Enchantment Card: Shadow Blade

Iver didn't even wait for authorization from the Bureau of Supervision before knowing he would inevitably be involved in the investigation.

If there were no surprises, he could even investigate independently—without being closely monitored by Hai Na, directly participating in the investigation as a "Bureau of Supervision assistant."

On one hand, there was his foster father's reputation, and on the other hand, the Bureau of Supervision, bound by its superiors' rules, was very welcoming to outside help—since Mr. Sherlock, now that he has opened his own office, the "detectives" hired and consulted by the Bureau of Supervision have even become a profession.

If the investigation went poorly, it was because the hired detective was incompetent, at least avoiding severe internal accountability; if everything went smoothly, it was because the guiding principles proposed by the Bureau of Supervision were correct, at least counting as an achievement and ensuring a share of the benefits.

Although Hai Na was a genuine supervisor, Iver understood the Bureau of Supervision even better than she did.

Iver had his reasons for participating so actively in this investigation.

—namely, revenge and silencing.

The two versions of the story that Iver told the Bureau of Supervision were actually false. Or rather, not entirely true.

He was indeed a participant in the ritual, and he did indeed know those two Demon Scholars.

But he was also indeed a sacrifice for the ritual.

Because those two Demon Scholars were actually Iver's "pen pals."

From a young age, Iver had been very interested in knowledge related to taboos. The more the Avalon Kingdom prohibited certain mystical arts, the more excited he became to study them.

For example, ritual magic from the Transcendence Path, and preservation techniques from the Twilight Path.

The former was a basic ability of Demon Scholars, and one of the professions derived from the latter was necromancy. Just from the name, it didn't sound like anything good.

Such forbidden knowledge was only briefly outlined in his foster father's study. Hiding forbidden books was a serious crime, even in knightly families. But after reading the outlines, the young Iver of that time became even more eager.

He frantically bought some ritual materials, attempting to perform rituals based entirely on conjecture and imagination, without mastering any transcendent knowledge or mystical arts.

This, of course, would fail.

The core secret of this world was "knowledge."

The nine mystical arts corresponding to the nine Paths all required corresponding knowledge to master—conversely, as long as one mastered the corresponding knowledge, even if their personal strength was weak, they could obtain transcendent power far beyond their actual abilities. Every piece of forbidden knowledge was almost the foundation of a school. In this situation, it was impossible to buy reliable "skill books" on the market.

And on Iver's sixteenth birthday, a secret society of Demon Scholars, the Noble Red, suddenly contacted him.

Iver was initially very wary. But the other party sent him several handwritten copies of forbidden books with the letter, all about demonic knowledge and demonic rituals.

Although they were all small rituals that were no different from tricks—such as causing someone to grow sores, healing minor wounds, making someone drowsy, or making someone unlucky. They seemed useless, but they were all genuine transcendent rituals! After trying them one by one, Iver became very excited. So he became pen pals with the other party, and often exchanged demonic knowledge, the other party also regarded himself as Iver's friend. They often chatted about emotional life and trivial matters in daily life.

At first, Iver was still somewhat wary.

But two years passed quietly like this.

Iver thought that if the other party wanted to deceive him, they probably would have done so long ago. The value of the secret knowledge they had given him was already quite high—although Iver, who had never been to the black market, didn't know exactly how much money this knowledge could be sold for, even if the quality wasn't high enough, the quantity was already considerable.

—What kind of swindler would operate for so long and invest so much just to deceive one person?

This was neither reasonable nor logical. Nor did it conform to maximum profit.

So Iver gradually relaxed his vigilance, truly regarding this pen pal as a friend he had never met but with whom he was very compatible.

A few days ago, the other party claimed that they had something to do in the Royal Capital and wanted to meet Iver.

Iver believed the other party without hesitation or precaution.

——That was the lie he told the Bureau of Supervision. Because "Iver" wasn't kidnapped, but actively went over there.

They were a man and a woman dressed in red, both with shaved heads. The man looked to be in his forties or fifties, and the woman was about twenty years old. Besides being mentor and apprentice, they were also lovers.

He enthusiastically treated his "two friends" to a meal, after which the middle-aged man said that he could let Iver witness, or even participate in, a real demon summoning ritual—Iver excitedly agreed.

