Chapter 917
A Reliable Isabel
As the Punisher Demons appeared, the night sky instantly grew even more somber. They twirled the silver chains with sharp barbs in their hands, wielding them like meteor hammers. Streaks of lightning randomly assaulted everything around them—buildings, the sea, the ground, and even other demons.
At this moment, a torrential downpour suddenly began. It was a heavy rain that kicked up white mist, obscuring vision. The raindrops felt like blows, causing intense pain upon impact. This rain unmistakably amplified the lethality of the lightning. The lightning called from the natural world possessed nearly infinite power—the bolts almost formed a continuous chain, connecting the warship “Cruel Preacher” to the sky from beginning to end!
No matter how powerful Eivass’s prayers were, their strength would eventually be depleted. However, the power summoned by the Punisher Demons did not belong to them… Engaging in a war of attrition in this domain would only result in Eivass’s power being wasted.
Therefore, Eivass launched a preemptive strike and summoned the King of the Wild Hunt!
In an instant, the world changed. A vague, storm-like voice resonated through the night sky: “I roar and arrive—” The King of the Wild Hunt’s voice rumbled. Eivass stood amidst the storm; the rain completely failed to wet his clothes. He stood beneath the lightning, and the lightning diverged above his head. Neither the rain nor the lightning could penetrate the amber barrier, only the storm seeped through. Eivass’s bright golden long hair whipped wildly in the wind as he boomed, “Helchin—” His voice was almost lost in the storm.
Yet, the King of the Wild Hunt responded, “I am listening, Master.”
“Take your weapon—and eliminate them!” As Eivass summoned, a comparatively slender bolt of lightning fell near Helchin amidst the sky-spanning downpour. He raised his hand, letting the lightning strike him. After the lightning dispersed, a Thunderous Halberd, identical to those held by the Punisher Demons, appeared in his hand!
“…Hm?” “That is—” This sight clearly surprised the Punisher Demons, instilling a hint of fear. They recognized the Thunderous Halberd—that power, so similar to their own origin, they could never mistake it, even from a distance. The Punisher Demons were, naturally, demons themselves, and the sin-punishing effect of the Thunderous Halberd was effective against them as well. After all, these Punisher Demons were once “Heaven’s Chastised” who were struck down by lightning wielded by Fallen Heavenly Envoys for their heinous deeds. In essence, it was precisely because the Punisher Demons harbored a deep-seated fear of “lightning” that they used it to torment other demons and innocent souls. If one got rained on, they had to make sure to dismantle everyone else’s umbrellas! Now, the old fears they thought long forgotten had stealthily returned, like a persistent shadow!
Helchin’s retainers began to appear, one after another. Without a command, the King of the Wild Hunt Legion arranged itself. These heroes of the past were quite pleased with the enemy before them. They never imagined that after being dead for so long, they would have the opportunity to confront a demon legion! Helchin vanished into the dusk in an instant, reappearing before the Punisher Demons. *Ching—* The lightning-flashing spear pierced the chest of one of the Punisher Demons! This inflicted a fatal wound in an instant. The other three Punisher Demons instinctively hurled their spinning chains, intending to ensnare Helchin’s entire body! The tips of these chains were sickle-like hooks, a tool not quite a weapon in the Material Realm, but more of an instrument of torture—used to pierce through joints and hang a person by the chains. The victim would then be slowly torn apart by their own weight. If an Ordinary Person were hooked by one of these, they would be paralyzed by the ensuing lightning, their soul even seared onto the hook by the electrical discharge, forcibly ripped away. But their chains merely wrapped around Helchin with inertia, striking his metal armor with a hollow clang.
—Only the sound of metal ringing was heard. Helchin swung his halberd, severing all three chains with a single strike! Fragments of the broken chains rained down, transforming into tiny blue-purple sparks of electricity. Helchin ignored the three surrounding Punisher Demons and continued his relentless assault on the first one he’d attacked! Within a single exchange, several strikes brought it to the brink of death! Demons did not foster deep friendships, especially when they were “companions struck by heaven’s wrath.” Therefore, after a brief and fruitless attempt, the other three Punisher Demons immediately abandoned any attempt to rescue their “companion” and transformed into electrical sparks, fleeing backward without hesitation.
