What? The Intelligence Was Fake?

As he watched the Sapphire Robin slowly fly away, Iver simply smiled lightly.

Now, Iver is not so afraid of Moriarty anymore.

That's how intelligence warfare works: seemingly calm on the surface, but fraught with danger underneath.

A mere word choice can be enough for a keen hunter to uncover such a huge flaw; a single sentence can instantly reverse the power dynamic between two people.

Despite the fact that "knowledge can be toxic," cognition itself is also a power.

In a sense, "intelligence" is an extremely dangerous and twisted mysterious ability. On the one hand, it allows people to seize the initiative everywhere, subtly exploit others, see through their weaknesses, and leave them dizzy and terrified, yet unable to even find the enemy's trace. On the other hand, relying too much on this power can poison people's minds, making them arrogant, hesitant, and gradually losing courage, ultimately backfiring on them.

The moment Iver saw through the weakness in Professor Moriarty's intelligence, he immediately had a strong premonition that "I can control him and use him."

"... I don't want to become the next James."

He muttered to himself, warning himself.

Although he had been imitating his adoptive father since childhood, Iver found that the older he got, the more he resembled him. His habits, temperament, and style were gradually becoming more like his father's.

He now feels a mixture of respect, pity, and wariness towards his adoptive father.

While not exactly hating him, Professor Moriarty was undoubtedly Iver's greatest enemy—if there were a button that could kill Professor Moriarty, Iver would press it immediately.

—Because the professor would actually take action against those around Iver, and since Iver couldn't figure out the professor's true intentions, he really didn't dare to attack him.

Although Night Demon is also Sixth Level, his combat time is limited. If the professor is not dead, or even has the ability to resurrect—and he becomes more prepared and takes Iver more seriously—then he may have to start a serious guerrilla war.

He can't attack Iver. But he will definitely start harassing those close to Iver.

For a fanatical savior, all words are useless. And as a soul that had once returned to the "cicada's molting" stage, Iver had no idea how many trump cards he had up his sleeve.

He didn't possess the talent for the Path of Beauty, yet he was able to remain in the Fairy Kingdom. Perhaps it was the effect of his Extraordinary Profession from his Previous Life, "Element Tutor" or "Element Shaman"... after all, that was originally a profession system related to fairies.

It's even possible that the Fairy Queen, a deity of celestial rank, is on his side! Therefore, Iver chose to hide all his trump cards from Professor Moriarty.

Once he finds an opportunity and figures out the professor's background, he'll launch a surprise attack and overwhelm him with a single blow!

For this kind of person, once you make a move, you absolutely cannot give them a chance to escape! However, speaking of the Fairy Queen ...

Iver glanced over; the Fairy Queen Titania was still asleep.

She leaned languidly against her enormous throne, curled up like a ball on a single sofa. Even so, she maintained her elegance and beauty.

Since she wasn't awake yet, Iver didn't need to rush to leave the birdcage.

He simply sat cross-legged on the ground and sorted out the intelligence he had just obtained.

"... In other words, my adoptive father was indeed a 'savior' and 'time traveler' who was reborn from the apocalypse. But the future he knew was completely different from the future I knew."

Iver had vaguely sensed something was off before, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what the problem was.

Now he finally understands.

He had witnessed Professor Moriarty's madness and eventual defeat as the final boss in the game, which meant that the professor had actually carried out his plan to save the world within the game. In other words, the history he knew was at least one playthrough earlier than the players'.

However, he was unaware of the "Ouroboros Ring" ritual in his words—he said that "there was even an elementalist who advanced to the Sixth Level," which meant that superhumans at the "Sixth Level" were rare in his knowledge.

... It's like playing a game. The professor participated in the closed beta and suffered a lot of setbacks while figuring things out due to a lack of information. When the game was put into open beta or public beta, he learned from his previous mistakes and carefully studied all the data from the closed beta to plan his own development.

Looking back, we found that the data, mechanisms, and growth path had all been changed!

—What?! The intelligence was fake? "No wonder Professor Moriarty, even though he's already back in the past, doesn't seem to have that sense of urgency..."

... that sense of urgency that we will eventually Angel War.

His schemes were intricate and complex, spanning multiple countries and decades, and he likely directly controlled and influenced over a thousand people. Yet, he failed to build a truly top-tier team of his own, nor did he consider how to handle the Angel War or what benefits he could gain from it. Not to mention the distribution of the Angel Shard, or the specific time and place of the Celestial Summoning.

As a time traveler, this is neither reasonable nor acceptable.

—Unless, according to the professor's intelligence, these things are not even mentioned. In his understanding, the Sixth Level is already the top level of strength, so there is no need for him, who has already reached the peak of the Fifth Level, to continue to improve his strength.

