Chapter 952
The Highest Survival Rate Ascension Night
From the latter half of the night, Eivass was restless until dawn.
Many people had made a temporary decision to ascend due to the surging Transcendence Atmosphere.
Many were unprepared and rushed into the ascension. Many were injured as a result, and Eivass’s Healing Ability came into play.
However, it was precisely because of this that a considerable number of people were “propped up” by them!
Starting from 2 AM, the Inspection Department began to investigate how many newly promoted Fourth Tier and Fifth Tier Ascenders had completed their ascension within Avalon—Avalon had been supporting Fourth Tier Ascenders with high salaries precisely to ensure that future Fifth Tier Ascenders would only emerge from their ranks.
—Now, this foresightful plan had finally reached a point where it could be utilized.
First were Lily and Yulia—as expected, they both successfully completed their ascensions. The power they gained from the Shepherd’s Method was already overwhelmingly strong at their respective Energy Levels… not to mention that the Ascension Ritual this time was infiltrated by many unprepared weaklings. Even the Night Demon and the Butterfly, with only half their power, were a dimensional downgrade for these Fourth Tier and Third Tier Extraordinary individuals.
As Eivass had predicted, Yulia had long been noticed by the Hourglass due to her invention. The Hourglass was watching her when she participated in the Ascension Ritual. After completing her ascension, she also smoothly transferred to the class of Pioneer.
—It was then that she learned from the Hourglass that she had already met the conditions to become a Pioneer the moment she completed the difference engine.
And she also learned some sad news…
Babbage had not become an Apostle of the Hourglass.
In other words, Babbage’s soul had been shattered.
While the Hourglass did appreciate his talent, it valued fairness more. Babbage, despite his exceptional talent, lacked balanced knowledge, had not achieved any true results, and was not of a high enough Extraordinary Level. This meant he had not received—or rather, had not had time to receive—the recognition of the Origin River.
Babbage’s talent failed to be fully realized before his untimely death.
According to the Hourglass’s rules for selecting Apostles, souls with talent but no achievements could not become its Apostles.
There were too many geniuses in this world, and even more people with talent. If it only chose those with talent, it would be equivalent to choosing the wise—and the Path of Balance was not the Path of Wisdom. Therefore, the Hourglass’s judgment leaned more towards “results.”
After all, It was a Pillar God who was half scholar and half merchant. The merchant side of the Hourglass cared more about practical matters.
According to what the Hourglass told Yulia, a genius who scored a hundred points offered a hypothesis, a genius who scored ninety points drew diagrams and made a prototype, a talented individual who scored eighty points completed it according to the diagrams, and an ordinary person who scored seventy points completed the promotion and commercialization… In its eyes, the contribution of the third person was equivalent to that of the fourth and greater than the second, while the second was far greater than the first.
The Hourglass did not accept “genius-named pre-emption.”
Even if the fourth person did not understand academics… perhaps the invention’s birth was due to their sponsorship, their management, and coordination of the team; its promotion and recognition were also due to this fourth person’s social connections and political status paving the way—then the Hourglass would consider this person equally important to the invention.
The Hourglass was a god that only looked at results. There was only reality here, no dreams.
It was impossible to fool the Hourglass—this one invention could not produce four Apostles. Therefore, although the Hourglass valued the third and fourth more, according to chronological order, perhaps the first and second would die first.
Whoever died first would start the process here. If they died in order, the Hourglass would first exclude the first person, then see if the second person was qualified to be an Apostle. If the second person was not, it would then fall to the third person. As long as one Apostle was born from this invention, all subsequent optimizations and promotions would not result in new Apostles.
As a Pioneer, Yulia had become an Earthly Disciple of the Hourglass.
She received encouragement—or rather, strict urging—from the Hourglass.
