Another Possibility of Historical

After Erlini spoke, the pitch-black space immediately took shape and color.

It was a scene Iver was extremely familiar with—

This was the intersection of the Lloyd District and the White Queen District, a place called Legal Square. It was a place he passed by on his way to the Pelican Bar.

The setting sun slanted in the sky, and the clouds were thick. The dim yellow light sprinkled on the gloomy street, giving a damp premonition of a storm coming but not yet arriving.

But Iver quickly realized something was wrong.

This was considered a downtown area, but there was not a single person on the road. There was a deathly silence.

This was not an illusion.

Because at this moment, time was still standing still.

The nine of them sat in the middle of the road, surrounded by a glowing Hourglass.

Iver observed that only the old man and Sherlock had no reaction to this at all. Everyone else, including himself, was more or less surprised.

In the face of this sudden situation, everyone maintained a cautious attitude. The atmosphere became silent the moment everyone chose to remain silent.

"Apostles... are they the legendary angels?"

Only a second or two passed before Cheese broke the silence first.

She murmured in a low voice, her voice full of childlike anticipation and longing: "Is it an angel sister helping us advance?"

"—Unfortunately."

Sherlock interrupted the girl's beautiful imagination in a flat tone, calmly explaining: "The essence of apostles is actually Phantom Demons. It's just that they are willing to obey the Nine Pillar Gods and are responsible for assisting the Nine Pillar Gods in responding to various rituals."

"...They are servants who help the Nine Pillar Gods with small tasks."

Ke Ke made a gentle voice from the side, softly explaining: "Don't be afraid... They are only responsible for guiding us to hold the ritual, and are not responsible for specific judgments, nor do they decide the content of the ritual.

"The real name of the advancement ritual is 'Nine Pillar Gods Ritual', which is a ritual to summon the Nine Pillar Gods to descend. In theory, all Nine Pillar Gods should be summoned. But there are too many low-level transcendents like us, and the Nine Pillar Gods don't have time to look at us... so they will send apostles.

"At least one apostle must be sent by the nine pillar gods. Because we are still too weak now, we can only attract one apostle... Only when the apostle arrives can the ritual be established."

"You don't have to care too much about the apostles."

Sherlock suddenly spoke: "Erlini is the apostle of the Equilibrium Path and is very particular about fairness. But not every advancement will happen to encounter the Hourglass's apostle—if you encounter the apostles of the Path of Love, the Path of Wisdom, the Path of Authority, or the Path of Transcendence to preside over the ritual, they are likely to maliciously favor or deceive the participants in the ritual.

"But the biggest influence is actually the compiler of this ritual... that is, the preferences and tendencies of the pillar god."

Hourglass is another name for the Hourglass, which is the pillar god of the Equilibrium Path. It is also the mark printed on Avalon's copper coins.

Different countries have different forbidden Paths. Generally speaking, it is mainly related to the Paths that are opposed to the mainstream ideology, and secondly, it involves political reasons.

For example, the Stibium Kingdom mainly promotes the Path of Transcendence, the Path of Twilight, and the Equilibrium Path, while the mainstream ideology of the Iris Flower Kingdom is the Path of Beauty and the Path of Love. They are adjacent to Avalon, and their relationship with each other is not very good.

Considering cultural invasion and espionage infiltration, the Paths of these three countries are mutually opposed.

—But even so, given that the Stibium Kingdom is founded on alchemy, Avalon and Iris have still not banned the Equilibrium Path.

On the one hand, technology and alchemy cannot be abandoned, and on the other hand, the Equilibrium Path is based on fairness, neutrality, and no borders in principle—this consistent "fairness" is from top to bottom.

"Generally speaking," Sherlock glanced at the old man who had remained silent, paused, and then continued, "the host also has personal preferences—after all, without a clear will, personality, and memory, it cannot be called a true Phantom Demon."

"Therefore, the host will choose to slightly favor the transcendents who belong to their own Path, or make trouble for the Path they dislike."

