Ring Angel's Contractor

As the sun rises, white mist rises from the Forbidden Area swamp, just as it always does.

But today is different from the past.

Suddenly, the tranquil swamp split open, revealing a narrow and clean passage.

Merlin, dressed in a dark blue robe and holding a long staff, slowly stepped out. He casually tapped the ground with his staff, and as he moved forward, the clean and soft ground spontaneously rose up, forming a series of steps.

Only after Merlin completely left the swamp did the swamp, which had been parting to both sides like a living thing, close up again. The makeshift steps also disintegrated and collapsed back into a mass of mud.

"... That Jacob guy really knows how to cause me trouble."

Merlin sighed and reached out to push up his monocle.

Despite saying that, he didn't seem unhappy at all, as one would expect when someone bothers you. On the contrary, he looked very energetic and enthusiastic.

He had already traveled from the Fairy Kingdom to Jacob's workshop yesterday.

Just as he had expected, Jacob indeed placed his ritual workshop at the bottom of the swamp.

To be precise, it lies between the bottom of the swamp and the Fairy Kingdom. It exists neither in the Fairy Kingdom nor in the Material Realm... but inside the Fairy Hole.

Of course, this place was not discovered by Jacob.

Because this "secret chamber" was carved out by Merlin back then.

Such a large-scale ritual, once started, would continue to operate for hundreds of years. If it were placed in the Material Realm, not to mention that it might be corroded or weathered, no matter how well-protected it was, it would certainly be discovered, destroyed, or tampered with.

The reason he didn't send them to the Fairy Kingdom was because Merlin knew the fairies' personalities too well.

They are full of curiosity and possess a kind of "I don't understand anything, but I want to try" confidence. If they discover a ritual, they will inevitably modify it arbitrarily.

So Merlin secretly opened a hidden compartment inside the Fairy Hole and stuffed the array base inside.

—If fairies want to go to the Material Realm, they simply walk through the door. Not many people would look down to check the keyhole for problems when entering.

Only humans attempting to reach the Fairy Hole from here can discover its existence by carefully searching through the portal.

So all we need to do is keep humans out, and no one will discover the ritual.

So Merlin specially created a swamp to bury the Fairy Hole.

It was originally just a deep pit. The kind of dark, bottomless abyss—an ordinary person who jumped in would probably die instantly. And if someone panicked and used Earth Attribute magic during the fall, they would fall directly into the Fairy Kingdom.

In any case, this purely material swamp couldn't stop the fairies. Neither water nor mud could wet their bodies, so the fairies wouldn't realize there was a problem. Naturally, they wouldn't report the cave to the Queen.

To prevent passersby from accidentally falling in, Merlin simply turned the area into a swamp. This way, no one would slip and fall. It also indirectly prevented anyone from being lured by the Fairy Hole and unknowingly walking near the entrance and falling in.

But at that time, the swamp was just an ordinary swamp.

Jacob had clearly found the village by following the fairy barrier, but he found it strange that he couldn't find the Fairy Hole. So he eventually found the swamp and successfully used magic to open the door to the Fairy Hole.

However, unlike other humans, Jacob was the kind of idle person who would suddenly stop halfway through entering a room to examine the lock.

Thus, he naturally discovered the secret chamber left by Merlin, and the Shadow of Avalon Ritual within it.

The rest is quite simple.

Jacob had maintained contact with Vivian, and he clearly learned the essence of the ritual from Vivian, thus attempting to modify it. He even transformed the ordinary swamp left by Merlin into a special material for creating Swamp People.

Anyway, this workshop is very spacious and can hide many ritual bases inside. Anyone who wants to disrupt this ritual will never be able to find it from the outside; at most, they'll end up rushing into the Fairy Hole while searching.

What he had received before was ultimately secondhand information—what both Iver and James told him was always vague.

After seeing the array base with his own eyes and studying it carefully, Merlin finally understood the effect of the ritual: although the ritual was very rudimentary, it could actually pull down the Shadow Angel directly.

Why is it able to do this? Because this ritual also contains the power of the celestial beings, and even the power of the Pillar God.

