Iver: I Grant You a Trial

"Ritual punishment tends to eliminate."

Under everyone's gaze, Iver placed one hand under the Book of Law and slowly said, "Like a priest's punishment of the dead, it is also called 'dispelling'. The word originally meant banishment, because people believed that corpses were unclean and had the potential to give birth to the dead, and killing sinners could not completely end this evil—it had to be made to disappear forever."

The Book of Law floated above Iver's palm, and Iver's other hand, aimed at the open pages, suspended itself on extremely complex magic arrays.

The rituals stored within it allow Iver to provide them himself, rather than inscribing complex Ritual Array on the ground. It also provides the "first" ritual... meaning Iver doesn't need materials to perform the first ritual recorded in the Book of Law each time.

Iver has received a total of five rituals so far.

He decided to use one of them to execute Wolfram and completely eliminate the threat.

"Therefore, I will completely eliminate you, Wolfram."

"And you'll agree to it yourself," Iver declared.

Wolfram's face flushed red from the force of gravity, his silent pupils filled with irony.

"Don't rush," Iver said slowly, "Listen to me—"

Do you believe in your own will and courage?

As he said this, he glanced at Merlin.

Seeing Merlin's keen interest, Iver knew that Merlin already knew which ritual it was.

Then Iver declared directly, "This is a ritual personally designed by Weizhe. He has left a final path for mortals who cannot possess wisdom but still desire it. It allows those who have nothing but courage to also attain wisdom."

"I will blind your right eye, sever your right hand, and pierce your heart. With your entire life and soul as a sacrifice, I will offer you as a sacrifice to your future self; the you of this moment to the you of the next second, the you of the next second to the you of the next second after that—this sacrifice is based on the power of the Ring Angel, and it is an infinite cycle. You yourself are the Grand Wizard, and you should be able to understand this ritual."

"You will see all the mysteries of the world—all knowledge and secrets will flow into your mind. The longer you persist, the more wisdom you will gain."

"If you can persevere for nine days and nine nights, you will obtain all the truths of the world. You will directly become an apostle of the Great Sage and gain power comparable to that of the Celestials. But if you cannot persevere until then, your soul will be annihilated under the cyclical pressure of the ritual. This is the knowledge that the Book of Law has given me."

Iver looked at Wolfram and said calmly, "You heard it too, Merlin is on our side. Under his watchful eye, you cannot be resurrected or reincarnated through your previous plan—of course, you can also accept death and see if Bear Angel will accept you."

"You can also choose to accept the trial. Merlin will tell you whether the trial is real or not."

"That is indeed true."

Hearing that he was also involved, Merlin leaned closer and said solemnly, "I swear in the name of Weizhe that this ritual is real. And Iver did not miss a single detail—someone has even passed through this ritual, obtained all the truth of the world, and become Weizhe's apostle. Moreover, he himself is a giant... and is also the apostle currently worshipped by those northern giants."

Merlin's words are true.

The apostle's name was "Odin".

Because he was the only apostle to pass the trials of the Great Sage and obtain the truth of the world, he, like the Great Sage, remained silent and was also one-eyed. For this reason, he usually existed as the Great Sage's shadow, and some people confused his existence with the legends surrounding the Great Sage.

"The giants of the North have been searching for this ritual, but they have never found it. And now it is in my hands."

Iver declared, "I will grant you Trial of Odin."

"If you agree, blink twice; if you disagree, blink once."

Wolfram was silent for a moment, then blinked. But after only a slight pause, he blinked again.

—Iver knew he wouldn't refuse.

The reason is simple.

Because Wolfram was old and had accomplished nothing.

The Supreme Heaven abhors deserters and prisoners, and encourages the courage to fight to the death. He, however, had been imprisoned since his youth, only escaping decades ago. His entire life consisted of nothing but imprisonment. To gain the power to break free, he even transformed his profession into a bound Bound One of Path of Authority.

After escaping, he tried to organize the Noble Red Society, but ultimately failed to achieve anything significant.

In the original timeline, Noble Red constantly caused trouble for Avalon, even directly destroying Avalon —although it was a conspiracy by the Stibnite Person, Noble Red was an important pawn in it. If based on the initial goals of "pleasing Bear Angel" and "avenging the Avalon," Noble Red had actually achieved a basic victory.

—At least Wolfram himself won.

But because of Iver's interference, Noble Red looked like a clown.

They accomplished nothing, and now they are about to be completely wiped out. And even if Wolfram manages to escape, he probably won't have time to reorganize a new Noble Red.

If one could obtain the Book of Law or Sacred Entity, that would be considered a great achievement.

But now...

Iver could see Wolfram's fear simply by looking into his eyes.

He was afraid of being rejected by Bear Angel. He was afraid of becoming a useless, powerless wandering soul.

Even knowing it was a trap, he would never give up.

—Or rather.

Because Iver had made this proposal, which was "risky to death but could yield huge profits if successful," right in front of him, he could no longer refuse.

Because if he refuses at this point, it would be tantamount to choosing cowardice.

Even so, Bear Angel would still be disappointed in his soul.

Even if he passes the trial, he will be personally restrained by Weizhe because he knows too much.

