension Ritual. Because this Ritual does possess this capability, there’s no problem with it… This is a Ritual personally performed by the Ring Heavenly Envoy; there’s no way they could detect any issues with it.
“And this Ritual requires a Fifth Tier sacrifice as an offering—this perfectly aligns with the thinking of those Demon Scholars.
“In their Worldview, powerful Rituals always come at a price. If this Ritual required no price to be paid, they would definitely consider it a scam. But because this Ritual requires the sacrifice of one of its participants, it becomes extremely convincing…”
At this point, the Lord of Scales and Feathers chuckled mockingly. “Those people are still engaged in intrigue.
“Some are concealing the true price of this Ritual, while others have fabricated different prices to profit from it. And those who know the true price of the Ritual are deceiving each other as well. They form one small group after another, saying they will make someone outside the group the ‘price of the Ritual,’ while actually intending to use this opportunity to win over others and eliminate rivals. But in reality, the person saying this doesn’t realize that in another group, they are the chosen sacrifice.
“A benefit that anyone would be tempted by, and a price that no one can afford to pay, yet only requires one person to pay—and the person who pays the price will also permanently shut their own mouth. Judging by the benefits they receive, they would believe that person’s soul will be scattered, leaving no chance to even become a Demon.
“For Demon Avatars who almost all bear the ‘Mark of Sin,’ the ability to prevent their rivals from becoming Demons and seeking revenge is also a quite practical benefit.”
The Lord of Scales and Feathers praised his past friend: “I must say, the Ring Heavenly Envoy’s grasp of the human heart is incredibly precise.
“Under this structure, even those who understand the Ritual would find it impossible to withdraw.
“Because as long as anyone participates, they can ascend to the Sixth Tier; and no matter how many people level up, the price only requires one person. From this perspective, every additional person who leaves means their own possibility of being chosen as the sacrifice increases.
“Therefore, even if they deceive that person into returning, they won’t let anyone go—in fact, to deter others from leaving, those who attempt to leave might even be killed by them.
“After all, they don’t want this Ritual to be disrupted. And those who leave could become informants, traitors to the secret organization. And that would mean their hope is ruined—”
…Is this the Ring Heavenly Envoy?
Eivass’s heart trembled slightly.
The Ring Heavenly Envoy had not set any restrictions on them, nor told any lies.
He had merely described the underlying mechanism of this Ritual in a few sentences… and had thus triggered the greed, evil, and timidity, as well as the uncontrollable instinct for Transcendence, in the hearts of these Fifth Tier Transcendent beings. And so, the Ritual began to spread spontaneously.
The victims unconsciously became accomplices, hunting other victims. They were like crabs in a cage, dragging back anyone who wanted to leave.
Everyone had to work together to complete the Ritual, but almost everyone’s position was subtly different. For instance, King Star Antinomy, who belonged to the Rose Cross and was also an Alchemist, would certainly not want to see too many people become Sixth Tier because of this.
The Red Phase and Black Phase had their own mysterious stances.
The other Transcendent beings of the Rose Cross also had their own ideas. And those foreigners undoubtedly had their own selfish motives—no one would want to see Star Antinomy birth several, or even a dozen, Sixth Tier Transcendent beings.
As they were caught in this intricate web of intrigue and deadly struggle among multiple factions, no one would have the energy to consider whether the Ritual itself was fake.
Even if someone learned of the Ring Heavenly Envoy’s true plan, the essence of the Ouroboros Ring Ritual, through some means, their warning would be useless—because it could very well be fabricated evidence by someone to prevent them from participating in the Ritual; and even if they wanted to escape, it would be impossible, as they might be accused of being a whistleblower who “ruined everyone’s Ritual.”
However, thinking about it this way…
“…This sounds somewhat familiar.”
Eivass fell into thought.
This style of planning… it was truly similar to Eivass himself.
He looked at the Lord of Scales and Feathers hesitantly, “Then what do you need me to do?
“Am I responsible for… cleaning up after the Ring Heavenly Envoy? Killing the Fallen Heavenly Envoys they drag down?”
“Yes.”
The Lord of Scales and Feathers replied.
“But, do you really need me? If nothing else, the first Ouroboros Ring Ritual was definitely within the Ring Heavenly Envoy’s predictions, and his plan couldn’t possibly be ‘Eivass needs to handle this here,’ right?”
Eivass retorted.
This was a question Eivass had pondered for a long time.
The Ouroboros Ring Ritual itself was the Ring Heavenly Envoy’s plan—or rather, conspiracy. Its appearance directly led to the spectacle of Heavenly Envoys falling one after another.
And from a standpoint, Eivass and the Ring Heavenly Envoy were enemies. Although the Ring Heavenly Envoy would protect Eivass now, his ultimate goal was to devour Eivass.
—But they were enemies, yet Eivass was to clean up the mess for the Ring Heavenly Envoy?
This problem was solved by players in the game.
But this World had no “players.”
Without players, who could defeat the Fallen Heavenly Envoys?
Did the Ring Heavenly Envoy merely intend to banish the Heavenly Envoys to the Material Realm, without ever considering how to kill these Heavenly Envoys?
And there was another problem—
Eivass pressed further, “Also, what would be the ultimate benefit to you from me killing the Fallen Heavenly Envoys?”
This was the most puzzling part for Eivass.
The Fallen Heavenly Envoy was not the Bear Heavenly Envoy. Although he was also not a good person, he hadn’t really provoked the Heavenly Envoys or Pillar Gods of other Paths. If anything, it was his penchant for stealing quality souls and branding them with the Mark of Sin. However, he didn’t act that frequently, and very few people actually turned into Demons in the Material Realm.
If anyone had animosity towards him, it should be the Father of Snakes.
After all, the Fallen Heavenly Envoy had almost led an entire Path astray, giving the Transcendent beings who should have represented “positive progress” a terrible reputation.
—But why would this concern you, a Pillar God of the Adaptation Path?