The purpose of this ritual is not merely to pull Shadow Angel down. Rather, it is to drag her into the Material Realm, give her a physical body, bind her with the power of balance, then seal her inside the body and kill her in the Material Realm... thereby usurping her Angel Shard.

Without a doubt, this is a ritual that Path of Transcendence.

"—This is definitely not a prank by that woman Vivian."

Merlin unfortunately realized this problem.

Because when he realized this problem, it meant that he had become involved in a conspiracy at the level of the Celestial Chief.

But Merlin was not afraid.

He just found it all very interesting—

He missed it last time, but this time he can finally catch up with the excitement.

The one who provides power for this ritual is the Son of the Serpent Father, the Ouroboros ... the Celestial Master revered as the Celestial Master of the Ring Angel. He is the Celestial Master second only to the Serpent Father in the Path of Transcendence, the second most powerful being in the entire Path of Transcendence.

The Ring Angel possess the power of "reincarnation, rebirth, and reaching infinity." The essence of this ritual is not to violently bring down the Celestial Masters... but rather a reincarnation ritual that allows them to advance further. It is precisely for this reason that it is so difficult to resist.

Merlin certainly knew about this ritual.

In ancient times, there was a legendary human warrior who, through a blood-soaked ritual of slaying a dragon, usurped its body and ascended to the Dream Realm. In the Dream Realm, he eventually became the Crowned Angel, constantly surpassing his predecessors and growing stronger until he reached the position of Celestial Master of the Path of Strength.

Upon arriving here, Crowned Angel encountered a problem.

He could no longer grow stronger. He had already concentrated all the Path Power available in the Dream Realm, and at this moment, there was still a considerable gap between Him and the Supreme Heaven. He needed to re-enter the Material Realm and gain additional, newly generated Path Power through "action."

However, unlike the apostles who can interfere with the Material Realm, the Celestials who have obtained authority are basically unable to enter the Material Realm again... However, the Ring Angel break this common sense.

Ouroboros provided a ritual called the "Ouroboros Ring" for His friendship.

Having reached the pinnacle of his power, the Crowned Angel successfully transformed into a mortal. He dispersed his excess power, creating the Round Table Knights —these Round Table Knights grew stronger through the power dissipated by the Crowned Angel. Ultimately, they followed Arthur and accomplished the extraordinary feat of defeating the Giant Country with mortal bodies.

Only then will He be able to contend with and prevail over the Supreme Heaven, becoming the new Lord of the Way, the Silver Crowned Dragon.

Like Ouroboros, it devours itself to be reborn.

To devour one's entire self and achieve a complete rebirth is essentially a form of "Moulting Rebirth," transforming oneself into a stronger form and thus having the possibility of transcending again.

—Whether it was the ritual in which he usurped the dragon's body or the ritual in which he later descended to earth again, it was all provided by this Ring Angel.

Even in the earliest times... before He was the Crowned Angel and before He defeated the dragon, He was Ring Angel's Contractor.

Merlin remembered Arthur telling him stories from that era.

That seems to be a Extraordinary Profession related to the concept of "molting." This is also the fundamental reason why Crowned Angel was able to transform back into a human body and become stronger again.

However Shadow Angel and Crowned Angel are different.

Shadow Angel did not Path of Transcendence, nor did she want to replace Constant Self.

If the Queen of the Shadow Land were to descend into Lancelot I's male body and imprison her, preventing her from returning... that madwoman would surely go insane. The gods of the Path of Love are far more insane than the extraordinary beings of the Path of Love.

However, as far as Merlin knew, the Ring Angel and the Shadow Angel had no conflict. Moreover, they had never even had any contact.

So this is definitely not a personal grudge.

—Therefore, there is only one possibility for reusing this ancient ritual.

"Ring Angel, do you want to... take it a step further?"

Merlin raised his head and looked up at the sky.

His gaze was deep, and he murmured softly, "Jacob... are you with Him? Are you also His contractor?"

So, what is Iver's role in your plan? Is he a pawn, an accomplice, a collaborator, or an heir...?

... Or perhaps, some kind of obstacle?