Great Sin Ritual

Iver's expression changed as he suddenly realized he had made a huge oversight!

Or rather, his desire to surpass others clouded his judgment... causing him to forget an important detail.

The contract he initially signed was with [Shadow Fiend].

Therefore, when Shadow Fiend was promoted to Night Fiend, Iver's contract had already ended!

The contract ends and disintegrates on its own—and the invisible chain between Iver and Nightmare will also disappear.

According to the normal procedure, the Night Demon would be banished back to the Dream Realm by the apostles of the Hourglass.

After that, only Iver could briefly summon the Night Demon back to the mortal world by using a ritual directed at the Night Demon and expending a great deal of power—and that was only if the Night Demon actively responded to the summons.

In the parlance of Xianxia, Night Demon has already passed the Heavenly Tribulation and is about to be forcibly ascended.

The suffix for the "Greater Phantom Demon" [Priority +1] is "Divinity." In a sense, Greater Phantom Demon are gods, or at least demigods. Their power far exceeds the limits of the world, and they can only remain in the Material Realm for a very short time. Otherwise, they might incur the hostility of the Hourglass.

The Celestials who were brought down by the Ouroboros Ring Ritual can be considered victims in themselves. Even so, their existence is still targeted by the Hourglass; not to mention those scattered Greater Phantom Demon who are neither apostles nor Celestials, who have no "official status" but dare to descend to the mortal realm on their own initiative.

Iver currently only has the Third Level Demon Scholar profession, so it is absolutely impossible for him to successfully sign a contract with Greater Phantom Demon.

Demon Scholar low-level profession that can only reach the Third Level at most, do not actually possess that level of power!

This is essentially equivalent to making a pact with the gods!

The Night Demon, possessing abilities in three domains simultaneously, is indeed a god in a sense! — However, the Demon Scholar cannot do it, but the Great Sin Scholar, who can seal away true gods, can!

"I don't want to leave, Master..."

Viennes hugged Iver tightly from behind.

She spoke in an ethereal, hoarse voice, like Doll's murmured whisper, "Seal me away..."

"Like Paradox Flame Butterfly... sealed within Tarot Card!"

Iver looked at Viennes's face... her expression was like that of someone engrossed in a game whose console had suddenly been taken away and held up by their parents.

Her delicate, pale face was expressionless, but her eyes revealed a deep sense of unease and fear.

The scarlet blood marks on her face looked like shattered ceramic, conveying a strong sense of fragmentation.

"Don't worry, I won't let you go."

Iver didn't laugh, but said with utmost seriousness, "I've already said it... you are my little bird."

"And I... am your birdcage."

No one can take you away from me!

Iver turned on the light and relit the candles.

He quickly began preparations for Card Making.

If we let Night Demon go at this time... and Viennes met the Fallen Angel, perhaps Iver wouldn't be able to summon her back!

—You should know that the Fallen Angel were almost brought down by the previous generation of "Shepherd"!

He must have harbored a strong hostility toward the Art of Shepherding.

The Shadow Demon ascended to the Night Demon without any permission from the Fallen Angel. He was able to realize what Iver had done the moment he became even slightly curious.

It's too late to summon the Candlelight Apostle now to ask which Tarot Card are suitable for the Night Demon.

... Of course, even if Iver summoned the Candlelight Apostle before the evolution ritual, he probably wouldn't have gotten the answer. Because the cards suitable for the Shadow Fiend at that time would inevitably be different from the cards suitable for the Night Fiend later.

The contract within Iver has broken down, and the Night Demon is now without a master. He could be sent back to the Dream Realm at any moment by the descending apostles.

"Viennes," Iver said softly, quickly shuffling the remaining cards, "It's up to you."

"Draw them out with me... the two cards that belong to you. The two cards that are most suitable for you."

This is the closest thing to "divination," relying solely on a vague intuition to choose the most suitable card for the Night Demon.

Night Demon placed his hand on Iver's. That dark, sharp, claw-like hand gave Iver a strange feeling of coldness and slipperiness.

It's like the damp wind on the beach at night.

"The first card represents yourself. You draw it yourself."

Iver spoke softly, he and Night Demon exerted force together, pushing the Tarot Card sideways and slicing them open.

Night Demon, relying on instinct, selected one of them.

Ligeia immediately leaned over to look, and Yanis also saw the card Iver had chosen in the drawing. Only Yulia remained sitting on the edge of the bed, looking somewhat sullen but still worriedly at Iver.

"—The Reversed Devil."

Ligeia said softly, "That makes sense."

"Then comes the second one, a card that can suppress your power, representing the Pillar God..."

Iver said somewhat nervously.

There are only nine cards representing the Pillar God, and one of them has already been taken by the Paradox Flame Butterfly. The probability of accurately drawing a Pillar God's card from the remaining cards is not very high... unless it is indeed a "divination" technique triggered by their spirituality.

