Four Golden Traits!

Those Ascenders who had survived, died, or remained in the cracks between life and death all saw screens of light appear before them—

The laughing Child of the Moon raised a Mountain of Blood without hesitation, impaling and flinging away all the guests in a line;

Iver, flowers blooming in his eyes, severed the neck of the guest kneeling before him; Iver's head appeared above the Candle Holder Holy Image, repainting all the remaining white into scarlet; the White Horse flying through the sky and summoning thunder faced off against the giant bear that caused mountain ranges to rise; the pupils of the carnivorous White Horse turned black and red, flames burning the bear hide on his back, while the Fox that had originally stood atop him crouched in the corner; the Mole, grinning as it devoured the Lion King's liver, turned to look at Old Dog standing at the doorway, backlit;

Above the pale-purple sky stretched a sea of silver-white stars, while a Deep Purple river surged like waves. A faceless shadowy figure stood before them, the corners of its mouth splitting into a happy—or sinister—smile;

Behind the blurred-faced angel, runes revolved as a Meteor Fire Rain fell from the purplish-red sky; and then came the final scene...

Aleister drew a long-handled scythe and turned herself into an ice sculpture like Red Crystal. With a clear crack, it shattered!—Only the two who had withdrawn early failed to see this scene.

Iver watched scene after scene, his expression complicated.

In almost every one of those scenes... he was there.

—And me. I am With Me.

An ethereal voice rang out beside Iver's ear.

—That was Aleister's consciousness, existing like an illusion.

Just like the "complete Shepherding Method" Iver had used during the Promotion Ritual for the first time—if one sacrificed