Ritual of Counterattack: Shadow of Avalon

... The Silver Crowned Dragon mentioned me?

What good could that be?!

He still remembers.

The first time he was noticed by the Silver Crowned Dragon was because the dragon swore he wouldn't use his own kind as ritual material... and that was all thanks to Old Moriarty's manipulation. After all, who knew that Simple Oath could summon the lofty Silver Crowned Dragon?

Thinking of this, Iver suddenly felt a pang of unease.

—Could it be that the Silver Crowned Dragon thinks I know about the Sin of the Heavenly Sin? That has nothing to do with me; it's entirely James's father's problem!

Iver suddenly felt guilty. "What... what did His Majesty say about me?"

The Silver Crowned Dragon is the Pillar God of the Path of Authority, the god of all kings. Therefore, it is acceptable to address the other party directly as Your Majesty.

Her Majesty the Queen's words made Iver's heart skip a beat again. "He said you are a natural Transcender, which reminded Him of His younger self."

—Wow! In that instant, Iver realized that he might have been exposed.

For the Silver Crowned Dragon to praise him, it was most likely because His performance in the advanced dungeon of the Transcendent Ritual had been witnessed by Him. Iver wasn't surprised by this, after all, it was a ritual presided over by Gawain, the Silver Crowned Dragon's apostle... It was quite normal for Him to mention Iver's performance to the Silver Crowned Dragon afterward.

But Iver never expected the Silver Crowned Dragon to be so talkative—why would the Nine Pillar Gods chat with humans? Even the God of Candles, with his good temper, had never heard of a God of Candles chatting with people about such things. Since the Silver Crowned Dragon could bring up such matters, then at least Her Majesty the Queen probably knew that she was a parallel practitioner of the Dedication Path and the Path of Transcendence.

Therefore, she could easily see through his lie about "Aleister".

After all, Iver chose this codename to commemorate his past.

"Aleister" is a variant of "Alexander". By changing just a few letters and then pronouncing it in other languages, it will sound like this.

Because the names of Aleister and Alexander are written completely differently in the Iris Language, Iver wasn't worried about any Iris People recognizing his identity. After all, he had seen his biological father's face during the ceremony, and the father bore a striking resemblance to him. If someone knew him, they might recognize Iver's origins at a glance.

— Simply put, it's like the "shrimp-catching" meme. The more Iris People, the less they understand the memes Iver is using—while Avalon people are more likely to understand them.

Since Her Majesty the Queen knows that Iver is also an adaptable being who Path of Transcendence, she probably knows that Shadow Fiend is his contracted demon. Therefore, she can naturally see through who "Aleister" really is.

The good news is that while his disguise was revealed, it wasn't completely gone.

Because the Silver Crowned Dragon praised him, in other words, he was recognized by the big boss.

At least then, his Path of Transcendence is now legitimate. The fact that the Queen could say such things to him so directly at this moment implies that she won't cause him any trouble.

Iver had previously worried that he might run into Court Ritualist when he came to the Silver and Tin Palace.

Although he had never seen one before... the Court Ritualist kept by Avalon must at least be at the Third Level, right? So once they got close, it would be easy for them to recognize his identity.

The good news is that Iver won't be dragged out and hanged for revealing his identity Demon Scholar.

The bad news is that the Grand Guardian next to him is already looking at him with a thoughtful expression.

Grandma, take it easy! George and David are still listening!... Or are you saying this to George?

Fortunately, the Grand Guardian intervened at this moment, changing the subject that Iver couldn't possibly handle. "What's next, Your Majesty? Should we stick to the same approach as before?"

Same as before? Iver, who had been silent, suddenly noticed the Grand Guardian's words.

"Yes, that number is enough."

Her Majesty the Queen nodded. "Whether Albert lives or dies... I'll just count myself in, I'm going to die soon anyway."

What is this all about? Iver was puzzled, but dared not ask. He could only speculate that it might be related to some kind of sacrificial ritual...

Fortunately, David spoke up in confusion, "Father, Your Majesty... what are you talking about?"

—Good lad, you also have the ambition to surpass others!

Iver praised David in his heart.

This topic sounds like top secret, I wouldn't even dare to ask it. And you dared to ask it directly to my face!

