Iver Decided to Update His Image

Lily said that, but Iver still found a moment to use the Illumination Spell to treat Lily first.

Although she said her injuries were not serious, Iver used nearly two points of magic power to heal her—which is quite high for an ordinary person's life force.

This indicates that the injury has most likely involved bones or internal organs, but Lily is exceptionally good at enduring pain. Fortunately, Iver provided timely treatment, preventing the injury from worsening.

Unlike the poisoning incident that occurred at the White Shoes Club, this time the treatment of external injuries and the rescue of the priests were very professional and timely.

This incident cannot be called the "White Shoes Tragedy"—because there was only one victim in the entire incident. Moreover, it was the sacrifice who had already been controlled by the Demon Scholar before entering the commendation ceremony.

—That middle-aged man who used his own body, like a cocoon, to "hatch" the Deformed Limb Demon and summon the Deformed Limb Demon, which was staying outside the Glass Island, back to the contractor's side.

Generally speaking, Demon Scholar need to perform a large-scale ritual to recall their contracted demons. It's not something that can be easily done with a flick of the wrist or a snap of the fingers. Otherwise, they wouldn't need to carry demons with them at all; they could simply place them in a safe and secluded place and act alone.

Just like the Demon Scholar controlled the Iron Hook Demon that Iver encountered during the ritual, he always remained within his Ritual Site, maintaining a constant mental connection with the demon and ready to recall it at any time. This Demon Scholar infiltrated the White Shoes Club clearly couldn't conduct a large-scale ritual within the venue. Therefore, he needed to use a sacrifice for the recall.

That "sacrifice man" consumed a portion of the Deformed Limb Demon's flesh and blood, and inscribed numerous runes on his body—constructing a temple with his own body and completing the ritual within himself. This explains why the Deformed Limb Demon, despite being larger than him, was able to emerge.

Although it's unclear whether he was manipulated, deceived, kidnapped, or threatened... since he remained silent throughout, helped the Demon Scholar infiltrate the venue safely, and summoned demons with his own body and life, he has to share some of the blame.

Therefore, that person is not considered a "victim" in this incident.

Excluding him, this incident was a miracle, with everyone surviving!

Because the matter was resolved quickly enough, the inspectors and supervisors who had been severely injured by the Deformed Limb Demon received timely treatment from a large number of priests and were all successfully saved.

—They confronted the Greater Demon head-on and successfully expelled it, ensuring that Princess Highness, all the officials, merchants, and clergy present were unharmed, and even the civilians watching from the second floor were unharmed. Not a single official superhuman present fled in fear, nor did any inspectors or supervisors die in the line of duty... In the end, they successfully killed a Fourth Level Demon Scholar and captured a Second Level apprentice alive.

This was undoubtedly a resounding victory. Avalon hadn't had such a dominant win in a long time.

If nothing unexpected happens, this matter will be repeatedly mentioned in various newspapers over the next two weeks to a month.

Iver's title will no longer be "detective," but "hero."

He is a true hero.

If he hadn't stepped forward and severely wounded the demon with the holy sword, the Demon Scholar wouldn't have been able to break the mind control; Gordon would most likely have died, and others might have met with misfortune as well; even if the Demon Scholar had been captured by other means, no one knows how many people the demon would have killed before being banished.

Isabel also became very happy, even ecstatic. She seemed to have a lot to say, but ultimately held back.

In other words, she is not allowed to attend banquets outside, otherwise she would most likely have gone with them.

The other witnesses were also extremely excited.

The sudden attack didn't instill much fear in them—the joy of a resounding victory overshadowed any unease. The banquet proceeded as scheduled after the awards ceremony, and the number of attendees was several times greater than before. People who had previously had no connection with Iver were now chatting amiably with Iver at the banquet.

Iver did drink quite a bit, and even told Angela that if he didn't get up, she should ask for a day off for him the next morning.

He was implying that he had drunk too much and might not be able to get up tomorrow morning. However, he would go back to his dorm tonight instead of asking for leave to go home.

Chloe, who had been lying in ambush in the shadows the whole time, clearly heard those words.

Iver had long been aware of her presence, but he kept quiet. He had several highly vigilant high-level superhumans around him, and Chloe wouldn't dare attack him again unless she was absolutely certain of killing her.

But as the saying goes, it's not the thief you should fear, but the one who has his eye on you.

So Iver planned to deliberately create a brilliant opening to lure her into assassinating him.

Another reason Chloe didn't immediately attack Iver was that unnecessary greed arose in her heart.

—Think about it carefully, why did she harbor hatred towards Iver, someone unrelated to her mission? It was because his words exposed her and caused her to waste a large number of hard-to-collect life-saving items!

Her job was inherently dangerous. These life-saving gadgets were essential for dealing with various emergencies. In a sense, these gadgets were her second life—a pre-paid, False Life. Having lost more than one life, she naturally wanted revenge.

However, the holy sword that Iver displayed caught her attention.

