Iver's Plans

# Chapter 24 Iver's Plan: So You're a BOSS Too, Bro!

Iver immediately felt a sense of kinship.

Although Iver should theoretically be on the protagonist's side, he was well aware of his own vile nature. He felt like he might not be too far off from becoming a BOSS himself.

Moreover, in Iver's view, the so-called BOSS was, in a sense, a "hero who took a wrong step."

—At least, that's how it was after everyone's prestige increased starting from the mid-game.

It was because they stood on the wrong side, resisting the tide of the times; or because they took a wrong step for various reasons... that they became BOSSes and entered dungeons.

If they could have made the right choice in those critical, wrong decisions, perhaps they could have survived. They might even have become remarkable heroes. Because they all harbored their own beliefs.

Take Samuel Mathers, the Holy Sword guardian, for example.

He loved his birth country, Avalon. Therefore, after the Avalon Kingdom was destroyed, he traveled the world, seeking power. He eventually found the technique to reforge the Holy Sword, reforging the key to the St. Genevieve Chapel he guarded into the "Holy Sword - Red Hilt Sword" once used by the ancient hero Galahad.

But what he didn't know was that this sword contained a powerful curse. That was why it had been cut off and sealed by the Mage Merlin.

Using this sword required a firm and pure will. Samuel, who picked up the Red Hilt Sword without warning, was almost instantly swallowed by the curse that had been brewing for hundreds of years, and his mind was controlled by the light-attribute Phantom Demon born from the curse. He eventually became a key executor of the "Shadow of Avalon" project.

Iver treasured the heavy key.

He knew how much Bishop Mathers valued this key, and he knew that the other party was clear about the key's origins and value.

He valued Iver so much that, in order to protect Iver, he was even willing to lend it to Iver temporarily for self-defense—

At this moment, Iver had already made up his mind.

In addition to his sister Yulia...

He would also change the fate of Samuel Mathers as repayment for the trust and importance placed in him at this moment.

Strictly speaking, this was not difficult. He just needed to stop him from reforging the Holy Sword. And a more fundamental method would be to prevent the destruction of Avalon.

And this was what Iver was going to do anyway.

Because our goals are the same.

In Iver's heart, the task he was about to undertake was once again increased. But he didn't feel burdened; on the contrary, he was eager to try.

Just then, a thought popped into Iver's mind: Although he really didn't remember the main storyline, and he had basically forgotten those important NPCs. He only remembered a few of the protagonist's NPCs, and he didn't remember when the rest joined the team, nor did he watch their personal storylines at all.

But Iver remembered the BOSSes!

At least, he could recite the BOSSes in the main storyline like a treasure. He not only knew their names, professions, and mechanisms, but also knew some of their backgrounds—such as how they embarked on this path.

So, Iver actually had a very mature and stable way to obtain "comrades."

—That was to prevent the fate of some people who were originally destined to become BOSSes.

The fact that they could grow into BOSSes that players needed to solve meant that they must also have good strength. If Iver could redeem some of the people who were good in nature at the right time, he would surely be able to get their feedback and help.

Coming back to his senses, Iver pretended not to know the value of this key, but still looked like he valued and was grateful to Bishop Mathers, thanking him earnestly and vowing that he would return it within two months.

This was not contradictory.

If there were no accidents, the incident that led to Yulia's loss of control should happen in just over a month.

In that incident, at least three Third Level Demon Scholars, one Third Level Law Mage, and one Fourth Level Arbitrator participated. He knew the Arbitrator's weakness and could potentially prevent him from attending through prior manipulation.

But the remaining four would still be difficult to deal with. Not to mention those Demon Scholars who were prepared in advance.

In the original storyline, the enemies were defeated thanks to Yulia's sacrifice.

To save the player and Iver, she voluntarily lost control multiple times, ultimately fully awakening the Paradox Flame Butterfly. Relying on her last shred of rationality, she controlled the Paradox Flame Butterfly to kill those enemies and had the player take Iver away.

After that, Yulia's soul vanished, becoming part of the Paradox Flame Butterfly.

And Iver couldn't just call for backup—because he would seal the Phantom Demon and use the Shadow Demon in this incident, and Yulia would also expose her identity as a Phantom Demon egg. It was best if no one knew these two secrets of his except for Yulia.

Originally, Iver had planned to use the Phantom Demon sealed by the Blank Card to resolve that incident.

Now, with this "Holy Sword," Iver had much more confidence.

"...Then let's continue learning."

Bishop Mathers steadied his mind, barely accepting the existence of someone "more talented than himself."

So he more earnestly imparted his experience to Iver: "The so-called Illumination Spell is not about emitting a flash of light, but a principle similar to the Sacrificial Fire—treating pain, curses, and fatigue as 'darkness,' and then dispelling them with light. Because it's not burning but illuminating, dispelling them through the faint heat in this light. So this process is more stable, slower, and safer.

"Imagine yourself as a candle, and your palm as the candle's wick. Ignite your life force by channeling your Flame Affinity, or you can use external fire to help ignite it, which can save some of your mana. But you have the power of the Flame Container Path, so you don't need to be so frugal.

"Then you just need to continuously inject Light Affinity mana, gently stroking the other person's forehead, back of the head, or heart with your palm, injecting the light you've drawn from burning your life into them, which can be used to soothe the mind, dispel curses, and heal injuries respectively..."

The Illumination Spell was very simple. As long as you had a little Light Affinity mana, you could learn it very easily.

Iver didn't use experience to accelerate his learning, and it only took him a dozen minutes to learn it. This proved that he really did have talent.

Afterward, he paid three more experience points and quietly learned the Blessing spell. But he didn't show it—because the Blessing spell was the most difficult among the Sacred Arts. Being able to instantly learn a simpler Sacrificial Fire spell could be explained by Iver's innate Flame Affinity.

But the Blessing spell was not a technique that could be learned immediately.

It involved strengthening allies, sanctifying sites or items, creating holy water, and other methods... It was very complex. Just listening to the lecture took more than an hour.

And the fact that Iver spent a full three experience points to learn it proved its difficulty. This showed that Bishop Mathers' initial calculation was completely correct—for Iver, Blessing was indeed three times as difficult as Sacrificial Fire.

In other words, Iver used four experience points to save two or three days and a week of time—which was completely worth it.

Because what he lacked now was time.

—Tomorrow night is the full moon of November.

The days of the full moon and new moon each month are the two designated days for advancement rituals.

And the success rate of the ritual during the full moon is twice as high as that of the new moon, while the probability of getting rare entries is higher during the new moon.

In a month and a half, he would participate in a difficult battle. Before that, he had only three advancement opportunities at most.

If Iver didn't deliberately stall his level, he could probably advance to Priest, Demon Scholar, and Priest during the full moon, new moon, and full moon respectively.

If he missed this day, he would have to wait another two weeks to advance. And before completing the advancement, the overflow of skill levels would not be converted into profession levels. That would cause a waste of experience... which would directly lead to the collapse of subsequent plans.

As long as Iver wanted to create the first Blank Card within a month and a half, he had to complete these two Priest advancements at least, and he had to complete the first advancement tomorrow—otherwise, with only half a month left, even if he took shortcuts, it would definitely not be enough to raise the Priest level to 19.

—Fortunately, the two at the Pelican Bar provided valuable public experience!

Iver now had fifty public experience points left. By evenly investing them into the four Sacred Arts, raising each by one or two levels, he could raise his Priest level to 9! In this way, he could enter the Dream Realm tomorrow during the full moon to complete his first advancement ritual... and directly light up the second layer of his Dedication Path!