I'll have to give Miss Aleister a good compliment when we meet again! But Iver belatedly realized that the Queen wasn't sad, which didn't seem to have anything to do with whether she was used to it or not... but rather there were other reasons.

Her Majesty the Queen glanced at David, a slight smile playing on her lips. She seemed quite pleased with his question.

The Grand Guardian did not reprimand David, but instead bowed his head and asked, "Can this be told to these Children, Your Her Majesty Sophia?"

"These are the future pillars of Avalon," the Queen said with a light laugh. "Tell them these secrets to be passed on to them. The curse should be over by now, after all."

Iver suddenly paused.

The key point is, what she said was actually true...

Her Majesty the Queen actually guessed it? This is information that Iver has never encountered in the game.

This has nothing to do with Iver not following the storyline, because even players who follow the storyline wouldn't know what this curse is.

All Iver knew was that the last person to die under the curse was Prince Andrew. After him, no one else died.

Logically, after the Queen's death, the throne should have been inherited by Prince Albert, Isabel's father. He was the first in line to the throne.

Unfortunately, he was a complete waste of space—at least in terms of his royal status. However, he was also a good person.

In the game's storyline, before the Queen was assassinated... he heard that he might inherit the throne, so he secretly fled.

Of course, saying they escaped might not be entirely accurate.

Specifically, he went sightseeing.

Like Isabel, Prince Albert also lacks the adaptability to the Path of Authority. Therefore, although he is almost fifty years old this year, he only possesses the power of Second Level authority.

He had absolutely no interest in the throne. He preferred to travel the country like a bard, carrying his custom-made guitar.

He was a remarkably skilled luthier who transformed the shape and sound of the guitar. This was one of his masterpieces.

He renounced his right to the throne long ago.

However, according to the game's storyline, after Prince Andrew's death, the royal family only had three heirs: Prince Albert, Path of Authority (level two) and Path of Beauty (level three); Princess Isabel, Path of Beauty (level three) and was timid and withdrawn; Prince John, who was not yet three years old.

—Clearly, even if Albert explicitly renounced his right to inherit, his word still didn't count at this point.

So he simply ran away. He used magic to change his appearance, adopted the alias "Yunus," and traveled the country helping the poor and needy, earning a living through donations and performance fees. After the fall of Avalon, he also went to the Theocracy. Whenever Isabel encountered him in the party, his voice was extremely exaggerated, almost like singing—at that time, he was still a fairly popular comedic character.

It wasn't until a later side quest that players learned "Yunus" was actually Prince Albert. He wanted to rescue Isabel, who was in danger, but because he was so incompetent, he caused even more trouble—by then it was already the 2.0 storyline, Isabel was almost level 40, while Yunus was still below level 30.

After finally completing the mission, he revealed the truth.

He only realized his mistake after he had fled. But he dared not return, and could only try to atone for his guilt by doing good deeds and helping others. His accumulated popularity also played a significant role in the restoration of Avalon.

For this reason, Iver never even considered the possibility of Albert succeeding him.

When he learned of Andrew's death, he immediately knew that Isabel was to become the next Queen. So, Iver was actually quite happy at the time, but he dared not show it in front of the Grand Guardian.

"The situation isn't complicated."

The Grand Guardian said to the two young men, "You should know that the ancestors of the twenty Founding Family are now apostles of the Silver Crowned Dragon, right?"

Iver and David nodded.

This is common sense to them.

"However, His Majesty Lancelot, who was also the founder of the nation, did not actually ascend to the Dream Realm to become an apostle of the Silver Crowned Dragon."

At this moment, the Grand Guardian's words startled Iver: "He is still alive, because he can never let go of everything in the Material Realm. His body is preserved in the St. Genevieve Chapel, while his soul is being trained in the Shadow Land... a kind of illusionary demon. Occasionally, he can also encounter his colleagues who have become apostles in the Dream Realm."

"With the Blood of Du Lac, the ancestor can be resurrected. He will once again descend into his body, wielding the Holy Sword Arondight, awakened by blood and unsealed—he will become Avalon's invincible blade. If anyone thinks Avalon is weak at this time, or chooses to betray Avalon at this time... then they will encounter a surprise."