But after he spent more than an hour setting up the ritual, he suddenly realized something when he looked at the ritual platform.

Doesn't summoning a demon require some expensive materials? Only then did he belatedly realize that he, who had personally set up the ritual platform, had become a "willing sacrifice." At the same time, as a student of the Royal Law University's theological seminary, Iver would be able to become a Priest before graduation.

Although he hadn't truly embarked on the path of a Transcender, he had already taken the first step on the Path of [Dedication].

Reflected on his stat card, he already possessed the level 1 Priest profession. Once the experience for the basic skill "Basic Prayer" was full, Iver could upgrade the Priest profession to level 2 and master his first Path Trait of the Dedication Path.

Of course, he happily told his pen pals about this—although "Priest" wasn't as interesting as "Demon Scholar," it was still a Transcendent profession after all. Being able to embark on the path of Transcendence and possess Transcendent abilities was better than nothing.

More importantly, Priests were also respected professions in Avalon.

The symbol of the "Dedication" Path is light, protection, and candles. This is a Path of dedicating oneself to others and ideals, and one can only become stronger by sincerely practicing this concept. Therefore, all professions derived from the Dedication Path are Transcendent professions with bright futures and recognized by people.

Thus, as a "willingly sacrificed 'Dedication' believer," Iver became a sacrifice of extremely high specifications.

It was also at that moment that Iver recalled his past life memories in the face of death. He recognized the type of demon one step ahead and successfully signed a contract with it.

He manipulated the Shadow Demon to sneak attack and kill the middle-aged man who was in a state of shock, who was the Demon Scholar acting as the "mentor". But the woman, as the apprentice, was still alive.

If she had escaped a little slower, she would have been killed by Iver; but if she dared to turn around and take a look, she could have killed Iver instead.

Just a little bit.

Iver sighed.

——Just a little bit, he would have been sacrificed and silenced by that man; and just a little bit, he would have been killed by that woman.

Betrayed, deceived, murdered.

The genuine anger in Iver's heart was echoing. He decided to take revenge without hesitation.

Not to mention, this woman most likely had seen Iver's letters.

This meant that once she was caught, she might expose Iver—no, she would definitely expose him.

His adoptive father's position was unclear now, but even if it was just for himself, he had to silence her before the Bureau of Supervision caught her.

However, Iver also didn't intend to expose his identity as a Demon Scholar in order to kill her.

He had a way.

After waking up yesterday, Iver's first reaction was to try a simple ritual that the original "Iver" didn't know, and only appeared in the later stages of the game. After using that ritual to replenish the life force that had been drained as a sacrifice, Iver basically confirmed that the secret knowledge he knew was also useful in this world.

Iver's profession in the game was not a Demon Scholar of the Transcendence Path... but an Illuminator of the Dedication Path.

That was a pure support profession that could greatly enhance the strength of teammates, and had a small amount of healing and control abilities.

But now, in a situation where he had to single-handedly face those world-destroying crises, such a weak profession was not feasible.

Because the Illuminator couldn't benefit from their own enhancements. Or rather, most professions on the "Dedication" Path couldn't benefit from their own enhancement, protection, or healing skills.

However, Illuminator is fine as a part-time job. After all, Iver's public identity is that of a Priest of the Dedication Path. It's also possible to prepare in advance to become an Illuminator, and he's extremely familiar with the necessary Path characteristics to master in order to advance to that profession.

And to resolve those crises, his main job must have sufficiently strong solo combat power.

Considering that he can also be an Illuminator, then the answer is very simple.

That is the 5.0 version of "Iver", who advanced to become the "Great Beast Master" after mastering the power of the Phantom Demon.

That is a late-stage profession after further advancement from Great Sin Scholar.

After defeating immortal Phantom Demons, one can extract their essence and turn it into one's own summoned beasts, which are the "Great Beasts" of six attributes.

Although only one "Great Beast" can exist at a time, it can be switched to the one most suitable for handling the current situation, and then use support cards, equipment cards, and field cards made from the power of other "Great Beasts" to strengthen the current one.

And most importantly, this summoned beast is counted as a "teammate".

Not only does its output far exceed the main body, but it can also receive all types of buffs given to teammates.

In game terms, this profession has the highest "buff-receiving rate".