Then, Iver turned over the Tarot Card.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

"... The Lovers, upright."

Iver said softly, "A card belonging to the Twin Mirrors... makes sense."

The Shadow Fiend, as "Bead," lost its Wrath Brand because it devoured its past self as the Child of the Moon; and it regained its Jealousy Brand because it devoured its past self again during the Promotion Ritual presided over by the Twin Mirrors.

As Greater Demon of the Mirror Demon, the Night Demon also has some conceptual connection with the "mirror".

Suppress the demon with the lover! Iver immediately began Card Making using the remaining ritual materials in the room.

Because the materials for the Great Sin Card that Shadow Fiend would use were prepared in advance, Iver made it very quickly.

But during the creation process, Iver's brow was already furrowed.

He still remembered that his Dark Attribute Mana pool had a maximum limit of only 44 points.

Because he hadn't considered the issue of the contract becoming invalid after the Shadow Fiend turned into the Night Fiend... Iver had to get the remaining six points of Dark Attribute Mana immediately, no matter what.

Each path has its own way of restoring magical power.

The Dedication Path is prayer, but Dark Attribute mana cannot be restored through prayer—the mana used in the Dedication Path's Shepherding Flesh and Blood is the mana of the priest class, and the mana attribute that prayer can restore is also the same.

As for Dark Attribute mana, Iver basically never used it all up.

Aside from the initial Card Making, it was only used when giving Lily the Shepherding · Essence.

The Path of Transcendence method of mana regeneration is sacrifice. It involves sacrificing the lives of others to restore one's mana.

But it's impossible for Iver to trigger the Heavenly Sin —he swore an oath.

At this moment, Night Demon already felt uneasy. The world was rejecting Him, and Hourglass had taken notice of His presence.

... Damn it, what should I do? At worst...

Iver gritted his teeth and gripped his left wrist with his right hand.

Ligeia seemed to realize something, and her pupils suddenly contracted.

... Offering my left arm in exchange for a little extra mana... maybe that works.

Anyway, there should be a way to make it grow back later; he can think of several methods right now...

But the problem is, is one of my own arms... worth six points of mana? To whom should I offer this sacrifice?

But just then, Iver looked up at the "Lovers" card he had just drawn on the table, then looked up at the full-length mirror in the bedroom, and suddenly paused... He realized that a better solution was right in front of him.

"Was this also within your expectations, Twin Mirrors?" Iver then offered a deeply devout prayer to the Candlelight Master, quickly replenishing the mana he had expended during the recent Shepherding Ritual.

Although it doesn't consume much on its own, it adds up to quite a bit when combined with the healing from the Sacrificial Fire Method. Fortunately, I can use my last prayer of the day to fully restore my health.

Once his mana was fully replenished, Iver ran to the mirror and prayed aloud:

"I beseech the Twin Mirrors! Sacred Number God of Two, the God of No Eyes and No Self, the God of pure beauty and flawlessness—"

"I am you..."

As the mirror began to glow, Iver plunged directly into it.

Another Iver from the mirror rushed out, and the two voices overlapped for a moment: "You are me—"

The shadow becomes reality, the body becomes a bubble.

Another Iver, with scarlet eyes, appeared from the mirror.

As mentioned before, the three-attribute mana pools in the Child of the Moon form do not correspond one-to-one with those in Iver's human form. Instead, they are all added together and then divided by three.

In other words, after Iver switches to the Child of the Moon form, the two other types of mana he hasn't exhausted can be balanced to make up for the missing parts.

Iver's mana pool contains 52 points of Light Attribute, 44 points of Dark Attribute, and 55 Fire Attribute.

After averaging, it's just the right amount, not too much and not too little, enough to fill the gap!

So Iver put the two Tarot Card face down together, with the card faces facing each other.

Dark Attribute mana poured in like a vortex... After exceeding five points of mana, the card was completely torn to shreds. This is also why it doesn't require very precious Card Making materials.

A faint, dark purple card outline was clutched in Iver's hand.

So Iver began chanting again, calling upon the Twin Mirrors for the second time:

"I beseech the Twin Mirrors! Sacred Number God of Two, the God of No Eyes and No Self, the God of pure beauty and flawlessness—"

"Please look after my heart and make it as pure as a mirror..."

"I respectfully request the Fallen Angel!"

Without pausing, Iver proclaimed loudly. "Great Sin Angel, Celestial Controller of Fallen Virtue!"

"I am aware of my sins, and I am willing to bear the Brand of Jealousy!"

The prayer ended abruptly due to a mistake, but two distinct auras had already flowed into Iver's hands in his Child of the Moon form—

Update complete! I haven't even finished six thousand words yet... I was planning to finish writing the sealing chapter today and take a day off tomorrow, but it looks like I can't. It's not good to take a day off here, so I'll just continue updating tomorrow...

I'll ask again after I finish writing this part! Then I'll offer up a book, written by a fellow reader, to keep the cat alive a little longer!