ushernet Chapter 74: Chapter 46: Shipment Made!
Chapter 74: Chapter 46: Shipment Made!
Glass Island, White Queen District.
In a pure white room on the second floor of the Brown Hotel, a well-dressed, genteel young gentleman leisurely savored a freshly seared steak in his room.
Standing by his table was a spirit maid in her soul state. She had a translucent white spectral body that appeared to be only seventeen or eighteen years old, and her attire resembled that of the "Fox," both wearing white priest robes without the mitre. The only solid part of her was her spine, and through her translucent white form, one could barely make out the pale color of her backbone.
Suddenly, the girl leaned down and whispered something into the gentleman's ear. Her lips moved, but no sound came out.
However, the gentleman reacted as if he had heard something, raising his eyebrows and taking out a gold pocket watch encrusted with gems from his chest. He flipped it open.
"It's almost over, eh?"
After glancing at the time, he put the watch away and stuffed the remaining small piece of steak into his mouth.
He chewed vigorously, with meat juice seeping out. Some of the tougher sinews made a crunching noise as he chewed them, but thanks to his good teeth, he ground the meat and swallowed it.
The young gentleman muttered to himself with a mix of satisfaction and reluctance, "I really hate to part with such a young and healthy body..."
Meanwhile.
In the room below the gentleman's, a maid who bore a resemblance to a newsboy cleaned the room in a leisurely fashion, sighing with some worry.
"It's finally ending... what a torture. It's really too horrific."
Elsewhere, Sherlock, hiding with Lulu in the abandoned chemical plant along with Her Royal Highness, had no common topics at hand and thus maintained a polite yet somewhat awkward silence.
He focused on the sun as it slowly climbed to its zenith and suddenly said, "It's about time."
"What?"
Lulu asked subconsciously while holding a child, then quickly realized and perked up, "Is the ritual about to end?"
"There are four survivors left. Those two haven't died until the very end."
Sherlock said quietly, "'Bone Sculptor'... Lars Graham, is it? I'll look into him."
"If it's not—don't say I told you!"
Lulu whispered nervously.
The newsboy sighed.
"My respected princess," he said languidly, "Normally, even if I did mention it, he wouldn't know it was you. I know 'Lulu,' not 'Isabel Du Lac.'"
"...Eh?" Lulu, who had been earnestly playing the role of "Annie Alexander," was suddenly taken aback as her real name was revealed.
"Master Yanis is being far too irresponsible. Although a failure in the first advancement ritual carries no punishment, and with your noble status, you do not fear your real identity being discovered, I think some basic knowledge still needs to be taught in advance. Not all setbacks have their meaning—especially when the setbacks you've faced have been numerous."
The newsboy adjusted his newsboy cap, looked down, and spoke indifferently, "I will report to Her Majesty the Queen in great detail about this ritual, including the unusually difficult nature of this ritual, information about the 'Bone Sculptor,' the 'Knight,' the 'Fox,' and 'Coco,' as well as matters between you and Mr. Fox. Of course, this also includes the mistakes you made in this ritual—I have them all memorized without missing a single detail.
"This time is an exception. But remember... from the second advancement ritual onwards, failure and death in the ritual will come with a price.
"I am one of the rare Transcendents of the Path of Wisdom in Avalon. Unless there is an unexpected turn of events, Her Majesty the Queen may entrust me to advance alongside you and protect you during the ritual. I hope that the next time we meet, you will have somewhat corrected your naively reckless behavior."
[Self-Preservation: Ensure your own survival (Incomplete)]
[Heart is the Sanctuary: Choose not to hide within the Cathedral of Candle Master, take the initiative to go to Judiciary Square (Points: 100)]
[My Unforgotten Nature: Heal those destined to die (Points: 100)]
[Once and for All: Find and kill the killer (Points: 500)]
[My Favorite Jasmine: Ensure the survival of your wife, Annie Alexander (Points: 500)]
[Live Longer: Among the nine ritualists, survive as long as possible, or at least die later (Points: 100)]
[The Beginning of Everything: Find the mastermind behind the scenes (Points: 1000)]
[Total Points 2900, Ranking First]
The familiar figure of a stag, as transparent and pure as a ruby, emerged again in the distance.
Its blood fell to the ground, igniting red flames where its hoofprints landed.
It approached Aiwass once more and gently licked his cheek.
The black thorns around its neck pierced Aiwass's cheek, leaving an almost invisible wound that oozed black blood—
Three words materialized before Aiwass's eyes.
Continue reading at m|v-l'
[Light Affinity LV1 (Blue): You were scratched by the Sin Thorn of the Candle Master and gleaned a bit of the essence of light.]
He hadn't yet had a chance to see if the remaining two lines expanded on the entry, as the two lines of blue and white text were completely incinerated by the black flames.
Two beams of purple radiance erupted, emitting a deep hum.
This all too familiar sound made Aiwass's eyes widen and he immediately became alert.
—Jackpot!
He hit the jackpot on his first ascension!
And two at that!
...Could it be that the ranking of points really determines the quality of the rewards?
That's not a setting in the game... but it actually makes more sense this way.
Though it seemed more like a setting that should have always been there, possibly cut for the sake of fairness...
Aiwass's eyes flew open as he caught sight of two rare lines of purple text:
[Vessel of Blaze and Brilliance (Purple): Fire springs from light, and light floats atop fire. Your soul is nourished by both.]
[Tainted Light LV1 (Purple): No light is absolutely pure, just like the human heart. You attempt to infuse deadly poison into your own light.]