—Now, Yulia, who had obtained Babbage’s manuscript, was responsible for realizing Mr. Babbage’s hypotheses, ideas, and diagrams. Otherwise, it would be as if this knowledge had fallen into the void. And if someone else completed the invention first, the Hourglass would unhesitatingly attribute the credit to the person who made it.
After all, everyone faced similar circumstances.
Sometimes, one person’s hypothesis was only a few years, or even a few months, ahead of others.
For many inventions, many people had the same idea simultaneously… such as bicycles, cameras, or subways.
Some remained in the conceptual stage, while others slowly began to research; some tinkered with “useless inventions,” while others immediately sold the original patent and put it into production—the Hourglass did not look at “who invented it first” or “who got the patent,” but at who ultimately succeeded in promoting it.
Selene, however, failed her ascension… Predictably and unexpectedly, she encountered the ritual of the Great Philosopher.
In reality, Selene was not that foolish. After all, she was a part of Lily’s separation. Although her personality was a bit chaotic, there wouldn’t be such a big difference.
It was precisely because she brought Leviathan into the waiting room that, appearing too powerful and too aggressive, Selene was targeted by everyone… and eliminated first.
As the price for failing the ritual, Selene’s soul was damaged. Fortunately, with Eivass and Saint Joan present, they jointly controlled the injury, leaving no permanent damage. However, even so, she would be weak for a month—this meant she could not participate in the Ascension Ritual for a whole month.
Lily and Selene’s progress thus diverged completely.
Besides them, another person who failed their ascension was Du Zhu Tang.
According to Du Zhu Tang, the Ascension Ritual he participated in was for the Lord of Scales and Feathers.
The Lord of Scales and Feathers gave them a battle royale map with a toxic zone—everyone’s power was compressed back to the First Tier, requiring them to hunt other Ascenders or complete missions to gradually recover their strength. The fatal curse of black mist gradually compressed from the periphery inward, requiring them to evade the black mist while gathering strength until only one person remained.
Yes, his Ascension Ritual was not for three winners, but for one.
Du Zhu Tang could have passed. He had even fought his way down to the last two people, and only needed to eliminate the last one to win.
However, the final enemy he encountered was a little girl only eight or nine years old.
—Not appearing to be only eight or nine, but actually being only eight or nine years old.
…This description sounded familiar to Eivass.
In the end, Du Zhu Tang faltered and could not bring himself to kill her. Because if he killed her, it would directly result in a fatal injury; but if he was eliminated by the environment, it would at most be a severe injury.
He was unwilling to act, and she was unwilling to kill him. So, the two simply sat there waiting for the toxic zone to spread, gambling on their luck—whoever was lucky would ascend.
Thus, Du Zhu Tang failed his ascension, and the girl was sent by him to the Fifth Tier.
In addition, Grand Guardian’s son, David, also failed his ascension—he sustained serious injuries, losing an arm. Because his soul was incomplete, this arm would likely remain missing forever. Even if he ascended to become an Apostle, he would carry this injury.
The good news was that his damaged limb was his left arm—another piece of good news was that the Spirit Tower was skilled in making prosthetics.
After being treated by Eivass, the injuries of these failed Ascenders were basically controlled. Saint Joan, upon hearing at 3 AM that there was a large group of Ascenders on Avalon’s west coast, rushed westward—with her there, the safety of those Ascenders should also be guaranteed.
However, this war had to be initiated by a surprise attack before May 5th to prevent the demon legions from suddenly leveling up.
With only five days left, it was not enough for these survivors to recover.
Therefore, this meant they had to withdraw from the front lines—and it also meant that the legion numbers would be streamlined, with at least one-third of them being eliminated.
Although not all soldiers participated in the Ascension Ritual, nearly half did. Statistically speaking, about one-third of the forces would be lost—the advantage was that they gained some higher-tiered Extraordinary individuals, and the front lines would likely become more stable.
It was just a shame that some people had traveled a long way only to have to return without doing anything.