The glowing Hourglass, upon hearing this, finally made a sound: [No need to worry too much, everyone]

[After all, this is theoretically a ritual jointly overseen by the Nine Pillar Gods, so it won't be too excessive]

[We are not graders or question setters, but merely proctors. We are only here to witness this ritual and ensure no one cheats. Flattery is useless. Even verbal attacks don't matter—of course, although I don't care, this enthusiastic 'detective' is right, I also advise against attacking apostles of other Paths]

Erlini's voice was gentle, not even interrupting Sherlock, nor offering any rebuttal. Clearly, she was the good-tempered type.

[Now then, everyone, according to tradition—during the first advancement ritual, I will provide you with an explanation]

[There are three advancers this time who possess multiple Paths, but please note: during the advancement ritual, you are only allowed to use the abilities of the advancing Path and the transcendent items you personally created that correspond to that Path]

[—Everything you encounter in the Dream Realm is related to, but different from, the real Historical of the material world]

[Perhaps a ritual to summon a higher existence, an assassination targeting a major figure, or a local war could change the world. Or perhaps the world has already been changed, but no one can remember the original Historical]

[And in the advancement ritual, you will see 'another possibility of Historical' deduced by the Nine Pillar Gods]

[The dream you use each time you advance will only be used once, and the content is fictional and differs from the development in reality]

[Therefore, you must also, under the gaze of the Nine Pillar Gods, solve puzzles, or search for items, or defeat enemies, or even survive, to prove your ability]

[The time limit for this ritual is four hours, with a one-to-one ratio to reality]

[You will play a role in the venue, completing your tasks, and each completed target will earn corresponding points]

[Because this ritual is a Full Moon Ritual, cooperation is allowed and cooperative points will be calculated: cooperators will receive an additional 10%-50% of the helped person's earned points, depending on their effort and benefit]

[But you cannot cooperate with the opposing Path you have chosen for this ritual, otherwise you will have 50%-100% of the helped person's earned points deducted]

[Note: Helping the other party without discovering their opposing Path identity will still result in point deductions; but if you do not recognize and directly state the correct identity of the cooperating Path, the helping behavior will not add points to yourself. After the ritual is completed, the three with the lowest scores will be eliminated]

[In this ritual, all intelligent life other than the ritual participants do not possess complete intelligence and souls, and are all fabricated by 'Amber', so acts such as killing, saving, and sacrificing will not trigger oaths, taboos, agreements, or curses]

[The difficulty of this ritual is "Safe". Any injuries or deaths in the ritual will not affect the health of the material world body, and failure to advance will not cause weakness or damage to the soul]

[Further declaration: The dream of this ritual is constructed by 'Amber', and the task and role arrangements, as well as the scoring and deduction rules, are the responsibility of the 'Lord of Scales and Feathers'. It has absolutely nothing to do with the ritual witness—that is, myself]

Having said all this in one breath, Erlini, having issued the disclaimer, finally paused.

[Does anyone have any questions? The next time you advance, the new host won't say so much to you]

No one made a sound, like the atmosphere when a teacher asks in class, "Does anyone not understand?" Utter silence.

And Erlini was not surprised by this.

She added a friendly reminder: [This ritual is very simple and the process is not long, so don't be nervous, and you don't necessarily have to look for teammates. If you still don't understand anything, you can ask your guides after you wake up]

[Remember, everything you see in this ritual is fictional. Do not regard everything you see here as Historical that actually happened—]

As she said this, the sand in the Hourglass ran out.

As the Hourglass slowly reversed, the apostle Erlini spoke the last sentence:

[In 1884, a shocking series of murders occurred in the capital of the Avalon Kingdom…]

When the Hourglass completely turned over, Iver suddenly felt a strong sense of dizziness.

The world frozen before his eyes remained motionless, but the nine people sitting in the chairs disappeared without a trace, like ripples in water.