Lily and the Evil Eye

Lily was currently located not far from Iver.

Or to be more precise... the residence of the new Minister of Trade Griffiths, is located near the Iris restaurant, "The Serpent Wrapped Heart."

The situation is different now than when the assassination of Minister Drost was carried out.

Iver no longer needed to follow Lily closely to remotely airdrop Shadow Fiend in... He had other plans for coming with Lily this time.

He invited reporters over, but only reserved one seat for them. His photographer, therefore, had to stay by the door.

The photographer happened to be in a position that offered a view of Griffiths Estate.

He can film anything that happens at the manor immediately.

Meanwhile, Iver happened to be nearby giving an interview.

This is the exact opposite of the previous plan to assassinate the Minister of Trade, where he orchestrated his own kidnapping. If that was to prevent people from thinking "this might be related to Iver"... then this time, it's Iver deliberately making them think that this matter is related to Iver.

Everyone knows that Iver has a very clear alibi. At this time, Griffiths Manor, very close to Iver, was attacked by Shadow Fiends; and the only active Shadow Fiend in Avalon belongs to Iver's Rumored Girlfriend Aleister. These events are clearly connected.

At least the ministers—especially the "Chocolate Faction" ministers—must have thought of this.

Otherwise, Iver wouldn't have needed to leave the Silver and Tin Palace at all.

He came here to put pressure on them.

As Iver's "Demon Contract" and "Shepherding) " Extraordinary Skills level up, Lily's maximum distance when carrying the Shadow Fiend Essence also increases exponentially.

Iver himself wasn't really sure how long the contract could be extended.

But the most significant boost to Shadow Fiend is Lily's Shadow Affinity, which is already at level four.

When Lily's "Shadow Affinity" reaches level three, she will have fully mastered the power of the Shadow Fiend and will no longer conflict with it.

At that time Iver was able to place the Shadow Fiend in Eagle Cape Village and go to subdue the Earthbound Spirit himself; even if the limit was exceeded, the Shadow Fiend was not forcibly recalled, but instead fell into a deep sleep in Lily's shadow.

After Lily triumphed in the last Promotion Ritual and obtained the "Shadow Avatar" Path Trait, her Shadow Affinity reached level four. She was only one level away from fully embracing the power of the Shadow Demon.

This level of Shadow Affinity already surpasses that of the "Assassin Miss". In addition, with the Shadow Fiend essence that Iver bestowed upon Lily when he nurtured her with the Shadow Fiend, as well as the Shadow Stealth ability personally taught by the Shadow Fiend... apart from the fact that she still has a fatal flaw in terms of energy level, Lily's combat ability can be said to have surpassed that Assassin Miss from the "Hawkeye" organization.

At this level, even if Iver were in the Silver and Tin Palace, Lily's shadow influence would already cover the entire Red White Queen District. It could be said that any "knight" without a guardian spirit in their home would be unable to resist Lily's assassination attempts.

Even a veteran knight of the Fourth Level, with the amplification of equipment and the help of Shadow Fiend, Lily can now kill him with ease.

If she is forced to reveal herself, she can transform into a werewolf to gain the ability to fight and regenerate health.

—It can be said that, if we don't take into account the Paradox Flame Butterfly that is fully unleashed under the buff of the Book of Law, Lily is currently the strongest member of the Iver Squad.

There was no other way; Iver simply had too many resources at his disposal.

He knew far too many ways to acquire equipment, rituals, professions, and skills... but there weren't many people he could trust completely, and who could trust him completely in return. The first person among them was Lily.

With Iver intentionally or unintentionally piling up resources, her development was far ahead of schedule. Iver was "fixing" Lily entirely according to the standards of a player, and Lily was completely loyal—she copied everything Iver gave her without adding any of her own "special understanding".

With Iver's help, once Lily advances to the Fourth Level, she'll probably be able to even encounter guardian spirits.

After all, in a world where the "optional Path Trait" are completely monopolized by the upper class, the advantages that Iver can provide in terms of construction are too great.

It's like a Yu-Gi-Oh! real card player entering the world of the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime.

