Chapter 741
Moving a Match to Balance the Books
In the transparent air, patterns like those of shattering ice appeared.
When Alistair retrieved the newly born Phantom Demon Card from within.
In an instant, extreme frost scattered outwards—the mirrors, bed, and furniture in the room were instantly covered in a layer of frost. The Honey Badger subconsciously covered her face with her hand… even so, the hem of her clothes was caught by the frost.
The Phantom Demon Card, crafted from pure ice, gradually shed its frosty exterior at this moment.
[Equipment Card: Death of Desolation (God of Death)]
[Requirements: Water 4 or Dark 4]
[Action, Summon, Re-cast]
[Effect: Summon “Death of Desolation” (Extraordinary Variant Weapon – Scythe, extremely light, sharp, cold, possesses the Extraordinary Module “Death of Desolation”)]
[Effect: Use and swing the scythe again to launch nine invisible flying blades that automatically lock onto all targets previously injured by the Holder.]
[Variant Trait: Inverse Blade (It only has an edge on the side facing you)]
[Extraordinary Module – Death of Desolation: Whenever its damage causes bleeding or dismemberment, this attack instead reduces the opponent’s maximum HP. This effect is also considered the same effect as “Aging Curse”. Any creature killed by its damage or limb severed by it will turn into shattered ice sculptures.]
Undoubtedly.
Compared to the Thunderclap Halberd created by the Punisher Demon, an demon of the same caliber as the Winter Demon, this was a more suitable weapon for Alistair.
It could exert considerable suppression on races with tenacious life forces like the Children of the Moon—and this suppression wasn’t overly specialized but rather more general.
As long as damage was dealt, the opponent’s HP bar could be directly cut!
…The only issue was that it was a scythe. A farming tool like a scythe wasn’t a very practical weapon to begin with, let alone one with an edge on only one side. It was incredibly difficult to inflict damage relying solely on this weapon.
But fortunately, it had a re-cast effect—or rather, an Equipment Card should have a re-cast effect.
Otherwise, why would one abandon their preferred weapon and sacrifice a valuable card slot to summon a brand new piece of equipment?
Its re-cast effect allowed for the launching of invisible flying blades to target enemy targets previously injured. Although the specific damage dealt was unknown, it could at least be considered damage caused by “Death of Desolation,” still triggering the effect of reducing maximum HP.
Even though this effect was an Aging Curse and would be dispelled as a curse.
But it also had a very important effect—kills or dismemberments caused by this effect would turn the opponent into shattered ice sculptures.
…While this might look like a killing effect, it actually meant preventing resurrection.
Children of the Moon were not easily killed completely because they turned to ash after death. As long as enough hot blood was poured onto a sufficient amount of ash, they could still be reborn… it was even possible to mix the ashes of several Children of the Moon and revive one. Of course, whether this was resurrection or re-creation was still debated even among the Children of the Moon.
But if they were killed by this scythe, they would directly turn into shattered ice sculptures—thereby completely altering the opponent’s form of death!
Shattered ice sculptures naturally had no possibility of resurrection.
One reason Alistair preferred this weapon over the Thunderclap Halberd was its inclination towards magic. The locking of the invisible flying blades did not require the target to be “damaged by Death of Desolation,” but rather “damaged by the Holder.”
In other words, Alistair could use other spells—such as the Light of Eden—to first inflict area-of-effect damage, and then switch to “Death of Desolation” for area-of-effect slayings.
Although it was still rudimentary, Alistair finally had her own system in terms of spells!
Alistair summoned “Eivass’s Book of Law” and removed the “God of Death” card she had stored within—the “Follower Card: Earthbound Spirit”—and registered the “Equipment Card: Death of Desolation” into it. Apart from “Blade of Shadow,” “Earthbound Spirit” became the second Phantom Demon Card Alistair had discarded.
This way, Alistair’s Book of Law now had ten empty slots remaining.
The Magician, The Priestess, The Empress, The Pope, The Chariot, The Hermit, Justice, The Wheel of Fortune, Judgement, and The World.
If the remaining four Great Sin Cards were all selected from the empty slots, Alistair would have at most two free card slots; if she were to replace other cards like she did with the Earthbound Spirit, she could squeeze out a few more.
Eivass brought out the Earthbound Spirit back then because the Earthbound Spirit, Alice, had sought his help.
She was a good child. She had been used as a sacrifice and buried in the foundation, her resentment so great that she became a vengeful spirit. Yet, she had never devoured the souls of passing travelers—only those fugitives who had fled there in desperation. Because of this, she had become quite weak.
She didn’t want to simply dissipate, but she also didn’t want to be dispelled by a Priest.
So Eivass sealed her, helping her escape the fate of being an Earthbound Spirit that bound her. In this regard, the Earthbound Spirit was very similar to the Treant—Eivass did not rely on their power but merely used this sealing technique that transcended fate to help them escape their destiny.
In return for her gratitude, Alice had helped Eivass a few times. But as Eivass’s level increased, the influence the level 40 Earthbound Spirit Alice could exert also gradually decreased; most importantly, Star Ice was also an illusionary ability, overlapping with the Earthbound Spirit’s role.
For the Earthbound Spirit, it was a relief that Eivass no longer needed her.
After all, as long as she was inside Eivass, she could still perceive the world and didn’t have to work—
And at this moment, this card was humming uneasily.
Alistair pressed the card face to her forehead, quietly communicating with the Earthbound Spirit.
Soon, she understood Alice’s meaning.
—Because right here lay a soulless body that had lost its soul but still possessed life.
If Eivass no longer needed her, she wanted this body.
“…Then I’ll have to communicate with the original owner of the body first.”
Alistair hesitated and explained to Alice, “Although she’s going to die anyway… she’s still watching here.”
—For Extraordinary individuals without the Twilight Path or special path abilities and grimoires, losing their soul once means they have a terminal illness. Just like how a dislocated joint, once habitual, can lead to recurrent dislocations—the same applies to the soul leaving the body.
Once the soul leaves the body, the inseparable bond between the body and soul is torn. Later, it’s possible for the “soul to stand up on its own while the body remains seated,” and this frequency will increase with age and the improvement of soul abilities.
Even if Alistair were to force the soul of that female college student back in through a ritual, as the discrepancy between soul and body became more apparent, her soul would eventually leave her body.
Unless she could walk the Twilight Path and reach a sufficiently high level, or obtain abilities like “Path Trait: Soul Walker” or “Soul Leaving Grimoire.”
In folklore from various places, there are legends of the bodies of those who have had their souls leave being occupied by lonely spirits or monsters.
A blank, soulless body is the most suitable for possession. And Ordinary Persons without Extraordinary Power certainly cannot reclaim their bodies.
The Mirror Demon had already told Alistair—what happened here before they entered.
It was clear that the Count initially wanted the girl to act as a broker, luring her classmates to be ritual materials. Although he promised many benefits, in Alistair’s eyes, they were all lies—once she had taken on enough of the blame, Count would kill her and extract her soul to hang up.
And that soulless body could allow formless demons to possess it.
For example, a Shadow Demon or even a Mirror Demon. Eivass had his body controlled by a Shadow Demon during his Ascension Ritual… and it would be even easier for a Mirror Demon, more adept at fine manipulation, to control a soulless body. The Mirror Demon could completely control this female college student, making her take the blame and face judgment, thus balancing the books.
This was a classic financial problem: How to move one matchstick to make the accounts balance?
—The answer is to move the lit matchstick onto the accounts.
She was that ledger.
(End of Chapter)