This was precisely like Eivass’s first encounter with Helchin—the storm, the Punisher Demons, the King of the Wild Hunt… However, Helchin, now clear-headed, was not consumed by hatred and madness as before—saved by the Lord of Scales and Feathers, Helchin had regained his clarity and intellect. He was no longer simply releasing his anger, and thus, his threat had significantly increased. Back in Eagle Cape Village, Helchin’s consciousness was too chaotic, his attack intent akin to a mindless monster, which was why the Punisher Demons hadn’t died on the spot… But the situation was different now. While latched onto the Punisher Demons and maintaining high-speed mobility, the demon, possessing both Martial Skills and spellcasting abilities, hadn’t even managed to cast a single spell! Helchin’s attacks always precisely struck the weak points of their spells, dissolving them into shards of purple or blue glass-like light the moment they were about to be cast. The King of the Wild Hunt alone completely suppressed the four Punisher Demons! He had easily gained an overwhelming advantage when fighting them one-on-one in the past. Now, armed with a more powerful weapon, possessing clearer reason, with a more defined goal, his fighting spirit had even become more fervent! After only a few rounds, that Punisher Demon was bisected by Helchin’s halberd! At this moment, the fleeing Punisher Demons hadn’t even gotten far! Without hesitation, Helchin pursued them directly. He was like a spear tip condensed from lightning, piercing directly through the demon legion’s formation!
“Hyaaaah—!” The King of the Wild Hunt Legion, following closely behind, let out storm-like cries and fiercely clashed with the breached demon legion! Eivass, meanwhile, kept his hand pressed to the materialized Book of Law. He intently watched the situation—if anything went wrong, he would use “The Light of Elysium.” The Light of Elysium possessed the abilities of “punishment” and “purification,” making it extremely effective against demons whose power core was “Sin.” …But since the King of the Wild Hunt’s power alone was sufficient to continuously defeat the demon legion… he should best hold back. Eivass’s three Beasts of Sin were capable of handling the current situation. Whether it was the cannon-like Butterfly of Flames, or the Night Demon, which had reached the Sixth Tier with the boost from the Shepherd’s Method, both possessed excellent crowd-clearing capabilities. However, the Night Demon would inevitably trigger the senses of a Fallen Heavenly Envoy, and the Butterfly of Flames and the Elf Warship occupied the same positional coordinates. That’s why Eivass had summoned Helchin to maintain the situation.
—Because, at present, Star Antinomy was in the throes of an undead disaster. A battle of this magnitude would not alarm a Fallen Heavenly Envoy. Fallen Heavenly Envoys were quite lazy. They themselves were infected and empowered by the Seven Great Sins, and unless absolutely necessary, they would not act. In the game, even until the player party infiltrated his palace, he was too lazy to bother with the intruders until the door was opened. He didn’t even bother to stand up from his throne until he was attacked. …But Eivass felt that if the Fallen Heavenly Envoy sensed the aura of the “Serpent,” he might suddenly become alert. Those demons lacked the courage to admit, “I can’t beat them, boss, save me,” and would instead seek help from other demons.
Because useless demons would only be destroyed and recreated by the Fallen Heavenly Envoy—even if they were nominally the “Disciples” of the Fallen Heavenly Envoy. For the Fallen Heavenly Envoy, the only resource to be cherished was the “Mark of Sin”… This was akin to the Cursed Seals granted by Orochimaru; even for the Fallen Heavenly Envoy, its quantity was limited, with an upper limit of six hundred and sixty-six, the maximum number of Upper Demons for all Marks of Sin. For each of the Seven Great Sins, there were ninety-five. The last one belonged to the Fallen Heavenly Envoy himself. They were manifestations of half the concepts of “Sin and Punishment,” a primal power that even the Fallen Heavenly Envoy did not fully control—which was why He was not the Sin Heavenly Envoy, but the Fallen Heavenly Envoy. However, as long as the Fallen Heavenly Envoy wished, he could extract the Mark of Sin from his disciples and bestow it upon other demons at any time. As long as they could accommodate the corresponding Mark of Sin, their souls could be directly transformed into Upper Demons by the power of the Fallen Heavenly Envoy. And in this world, there was no shortage of anything, save for various sorts of wicked people.
Eivass silently issued Helchin the order “do not pursue too deeply,” then retreated back into the cabin. He was not blinded by victory, nor did he forget the initial purpose of his visit. “Guard me, Zhu Tang, Mu,” Eivass said seriously. “If anyone attacks and we cannot resist, wake me up.”
“No problem, my mana has fully recovered,” Zhu Tang nodded, expressing confidence. “I can set up a Clairvoyance and Eavesdropping Ritual. No one will be able to sneak attack us… And if any demons teleport in, there’s still Mu.” Mu clasped his hands together, remaining silent. His muscular physique and resolute, calm gaze appeared extremely reliable at this moment. Eivass felt a surge of emotion. —This is what a dependable front-line teammate looks like! This feeling of protection… Senior sister, learn from him!
