Path of the Beast (Third Update)

"... Actually, my only problem is..."

After hearing Iver's story, Sherlock's first reaction was to frown. "How could you entrust such an unverified ritual to Ms. Meg? What if something happens to her..."

"If she doesn't successfully change her path, then it's not much different from something happening."

Iver interrupted, "Her lifespan, at most, wouldn't have reached three months. What else can you do? You can only try anything, even if it's a long shot."

Sherlock fell silent.

He knew, of course, that Iver was right—he only needed to deduce a little to know the cost of Meg's failed job change.

If they fail to extend Meg's life, it will only bring forward her death by a few months. It won't have any significant impact.

Rather, it was because he was powerless to bear the consequences of Meg's death and couldn't think of any solutions... he was tormented by his own incompetence.

"... But you can use me as a test subject first."

Sherlock answered quietly, "My life is cheaper than Ms. Meg's."

He knew his words were weak and ineffective, even unreasonable. So he couldn't raise his voice.

The lack of logic in his words made him so sensitive that even he himself felt overreacted by them.

But there was no other way. If he didn't say anything, he would feel even more pain.

Sherlock loathed this feeling of powerlessness.

It was just like when I was a child, when my father was wrongly accused of assassinating the royal family and imprisoned, and the "evidence was conclusive."

Sherlock could easily come up with countless arguments to refute that evidence—each piece of evidence seemed plausible at first glance, but upon closer analysis, it was all nonsense. The far-fetched motives were even more laughable.

... But the problem is, he never had a chance to say it.

Nobody cared what he said. They didn't even care about the truth.

The toddler looked up, anxiously trying to tug at the clothes of everyone passing by, explaining the obvious truths to him, but no one was willing to stop for him. They didn't even look down at him, as if he were just air, just a ghost.

—At that time, Sherlock was so anxious that his ears rang.

The sudden ringing in his ears made his whole world seem to quiet down.

In that instant, he could not hear the voices of everyone around him, nor the noise of the banquet.

It was as if a toddler stood on the shore, shouting at a roaring tsunami, trying to stop it with his voice. That feeling of helplessness made him feel physically nauseous... Even now, just recalling it makes him want to vomit. And that tinnitus returned.

But Iver's words suddenly pierced through the gray memories—

"... Didn't I invite you this time?"

Iver looked at him in surprise, a shameless smile spreading across his face, "Why don't you try it yourself first? If it works, I'll promote it to the young people of Avalon."

"If we succeed, Avalon will have its own Path of Wisdom. In the future, intelligent people like you won't be stuck at the Third Level, will you?"

"You need to understand, Isabel will definitely continue Queen Sophia's policies. If necessary, I'll keep an eye on things for you. From now on, the Path of Wisdom will be the legitimate path, and mages will be the legitimate profession. We need to enrich our talent pool so that we can catch up with Star Antimony..."

Sherlock stared blankly at Iver, who was recounting these events at length.

He noticed that Iver's hair had grown longer again, and that Iver's eyes seemed to be shining. Despite being just a lowly consultant for the Bureau of Supervision, Iver was still telling him these important things.

—If someone had stopped back then to listen to that anxious child, perhaps he wouldn't be so cold and withdrawn now.

In that instant, Sherlock felt the buzzing, unsettling sound that kept ringing in his ears, like a tsunami, being dispersed by Iver's voice.

... It's so noisy.

Sherlock's lips curled up for a moment unconsciously, but he quickly realized it and smoothed his mouth back.

—I can't show that I'm very happy, otherwise this Fox will surely get carried away. That's just his personality; the calm and composed demeanor he displays is just a facade. Deep down, he's still a child who never grew up.

Sherlock listened intently to Iver's earnest explanation, his face serious. He had originally planned to try any ritual, no matter how outrageous it was... but the more he listened, the more astonished he became.