Not long ago, Iver also began to take over the management of Sherlock's construction. As Yanis's successor, Isabel didn't need Iver's supervision much, at least in the early stages. But from her Fourth Level advancement ceremony, Iver had to help her with the job change reference—coincidentally, Yanis should have left Avalon by then, and Iver became her teacher afterward.

Meanwhile, Lily was lurking in the shadows of Minister Griffiths's basement.

But she hesitated to take action.

The reason is simple.

—Because she had some unexpected gains.

In Minister Griffiths's basement lives a demon.

It looks like a giant eyeball, with countless eye stalks floating like tentacles. At the end of each eye stalk is an eyeball of varying size.

This is the Eye Demon.

Demons possess the power to Path of Adaptation, with abilities such as clairvoyance, X-Ray Vision, detection of invisibility, and precognition.

If it weren't for the Shadow Fiend's power suppressing it, the invisible Lily would have been easily discovered. But even with the Shadow Fiend present, it would immediately sense Lily's presence should Lily make a move.

She had considered whether to ambush and kill the Eye Demon directly... but after careful consideration, she decided to play it safe.

It's not a question of whether we can win or not... it's that unless there's a fatal blow, unexpected changes can happen.

Lily was, after all, an assassin, and there were griffins patrolling all around.

If she is forced into a protracted conflict, her identity could be exposed in the blink of an eye. That could directly jeopardize Iver's plans.

So she quietly huddled in the corner, waiting for the demon to leave.

Soon, Minister Griffiths cautiously entered the basement.

He closed the door and affixed a silver-white seal—a supernatural object made with the power of Path of Authority, capable of forming a simple barrier.

Minister Griffiths asked respectfully and cautiously, "Your Excellency, I have done everything you asked me to do..."

[very good...]

The eye demon trembled in the air, emitting a somewhat ethereal sound.

"But I still want to know... what exactly does Master want me to do?"

Griffiths was clearly somewhat confused. "If I don't know my specific goals, I might not be able to accurately guarantee that every step I take is correct..."

"For example, this attack on Minister Moriarty seems completely unfounded. I even suspect that Camelot Minister and the others have already guessed something is wrong. Because I have absolutely no conflict with Minister Moriarty, yet I am launching a fierce attack on him. He is clearly a trusted minister of the Queen, and attacking him at this time is not only meaningless but may also anger Her Majesty the Queen."

His request was perfectly reasonable. But the Eye Demon remained silent, offering no direct answer.

It looked at Griffiths and had already read his mind.

You want more

"Yes, I want more, sir."

Griffiths answered without hesitation, "I want to become Child of the Moon! What do I need to do to achieve this—"

But you can no longer have it.

The Eye Demon provided a clear answer.

An answer that was enough to drive him to despair.

"...What?"

Minister Griffiths asked, trembling, "Why? Didn't we agree that getting Yulia Moriarty's blood would be enough?"

But then, Anti-Summoning array suddenly appeared beneath the Eye Demon. It transformed into a dazzling purple light and vanished into thin air.

"Because he has already seen your future death."

The Assassin Miss's sweet voice echoed inside the sealed basement.

Lily appeared expressionless, her mouth shut and not uttering a word. Black smoke billowed from her body, and shadows beneath her skirt constantly shifted into various distorted shapes.

Malicious laughter kept coming from beneath Lily.

Her pupils were fixed on Minister Griffiths, her fingertips resting on a handleless, dark gold dagger.

That's the "Eagle Feather" dagger.

"Sir, could you please tell me what you meant by that last sentence?"

Lily pushed up her glasses, her gentle, slightly shy voice echoing in the basement like that of a literary young woman who loves reading poetry. "Could you explain to me in detail why Miss Yulia's blood is needed? Whose subordinate is the demon you made the deal with? Or... should I show some sincerity first? [Rest assured, I will not kill you under any circumstances.]"

Accompanied by a fragile and thin lie, a gray spider web emerged from the void, binding Griffiths, whose body was trembling uncontrollably, in mid-air.

Update complete, meow~