This Ascension Ritual could be considered a turning point in the world’s momentum—because a large number of personnel preparing for war entered Avalon and flocked to the Ascension Ritual; coupled with the refugees from Star Antinomy, they could basically form a table for an Ascension Ritual.
The conversations in the waiting hall were particularly important. Everyone basically knew that their purpose was to participate in the war, protect themselves, or seek revenge. Their common enemy was the Fallen Heavenly Envoy who had descended upon the Material Realm.
Without anyone organizing them, people spontaneously made a gentleman’s agreement: if defeated, they would not betray and attempt to counter-kill, but would voluntarily surrender or forfeit their score; if given the chance to defeat the opponent without killing, they would not forcibly kill them, but would spare their lives.
Although about one-fifth of them were influenced by the Power of Transcendence and would do anything to promote, most people chose to give their opponents a chance to concede or be eliminated by the environment when they defeated them.
For this reason, during the Ascension Ritual with the largest number of participants since Avalon’s founding… it unexpectedly became the one with the highest survival rate among high-tier Ascension Rituals.
—The vast majority of the eliminated did not die!
This moved Eivass greatly.
It could be done if they wanted to!
It turned out that even the highly dangerous Fourth to Fifth Tier Ascension Ritual did not necessarily mean the loser would die—people’s deaths were often due to each other’s malice or killing intent, not the requirements of the ritual itself.
It made sense… the highest difficulty of an Ascension Ritual was “Reality.”
“Reality” was just like reality. It was no different from participating in the ritual with one’s physical body.
The ritual itself was not meant for mutual slaughter. The ritual, on one hand, was to test for “qualifications” and select “talent”—to find suitable candidates to become one’s Apostles in the future, or to expand the Path in the Material Realm. On the other hand… it was for conducting experiments.
Eivass now understood the saying more and more—the existence of Ascension Rituals was for the Nine Pillar Gods to search for the possibilities of history and the future, and Ascenders were the “variables.”
—This World truly needed variables.
It was already extremely difficult and dangerous for mortals to come into contact with Path Power. The Nine Pillar Gods filtered the wild and insane power of the Origin River into Path Power that mortals could easily accept and digest… As a reward for accepting this power, they had to use their souls as “variables” to participate in “calculations.”
The past Eivass did not understand why “the past could also be changed,” nor why “future possibilities should be sought.”
Now, Eivass understood it all.
The past could be changed—because of the existence of the Power of Reincarnation, this World would return to the “past of the past” before the Doomsday. At that time, the Nine Pillar Gods could lead the World in another direction based on the “possibilities” they had collected.
And seeking future possibilities was to counter that unknowable Doomsday!
The Nine Pillar Gods did not want to kill anyone—they set up difficult and unattainable tasks and imposed severe penalties for failure, likely just to prevent people from colluding, making backroom deals, and guaranteeing someone’s ascension, thereby ruining the ritual itself!
And the terrifying death rate was simply because people had selfish desires, and because their respective stances created conflicts of interest and grudges. The ritual itself had the possibility of “not killing”… For example, Mu had never killed anyone in an Ascension Ritual. Even Eivass admired him.
The astonishing survival rate of this ritual made Eivass think of a “possibility”—the possibility that people would no longer kill each other.
If the future truly reached the “peaceful era” that Eivass saw in the Ascension Ritual, it would also be possible for people to reduce the death rate of Ascension Rituals through various “rules,” “rituals,” and “contracts”!
At that time, Extraordinary Ability would truly be able to merge with this World!
Not “Mystical Arts” or “Esoteric Knowledge” that only a few could master, but a popularized ability—a future that was truly mysterious, vibrant, and full of possibilities!
…However, the Doomsday had to be dealt with first.
As long as Ascension Rituals were no longer for “calculation,” they could naturally be relaxed a bit…
And for Isabel, whom Eivass was most worried about, she did not wake up until 5 AM.
