Chapter 94
Eivass Decides to Update His Persona
Lily said as much, but Eivass still found a gap to use Illuminate Spell to treat Lily first.
Although she claimed her injuries were not serious, Eivass used nearly two points of Mana to heal her—which was quite high for an Ordinary Person’s Life force. This indicated that her bones or organs were likely injured, but Lily was exceptionally good at enduring pain. Fortunately, Eivass’s treatment was timely, preventing the injury from worsening further.
Unlike the poisoning incident that occurred at the White Dance Shoe Club last time, this time the rescue from the priests for external injuries was very professional and timely.
This incident could not be called the “White Dance Shoe Tragedy”—because there was only one fatality throughout the entire event. And it was the sacrificial victim who had already been controlled by a Demon Scholar before entering the awards ceremony.
—It was the Middle-aged Man who “hatched” a Deformed from his own body, like a chrysalis, and summoned the Deformed that was waiting outside Glass Island back to his Contract Demon.
Generally speaking, Demon Scholars need to perform a large-scale Ritual to recall their Contract Demons. They couldn’t simply recall them with a wave of their hand or a snap of their fingers. Otherwise, they wouldn’t need to carry demons with them; they could just leave the demons in a safe, hidden place and act alone.
Just like the Demon Scholar Eivass encountered during the Ritual, who controlled a Hooked Demon Jack and stayed in his Ritual site the entire time, maintaining a mental connection with the demon and being ready to recall it at any moment. The Demon Scholar who infiltrated the White Dance Shoe Club this time clearly could not perform a large-scale Ritual within the venue. Therefore, he needed a sacrificial victim to facilitate the recall.
That “Mr. Sacrifice” had eaten part of the Deformed’s flesh and blood, and had inscribed numerous Runes on his body—constructing a Shrine with his own body and completing the Ritual within himself. This was why the Deformed was larger than him and could emerge from him.
Although it was unclear whether his will was controlled, or if he was incited or deceived, or even kidnapped and threatened… since he remained silent throughout, helped the Demon Scholars safely infiltrate the venue, and summoned the demon using his own body and life, he had to share some of the blame.
Therefore, that person was not counted as one of the “victims” in this incident.
Excluding him, this incident was a miraculous survival of all! Because the matter was resolved quickly enough, those inspectors and supervisors who were severely injured by the Deformed received timely and extensive treatment from many priests and were all successfully rescued.
—Directly confronting an Upper Demon and successfully expelling it, ensuring Princess Isabel and all the officials, merchants, and clergy present were unharmed, and even the commoners watching from the second floor were not injured in the slightest. Not a single official Extraordinary present collapsed and fled in fear, nor did any inspector or supervisor tragically perish in the line of duty… Ultimately, a Fourth Tier Demon Scholar was successfully killed, and a Second Tier apprentice was captured alive.
This was undoubtedly a great victory. Avalon had not had such a great victory in a long time.
If nothing unexpected happened, various newspapers would repeatedly mention this event for the next half month, or even a month. Eivass’s title would no longer be “Detective.” It would be “Hero.”
He was a genuine hero— If he hadn’t stepped forward and gravely injured the demon with the Holy Sword, the Demon Scholar’s mental control would not have been interrupted; Gordon would likely have died, and others might have also met misfortune; even if the Demon Scholar was apprehended by other means, no one knew how many people he would have killed before being expelled.
Isabel also became very happy, even ecstatic. She seemed to have a lot to say, but ultimately held back. If she hadn’t been forbidden from attending parties outside, she likely would have followed him.
The other people who witnessed all this were also mentally exhilarated. The sudden attack did not instill too much fear in them—because the joy of a perfect victory diluted their unease. After the awards ceremony concluded, the banquet proceeded as scheduled. And the number of people attending the banquet was several times higher than before. Those who had no prior connection with Eivass were also engaging in pleasant conversation with him at the banquet.
Eivass did drink quite a bit, even telling Angela that if he didn’t wake up, she should request leave for him the next morning. This implied that he had drunk too much and might not be able to get out of bed the next morning. But he would return to his dormitory that night, rather than taking leave and going home directly.
—Chloe, who had been lurking in the shadows the entire time, clearly heard this sentence. Eivass had long detected her presence, but he did not expose her. With several high-level Extraordinary individuals around him on high alert, Chloe dared not attack him again unless she had a sure-kill opportunity.
But one can never be too careful. Therefore, Eivass planned to deliberately create a perfect opening to lure her into assassinating him.
Another reason Chloe did not immediately attack Eivass was that she had developed unnecessary greed in her heart.
—Thinking about it, why would she harbor hatred towards Eivass, someone unrelated to her mission? Wasn’t it because his words exposed her, causing her to expend a large amount of hard-to-obtain life-saving items? Her job was already very dangerous. It was only with these life-saving items that she could handle various emergencies. In a sense, these items were her second life—a prepaid, false life. Having lost more than one life, she naturally wanted revenge.