This "Red Hilt Sword" is the weapon of Holy Sword Guardian Samuel, and the reason he became a "Cursed Holy Knight"... He was a boss in patch 3.2. Iver uses the "Holy Sword Art" once a month to restore its appearance, but it's merely another shell storing the curse.

Chloe's judgment is definitely sound.

This sword truly possesses extraordinary value, even involving secrets between the Apostles and the Celestials. And the best way for her to seize it is to kill Iver without anyone knowing she was the one who did it.

She needs to know who is specifically targeting the Holy Sword to ensure her safety while holding it. Otherwise, she'll just be needlessly creating trouble for herself.

Of course, if she were a transcendent being who had simply Path of Adaptation, she would most likely remain clear-headed. She would realize that since Iver could wield this holy sword, he was not someone she could easily provoke.

But Iver knew she was not that kind of person.

Her presence at her own Commendation Ceremony could only be motivated by a desire for revenge. This act alone proves that she is not a pure follower of the Path of Adaptation; there must be some other Path of Adaptation that has skewed her behavior. And thanks to the Shadow Demon's real-time alerts, Iver knew that she had even followed the crowd to attend the subsequent banquet.

She's here to gather information.

Sure enough, Chloe left quickly after Iver said those words.

—The fish has taken the bait.

Iver thought to himself.

He wasn't afraid of getting drunk.

Because alcohol, in its classification, belongs to the Path of Love. The madness and chaos caused by drinking is also a way of communicating with the Constant Self. When a priest venerates the Constant Self, he must perform the sacrifice in a state of gluttony, fullness, and intoxication.

The Shadow Fiend's "Shadow" ability also belongs to the Path of Love, just as the Balrog's flames belong to the Dedication Path. That's why Iver used the "Moon" card when drawing power from the Shadow Fiend to create the Great Sin Tarot.

From this perspective, the more alcohol Iver drinks, the stronger his mental connection with Shadow Fiend becomes.

Even if he's completely drunk, he won't pass out. At most, he'll just have Shadow Fiend log in and play for him.

The Shadow Fiend in his current state is completely safe.

So Iver wasn't faking being drunk; that would only have made Chloe more wary.

Just as Iver had used his own body as bait to lure the Deformed Limb Demon into attacking him before retaliating—he wasn't afraid to use himself as bait. On the contrary, he quite liked this strategy of "throwing in large amounts of bait." This was perhaps the reason why he was so well-suited to the "Shepherding Method."

If you're going to put on a show, you might as well go all the way— Iver was genuinely drunk, and he deliberately made himself drunk.

Otherwise, neither Sacrificial Fire Method nor other priests' Illumination Spell could dispel his drunkenness.

But Iver did not do that.

His excuse was that he also wanted to get drunk once and see what it felt like—and this time he was particularly happy, so it might be a good opportunity.

Some people asked with concern if there was anything wrong with his leg... and Iver took the opportunity to lay the groundwork for the others and update his own persona.

He offered a pre-emptive explanation, saying that he wasn't actually disabled, which was why the Deformed Limb Demon attacked him. He explained that he had been sacrificed by Demon Scholar during a ritual, which caused weakness in his leg muscles. He could actually move, but that would make him prone to falling... so he usually used a wheelchair to save energy.

In other words, he can actually stand up. It's just that it would be very tiring, so he uses a wheelchair to move around during rehabilitation. He also does some rehabilitation exercises to restore his physical strength.

That way, if he accidentally stands up again in the future, there will be a way to explain it.

Although Lily was completely confused, she didn't reveal anything about Iver. When asked, she calmly added details and background information for Iver, making it seem as if the story was real.

Lies and deception are also abilities that Path of Adaptation. Iver was finally certain that Lily's talent lay in Path of Adaptation.

After all, the Shadow Fiend submitted faster than Iver had anticipated; and the experience bonus from the Deformed Limb Demon Fiend allowed Iver, who hadn't had time to practice his "ritual" skills, to rapidly advance his professional level Path of Transcendence. Iver previously estimated it would take half a year, but now it seemed he wouldn't have to wait that long to shed the image of "Wheelchair Warrior."

Whether he goes to other countries or goes on an archaeological expedition with his mentor, he must be able to walk.

I've never heard of someone pushing a wheelchair to do archaeological excavations or adventures.

As the host of the banquet, Iver cooperated so actively that the atmosphere was exceptionally lively.

When they returned to 14 Ronin Street, it was past midnight.

Iver had fallen asleep on the way home. He arrived home covered with Lily's coat.

Lily wiped the sleeping Iver's body, gave him some hangover medicine, and then laid Iver on the bed. She then went to sleep in the guest room next door.

Two and a half hours passed after that.

It wasn't until 3 a. m. that Chloe, who had been lying in wait for a long time, silently emerged, her dark green eyes like those of a wolf.

She paced silently back and forth in the room. She easily found the enormous key hanging on her wheelchair.