"In fact, we really don't know who the curser is... because our ritual master sealed off all possibilities of non-contact curses three years ago, leaving the other party with only the option of using catalyst curses. And in order to kill someone instantly, leaving us no time to save them, a large amount of catalysts is needed to set up a long-term ritual. From then on, we pretty much knew where the problem lay."

Curse catalysts—that is, things like blood, hair, nails, and underwear.

"Because even with deliberate destruction, the person who can still obtain large quantities of royal contact media over a long period is very likely another member of the royal family. This is why the royal family has never conducted a thorough investigation. Because, indeed, some people have been poisoned..."

The Grand Guardian said meaningfully, "If the Cursed One's goal is to exterminate the royal family of Avalon, or simply to ensure Princess Isabel's succession, then he should have started with the easy targets. He wouldn't have skipped over those who were easy to curse and used poison to kill those who were not—for example, Prince Connett, who shaved his head to avoid the curse and was thus poisoned."

"Meg has always been convinced that the person might be Prince Andrew —in fact, she has no evidence whatsoever, just a gut feeling that something is off about him. And we each have our own doubters... for example, I once suspected Prince Albert. But now it seems that Meg was right."

"After all, Andrew died from a ruptured heart..."

Her Majesty the Queen sighed, "I don't want it to be him either. But it seems there's no other possibility."

Iver suddenly realized... a bursting heart, a symptom of the Heart Piercing Curse.

This curse requires blood from the fingertips, specifically from the middle fingers of both hands.

Generally speaking, this is very difficult to obtain. It is usually used in contractual clauses as punishment for those who Breach of Covenant, and the curse is branded into the contract when the fingerprint is pressed.

This is probably why people are generally not very sad... some people become serious, and some become relaxed.

After all, everyone knows that it doesn't really matter who of the remaining three inherits the throne.

Prince Andrew's cause of death is essentially proof that the cursed one betrayed his collaborator and completely erased the evidence.

Iver also realized why the questline to investigate the curse in the game was closed after Prince Andrew's death; until the Queen was assassinated at a banquet a year later, the investigation into the curse was not continued and the matter was simply dropped.

It turns out that the higher-ups in Avalon already knew the curse had ended... and it would be difficult to obtain reliable evidence to investigate further. Since the other side cursed Andrew to death, they should have already retreated.

"No destruction, no construction."

The Queen said softly, "Avalon's path is too simplistic, and I have tried my best to change it. But it's too late... I think they made their move at this time because I chose to change things."

"In another twenty years or so... no, at most a dozen years, Avalon's rituals and curse techniques will be restored. They realized that if they didn't act now, it would be too late. That's why they acted now and chose the most brutal means to weaken Avalon."

Her expression was serious and solemn. "But the Blood of Du Lac will not be shed in vain. We are the descendants of dragon slayers... If you wish to destroy us, then you must bear our wrath."

"Before this, only three people besides myself knew about this. Later, I will also tell Meg and Arius about it... They are both commoners and do not know about the ' Shadow of Avalon ' ritual."

It was at this moment that Iver truly realized... that this seemingly kind and gentle old lady was indeed a rational and ruthless monarch.

For the sake of Avalon's future possibilities, she was able to endure the royal family being cursed to death one by one.

In order to draw out the internal traitors, and to allow Avalon to rise from the ashes...

This brings to mind the previous communication between the Silver Crowned Dragon and Her Majesty the Queen.

... Could the destruction of Avalon have been part of the Silver Crowned Dragon's plan? Was it a fake death?

But then there would be no need for the Queen to actually be assassinated... Could she really have been assassinated? But who could have known that the Queen was the final step in the ritual...?

Moreover, speaking of which...

The Shadow of Avalon was apparently unlocked when Isabel's brother was sacrificed...

Iver was suddenly startled, remembering something else.

—He can't let the Queen complete the "Shadow of Avalon" ritual at this time! Because the ritual went wrong; what descended wasn't Lancelot at all, but Queen Scathach of the Shadow Land! Update complete! Over 7,000 words today!

And then, today's offering—a recommendation for a friend's new book, "Thank You for Praising Me as Heinous."

A lighthearted, enjoyable read for Paradox Interactive (P社) players.