However, the Holy Sword Eivass displayed attracted her attention. This “Red-Hilted Sword” was the weapon of Samuel, the Guardian of the Holy Sword, and the reason his profession became “Cursed Paladin”… He was a BOSS from Version 2. Eivass’s monthly use of “Sacred Sword Technique” to restore its appearance was merely another shell for storing the curse.
Chloe’s judgment was undoubtedly correct. This sword indeed possessed extraordinary value, even involving the secrets of Discs and Heavenly Envoys. If she wanted to seize this sword, it would be best to kill Eivass without anyone knowing it was her. She was unaware of the specific target who wanted to seize the Holy Sword, so she would be safe holding it. Otherwise, she would be bringing trouble upon herself for no reason.
Of course, if Eivass were a pure Transcendent Path practitioner, she would likely remain clear-headed. She would realize that since Eivass could wield this Holy Sword, he was not someone she could easily provoke. But Eivass knew she was not that kind of person. Her coming to his awards ceremony could only mean she wanted to take revenge on him. This action already proved she was not purely a follower of the Path Adaptation, and some other Path Adaptation must have skewed her behavior. And with the real-time reports from the Shadow Demon, Eivass knew she even followed the crowd to the subsequent banquet. She was there to gather information.
As expected, after Eivass said this, Chloe left very quickly.
—The fish took the bait. Eivass thought.
He was not afraid of getting drunk. Because “Wine” is classified as a creation of the Path of Love. The madness and chaos caused by drinking are also a way to communicate with Hengwo. When priests sacrifice to Hengwo, they do so while eating and drinking heartily, being full and drunk. The Shadow Demon’s “Shadow” ability also belongs to the Path of Love, just as the Flame Demon’s flame belongs to the Path of Devotion. This was why Eivass used the “Moon” card when drawing power from the Shadow Demon to create the Great Sin Tarot. From this perspective, the more Eivass drank, the closer his mental connection to the Shadow Demon became. Even if he got completely drunk, he would not fall into a coma. At most, the Shadow Demon would take over. And the Shadow Demon in its current state was completely trustworthy.
Therefore, Eivass did not pretend to be drunk; that would only make Chloe wary. Just as Eivass had just used his own body as bait, luring the Deformed to attack him before counterattacking—he did not shy away from using himself as bait. On the contrary, he liked this strategy of “investing a large amount of bait.” This might be why his compatibility with the “Shepherd’s Method” was so high.
Since he was going to put on a show, he had to go all the way—Eivass was genuinely drunk, and he had intentionally drunk himself to that state. Otherwise, both Fire Worship Magic and other priests’ Illuminate Spells used on him could dispel the drunken state. But Eivass deliberately did not do so. His excuse was that he also wanted to get drunk once and see what it felt like—it happened to be a particularly happy occasion, perhaps a good opportunity.
Someone asked with concern if his legs had any problems… and Eivass took the opportunity to lay the groundwork for others, updating his persona. He preemptively explained that he was not actually disabled, which was why the Deformed attacked him at that time. He had been sacrificed by a Demon Scholar during a Ritual, which caused muscle weakness in both his legs. He could actually move, but he would fall easily… so for the sake of conserving energy, he usually used a wheelchair.
In other words, he could actually stand up. It was just very tiring, so he used a wheelchair for mobility during his rehabilitation period. And he also did rehabilitation exercises to recover his physical strength. This way, if he accidentally stood up in the future, there would be an explanation.
Although Lily was full of questions, she did not expose Eivass. When asked, she calmly helped Eivass elaborate on his settings and details, as if it were all true. Lies and deception were also abilities of the Path Adaptation. Eivass finally determined that Lily’s talent lay in the Path Adaptation.
After all, the Shadow Demon submitted faster than Eivass had expected; and the experience bonus pack from the Deformed allowed Eivass, who had no time to train his “Ritual” skills, to rapidly increase his Professional Level in the Transcendent Path. Eivass had previously estimated it would take more than half a year, but now it seemed he would not need that long to shed the “Wheelchair Man” persona. Whether he went to other countries or followed his mentor for archaeology, he had to be able to walk. He had never heard of people going on archaeological digs and adventures in wheelchairs.
As the protagonist of the banquet, Eivass cooperated so actively. Therefore, the atmosphere was exceptionally warm.
When they returned to No. 14 Ronin Street, it was past midnight. On the way, Eivass had fallen asleep. He arrived home covered in Lily’s jacket. Lily then helped the sleeping Eivass wipe himself down, gave him a hangover remedy, and placed him on the bed. She then went to sleep in the guest room, separated by a wall.
A full two and a half hours passed after that. It wasn’t until three in the morning that Chloe, who had been lurking for a long time, quietly emerged, her green pupils glinting like a wolf’s. She paced silently around the room. She easily found the large key hanging on the wheelchair.