Eivass then drank a little wine—the wine left over from when he gave Zhu Tang the Drunken Dream Tincture. Afterward, he calmed his mind and silently thought, “Boss, a little hypnosis, please.”
“Right away,” the Lord of Scales and Feathers replied immediately, as if he had been watching Eivass the entire time. “Have a good dream.” In the next instant, an overwhelming sense of drowsiness washed over him. The moment Eivass closed his eyes, he sank into the Dream Realm, even more effectively than the Drunken Dream Tincture.
“Sleeping so early today, Eivass?” Isabel’s gentle voice echoed from behind Eivass. “It’s not even ten o’clock yet, is it?”
When Eivass opened his eyes again, he saw Isabel, wearing transparent sleepwear, lying on the bed. Her fingertips shimmered with pink light, as if she were crafting a mask. Seeing that Eivass had woken up, she casually dispersed the light and lazily hugged him, kissing him.
“…It’s already past ten,” Eivass replied subconsciously at first, then immediately asked nervously, “Where are you now, Isabel? You shouldn’t… be in Star Antinomy, right?”
“I’m in Avalon, and I haven’t set out yet. Yulia is here too, don’t worry.” Isabel knew what Eivass wanted to know and directly addressed the two matters he cared about most with utmost sincerity. Only after Eivass sighed in relief did she smile with a helplessness and doting affection. “How could I possibly cause you trouble… I considered that you wouldn’t be in Star Antinomy temporarily, so I didn’t go immediately. I know your enemies are powerful, and I know you care about me a lot. So, I won’t carelessly appear in dangerous places… or rather, I won’t ‘again’ appear in dangerous places.”
Her voice held a hint of sadness as she spoke. Eivass knew that Isabel was referring to the incident on the day of the Candle-holding Ceremony when she was kidnapped by Madam Emma, a “Succubus.” Although Emma technically came to kidnap Yulia, Isabel felt it was trouble she had caused due to her lack of caution. Isabel would never make the same mistake twice. As a “jack-of-all-trades,” her strength lay in her powerful learning ability—she only needed to suffer once from such an event.
“I know drinking alcohol while pregnant isn’t good… but you were definitely going to look for me today, so I took the Drunken Dream Tincture and went to sleep around eight.” Isabel hugged Eivass from behind, bit his ear, and whispered, “I heard that anomalies and earthquakes occurred in Star Antinomy, and the rituals and phones were cut off… I immediately thought you might assume I had already arrived in Star Antinomy. I told the Minister of Palace Affairs that if I received a call, ritual, or carrier pigeon from you today, and it was to inquire about my information, they should tell the inquirer, ‘The Queen and the Lady are both in Avalon.’ I myself entered the Dream Realm, waiting for your contact at any time. If you thought that Yulia and I were trapped in Star Antinomy… you would definitely head to Star Antinomy at the fastest speed and enter the Dream Realm to try and contact me.”
Isabel spoke word by word. “I don’t know what happened in Star Antinomy, but I imagine it must be very dangerous there right now. I’m telling you now that I am in Avalon and have encountered no danger. So, you should withdraw quickly.”
“…How thoughtful.” Eivass sighed with a mixture of relief and wistfulness. “You’ve grown up, Isabel.” From the very beginning, Eivass’s actions were completely predicted by Isabel. She had even considered various possibilities and prepared numerous contingency plans.
“Who helped me grow up?” Isabel asked with a playful smile, returning to the appearance of an innocent and naive young girl.
“It was me,” Eivass chuckled, kissing Isabel’s cheek and then her forehead. “I’ll see you later then. I still have people guarding me outside.”
“Will you come back later? Back to Avalon?” Isabel bit Eivass’s lips and asked softly. “I don’t mind, but Yulia seems very dejected. That child seems sad that she can’t help and might even be a hindrance… You should probably comfort her. You haven’t seen her in a while, have you? Unlike us…”
“Mm… I do need to go back, and I should help her resolve this problem. It was something promised long ago after all… granting her the power to control her own destiny.” Eivass nodded, his expression turning serious. “I’ll pick up Lily and the others and be right there.”
“If possible,” Isabel added, “you could contact the Spirit Tower. They haven’t had time to evacuate yet—if you can’t get the Spirit Tower to leave, at least bring the people out first.”
“Alright.” Eivass nodded slightly, invigorated by this timely piece of information. This time, at least, they wouldn’t lose talent!
“Thank you, Isabel.” Eivass’s gratitude was sincere.
“If I cannot be of assistance to you, I will never be a burden.” Isabel’s lips curved slightly upward as she said calmly, “After all, I am the Queen of Avalon.”
(End of Chapter)