Because it felt like the ritual Iver pulled out... was something special? "... The Mitra Worshiper is a profession passed down in the Parthian Ancient Kingdom, with a special religious organization called the Mitraism. Only young male sages who are neither disabled nor married can join the cult and become a member—I think you should be considered young, so it's not a big problem."

"Some King of the Parthian Ancient Kingdom were named ' Mithridates,' which means ' Child of Mitra.' The name Mithra implies covenant, friendship, alliance, and loyalty. This is His most primal divinity, that is, the God of Contracts."

"Some believe He is the sun god, the god of light, and in some places, stories tell of Him roaming the earth as a deity who punishes good and evil. He is also the God of War. But essentially, His divinity is tolerant—according to the Mitraism, almost any deity can be accommodated within Him..."

Who exactly is Mithra?

Sherlock couldn't help but ask, "Is He the celestial ruler of the Path of Wisdom?"

Upon hearing this, Iver's lips curled up slightly.

"That's the problem, Sherlock."

Iver calmly replied, "No Mithra."

"...What?"

"There is no such thing as Mithra. There is no god like him... There is no celestial being or apostle with this name, these deeds, and these powers. It's obvious that his path in legends spans five paths: balance, wisdom, power, dedication, and adaptation. How could he possibly be a real 'god'?"

Iver's lips curled up slightly. "However, there are 'multiple gods'."

"The essence of the Mithra religion is a product of mixing together the stories of some fallen celestial beings."

"His story itself is intertwined with five paths. And the act of creating a fictional god is itself in accordance with the Path of Beauty, its purpose is in accordance with the Path of Transcendence, and the preservation of the deeds of the already deceased celestial beings is a power from the Path of Twilight..."

At this point, Iver paused slightly.

"... And what about the Path of Love?"

Sherlock couldn't help but press for an answer.

He knew that Iver was deliberately teasing him, but his curiosity was indeed piqued.

"The story told by Mitraism also contains another story: the birth of the Path of Love."

"Before the Path of Love was born, this path was called the Path of the Beast. At that time Pillar God of the Path of the Beast was called the Beast Lord, Constant Self was still the Moon Angel. She was not even a Celestial, but an apostle of the Beast Lord."

"The Beast Lord was not killed by Constant Self, but fell in love with Constant Self and was tamed by his own love, ultimately peacefully abdicating. This is the second of the three Pillar God replacement events, the ' Forbidden Fruit ' event witnessed by the elves."

"The essence of Mitraism is the creation of a male sun god... and this act is similar to what the Constant Self once did. From this perspective, Mitraism is a tantric religion born from the power of the Nine Great Paths, 'the memory of the one, the promise of the three, and the words of the five.' Its power comes from those dead gods and does not belong to any current Pillar God."

Iver recounted a secret that terrified Sherlock without any restraint.

He couldn't help but glance outside the door, and only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Ms. Mina hadn't heard anything.

Sherlock glanced at Lily again, wondering—how could she be so calm and collected? "Every believer is Mithra worshipper, but at the same time, they are also the original form of Mithra himself. To advance to become Mitra Worshiper, one needs three qualities: wisdom, loyalty, and order. At the same time, one must be well-versed in astronomy, have at least a basic understanding of astrology, and complete the initiation ceremony."

"If you can successfully change your Path of Wisdom to ' Mitra Worshiper,' you will be able to use the power of Path of Authority such as covenants and punishments, as well as the abilities of Dedication Path such as the sun and light, at the level of the wisdom path, and your body will also be strengthened. This way, you won't have headaches anymore."

Iver patted Lily on the shoulder. "Go back to sleep first, Lily."

"Sherlock, you're responsible for handling the astronomy and astrology issues yourself. Just get the basics down; you don't need to delve into the Path of Adaptation. As long as you can understand what they mean, that's enough."

"Don't sleep tonight, get ready. I'll help you with the initiation ceremony when the sun rises tomorrow."

Chapter 3, updated!