Because the enhancements given by the cards are all high-level mechanism-type buffs—such as triple speed, armor penetration, poison, burn, evasion, and magic penetration—but no damage increase buffs. This happens to not be diluted by the various damage increase buffs of the Illuminator, the most mainstream support.

Although after summoning the "Great Beast", the main body cannot receive attack buffs, so the main body's output will be somewhat weak.

However, during burst cycles, the Great Beast Master can briefly merge the summoned and fully strengthened "Great Beast" with himself, thereby unleashing extremely strong power.

With the Illuminator cooperating with the Great Beast Master, Iver can strengthen his summoned beast as a "teammate". And he won't lose the social benefits brought by his public Priest identity, while also being able to switch to summoned beasts that counter different enemies, with a very high upper limit.

Under the worst-case scenario, if he is the only one who can fight the BOSS—then this profession combination may not have the highest burst in an ideal state, but it must be the most comprehensive and adaptable.

The ability to extract the power of upper-level Phantom Demons and use Tarot cards as materials to make Phantom Demon Cards comes from the previous profession, Great Sin Scholar.

The Great Sin Scholar can obtain corresponding ritual knowledge after fully researching and analyzing a Phantom Demon—what cards this Phantom Demon can be used to print, what materials and rituals are needed. Once this knowledge is known, even a Demon Scholar can make them in advance.

The most important prerequisite for advancing to Great Beast Master is to use the Great Sin Scholar's ability to make six blank cards of different attributes, and seal six Phantom Demons of corresponding attributes in them.

Then, repeat the process of defeating Phantom Demons of the same attribute as experience material to max out the levels of these six Phantom Demons.

According to Iver's memory, Yulia has a fire-attribute upper-level Phantom Demon within her.

It is precisely to nourish that Phantom Demon that her body is so weak.

That Phantom Demon will take Yulia's life after it has fully developed. To save her, he must face that juvenile Phantom Demon directly; and Phantom Demons are immortal… This means that conventional methods cannot save Yulia. At most, they can only delay the time when the Phantom Demon awakens and loses control.

"Great Beast Master" is different.

If Iver can successfully create a "blank card" with enough capacity to contain the Phantom Demon within Yulia, he can directly extract the consciousness of the Phantom Demon within Yulia.

In this way, not only can Yulia survive, but he can also prepare the advancement materials for the Great Beast Master in advance!

And Yulia can also get the residual energy of the Phantom Demon—making this unstable and dangerous power stable and growable, thereby embarking on the path of a Transcendent!

The foundation of all this is that the card-making ritual in Iver's memory is reliable and feasible.

He has already tested other rituals before, and the ritual knowledge in the game can indeed be used! But the making of Phantom Demon Cards needs to be verified once more. Because the Great Sin Scholar only appeared after the Fallen Angel descended.

Now, with a lead of two whole versions, Iver is not sure if this ritual can already be performed.

So he needs to experiment.

As long as Iver can successfully create any Phantom Demon Card as a Demon Scholar, it will directly confirm that this system is still usable!

In this way, he can obtain another kind of power unrelated to the Demon Scholar.

His own revenge and extermination operations will become smoother.

Yulia can be saved!

Even the destruction of Avalon is not impossible to reverse—

—as long as he can successfully create his first card.

Now Iver is still too weak. The only transcendent being close to an upper-level Phantom Demon that he has mastered is the Shadow Demon.

And the only card that can be made by extracting the Shadow Demon is "Moon".

To create the "Moon Card," regardless of how strong the power sealed within the card is, it requires a nail from the forehead of a criminal undergoing the punishment of being torn apart by chariots, and three ancient ropes from the gallows as materials.

Iver solemnly sat at his desk, took out a slightly blackened tarot card from a jade box.

These tarot cards were among a large pile of occult items that Iver bought when he was fanatically worshiping various rituals in the past. But now they can be used to make the Great Beast Master's Phantom Demon Card.

The tarot card depicts a Moon with two high towers on either side. Below the Moon, there is a wolf and a dog, both barking madly at the Moon. In the very center and bottom of the picture, there is a lobster crawling out of the river, looking up at the sky in confusion.

This is [Moon]. The Moon card in tarot divination symbolizes bewilderment, distress, and unease.