Although every word Professor Moriarty said was true.

But that doesn't mean he can't use the truth to persuade others, nor does it mean that what he knows is the truth... For example, he once told Iver that the Ouroboros obtained the Endless Knot Ouroboros at the beginning of its "molting", and later it also sublimated into the "Endless Knot", ruling over the six elements.

Therefore, when Iver first took up the job of Demon Scholar, his adoptive father Iver, "Don't use materials from your own kind."

—It wasn't that he was afraid Iver wouldn't be able to advance to the Great Sin Scholar; rather, he was worried that Iver would ascend to become Demon Avatar, thus collapsing along with the Fallen Angel after their demise! Come to think of it, whether Iver advanced or not was irrelevant to him. On the contrary, whether Iver lived or died was very relevant to him... but Iver was too terrified at the time to think about it carefully.

Only Iver knew that the Ouroboros ultimately ascended to become the "Ouroboros Ring"! In the game timeline, the demon never perished or shattered; it even continued to exist after its ascension. There was no Elementalist, the new profession that alchemists transferred from across the Paths; instead, the Demon Scholar took over and became the Great Sin Scholar.

In that version of the future, regardless of whether the "Sacred Entity"—or "reincarnation fragment"—was Iver or a player, the Ring Angel failed to devour them.

In another future that the Lord of Scales and Feathers showed Iver, the Ouroboros Ring consumed Iver and returned him to his perfect state. At that time, the halo behind him was half red and half purple, a balance between dedication and transcendence.

This clearly doesn't align with the six elements. Instead, it bears some resemblance to a future depicted in games.

In the professor's understanding, the Ring Angel has always been part of the Equilibrium Path.

The "Elementalist" class, which allows the transformation of the six elements, exudes an aura of balance. Its power of balance is perhaps even stronger than its power of transcendence.

The "Ouroboros Ring" means that those who rise will eventually fall, and those who fall will eventually rise, like the sunrise and sunset; while the "Endless Knot" means that it neither rises nor falls, but is constantly changing in chaos within the unified field.

If the Ouroboros Ring because of the excessive transcendence within its body, then it is because of this that Iver was cut out.

So, if the Endless Knot, which is inherently greater than transcendence, were to be cut into a fragment, how could it possibly be Iver is proficient in transcendence and dedication?

Moreover, according to the professor, the ability of "Endless Knot" seems to lack the element of "dedication" altogether.

—At present, this seems to be the biggest difference between the "Professor Route" and the "Ouroboros Ring Route"! "Could it be... that the Candle Master is also involved?"

Iver murmured softly.

In this situation, it would actually be a good thing if the Pillar God intervened.

This means that the situation known to the adoptive father, namely that the Pillar God was ignoring the end of the world, did not actually exist.

The world may indeed be facing a crisis, but he is not the only "savior." At least among the Pillar God, there are those who are aware of the situation and are taking action.

Perhaps the reason those Pillar God paid attention to and protected Iver was because he was a "variable"! "But if that's the case..."

Iver frowned slightly. "Why did Bear Angel still attack me and even try to kill me?"

Although He is now the God of Heaven, He was once the Pillar God "Supreme Heaven"!

Iver's eyes lit up as he realized something:

—All the Pillar God who have shown goodwill to Iver have survived to the end! Whether it is Bear Angel who was defeated in the past or the Serpent Father who will be "killed" in the future, they did not live to see the "end of the world" that Professor Moriarty mentioned.

It's important to understand that Iver is highly adaptable to the Path of Transcendence. Before being influenced by Queen Sophia, he even went so far as to lose control and completely succumb to the Path of Transcendence. And initially, Iver also awakened his own thirst for the path of Path of Transcendence. Not to mention, he might himself be a fragment of the Ouroboros ... and the Ouroboros are legitimate descendants of the Serpent Father.

However, not only the candle keeper of the Dedication Path —even the Pillar God of the paths of Path of Beauty, Path of Adaptation, and Path of Authority— came to visit, yet the Serpent Father completely ignored Iver. Of course, this wasn't a problem; rather, it was the norm.

On the contrary, it's highly unusual that the Ring Angel Exorcist keeps coming to Iver's place every day for no reason. And Iver has no connection to any of these paths, yet a bunch of Pillar God are watching him—that's even more unusual! Perhaps what returned wasn't just Professor Moriarty, but all the Pillar God at that time! "Perhaps the professor's return and rebirth weren't an accident; he's probably a pawn of some being..."

Iver.

Who is it? The candle maker? The hourglass? My new boss, ' Colorful Black,' or...?

... And amber?