Because the “fetus” was also a “creation” of the Path of Love—the principle was the same as with Selene and Leviathan—Isabel had entered with the child.
However, she did not cause Eivass any worry.
Not only did she successfully pass, but under her charm and leadership, she achieved a miraculous perfect ending:
—Three people ascended, nine people survived, and no one died.
“…How did you do that?”
Eivass was incredulous.
It was a cruel New Moon Ritual of “eight die except me,” yet Isabel had carved out another path!
“It was a long, long dream…”
Isabel sighed, leaning on the bed and caressing her belly, her tone becoming more stable: “It was a dream of five whole years… not the future, but the past.
“It was the early history of the Hrasal Empire… At that time, humanity struggled to survive surrounded by foreign races. I gave birth to ‘Alistair’ alone… and raised her until she was four years old. It was truly difficult… For the first time, I realized how much the identity of ‘Royalty’ had helped me.
“Although I always said that the surname Du Lac only brought me a gloomy curse and pressure, a burden I could never escape—but once detached from this identity, without a stable social environment, even a Fourth Tier extraordinary, without stealing, without robbing, without doing anything wrong, it was so hard to live openly.”
Isabel’s voice became stronger, like a mother protecting her daughter alone—a mother’s strength.
The script of the Ascension Ritual had given her a “life” beyond her own.
Humans could almost never truly experience the pain of others, because humans could not become others; but the Ascension Ritual broke this “impossibility,” truly allowing people to experience the lives of others.
“Do you want to record it?”
Eivass said, handing her a pen and paper: “It’s also a valuable lesson.”
“…Indeed.”
Isabel originally wanted to refuse, but still took it: “Let’s consider it material for a novel…
“Nothing is a better fuel for art than suffering. People cannot learn anything from suffering, but artists can chew on it and turn it into burning fire. Let those who have never been hurt briefly experience that heat and pain, and thus revere the flame.”
“You’re quite like a true artist, Isha.”
Eivass chuckled: “Even this muttering is the same.”
Isabel merely shook her head, a gentle smile on her face, and extended her hands: “I’m so tired. Can I have a hug?”
“Of course, my dear.”
Eivass, who had saved many people that night, finally breathed a sigh of relief, moved to the bed, and gently hugged Isabel.
Feeling the warmth in the quilt, Eivass closed his eyes, feeling tired.
Isabel whispered her gains into Eivass’s ear.
This time, Isabel even obtained Path Traits personally promoted by the Twin and the Silver Crown Dragon.
Although the Twin, as a god of amusement, was inherently prone to frequent interference, the Path Trait it gave Isabel this time was solid and substantial!
[Twin Mirror Image (Gold): Your camouflage, mirror image, illusion, and transformation abilities gain +1 priority; illusion realism +50%]
—Combined with Isabel’s existing trait [Tough Illusion], Isabel’s illusion realism had now reached 70%!
This meant that even if the opponent saw through the illusion, they would still suffer seventy percent of its effect!
With Isabel’s development path, she was probably heading towards the path of refining falsehood into truth…
In that case… the power of the Fey… perhaps also the Butterfly Heavenly Envoy…
Eivass pondered Isabel’s future and unbeknownst to him, fell asleep.
Isabel gently patted Eivass’s back, her gaze towards him now filled with sadness and pity.
She could finally fully understand what a sacred and difficult cause Eivass was engaged in.
Just wanting to save this small number of people, just wanting to save the people around her, had already exhausted her.
Isabel dared not even imagine the immense pressure Eivass was enduring.
—She had long realized that Eivass’s urgency and hard work were to deal with some future Doomsday. And from this Ascension Ritual, Isabel had dimly touched upon a sliver of reality.
“Twilight Wall… Bell of Doomsday…”
Isabel murmured softly: “But… you shouldn’t have to bear this kind of pressure…”
She gently patted Eivass’s back, as if lulling a baby to sleep.
“—Rest as much as you can.”