Regardless of the outcome, the result was already determined when Iver made this suggestion.

Merlin looked at Iver and couldn't help but gasp.

This kid... is really ruthless.

"Hehehe..."

Iver let out a cryptic laugh and placed his hand on the Book of Law. The Ritual Array shone with an even more dazzling purple light.

"Then I will give you a trial."

He spoke in a low voice, and the purple light turned azure.

The power of the ritual reduced the Giant King's right eye and right arm to nothingness—just as Iver had initially stated, the ritual "eliminated" them as a sacrifice.

"—I beseech Weizhe, the God of the Four Sacred Number, the God who sees the truth, the God who remains silent!"

At that moment, Iver grabbed Sherlock by the back of the neck with his right hand, who had been standing beside him, and chanted loudly, "I preside over Trial of Odin!"

The power of the Book of Law eliminates all complicated steps.

A storm suddenly arose around Iver.

His magic power poured out rapidly, and even Sherlock's magic power was continuously drawn out by the ritual.

The next instant, the sky began to darken.

The thunderclouds that had just dispersed gathered again, and a strong wind picked up.

A single Deep Blue eye shone through the dark clouds.

It glanced at Iver and Sherlock, then at Merlin standing in the distance. Finally, it turned its gaze to the hanging giant.

The next moment, a bolt of lightning crashed down! The deep blue lightning, like a spear, pierced the Giant King's heart!

The Giant King's eyes widened immediately.

Veins bulged on his face, and countless deep blue runes danced across his skin. An infinite amount of deep blue light emanated from the depths of his pupils.

He trembled violently and struggled fiercely—even with his mouth gagged, his almost roaring cries of anguish were choked in his throat and came out of his nostrils.

His skin instantly turned bright red, then purple. Crackling, Deep Blue light, like lightning, danced around him—that was Wei Zhe transmitting all the secrets he knew to him.

But this state only lasted for a brief two minutes.

Two minutes later, the Giant King seemed to break some kind of balance—his body began to swell abnormally, like the joints of a gout patient. At first, there were one or two spots, and then countless protrusions covered his entire body.

"It's over."

Merlin sighed, "What a disappointment... I thought we could at least hold out until tomorrow."

"Seeking Self-Sacrifice for wisdom, yet resisting the infusion of truth into one's own mind... How ridiculous. Wouldn't that break the cycle of this endless ritual? So self-righteous..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the Giant King inflated like a balloon.

Then, the Deep Blue spear vanished with a crackling sound.

The swollen mass of flesh then began to collapse and shrink inward.

Ultimately, it vanished completely into nothingness.

"What a pity."

Iver's lips curled up slightly. "Indeed... just as expected."

The dark clouds dissipated.

Finally, the eye in the sky above, in the dark clouds, even glared at Merlin, causing Merlin to chuckle and quickly remove his hat to bow to the sky.

But what Iver saw was an unprecedented Grand Banquet—

All that could be seen were white dots of light covering the sky and the fields.

They surged towards Iver like a river, engulfing his body. This time, the experience of being overwhelmed by the sheer volume of fluids was so profound that Iver even felt a sense of satiation.

[Defeat Fifth Level Transcendent and gain 2000 Free Experience]

Only in this way could Iver confirm that Wolfram was indeed dead.

The amount of experience he revealed was more than twice what he should normally receive—this should be evidence of his complete demise.

Iver even saw a few scattered specks of light dissipate. There were probably still about one-seventh left, not many, but Iver still felt very sorry for them.

That must be because I can only absorb so much Free Experience at a time.

only...

Iver looked at Merlin.

He wanted to confirm something.

Merlin, who had become very obedient after being glared at by his boss, now resembled a student who had just walked out of the homeroom teacher's office with his head down and immediately became lively again. He twirled his hat in one hand and leaned closer, asking with interest, "And then? Are you going to hold a ceremony to confirm your 'transcendence' and thus gain an increase in power?"

Merlin was completely oblivious to the glimmers of light in Iver's eyes.

I see.

Now Iver felt more confident.

It seems that even the apostles of the Pillar God cannot see the "Experience Points" they can gain.

"No need," Iver laughed. "I've already got it."

"Oh, really?"

It seems he doesn't want to put on a show in front of me, Merlin thought. That makes sense.

He glanced at the dim, amber-colored village around him and casually replied, "In that case, I'll be leaving."

"Don't worry about the current situation—everything will be back to normal by tomorrow morning. The village that Amber personally froze won't be destroyed for such a simple reason."

Merlin chuckled and put on his mage hat.

"Mr. Merlin! Are you familiar with the contract here?"

Seeing that Merlin seemed about to leave, Hai Na finally couldn't help but ask, "What kind of contract did the ancestors of Eagle Cape Village sign... that led to this situation?"

"That's not something you should know right now, Miss Hai Na."

Merlin said gently, "I will tell you when the time is right."

"—Because I was the one who witnessed the covenant made by the people of the Beheading Valley."

After he finished speaking, he nodded slightly to Iver and disappeared in a streak of Deep Blue light.

Update complete!

It's a bit late, but it's still an update of over 6,000 words! The Eagle Cape Village storyline is over, and now it's time to head back to Glass Island!