The creators of the tarot cards came from the prophets of the "Adaptation" Path. The prophets despised the astrologers who also belonged to the "Adaptation" Path, comparing them to dogs barking at the Moon—because all prophets agreed that the future can never be accurately predicted, while astrologers tried to create a sufficiently complex, precise, and all-encompassing "Grand Unified Star Chart" that could predict the future.

This behavior was seen as ridiculous by the prophets. It's like a dog barking at the Moon, trying to figure out what it represents. But this only exposes their ignorance and fearlessness.

Iver held his breath and became extremely cautious.

Because the "Moon" on that tarot card was smeared with mercury. He used it as a medium to inject three points of his dark attribute mana into it yesterday.

Currently, Iver's dark attribute mana pool has a maximum capacity of only three points.

And creating even the most basic and weakest card requires at least five points. Regardless of how strong the card is, the other materials used are the same, the only difference is the amount of gem powder.

...Although creating such a weak card is a bit of a waste of materials, it's more important to succeed once first to verify whether it's feasible.

Moreover, at worst, it can be reused as a magic scroll. Once the card is made, it only costs one-tenth of the mana to trigger it, less than one point is considered zero. The only restriction is that only one card made from the same type of tarot card can be used within a day. That is to say, if Iver uses this Moon card, he cannot use other Moon cards on the same day.

But that doesn't matter.

When it's no longer needed, he can just sell it, or give it away—a portable magic scroll that can be triggered without mana and automatically recharges every day will definitely sell for a good price. From this perspective, these ritual materials cannot be considered a waste.

Iver had already injected his three points of dark attribute mana into the card yesterday. Because of this, the card is slightly blackened, which is not an illusion, but it is indeed weakly absorbing the surrounding light. If it is placed under the sunlight and compared with the surrounding objects, it may be more obvious.

Now, Iver's mana pool is restored to full.

He gently touched the Moon smeared with mercury again, and slowly injected all three points of dark attribute mana in his body. A card made with six points of mana will be slightly stronger than one with five points.

"What a pity..."

Iver sighed in a low voice: "Let's make one first. The materials for the remaining three will have to wait until I have more mana."

After the card is injected with the bottom line of five points, the ritual is immediately activated. If it is not made immediately, it will be scrapped in an hour. Otherwise, Iver could even accumulate mana day by day, and could accumulate it for ten days to make the "Field Card: Shadow Cellar" that can only be made with thirty points of mana.

He could actually inject another point today, and then start making it tomorrow with seven points of mana.

But the mana from 5 PM to 10 PM only produces the weakest "Enchantment Card: Shadow Blade". Storing more won't cause a qualitative change... it's better to grab an extra day.

Thinking this, he used the hammer to forcefully nail the rusty nail into the tarot card.

With a creak, the card emitted a strange, sour sound. It was as if Iver wasn't nailing into the card, but into someone's skull.

Immediately afterward, he looped the three ropes into circles, attaching them to the nail from three angles. The other three ends of the ropes were nailed to three "Swords" cards with ordinary nails.

In the next moment, the ropes suddenly inflated and expanded. Even though it was just a nail hanging on it, it was as if someone's neck was caught, and the three ropes suddenly became a circle instead of a "V".

Then, Iver evenly sprinkled the pre-ground black pearl powder on the tarot card. The "Moon" card belongs to the domain of the "Love" Path. Black pearl is the guardian gemstone of the "Love" Path and can be used to attract the attention of the pillar god of the Love Path, the "Constant Self".

Just a gaze, even a fleeting one—is enough to imbue the card with spirituality.

After he finished what he had to do, Iver stood still and motionless.

The shadows beneath him rose like wisps of smoke and merged into the card. The painting on the tarot card kept changing, as if another painter was retouching it.

When the changes in the picture ended, the nail slowly melted, turning into a new "Moon", and two of the three ropes merged into two new "Black Towers", becoming two jackal-headed men holding scepters. The remaining rope replaced the original lobster, becoming a black scarab.

The card floated up automatically and flew into Iver's hand.

The card's attributes automatically appeared in his eyes:

[Enchantment: Shadow Blade (Moon)]

[Requirement: Darkness 0]

[Instant, Contact, Immediately Effective]

[Effect: Temporarily grants the target "weapon" shadow, cutting, and erosion attributes, treating it as an extraordinary weapon. Lasts for one minute (+20%)]

Success.

Iver thought.

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