The Great Serpent and the Sun

Iver, Iver...

"Hey, Superman of the Universe, wake up. It's Shafulin..."

In a daze, Iver suddenly opened his eyes.

Under the dim crimson moonlight, the Blood Sea gave off the rhythmic sound of the tides.

Not far from Iver stood a petite girl with black hair reaching her waist.

As usual, her face was impossible to make out inside the Preparation Room. However, the gold-and-red robe she wore looked extremely luxurious. Her head, neck, and wrists were all adorned with a large amount of jewelry... Compared with the Promotion Ritual, it looked more like a princess attending some grand banquet.

For her, the stone chair—which was spacious enough even for an elf—was clearly far too large.

So the girl simply curled up her legs, shrinking into the corner of the chair like a mermaid.

She was gazing at Iver with a beaming smile. The moment she saw Iver raise his head and look toward her, she immediately let out a crisp, bell-like laugh.

"Long time no see, Iver. Of course, perhaps it hasn't actually been that long—if we count the time you descended into Avalon as one of our meetings."

Aleister teased him boldly.

"Alai..."

Iver had just begun to speak when he suddenly realized something. "You came in using No. 14's body? And the Shadow Demon can no longer disguise you... In that case, isn't it inappropriate for you to keep using the identity of Alai? After all, Aleister is your actual name."

"Anything is fine."

Aleister said casually, "Code names don't matter... Then call me Beast."

"...That doesn't sound very nice."

Iver's brows furrowed deeply.

If the word was spoken in the Avalon Language, it also carried meanings like "livestock" and "a person with the face of a human but the heart of a beast." Rather than a